The Nabka (Hondamendia)

Al-Nakba: The Palestinian catastrophe

“The Nakba did not begin in 1948. Its origins lie over two centuries ago….”

So begins this four-part series on the ‘nakba’, meaning the ‘catastrophe’, about the history of the Palestinian exodus that led to the first Arab-Israeli war in 1948, and the establishment of the state of Israel.

This sweeping history starts back in 1799 with Napoleon’s attempted advance into Palestine to check British expansion and his appeal to the Jews of the world to reclaim their land in league with France.

The narrative moves through the 19th century and into the 20th century with the British Mandate in Palestine and comes right up to date in the 21st century and the ongoing ‘nakba’ on the ground.

Arab, Israeli and Western intellectuals, historians and eye-witnesses provide the central narrative which is accompanied by archive material and documents, many only recently released for the first time.

For Palestinians, 1948 marks the ‘nakba’ or the ‘catastrophe’, when hundreds of thousands were forced out of their homes.

But for Israelis, the same year marks the creation of their own state.

This series attempts to present an understanding of the events of the past that are still shaping the present.

This story starts in 1799, outside the walls of Acre in Ottoman-controlled Palestine, when an army under Napoleon Bonaparte besieged the city. It was all part of a campaign to defeat the Ottomans and establish a French presence in the region.

In search of allies, Napoleon issued a letter offering Palestine as a homeland to the Jews under French protection. He called on the Jews to ‘rise up’ against what he called their oppressors.

Napoleon’s appeal was widely publicised. But he was ultimately defeated. In Acre today, the only memory of him is a statue atop a hill overlooking the city.

Yet Napoleon’s project for a Jewish homeland in the region under a colonial protectorate did not die, 40 years later, the plan was revived but by the British.

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1948 for palestinians that year is enactma or

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the catastrophe

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when hundreds of thousands were forced out of their homes

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for israelis that year marks the creation of the state of israel

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as a filmmaker and as a palestinian this documentary series was my way to understand

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the events of the past that are still shaping the present

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do

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our story starts here in 1799 outside the walls of acre in

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ottoman-controlled palestine an army under napoleon bonaparte

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besieged the city all part of a campaign to defeat the ottomans

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and establish a french presence in the region in search of allies napoleon issued a

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letter offering palestine as a homeland to the jews under french protection

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he called on the jews to rise up against what he called their oppressors

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napoleon’s appeal was widely publicized but he was ultimately defeated

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in acre today the only memory of him is a statue atop a hill overlooking the city yet napoleon’s

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project for a jewish homeland in the region under a colonial protectorate did not

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die forty years later the plan was revived by the british

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this time as a means of thwarting the rising power of egyptian governor muhammad ali

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in 1840 british foreign secretary lord palmerston wrote to his ambassador in constantinople urging him

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to convince the sultan and his entourage to open palestine for the immigration of jews

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at that time there were estimated to be no more than 3 000 jews in ottoman-controlled palestine

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over the years jewish immigration to palestine increased helped on by wealthy benefactors one of

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these was the french aristocrat baron edmund de rothschild he began visiting palestine in the 1880s

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and became one of the jewish community’s leading sponsors he spent over 14 million french francs

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to establish 30 jewish settlements the most important was richard led zeon

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founded in 1882 today the remains of baron de child lie

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in a mausoleum in northern israel it’s a popular site for israeli school children

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learning about the wealthy patron who bankrolled jewish settlement building in palestine

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over 100 years ago in 1885 the term zionism was first

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coined by austrian writer nathan birnbaum it’s derived from the word zion one of

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the biblical names for jerusalem zionism came to mean the establishment of a

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jewish homeland in palestine but not all jews supported this

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money

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yeah in 1896 theodore herzl an austro-hungarian

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journalist wrote a book called the jewish state it is considered one of the most

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important texts of early zionism herzl envisioned the founding of a

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future independent jewish state during the 20th century his colleague

