A World - Shaking Birthday on May 14, 1948

Nadene Goldfoot                                             

Our holy city of Jerusalem,
maybe on her 1st birthday

"If only the British had treated Arabs and Jews equally, and forced the Arabs to obey the law, the two groups might have learned to live together peacefully.

If only the British had permitted Jews to enter Palestine in reasonable numbers, the English and the Zionists could have joined with the Arabs to build a great land."
                                                             OR
If only the Arabs had decided to talk to UNSCOP, they might have made some telling points.

The refugees from Europe needed homes in Palestine because they weren't allowed into Western countries.  

The United States, though urging immigration into Eretz Yisrael, kept its own doors locked to the refugees.  During the first 8 months of 1946, America admitted only 4,767 refugees----barely the number on the ship, Exodus 1947. 
                                                     

 On that ship, the British sailors boarded and took control.  They wore uniforms and white helmets.  The British troops guarded a group of refugee children in Haifa when they were alongside the Exodus.  The ship's passengers were later sent back to Germany.  When the British seized the Haganah's leaky old ships, they would search for "illegal" refugees and send them back to detention camps in Cyprus.  

After World War II, Jewish survivors of Hitler's program against the Jews had nowhere to go.  There were 300,000 homeless DISPLACED PERSONS.  
                                               

  
The democracies of the West wouldn't accept them. 
 Britain refused to let them into Palestine.  
There was fighting between the Yishuv of Palestine and the British. 
 Irgun, a Jewish group of fighters, used violent tactics including blowing up British headquarters in Jerusalem. 
                                             

Stern Group warned King David Hotel
they would blow it up,
but British didn't listen

 My own 3rd cousin was the chief of Intelligence for the Stern Group-the toughest of them all that the Brits referred to as "The Stern Gang."
The Haganah, a very mild following the law group, confronted the British with boatloads of refugees.  

Britain finally turned the problem of Palestine over to the UN.  The UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP), shocked by British cruelty to the refugees on the ship, EXODUS 1947, recommended that Palestine be divided into Arab and Jewish states.  The UN accepted this recommendation on November 29, 1947.

None of these "its" happened.  As a result, battle lines had been drawn.
                                                  

                                                 

September 3, 1947's plan

     THE PARTITION PLAN:  The UNSCOP report recommended that Palestine be divided into 2 states:  one Arab, one Jewish.  This is after the League of Nations and the United Nations had voted that Palestine become a Jewish State and that Britain was given a 30 year mandate to help keep order and to help the Jews to have their Jewish State.  Britain had failed to comply.  

Zionists were disappointed because of the need to control their holy city, Jerusalem.  They felt such a decision was neither fair and indefensible.  However, they went ahead and accepted the UNSCOP recommendation.

The Arabs rejected the report entirely.

It was up to the UNITED NATIONS to decide what to do.  

President Truman pledged American support of the UNSCOP Partition Plan
An Arab victory seemed certain.  
Russia surprised the world by announcing that it, too, would vote in favor of dividing Palestine and creating a Jewish state.  This was a first for Russia and the USA to vote together on any issue.  
                                               

                                                    

The voting began on November 29, 1947. 
Nations cast their vote one by one.
Most European States, many Latin American countries and members of the British Commonwealth joined the USA and Russia in voting.  
All Arab states opposed it.
Great Britain did not vote.
The end result was:  33 for of dividing Palestine into one Jewish and one Arab state.  13 against.    10 did not vote.  They had the needed 2/3 majority for approval.  
                                                        The UN had said the Jews could have a state in Palestine.  It was up to the Jewish leaders, the Yishuv, to make that state a reality.  

British soldiers watched Arabs riot toward the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem.  They did nothing to stop the attack.  Some even shot the locks off the doors of Jewish shops to help Arabs loot and destroy.  

In reply to that, the Irgun broke into an Arab movie theater, setting it on fire.  
Their intention was to fight hard for their state and not let the Arabs stop them.
Arab forces attacked from every side, destroying and killing Jews.  No Jew was safe.  Arabs were controlling the roads connecting to towns.  By the end of March 1948, the country was cut apart.  Towns in the Negev couldn't communicate with the rest of the country.  Villages in the north were isolated.  Parts of Jerusalem were cut off from each other. 
                                                    

Chaim Weizmann 1874-1952
Israel's 1st President, had been a chemist.
Without his knowledge of organic chemistry, Britain may have
lost WWI.  

Weizmann and King Feisal, of Iraq in 1921 and king of Syria;  and  oldest son of Hussein, sherif of mecca in 1922 working
together after WWI to get a home for Jews
at League of Nations

Chaim Weizmann, the chosen president for the Jews, was old, sick and half-blind, but he made a long journey from London for an audience with President Truman who wouldn't even talk to the Yishuv.  The White House said there would be no meeting.
                                                         

However, and maybe this was a miracle;  Truman had had a business partner who was Jewish, Eddie Jacobson.  They had remained close friends.  Eddy admired Chaim Weizmann.  Weizmann was secretly admitted to the White House.  

