// Workers AI · dad joke modeWhat did Issa Battat say to the egg? Egg-issa problem.
Issa al-Hajj Suleiman Battat (also spelled 'Isa al-Battat) was a Palestinian Arab commander of rebels during the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine based in the hills around Hebron. Battat was from the town of ad-Dhahiriya in the Hebron Subdistrict of the British Mandate of Palestine.[1] He was a well-known commander in his home region and was suspected by the British authorities of involvement in the killing of British archaeologist J. L. Starkey in January 1938.[2][3]
Origins
Battat belonged to a large family of cultivators and pastoralists associated with the al-Maṭariyya village coalition in ad-Dhahiriya. According to a family genealogy collected by the Palestinian Rural History Project, the al-Baṭṭāṭ clan originated with migrants from Hijaz who initially settled at Tall al-Safi. The family belonged to the Qays faction and later became involved in a protracted conflict with the al-ʿAzza sheikhs of Bayt Jibrin. Following a violent confrontation with al-ʿAzza, the surviving members of the clan relocated to ad-Dhahiriya.[4]
Rebel activities
Before joining the 1936–1939 revolt, Battat moved to Hebron and became involved in criminal activity. The British arrested him and sentenced to life imprisonment but escaped after two years. At the beginning of the revolt, his group attacked the police station at ad-Dhahiriya and seized its weapons. The gang operated around Beit Jibrin and Hebron, where it cut telephone lines, seized British and Jewish property, acquired weapons, and directed local operations without maintaining regular contact with the revolt’s regional leadership.[4]
In December 1937, Battat’s gang attacked the British police commander Broadhurst along the Beersheba–Hebron road. By April 1938, Battat commanded sixty fighters in the western Hebron district. The group collected protection money from villagers to finance its operations.[4]
In January 1938, Battat assassinated British archaeologist James Leslie Starkey at the request of al-Qubeiba villagers who had long-standing land disputed with him over excavations at Tell Lachish.[4]
Death
The authorities put a bounty on Battat for Starkey's death and other alleged crimes,[2] and his whereabouts were made known to them by a Palestinian informant.[5] Battat and his men were ambushed by British forces in the hills around Hebron on 7 May 1938, leading to a heavy, two-hour-long firefight.[2] Battat was consequently killed in the shootout and his men dispersed, with no British fatalities.[2] Rebels retaliated by executing a Palestinian from Beit Ummar charged with tracking Battat on behalf of the authorities. Abd al-Rahman al-'Azzi, a village leader from Beit Jibrin, was suspected by the al-Husayni faction of informing the authorities about Battat's location and was consequently compelled to organize armed rebel activity in his region to compensate for his alleged collaboration.[6] Al-'Azzi was later killed in 1948 by Battat's sons.[2]
References
- ↑ Cohen, p. 187.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "Reported Entry of Arab Terrorist Chief Stirs Military Activity; Band Leader Slain". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1938-05-09. Retrieved 2016-02-03.
- ↑ Keesing's Contemporary Archives, Volume 3. Keesing's Limited. 1941. p. 3059.
- 1 2 3 4 Marom, Roy; Garfinkel, Yosef (10 September 2026). "The Murder of J. L. Starkey According to Local Palestinian Sources: Anti-Colonial Struggle and Local Intrigues". Bulletin of the History of Archaeology. 36 (1): 1–14. doi:10.5334/bha-749. Retrieved 13 September 2026.
- ↑ Cohen 2008, p. 135.
- ↑ Cohen 2008, p. 132, 173.
Bibliography
- Cohen, Hillel (2008). Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, 1917-1948. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520252219.
- Cohen, Hillel (2009). Good Arabs: The Israeli Security Agencies and the Israeli Arabs, 1948–1967. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520944886.