Accumulation by Dispossession in Palestine : The New Imperialism and Land Tenure Under the British Mandate

Abstract

David Harvey coined the phrase “accumulation by dispossession” in reference to the American invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq. Having written his piece immediately following the invasion in 2003, it is unsurprising that Iraq was the centerpiece of his “New Imperialism.” This paper takes his theory, derived from Marx’s theory of primitive accumulation, and applies it instead to the case of the British Mandate in Palestine. Through the examination of primary source documents, including the correspondence of British officials, cabinet meeting minutes, British reports, and the archived land tenure laws of Palestine (made available via Martin Bunton’s collection, Land Legislation in Mandate Palestine), as well as secondary sources concerning theories of imperialism and Middle Eastern history, I argue that British land polices dispossessed the Palestinian population. Particularly, the British dismantled collective land in Palestine, known as the musha’. This process was similar to the dynamics of English enclosure, as well as the dispossession of the Native Americans. The dispossession of the Palestinians under the British Mandate is best viewed through Harvey’s model of imperialism with an eye to settler-colonialism. After giving proper historical background, this paper focuses on the period of 1920 to 1936 (the founding of the British Mandate to the Great Revolt). The paper concludes looking forward towards the revolt, the Nakba, and the modern era, making the case that this dispossession is not relegated to the past, and its dynamics can be seen throughout Palestinian history, and in Palestine today.