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max nordau sent two rabbis to palestine to investigate the prospects for a jewish

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state there their report concluded the bride is

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beautiful but she is married to another man

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the rabbis understood that palestine’s spouse was the palestinian society rooted in

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its soil

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in 1897 herzl with birenbaum and nordau convened the first zionist

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congress in the swiss city of basel the congress adopted a programme for the

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establishment of a homeland for the jewish people in palestine

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within

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in 1907 the british government set up a committee to devise a strategy toward the muslim

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arab population of the ottoman empire the committee’s report

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submitted to british prime minister henry campbell bannerman in 1907 recommended establishing a so-called

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buffer state in palestine the report proposed this state be hostile to its neighbors

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and friendly to europe the aim was to divide the region and so assure britain’s continued

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imperial dominance

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home in 1907 heim weissmann a chemist who had

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emerged as a leader among british zionists visited palestine for the first time

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he set out to establish a company in jaffa to develop the land of palestine

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a practical means to pursue the zionist dream of building a jewish state

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his venture was supported by baron de rothschild within three years a major deal was

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struck the jewish national fund set up to buy land in palestine

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purchased some ten thousand dunhams in the maj bin amer region of northern palestine

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the sale to the jewish national fund had dire consequences for the thousands of palestinian farmers

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living on the land

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foreign a more uh drastic form of colonialism

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than the average classical european colonialism in the sense that their purpose was actually not so

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only to exploit the locals but to drive them out from the very early

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moment the zionist movement targeted palestine as the the place for

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jewish independence and statehood and it was clear that there were palestinians on the land

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uh zionists leaders and common people alike were got used to the idea that the only way

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of making palestine a jewish state is by causing the palestinians leave

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a jewish militia known as hashemer was established to protect the growing number of jewish settlements

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jews held demonstrations to demand the recognition of hebrew as an official language under ottoman

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rule

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surya

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a palestinian pharmacist began publishing a newspaper called al carmel in it he warned of zionism

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as a movement aimed at displacing the palestinians he wrote the jewish state would be a

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poisonous dagger in the heart of the arabs the outbreak of world war 1

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in 1914 created new opportunities to

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um in 1915 a secret memorandum was

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presented to the british cabinet under the title the future of palestine

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it was drafted by herbert samuel a british politician and zionist committed to palestine becoming a home

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for the jewish people in the document samuel advised that the

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time was not right for the establishment of an autonomous jewish state in palestine

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he recommended instead that palestine be annexed to the british empire

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describing this as the most welcome solution to the supporters of the zionist movement

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he expressed the hope that under british rule and over time more jews would settle in the land and

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grow into a majority among what he called the muhammadans of arab race

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samuel’s recommendations were taken into account in the secret british french agreement

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formulated by british politician sir mark sykes and french diplomat francois georges

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pico the sykes pico agreement opened the way for the establishment

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of a jewish state in 1917 the british cabinet headed by

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prime minister david lloyd george pledged to establish a homeland for the jews in palestine

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the pledge came in the form of a letter from the british foreign secretary arthur balfour to the influential

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british zionist lord walter rothschild

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britain had no moral or political or legal right to promise

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the land that belonged to the arabs to another people so the balfour declaration was both

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immoral and illegal a month after balfour’s pledge a meeting

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took place in london to celebrate the declaration speakers included lord rothschild

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herbert samuel mark sykes and haim weissmann

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just several days later on december the 11th 1917 the british army commanded by

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general edmund allenby captured jerusalem

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entering the holy city alongside allenby was a jewish military unit established under british auspices

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one member of this unit was david ben-gurion who would later be israel’s first prime

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minister the unit also included zev japotinsky a future zionist leader

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as well as nehemiah rabin soon to be father of young boy yitzhak rabin

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within a month general allenby welcomed heim weissmann in jerusalem there were

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approximately 50 000 jews in palestine at this time 10 percent of the population among half

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a million arabs the great war ended in 1918 and

