The 1918 Famine in Palestine: Starvation as a Weapon

In 1918, as World War I raged, Palestine was gripped by a devastating famine that killed an estimated 200,000 people, nearly one-fifth of the population. This episode explores the causes: Ottoman conscription and requisitioning, Allied naval blockades, locust plagues, and the breakdown of the traditional grain trade. We focus on the impact on ordinary people — fellahin and townspeople alike — and how the famine reshaped politics, fueling Arab nationalism and the Zionist project. Key figures include Djemal Pasha, who hoarded food for the Ottoman army, and Aharon Aaronsohn, whose agricultural experiments offered a lifeline. Sources include diaries from Jerusalem and Jaffa, British intelligence reports, and oral histories collected by Palestinian scholars. This is a story of survival, resilience, and the long shadow of wartime deprivation.

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