1915 Palestine locust infestation

1915 Palestine locust infestation

Locust from the 1915 infestation
Date March 1915 (1915-03)–October 1915 (1915-10)
Location Palestine and Syria, Ottoman Syria
Cause Swarms of locusts
Outcome
  • Higher food prices
  • starvation

From March to October 1915, swarms of locusts stripped areas in and around Palestine and Syria of almost all vegetation. This infestation seriously compromised the already-depleted food supply of the region and sharpened the misery of all Jerusalemites.[1]

Historian Zachary J. Foster argues that the scale of the attack was far worse than anything Syria had witnessed in many decades. He suggests further that a huge percentage of the region’s major foodstuffs and sources of livelihood, including fruits, vegetables, legumes, fodder and a small but not insignificant amount of the cereals, were devoured by the locusts. “The attack diminished the 1915 winter harvest (wheat and barley) by 10-15 per cent,” he noted, “and completely wrecked the 1915 summer and autumn harvests (fruits and vegetables), in ranges varying from 60 to 100 per cent, depending on the crop.”[2]

The crop destruction resulted in several increases to the price of food. On April 25, 1915, The New York Times described the price increases. "Flour costs $15 a sack. Potatoes are six times the ordinary price. Sugar and petroleum are unprocurable and money has ceased to circulate."[3]

Reaction

Djemal Pasha, who was the Supreme Commander of Syria and Arabia at the time of the locust infestation, launched a campaign to limit the devastation of the incident.[1] He appointed an official to fight the infestation.[4]

Many people believed that prayer and petition were required to end the plague, as they viewed the swarm of locusts as a punishment from God for their sins.[5][6] Rav A.M. Luntz, who observed the development of the infestation said that "... Badatz decreed that on the following day there should be a Taanit Tzibbur and the whole day should be one of selichot, prayer and petition. After a few days the locusts left the Land ..." as locusts do after they have finished feeding. However, in the amount of time they nested there, the locusts replenished themselves with new larvae.[6]

Regulations

A portable flamethrower being prepared to destroy locusts in Palestine, 1915

Midhat Bey, who was the official appointed to fight the infestation, helped enact a law which required every male between ages 15 and 60 in cities to collect 20 kilograms of locust eggs or pay a fine of £4.40. The New York Times reported that this law was strictly enforced. They said that people who failed to follow the law risked having their businesses closed. 800 had paid the fine by November 21, 1915.[4]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "The Locust Plague of 1915 Photograph Album". Library of Congress. Archived from the original on 7 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-07.
  2. ↑ https://www.academia.edu/10231965/_The_1915_Locust_Attack_in_Syria_and_Palestine_and_its_Role_in_the_Famine_During_the_First_World_War_Middle_Eastern_Studies_51_3_2015_370-394
  3. ↑ "Distress in Jerusalem" (PDF). New York Times. 1915-04-23. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  4. 1 2 "Remarkable Details From American Consul on Palestine Locust Plague" (PDF). New York Times. 1915-11-21. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  5. ↑ Student, Gil (2002-01-20). "Did the prophet Yoel contradict the Torah?". aishdas.org. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
  6. 1 2 "The Plague Approacheth". Lamed. 2004-11-21. Retrieved 2008-08-05.
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