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preparations were made for a peace conference in paris president of the united states woodrow

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wilson commissioned an investigation into the non-turkish areas of the former ottoman empire

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the commission was headed by the academic dr henry king and the politician charles crane

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when it was eventually published the crane king report proved to be political dynamite the

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report stated that the non-jewish population of palestine nearly nine

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tenths of the whole was emphatically against the zionist program

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the report went on to warn that anti-zionist feeling in palestine and syria was intense and not likely to be flouted

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it divulged conversations with british officers who suggested a force of not less than 50 000 soldiers would be

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required to initiate the zionist program the authors judged all this as

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evidence of what they described as a strong sense of the injustice of the zionist program

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the report concluded jewish immigration should be definitely limited and the project for making palestine

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distinctly a jewish commonwealth should be given up the crane king report

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fell on death ears

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at the paris peace conference in 1919 britain was represented by prime minister david lloyd george

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and arthur balfour a delegation from the zionist organization attended headed by haim weissman

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they presented a map seen here proposing the area to be allocated for a jewish homeland the map included

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both palestine and the east bank of the jordan river as well as parts of what are today

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southern lebanon and syria parallel to the conference the leader of the arab delegation prince

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faisal bin hussein signed with the zionist delegation’s leader what became known as the faisal

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weissmann agreement it outlined faisal’s approval for a jewish homeland in palestine

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and an arab nation in the larger middle east the agreement was mediated by lieutenant

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colonel thomas edward lawrence known as lawrence of arabia

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faisal signed adding in his own handwriting that the agreement be dependent on the arabs gaining their

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independence

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is

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habilihood in 1920 the first british high commissioner for palestine was

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appointed controversially london selected herbert samuel for the post

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samuel was a committed zionist many suspected he would set out to implement

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what he had proposed five years earlier by favouring jewish immigration to transform palestine into a jewish

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homeland in 1922 the league of nations formalized british rule in palestine

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the second clause of the british mandate document approved by the league of nations stipulated the british mandatory shall

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be responsible for placing the country under political administrative and economic conditions

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that will secure the establishment of the jewish national home

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british high commissioner herbert samuel decreed hebrew as an official language of palestine

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alongside arabic and english the letters e and y were added to the word palestine in

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hebrew as an abbreviation of the words eretz israel meaning land of israel

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britain provided the muscle um under which they could simply emigrate i mean they couldn’t

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have immigrated were it not for the british presence

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because the um the crucial battle in the early stages was simply getting jews into palestine

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and acquiring land they couldn’t have done that without british government’s sponsorship

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palestinians viewed the british mandatory authority and british troops on the ground as

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siding with the jews more and more palestinian farmers

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expelled from farmlands began to join newly formed revolutionary groups

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in 1921 palestinians organized large demonstrations against jewish immigration

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at that time the palestinian leadership was in effect hereditary within one family the grand mufti of

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jerusalem amin al-husseini inherited his position at the age of 25

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following the death of his brother who had in turn succeeded their father

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the leadership sent successive delegations to london to discuss the palestinian question

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is

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the changes on the ground in palestine can be noted in the british government’s report to the council of the league of

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nations in 1925. the document reported the immigration of more than 33

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000 jews who were granted palestinian nationality this was three times the figure of the

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previous year thirteen new settlements were built according to the report

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a jewish labor union called the histadrut had been set up under the direction of david ben-gurion

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and the jewish town of tel aviv was accorded municipal autonomy in addition the hebrew university was

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officially opened in 1925 at a ceremony attended by british high commissioner

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herbert samuel the former british foreign secretary arthur balfour and the head of the

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zionist organization heim weissmann as weissmann’s guest balfour visited a

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number of jewish settlements in jerusalem he met with samuel and alan b

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the two men who had helped implement the policy he himself had laid out eight years earlier in the famous

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balfour declaration

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the palestinians went on strike to protest against balfour’s visit

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they raised black flags to signal their opposition to the policies balfour had set in train

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the palestinians were in somber mood not so the zionists

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say

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weissmann congratulated samuel for his work towards the establishment of a national jewish homeland

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the zionist movement was active in its propaganda this film in french showed the map of

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palestine with areas highlighted as land the zionists claimed to have acquired as of 1925.

