Crop-Sharing Economics in Mandatory Palestine – Part I 1

Agricultural production in large areas of the Middle East is conducted to this day on the basis of crop-sharing arrangements. ² Until very recently, those arrangements reflected relations of dependence and mutual obligations that were social and political as well as economic in nature. ³ The purpose of this article is to shed some light on those obligations by analyzing the forms of tenure that existed under the British Mandate on the lands of the ‘Abdul Hâdî family at the villages of ‘Arrâbeh in the northwest foothills of Samaria and Zar‘een in the Jezreel Valley. The study tends to show that economics does not adequately explain the relations of the ‘Abdul Hâdî landowners with their crop-sharing farmers and peasants between the two world wars. ⁴ Our evidence derives from contemporary account books supplemented by the comments of surviving contemporaries. The main source are the accounts of Nazmî Hâjj Tawfeeq ‘Abdul Hâdî, the biggest landowner at ‘Arrâbeh and one of the biggest at Zar‘een in those days. ⁵