The 1915 Jerusalem Locust Plague: War, Nature, and Survival

In the spring of 1915, as World War I ravaged the Ottoman Empire, an even more ancient enemy descended on Palestine: locusts. This episode of The History of Palestine tells the story of the great locust plague that swept from the Sinai to the Galilee, stripping fields bare and compounding the suffering of a population already reeling from conscription, famine, and disease. We follow the desperate efforts of Ottoman officials, Jewish agronomists like Aharon Aharonson, and Palestinian farmers who fought the swarm with tin drums, trenches, and poison. The plague exposed the fragility of Palestine's food system, deepened the wedge between the Yishuv and the Arab fellahin, and foreshadowed the famine of 1918. We also explore how the Ottoman state's response — or lack thereof — fueled local resentment and shaped the politics of survival. A story of resilience, failure, and the collision of modern science with biblical catastrophe.

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