The Tithe - 'osher

Under the British Mandate, the 'tithe' ('osher) in Palestine was a historic agricultural tax inherited from the Ottoman Empire, which initially took one-tenth (10%) to 12.5% of a farmer's gross crop yield. The British administration reformed this burdensome crop-sharing system through the Commuted Tithes Ordinance of 1927/1928, which converted fluctuating, in-kind crop assessments into fixed annual cash payments based on historical averages.

The colonial tax structure and the evolution of the tithe in Palestine represent a major shift in local administration:

• Ottoman Origins: The tithe was historically collected on the threshing floor. Often, the right to collect it was "farmed out" by public auction to tax farmers-a system highly prone to corruption and abuse of the peasantry.
  
  
• British Reforms (1920s): Initially, the British reduced the tithe to a flat 10% on all crops. However, estimating yields annually created major administrative headaches, interfered with the marketing of crops, and left little security for the cultivator.
  
  
• The Commutation Transition (1927-1928): To reform the system, the administration introduced the Commuted Tithes Ordinance. Villages and tribal areas were subjected to a fixed annual cash amount, calculated based on the average tithe paid over previous years.
  
  
• Economic Strain: The commuted system caused friction when agricultural prices fell (e.g., during the 1929 market drops), as farmers were forced to pay rigid, pre-determined tax rates that outstripped the actual market value of their cereals.
  
  
• Historical Source Data: Because many nomadic Bedouin populations in the southern district refused to participate in the British Census, the Mandate authorities estimated their population numbers entirely by referencing their tithe payments.
  
  
• Legacy: The tithe eventually gave way to broader modern fiscal reforms, culminating in the introduction of the Income Tax Ordinance in 1941.
  
  

It should be remembered that while the tithe often created financial difficulties for the fellaheen it was, after all, taxes that paid for the government of the state and the maintenance and improvement of the state infrastructure. The rents and interest rates charged by the elites were a far greater financial burden (25-40% rent, interest rates 30-100% p.a.) than the tithe and the fellaheen gained nothing from their payment except the ability to go on in perpetual debt and poverty.