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the film also shows the areas zionists planned to acquire within the next 25 years

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in the summer of 1929 ardent zionist groups organized a gathering at the wailing

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wall in jerusalem known to the palestinians as al-buraq

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the incident ignited violent demonstrations called the burak revolt led by a palestinian farmer named farhan

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al-sadi more than 100 arabs and jews were killed on both sides

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sir john chancellor the new british high commissioner in palestine issued a strongly worded memorandum

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calling for all those who took part in the revolt to be severely punished three

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palestinians were arrested and accused of participating in the revolt they were

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fuad hassan hijazi from safad atta ahmed al-zir from hebron

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and muhammad khalil jamjum whose picture could not be found

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the three men were jailed here at acre prison the british sentenced them to death

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arab delegations pleaded for their sentences to be commuted but on june the 17th 1930 the british

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authorities had the three men executed a cemetery in acre still contains the

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graves of the three men in a final statement before their execution they had written

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at the end of our lives we say to the arab leaders and muslims all over the world do not

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trust the foreigners we lived and died for the arab cause

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such sentiments of anti-colonialism and pan-arabism would become increasingly common in

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subsequent decades

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during the first 10 years of the british mandate the number of jews in palestine more than doubled to reach 175 000

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zionists all over the world we’re proud of their achievement

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i am here today to ask you my fellow zionists which attitude shall we take

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which of the possible attitudes that we face shall be our own

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i would say to england though i am only an american jew but an old time

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reverencing admirer of great britain i would say to england if i could

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an arab palestine is a threat to great britain and a menace to

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the world a jewish palestine is an asset to great

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written and a blessing for the world

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god with heim weissmann beside him former british prime minister david lloyd

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george reaffirmed his own zionist credentials

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it is as your german has reminded you

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it is nearly 16 years since he recruited me to the zionist

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movement palestine baron and malarial swamps

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have been converted into happy settlements science has been harnessed

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to water which had been running wild in waste since the early days of

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creation without vegetation and without life

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empty desertion that is palestine british news bulletins at the time described palestine

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as akin to a desert the reality was very different

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happy

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british politicians of the early 20th century had a distorted view of palestinian society

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frequently labeling it as [ __ ] despite the population including over 100

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000 palestinian christians they did not regard them as yet belonging to

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either an arab national group in general or to local national groups uh

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the only way they were able to view them was as a religious uh group of believers so i think they

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they missed the point for instance that christians and muslims actually founded a new identity

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and not a religious one but the national one

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is

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for

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by 1933 protests against jewish immigration were becoming ever more frequent in palestine women

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took part side by side with men the british authorities cracked down on demonstrations

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and arrested thousands many were killed and wounded

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the 80 year old former mayor of jerusalem was beaten by british soldiers during a demonstration in jaffa he later

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died of his injuries the british authorities became ever more heavy-handed

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this letter was written by a palestinian policeman condemning the behavior of his british senior officer

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john faraday

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a number of other complaints were filed against faraday the officer was never charged

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four years later faraday was awarded the king’s police medal for his valuable services in palestine

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in

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only still images of the palestinian demonstrations are available in the archives

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movie cameras did capture jewish life in palestine as well as british pomp and ceremony

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this footage shows the star of david flagg over the tel aviv municipality building

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this is footage of work in the diamond factories of tel aviv and this footage shows the flow of new

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immigrants and the building of new

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settlements footage of palestinian life in the early

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20th century proved more difficult to find

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a palestinian film archive had once existed but had since been lost or gone

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mysteriously missing we spent months searching for pictures

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of palestinian lives eventually in the vaults of the british