This was not Weizmann's first merry go round.  42 years earlier he had met with Balfour and talked him into a life-long Zionist.  When Weizmann left the president, he had received a solemn promise that the USA would support the idea of a Jewish state.  
                                                     

 Jewish men and women coming to join Haganah

                    

David Ben-Gurion (Gruen) b: 1886- d: 1973

 Ben-Gurion at age 67 and the Haganah thought that a Jewish state might not survive.  General Yigael Yadin of Haganah thought not, too because food and supplies couldn't be driven past Arab positions on the road to Jerusalem.  The Jewish Quarter was about to starve to death.  The British were handing over key locations to the Arabs!    

The Final Vote

On May 12, 1948, two days before the last British soldiers were to leave Palestine, General Yadin met with Ben-Gurion and his team.  Many key positions were now in Jewish control.  Morale was high.  But.....

Armies of 5 Arab states had massed to attack as soon as the English left.  The little Zionist army didn't have enough equipment.  They had bought some weapons in Europe but the British wouldn't allow them into Palestine for the Jews.  Could they even survive until the weapons could make it to them?

Everyone was telling the Jews not to go ahead as the danger was too high.  4 leaders voted for delay.  6 said NOW!  The future was decided by 1 vote.  

On Friday, May 14, 1948, the street outside the Tel Aviv Museum was filled up with a crowd of people.  At 4:00 pm, Ben Gurion read Israel's Proclamation of Independence.  
                                                            

A state was being launched in the land of its birthplace of the Jewish people.  It would guarantee equality to all its citizens, and freedom of religion and culture to all.  
     "We extend our hand in peace and neighborliness to all the neighboring states and their peoples, and invite them to cooperate with the independent Jewish nation for the common good of all."  

That night the Jews of Tel Aviv celebrated both a Shabbat and their independence from Britain and their birth.  No Jew in Jerusalem  had been able to hear the radio broadcast, however.  Arabs had cut off all electricity and were preparing to  attack.   I can imagine at least one or more rabbis wanting to thank those Arabs for helping them to keep Shabbat as the holiday that should take precedence.     

                                                                       

Israel finding herself in her War of Independence
29 November 1947-with Arabs responding with violence to UN resolution on Palestine and lasted until the signing of the Armistice Agreements in 1949.  

Such was Israel's 1st birthday, and now we celebrate her 72nd.  

Reference:
A young person's History of Israel 2nd edition by David Bamberger
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine
Facts about Israel; Division of Information, ministry for foreign affairs, Jerusalem.  

Israelis Have Paid Dearly For Israel

by Nadene Goldfoot

Back in 1948, Jews in the newly created state of Israel were attacked by the surrounding Arab nations. We lost 7,000 to 10,000 Israelis in that war. That’s more than one out of every hundred Jews who were living there at the time. The Arabs lost even more men.

During the Six Day War Israel lost only 800 out of a population of 2.5 million. Israel had a greatly well-trained army by then.

For starters, people moving back to the area of Palestine bought the land. It’s been in our oral prayers for the past 2,000 years to return to our land of Israel, and we finally organized ourselves and got there after our long absence. Even though we had legitimate claims to the land, being the original dwellers, buying land from present-day owners, getting the official sanctions from the newly formed U.N., and even facing a holocaust that wiped out six million of us, we were attacked for needing to be there. Amazingly, we won and survived.

Back before 1948, we had no army. We actually were fighting from November 1947 to the invasion of Palestine by regular Arab armies in May 1948. We had defenders, though. One group was the Stern Group, with the Chief of Intelligence Stanley Goldfoot. When the attack of 1948 broke out, we had all sorts of problems to contend with. Jordan, also a newly created state, had a British-commanded Arab Legion who came at us with artillery, tanks and planes but did not know how to use them like we later did. We didn’t even receive arms until the middle of the battle and won due to "an unyielding spirit" more than to military equipment or proficiency. We weren’t about to let such a monumental occasion of becoming a state again after 2,000 years go by the wayside.

Teen-aged Jewish girls and Jewish children of age 10 and 11 fought next to our men. Our Jewish communities were attacked by Arab peasants with no military training as well as their present day armies. Luck or, I would like to think Ha-Shem, played a part in our winning the battle.

There was a Molotov cocktail that struck a leading Arab tank. Whoever tossed it from our side wasn’t even a baseball player. We had problems with our fighters being from so many different countries that they didn’t understand each other’s language so had a hard time following directions. It’s just really amazing that we did win.

One story that came out from Safed, my Israeli home-town is related by Dov Silverman. It's another miracle story. When the Arabs left Safed they really expected to return which their leaders told them would happen. Most took the route of the Wadi Amud which passed the water pumping station built by the British. If they had blown it up, it would have been terrible for the Jews there as it was the beginning of summer and everyone would have had to leave because of not having any water. They had left it alone because they expected to be able to return, victorious and take over the city. That water pump is still in use today.

