“Palestine’s Robin Hood”: Abu-Jildeh and the Making of a Social Bandit

This study explores the history of Palestinian Arab outlaw Abu-Jildeh (∼1900–1934), as a case study for constructing a social bandit image. Between May 1933 and April 1934, following several robberies and murders, Abu-Jildeh was Palestine’s most wanted criminal. The British-led Palestine Police Force’s failure to arrest the bandit, despite significant efforts, further enhanced Abu-Jildeh’s public image, making him an Arab folk hero and symbol of resistance to the British Mandate government. The research used British archival sources, Palestinian Arab and Jewish press articles, memoirs, and oral history to propose a valid historical narrative and uncover the facts behind a typical social bandit myth. These enable retracing the actions of the three main actors in Abu-Jildeh’s saga: the outlaw himself, the police hunting him, and the local Arab press, who glorified him. Seen in the context of contemporary Arab political and national climate in Palestine, the interplay between bandit, police, and press shows how an ordinary, “opportunistic,” criminal transformed into a national hero, regardless of his actions.