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library we found glimpses of this bygone era

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most of the palestinians intellectuals leaders journalists were still unaware how determined the

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zionist movement is of dispossessing them from palestine in the 1930s

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the number of jews immigrating to palestine began to increase significantly from 4 000 in 1931

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the figure jumped to 9500 the following year in 1933 the number rose to 30

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000 in 1934 42 000 and in 1935 a further jump

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to 62 thousand that same year palestinian poet abdul raheem mahmoud

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wrote a poem which he read aloud to prince saubin abdul aziz of saudi arabia who was

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visiting jerusalem he asked did you come to visit the holy

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axa mosque or to bid it farewell before it is lost

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foreign

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a revolutionary group to strike at zionist and british targets in 1935 in the hills near janine

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he and a small band of men were surrounded by british forces making a defiant stand al qasam and

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those with him were killed

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the palestinian political leadership came under pressure to halt negotiations with the british

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palestinian poet ibrahim tukan addressed a poem to the leadership in 1935

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a poem dripping with iron oh you sincere patriots you who carry

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the heavy burden of the cause only a fragment of the country remains for us

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so please step down before the remaining parts fly away

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on april 19th 1936 palestinian anger boiled over protests erupted in the city

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of jaffa in coordination with a general strike the wave of anger spread throughout palestine the reasons

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for the protests were explained by a spokesman for the palestinian political leadership

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the main case of the arabs is against the british government’s policy in palestine

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a policy which if continued will surely have as a result the replacement of the arabs

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by the jews against all principles the british government imposed the

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balfour declaration which is abhorred by all arabs in the near

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east and on favoring the establishment of a national home

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for jews for god intentionally to safeguard the civil rights of the

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non-jewish population the arabs who decided on a general and a complete strike until

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the total and immediate stoppage of jewish immigration is brought about and until the government introduces an

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essential change in its present qualities

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utility

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the 1936 revolt shocked the british mandatory authorities who carried out harsh punitive actions

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anyone suspected of links with the revolutionaries was arrested their homes destroyed in jaffa alone

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more than 200 houses were demolished as a collective punishment

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demolitions in other villages and cities followed the british insisted that destroying

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palestinian houses was justified as a means to end the

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revolt

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foreign

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foreign

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during the arab revolt david ben-gurion then a prominent leader of the zionist movement

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reportedly made a startling suggestion to the british high commissioner arthur warhol ben-gurion is said

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to have suggested all palestinians expelled from their land by jewish settlement building

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should be resettled in neighboring trans jordan the british high commissioner is

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reported to have replied that this was in his words a good idea

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Transkripzioa:

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1948 for palestinians that here is a neckbag

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or the catastrophe

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when hundreds of thousands were forced out of their homes

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for israelis that year marks the creation of the state of israel

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as a filmmaker and as a palestinian this documentary series was my way to

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understand the events of the past that are still shaping the present

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on april 19th 1936 the palestinians launched a national strike

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to protest against mass jewish immigration and what they saw as britain’s alliance with the zionist

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movement the british responded with force

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during the six months of the strike over 190 palestinians were killed

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and more than 800 wounded wary of popular revolt arab leaders

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advised the palestinians to end the strike

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is

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palestinian leaders bowed to pressure from the arab heads of state and agreed to meet the british royal

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commission of inquiry headed by lord peel

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in its report of july 1937 the peel commission recommended the partition

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of palestine the report drew the frontiers of a jewish state in one third of palestine and an arab

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state in the remaining two thirds to be merged with trans-jordan

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corridor of land from jerusalem to jaffa would remain under british mandate

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the commission also recommended transferring were necessary palestinians from the lands allocated to

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the new jewish state the commission’s proposals were widely published and provoked

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heated debate

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commissioner

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foreign

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especially from the late 1930s onwards they did start to discuss it very intensively but

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still secretly so i think it wasn’t possible for many palestinians to know

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what we know today as historians because it was in the archives