We’ve gone through a lot to get where we are today, and yet we’re still being threatened. We’ve given so much to the world in the field of medicine and other sciences, but are not the favored child of many countries anymore. Now when we defend ourselves from constant attacks, we are condemned for it. Though the world has become unfair and kowtows to the Arab states who hold much of the world’s oil, we cannot give up hope. We’ve just begun to fight.

Resource: Book: Genesis 1948 by Dan Kurzman
Book: Legends of Safed by Dov Silverman

Deir Yassin: What Happened

 

Nadene Goldfoot
Deir Yassin was a village inhabited by Arabs near Jerusalem. Israel was born through the United Nations vote on May 14, 1948, but an Arab blockade of Jerusalem lasted five months and only surrendered on May 29, 1948. The UN had decided that Jerusalem would be an international city. 2,500 Jews were living in the Old City and were starving. Jewish convoys tried to reach them with food as the situation was critical by April. Arabs had been ambushing convoys since December.

The supply route was a highway from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Arabs tried to cut it off and controlled several important points; the villages of Kastel and Deir Yassin. These villages overlooked the highway and allowed the Arabs to fire on the convoys of food.

The Jewish leaders of Lehi and the Irgun planned on attacking Deir Yassin. Haganah commander David Shaltiel told them that was fine with him as long as they can hold the village. He told them not to blow up the village because then the population would leave and it would be occupied by foreign forces. The Irgun attacked it on April 9 when the Haganah was battling for Kastel, the first major Irgun attack against the Arabs. Before this time, Irgun and Lehi were fighting against the British.

Irgun leader was Menachem Begin, later to become Prime Minister of Israel. The assault was done by 100 members of Irgun, but others recall it amounted to 132 men from both Irgun and the Stern Group. They were told by Mordechai Raanan, Irgun commander, not to loot or kill unarmed civilians. He said, "If a dog bites you, you as a man shouldn’t act like a dog. I would not expect you to bite a dog."

Begin stated that they warned the village with a loudspeaker at the entrance from a small open truck. The civilians were told to evacuate, and many took heed. Many writers of this incident say the warning wasn’t given as the truck rolled into a ditch before it could broadcast. With the Irgun attacking from the east and the south, the Sternists came in from the north. The leaders all thought the village would fall without a shot being fired. This was their first attempt to attack the Arabs.

Residents opened fire on the attackers. The battle was "ferocious" and took several hours. The Irgun lost 4 men and had 41 injured. They then escorted a representative of the Red Cross through the town and held a press conference. The New York Times agreed with Begin’s description. More than 200 Arabs were killed, 40 captured and 70 women and children were released. The report mentioned No massacre.

Dan Kurzman wrote in "Genesis 1948" that the Jewish report was that 250 out of 400 village inhabitants were killed and Arabs say only 110 out of 1,000 were killed. Bir Zeit, a West Bank university, recently did a study based on discussions with each family from the village and came to the conclusion that 107 Arab casualies occurred.
The Jews opened an escape corridor from the village so that more than 200 residents left unharmed. The remaining Arabs pretended to surrender and then fired on the Jewish troops. Some Jews then killed Arab soldiers and civilians indiscriminately. They found Arab men disguised as women among the bodies.

When the Jewish Agency learned of the attack, they immediately expressed its "horror and disgust." It also sent a letter expressing the Agency’s shock and disapproval to Transjordan’s King Abdullah. However, Deir Yassin has been used by Arabs as a place where Jews massacred them. In fact, the Arab Higher Committee hoped that the exaggerated report about a massacre at Deir Yassin would cause the surrounding Arab countries to put pressure on their governments to intervene in Palestine. Instead, it caused an exodus of Palestinians from the region out of fear.

Four days after the reports, an Arab force ambushed a Jewish convoy on the way to Hadassah Hospital and killed 34 Jews which included doctors, nurses, patients, and the director of the hospital. 23 others were injured. This indeed was a massacre, but attracted little attention and is never mentioned by the Arabs that bring up Deir Yassin.  Just because it has lower number than what happened in Deir Yassin doesn't make it less of a massacre in that the medical personnel were not fighting the Arabs.  They were not attacking them.  They were civilians bringing medical aid.

500 Jews were killed in the first four months following Israel’s declared birth on May 14th, 1948. Jews did not run away from their reborn state.

Arabs knew that Jews were not trying to annihilate them. They were allowed to leave Tiberias, Haifa or any other towns captured by the Jews. They were able to go to nearby Arab states. Jews had no place to run to if they wanted. They stayed and fought to the death. They knew that the Arabs wanted to destroy them all. They knew because Secretary-General of the Arab League Azzam Pasha made it clear on the eve of the war; "The Arabs intend to conduct a war of extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres and the Crusades."

Reference: Myths and Facts: a concise record of the Arab-Israeli conflict by Mitchell G. Bard, Phd.
Genesis 1948 by Dan Kurzman