Palestinian Mandate Youth Groups: Organizations--Boy Scouts

Figure 1.--

We note several youth groups during the British Mandatory period in Palestine. We only note Scouts among the Arabs. We note Boy Scout troops organizing after the British victory in Palestine and the end of World War I. There may have been some during the Ottoman period, but we have found no evidence of them. The Palestinian Scout web site claims that Scouting was founded in 1912, but we have not been able to find any informtion about such early groups. With the arrival of the British we begin to see large numbers of Scout groups, both with the Arabs and the Jews. The Arab groups were organized at the schools. The Ottoman school system was limited. The British began opening many new schools and for the first time, large numbers of Palestinian children attended school, both boys and girls. Under the Ottomans schools were mostly located in the cities. And because most Christian Arabs lived in the cities, Christian Arabs tended to be better educated than Muslims who dminated the larger rural population. As schools began to open in the villges, more Muslim children had access to education. And many of the new schools sponsored Scout troops, especially the secondry schools. As Muslims and Christians generally attened separate school, the Scout Groups were also largely seatate. A factor promoting Arab Scouting was the popularity of youth groups at the Jewish schools. We do not know to what degree the Arab troops were mixed Christian-Muslim units. We note Jewish Scout groups during the Mandatory period. We do not yet, however, have details these troops such as who the sponsoring groups were. We do not know of any mixd Jewish/Arab troops. We have found no information on any umbrella association during the Mandatory era that coordinated Muslim, Jewish, and Christian Scouts. We do note a Jamboree held in 1926. We do not know, however, if there was participation by the different faith groups. which may have include troops of the differented religions. We are still researching this. The Arab Palestinian Scouts like the state school system in general ecame increasingly politicuzed in the 1930s. The first Jewish Scout and Guide groups were founded after the British seized Palestine. There seems to have been interest erlier, but given the association ofScouting with Britain it probably was not possible durng the Ottoman era. As with Arab Scouting, the schools played an important role in the develoment of Jewish Scouting. The idea of Jewish Scouting appears to have begun during Passover (1918) by some youth and sports associations, including the Meshotetim Association and the Herzliya Aassociation that conducted activities long the lines Baden-Powell's program, but without calling in Scouting. They elected Zvi Nishri to lead the movemet. They did not form a formal associations for some time. [Alon] Jewish Scouting was known as Tzofim and from the beginning was coeducational. As far as we know it was the first coeducational Scout movement. We are not sure that there was an assocition during the Mndate period. The first Scout tribe "Meshotetei BaCarmel" was founded in the Hadar neighborhood in Haifa by the Haifa's Reali School (1925). The funder was a teacher, Aryeh Croch. He would become the head of the Hebrew Scouts Movement. As was the case of the Zionist mivement n general, there was a division between secular and religious Scouts. The religious Scouts or Adat HaTzofim joined to the Hebrew Scout Movement. They were led by Asher Rivlin. As the political situarion worsened in the 1940s, the older Scouts joined the Palmach, the elite fighting force of the Haganah. The Jewish Scouting movement was strongest in the northern Palestine. Palmach recruits were trained on the "Reali" school ground before joining the organization. The Hebrew Scout Movement in Israel also sent its graduates across the country to create Jewish settlements and Hebrew labor, as part of the establishment of Israel.

Arab Scouting

We note several youth groups during the British Mandatory period in Palestine. We only note Scouts among the Arabs. We note Boy Scout troops organizing after the British victory in Palestine and the end of World War I. There may have been some during the Ottoman period, but we have found no evidence of them. The Palestinian Scout web site claims that Scouting was founded in 1912, but we have not been able to find any informtion about such early groups. With the arrival of the British we begin to see large numbers of Scout groups, both with the Arabs and the Jews. The Arab groups were organized at the schools. The Ottoman school system was limited. The British began opening many new schools and for the first time, large numbers of Palestinian children attended school, both boys and girls. Under the Ottomans schools were mostly located in the cities. And because most Christian Arabs lived in the cities, Christian Arabs tended to be better educated than Muslims who dminated the larger rural population. As schools began to open in the villges, more Muslim children had access to education. And many of the new schools sponsored Scout troops, especially the secondry schools. As Muslims and Christians generally attened separate school, the Scout Groups were also largely seatate. A factor promoting Arab Scouting was the popularity of youth groups at the Jewish schools. We do not know to what degree the Arab troops were mixed Christian-Muslim units. The Arab Palestinian Scouts like the state school system in general ecame increasingly politicuzed in the 1930s.

Jewish Scouting

We note Jewish Scout groups during the Mandatory period. We do not yet, however, have details these troops such as who the sponsoring groups were.The first Jewish Scout and Guide groups were founded after the British seized Palestine. There seems to have been interest erlier, but given the association ofScouting with Britain it probably was not possible durng the Ottoman era. As with Arab Scouting, the schools played an important role in the develoment of Jewish Scouting. The idea of Jewish Scouting appears to have begun during Passover (1918) by some youth and sports associations, including the Meshotetim Association and the Herzliya Aassociation that conducted activities long the lines Baden-Powell's program, but without calling in Scouting. They elected Zvi Nishri to lead the movemet. They did not form a formal associations for some time. [Alon] Jewish Scouting was known as Tzofim and from the beginning was coeducational. As far as we know it was the first coeducational Scout movement. We are not sure that there was an assocition during the Mndate period. The first Scout tribe "Meshotetei BaCarmel" was founded in the Hadar neighborhood in Haifa by the Haifa's Reali School (1925). The funder was a teacher, Aryeh Croch. He would become the head of the Hebrew Scouts Movement. As was the case of the Zionist mivement n general, there was a division between secular and religious Scouts. The religious Scouts or Adat HaTzofim joined to the Hebrew Scout Movement. They were led by Asher Rivlin. As the political situarion worsened in the 1940s, the older Scouts joined the Palmach, the elite fighting force of the Haganah. The Jewish Scouting movement was strongest in the northern Palestine. Palmach recruits were trained on the "Reali" school ground before joining the organization. The Hebrew Scout Movement in Israel also sent its graduates across the country to create Jewish settlements and Hebrew labor, as part of the establishment of Israel.

Mixed/Joint Activities

We do not know of any mixd Jewish/Arab troops. We have found no information on any umbrella association during the Mandatory era that coordinated Muslim, Jewish, and Christian Scouts. We do note a Jamboree held in 1926. We do not know, however, if there was participation by the different faith groups. which may have include troops of the differented religions. We are still researching this.

Sources

Alon, Hemda. היֵה נכון"- חמישים שנות צופיות עברית בארץ ישראל 1919 – 1969. (Tel Aviv: עם הספר בע"מ 1976).

Degani, Arnon. "They Were Prepared: The Palestinian Arab Scout Movement 1920–1948," British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies (April 2014), pp. 200-18.

Fleischmann, Elen (2003). The Nation and Its 'New' Women: The Palestinian Women's Movement, 1920-1948 (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 2003).