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of

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as the palestinian revolt continued britain’s response hardened between 1936 and 1937

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the british killed over 1 000 palestinians 37 british military police and 69 jews

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also died in september 1937 britain declared

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martial law and disbanded the main palestinian political organ the arab higher committee headed by the

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mufti of jerusalem hajj amin al-husseini five of its members were exiled to the

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seychelles islands in the indian ocean a remote british colony one of these was

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the mayor of jerusalem hussein al-khalidi outcast in the

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seychelles he wrote a diary condemning british policy and its support for zionism

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in october 1937 fearing imprisonment hajj amin al-husseini and other

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palestinian leaders fled to lebanon the political leadership of the palestinians was now

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in exile

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a school textbook from this period shows what palestinian school children were learning

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the book defines palestine as bordering lebanon egypt syria trans-jordan and the

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mediterranean sea within 10 years all this was to change

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the revolt continued despite the absence of the palestinian leadership

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to crush the protests britain sent in

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reinforcements

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foreign

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british troops spared no effort in seeking to disarm the palestinians

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this included widespread searches for

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weapons

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is

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foreign

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foreign

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foreign

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among those arrested by the british was savage nasar wife of the newspaper editor najeeb

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nassar arrested without charge she spent 11 months in prison

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before being released as the death toll rose during the revolt

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the palestinian press captured the mood of its community this cartoon provides an example

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it depicts the leaders of the zionist movement building their state on a foundation of human skulls

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while the british authorities disarmed the palestinians they armed and equipped special jewish

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forces to ostensibly act as a protective militia for jewish settlements

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the palestinians saw this as further evidence of british bias and injustice

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in 1938 an underground zionist paramilitary organization called ergon began to increase the number of

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attacks against arab targets in july of that year the group carried

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out a succession of bombings in civilian areas in haifa and jerusalem 68 palestinians

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were killed

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there it is

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in some cases british officers were actively engaged in training jewish paramilitaries

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a jewish paramilitary force called hagana was trained by ord wingate a british officer and ardent supporter

14:22

of zionism odd winger was very racist towards the arabs during his role as a

14:29

british army officer in the arab revolt that he decided to append to his units jewish soldiers

14:37

and he taught them how to occupy palestinian villages expel them destroy

14:42

them and i think in many ways he contributed directly to the ideas of ethnic cleansing that

14:48

would be perpetrated on the ground in 1948 volunteers plus three officers

14:55

in 1976 bbc ran a tv series about wingate’s life containing a scene on his

15:01

activities in palestine using a combined force of british and jewish personnel british soldiers and

15:08

haganah men will assemble at 1900 hours

15:14

15th of may 1938

15:31

later israel’s defense minister looked up to ald wingate as a mentor wingate organized

15:38

special night raids of armed haganah and british volunteers against palestinian villages suspected

15:44

of harboring revolutionaries

16:06

foreign

16:20

foreign

16:37

the palestinian resistance leader in the janine area was farhan al-sadi the nablus region

16:43

was commanded by muhammad salla al-hamad who was killed in may 1938

16:50

abdel fattah mustafa took over command in jerusalem the palestinian commander

16:55

was abdel kadar al-hiseni in jaffa hassan salama

17:01

by 1938 the palestinians were beginning to form into more coordinated groups in

17:06

their uprising against british occupation and jewish immigration the commander-in-chief of the

17:13

revolutionaries was abdul rahim al-hajj muhammad

18:37

warned that if the palestinian political leadership did not toughen its stance then the

18:43

revolution would be defeated a few days later abdul rahim was killed

18:48

in an ambush set up by the british in the village of sanur

18:54

abdul rahim left behind him four suns

19:47

between 1938 and 1939 the british held dozens of military tribunals 112 palestinians

19:56

were executed among them fahan al-sadi the 80-year-old revolutionary from

20:03

janine executed during the muslim holy month of

20:18

ramadan

20:40

one such palestinian patriot or troublemaker was the greek catholic bishop of aker

