Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

From Dowbiggin to Tegart: revolutionary change in the colonial police in Palestine during the 1930s

2004; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 32; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/03086530410001700426

1743-9329

Gad Kroizer,

Middle East Politics and Society

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Notes Report on the Palestine Police Forces, H.L. Dowbiggin C.M.G. (1930), Haganah Archive, (HA) para. 158. The report is not officially marked and is located in the Haganah Archive. Report of Sir Charles Tegart & Sir D. Petrie, 24 Jan. 1938, ch.2, National Archives (formerly Public Record Office), London, CO 733/383/75742. A. Sela, ‘The “Wailing Wall” Riots 1929 as a Watershed in the Palestine Conflict’, Muslim World, LXXXIV (1994), 82. C. Jeffries, The Colonial Police (London, 1952), 32–33. Report of the Commission on the Palestine Disturbances of August 1929, cmd.3530 (1930), ch.XII, 145–46. The main studies are as follows: M. Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots in Mandatory Palestine 1928–1935 (London, 1993); M. Kolinsky, ‘Reorganisation of Palestine Police after the Riots of 1929’, Studies in Zionism, 10 (1989), 155–73; J. Caspi, ‘Policing the Holy Land, 1918–1957: The Transition from a Colonial to a National Model of Policing and Changing Conceptions of Police Accountability’, Ph.D. thesis, New York University, 1991; T. Bowden, The Breakdown of Public Security; The Case of Ireland 1916–1921 and Palestine 1936–1939 (London, 1977); T. Bowden, ‘Policing Palestine 1920–1936: Some Problems of Public Security under the Mandate’, in G.L. Mosse (ed.), Police Forces in History (London, 1975), 115–30; C. Townshend, ‘The Defence of Palestine: Instruction and Public Security, 1936–1939’, English Historical Review, 103 (1988), 917–49; C. Smith, ‘Communal Conflict and Insurrection in Palestine 1936–1948’, in D. Anderson and D. Killingray (eds.), Policing and Decolonisation: Politics, Nationalism and the Police, 1917–1965 (Manchester, 1992), 62–83; and E. Horne, A Job Well Done: A History of the Palestinian Police 1920–1948 (London, 1982). Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots; Smith, ‘Communal Conflict and Insurrection’, 62–83. Kolinsky, Law, Order and Riots, 102. Smith, ‘Communal Conflict and Insurrection’, 69. Ibid., 68–69. Horne, A Job Well Done, 160. Report on the Palestine Police Forces, H.L. Dowbiggin, para. 72. Report of the Commission on the Palestine Disturbances of August 1929, cmd.3530 (1930), ch.XII, 147. D.V. Duff, Bailing with a Teaspoon (London, 1953), 166–67. Report on the Palestine Police Forces, H.L. Dowbiggin, para. 13. C. Imray, Policeman in Palestine: Memoires of the Early Years (Devon, 1995), 5; Horne, A Job Well Done, 160. ‘He liked to use the phrase of “Police Religion”.’ Y. Slutsky, Sefer Toldot Hahaganah (Tel Aviv, 1971), vol.ii, part I, 407. Dowbiggin–Inspection of Cyprus Military Police, CO 67/218/3. Jeffries notes that in effect the reform was only implemented in 1933 when King's W.C.C. subordinate was sent from Ceylon. Following a request to examine the North Rhodesian Police Force, Dowbiggin implemented a civil reform in 1937 and brought European police officers to train the police, see Jeffries, The Colonial Police, 38–39. Jeffries is not certain that this is the end of the list, ibid., 38–39. Report on the Palestine Police Forces, H.L. Dowbiggin C.M.G. (1930), para. 4. Ibid., paras. 7, 8, 70. Kolinski, Law, Order and Riots, 220. Report on the Palestine Police Forces, H.L. Dowbiggin C.M.G. (1930), paras. 5, 58. Ibid., para. 5. Yet the Zionist leadership viewed Dowbiggin as an impartial and professional police officer, see Slutsky, Sefer Toldot Hahaganah, 407. Report on the Palestine Police Forces, H.L. Dowbiggin, para. 115. Ibid., para. 140. Ibid., para. 140. Ibid., para. 10. In fact, Dowbiggin outlined a special programme which he had submitted prior to the report written on 17 March 1930, ‘Distribution of British Police and Close Protection of Jewish Colonies’, ibid., paras. 15, 16. Ibid., para. 24. Ibid., para. 8. Ibid., para. 206. Ibid., para. 157. Ibid., para. 156. Ibid., para. 11. Ibid., para. 12. Ibid., para. 66. Ibid., para. 14. Imray, Policeman in Palestine, 6. Horne, A Job Well Done, 163. Ch. Arlosoroff, Yoman Yerushalayim (Tel Aviv, 1953), 8. Horne, A Job Well Done, 160. ‘Then came the bit about the Police Idea, and the Policemen as Civilians in uniform. We policemen exist for two essential purposes: One is the prevention, and two is the detection of crime. Nothing else matters, nothing but the way we carry out those two vital duties. And of course, our attitude to the public. We must gain and keep its respect.’ Imray, Policeman in Palestine, 29. Starting in the 1932–33 fiscal year, such police stations were built in Yagur, Beit Lid, Nahalal, Beit Alpha, Yavniel, Kfar Tabor, Binyamina, Hadera, Meron, Sahorna, Petach Tikva and other places. R.A. Fuchs, ‘Austen St. Barbe Harrison, A British Architect in the Holy Land’, Ph.D. thesis, Technion Haifa, 1992, 152–53. Palestine Royal Commission Report, cmd.5479 (1937), vii, paras. 31–32. Y. Porath, The Palestinian Arab National Movement 1929–1939: From Riots to Rebellion (London, 1977), 130–33. Paraphrase of a telegram from the Officer Administration of the Government of Palestine to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 9 Feb. 1937, CO 733/325/75015/15. Ibid. Palestine Royal Commission Report, vii, paras. 19, 20, 21, 35, 43, 48. As Dowbiggin himself notes, the Haycraft Commission first proposed the construction of police barracks was following the 1921 riots, see Report on the Palestine Police Forces, H.L. Dowbiggin, para. 120. Paraphrase of telegram from the Officer Administration of the Government of Palestine to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 9 Feb. 1937, CO 733/325/75015/15. Palestine Royal Commission Report, vii, paras. 44–45. Ibid., para. 57. Battershill to MacDonald, 12 Oct. 1937, CO 733/356/757651. Oriental and India Office Collection (IOR), Mss.Eur., F-161, 240. Lady Tegart recounts that her husband was acquainted with Petrie for many years and: ‘He felt that they would make a good team, because he said, “I'm impulsive and inclined to rush to get things done and impatient if I don't see immediate action. Petrie's hard headed and arrives at his judgements by slow, logical reasoning. Between us we ought to be able to get a good line on the situation” ’. See K.F. Tegart, Charles Tegart–Memoirs of an Indian Officer, IOR, Mss.Eur., C-235, 249. Throughout Tegart's memoirs, which were authored by his wife, Petrie plays an important role in attesting to Sir Charles's outstanding professionalism as a police officer, particularly in the field of intelligence. Petrie admired Tegart and was willing to accompany him to Palestine. Curry mentions Petrie, together with Tegart, as one of the outstanding police officers in India. See J.C. Curry, The Indian Police (London, 1932), 329. Downie to Tegart, 10 Nov. 1937, Tegart Papers, box 4, file 5, Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford. Report of Sir Charles Tegart, ch.1. T. Moreman, The Army in India and the Development of Frontier Warfare 1849–1947 (London, 1998), 111–14. Griffiths and Curry, two historians of the Indian Police, consider Tegart to be one of the most outstanding commissioners. See P. Griffiths, To Guard My People: The History of the Indian Police (London, 1971), 409–11; and Curry, The Indian Police, 329. Tegart, Charles Tegart, IOR, Mss.Eur., C-235, 228. See the Annual Report on the Police Administration of the Town of Calcutta and its Suburbs, 1924–1927, IOR, V/24/3217, 1928-1931, IOR, V/24/3218. Petrie to Downie, 24 Jan. 1938, CO 733/383/75742. ‘I beg respectfully to tender to the unfortunate officers who may, as a result of their official position, be compelled to read this report, my apologies for what will and must be considered its unseemly length.’ Report on the Palestine Police Forces, H.L. Dowbiggin, para. 240. Palestine Royal Commission Report, vii, para. 35. A) Investigation and Intelligence staff. B) Intelligence Bureau for the collection and compilation of all intelligence and information. C) Press and propaganda section. D) Arms traffic dealing with the licensing of arms. E) Emigration and Immigration. F) Trained watchers. G) Fingerprint, photography and scientific research. H) Censorship of correspondence. I) Dogs. Report of Sir Charles Tegart, ch.1, CO 733/383/75742. Ibid., ch.10. Ibid., ch.2. Ibid., ch.2. Ibid., ch.14. Ibid., ch.6. Ibid., ch.9. Ibid., ch.16. Ibid., ch.4. Ibid., chs.14, 24. Haining to MacMichael, 17 Jan. 1939,. CO 733/389/75015/36. Report of Sir Charles Tegart, ch.3, CO 733/383/75742. See Smith, ‘Communal Conflict and Insurrection’, 69. Report of Sir Charles Tegart, ch.2, CO 733/383/75742. Ibid., ch.6. Ibid., ch.18. Tegart's typewritten notes and handwritten notes for retyping, undated, Tegart papers, box 1, file 1, Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford. Report of Sir Charles Tegart, ch.6, CO 733/383/75742. Report on the Palestine Police Forces, H.L. Dowbiggin, para. 11. Report of Sir Charles Tegart, ch.2, CO 733/383/75742. Ibid., ch.6. For the importance of the uniform as one of Dowbiggin's guiding principles for the Colonial Police in 1938, see Jeffries, The Colonial Police, 49. Report of Sir Charles Tegart, ch.16, CO 733/383/75742. Haining (GOC) to MacMichael, 17 Jan. 1939, CO 733/389/75015/36. MacMichael to MacDonald, 4 Sept. 1938, CO 733/383/75742. Tegart to the Under Secretary of State Colonial Office, 14 Sept. 1938, CO 733/383/75742/38; K.F. Tegart, Charles Tegart, IOR, Mss.Eur., C-235, 279–80. Haining (GOC) to MacMichael, 17 Jan. 1939, CO 733/389/75015/36. MacDonald to MacMichael, 27 May 1939, CO 733/405/75674. Palestine Police: Report by Sir Charles Wickham, Dec. 1946, CO 537/2269. D. Charter, The British Army and Jewish Insurgency in Palestine, 1945–47 (New York, 1989), 89–90. Ibid., 158–59. Y. Gil-Har, ‘British Intelligence and the Role of Jewish Informers in Palestine’, Middle Eastern Studies, 39 (2003), 117–19. Smith, ‘Communal Conflict and Insurrection’, 74–75. Palestine Police: Report by Sir Charles Wickham, Years 1940–46.