20:46

gregorus hajjar he had warned against the jews wishing to take over palestine

20:54

bishop hajjah is known as the bishop of the arabs in 1940 he was killed in a car crash on

21:01

the way to haifa local police reports suggested it was not an accident

21:08

today he is held in esteem by both christian and muslim palestinians

21:28

foreign

21:56

in addition to the targeting of its leaders the revolution was also infiltrated

23:06

is

23:34

baritani

23:42

the palestinian revolt lasted from 1936 to 1939. in that period

23:49

an estimated 5 000 palestinians were killed and 14 000 wounded

23:56

some 100 british soldiers and 400 jews also died during the revolt

24:51

the palestinian society was leaderless in many many ways both militarily and politically and

24:58

although there was a palestinian leadership in exile it had very loose connection to the

25:04

events inside palestine so i think it is fair to say that from 1939 onwards there isn’t a

25:10

real palestinian leadership on the ground and this is one of the reasons that contributed to what happened

25:17

in 1948. the battle for palestine was lost by the palestinians

25:23

not in 1948 but in the late 1930s because britain

25:30

completely smashed to the ground the arab revolt and the arab irregular forces

25:37

in 1939 britain held a conference at st james’s palace in london to discuss the

25:43

partition of palestine the arab and jewish delegations refused to sit at the same table

26:25

after five weeks of talks the conference failed in delivering the goal of bringing peace to palestine

26:34

later that year the world was again at war

26:39

soon after the outbreak of world war ii jews in palestine were permitted to

26:44

enlist in the british army fighters from the hagenar paramilitary

26:50

group were trained by the british they would later form the core of the israeli army

27:04

imam

28:00

um

28:14

is

28:28

um

28:43

in palestine according to israeli historian elan pape jewish groups initiated an intriguing

28:50

intelligence gathering operation the first stage was the collection of

28:56

material about every village in palestine this was called the village files

29:01

project and they were quite amazing because they had information of every village

29:06

in palestine mainly about the details of how good

29:12

actually would be to take it over so there’s a lot of information about the quality of the land

29:18

how rich the people were to the extent that they even knew how many fruit are on each tree

29:24

there is on each tree uh what were the political affiliation of people how easy or how difficult it would be to occupy

29:32

it so they started gathering in the 30s or in the late 30s in the late 30s and early 1940s yes they

29:39

were actually using uh exploiting arab hospitality because if you come to

29:45

a village in palestine it doesn’t matter who you are you’re invited and they use that hospitality in order

29:50

to spy around and especially what they needed were two things one is to know how

29:55

how to access the village later on in order to occupy it and uh to know what the village had in

30:02

terms of assets and so on that when they occupied that people would not you know run away with

30:07

what the zionists wanted for themselves

30:13

zionists were keen to increase the number of jews coming to palestine but following the saint james conference

30:20

in 1939 the british imposed limitations on jewish immigration

30:26

this change in british policy was met with opposition

30:32

in 1940 a french-built ocean liner patria was at haifa harbour carrying 1800

30:39

jewish refugees who had earlier arrived from nazi-occupied europe

30:44

the british were deporting them to mauritius to prevent this the hagenar group

30:50

planted a bomb on board to disable the ship a large hole was blown into the side of the ship

30:56

and some 260 people on board died when the boat sank

31:02

details of this operation were disclosed 17 years later by the hagenar member who had planted the bomb

31:10

the british was struggling to contain the situation in palestine meanwhile in new york in may 1942

31:17

an important meeting took place at the biltmore hotel some 600 prominent american delegates

31:23

and zionist leaders attended the meeting was prompted by the realization that america

31:30

not britain would henceforth play a part in the fulfillment of zionist designs attendees

31:36

included david ben-gurion the head of the jewish agency and heim weissmann president of the

31:42

zionist organization

32:43

the biltmore declaration outlined support for what it called the establishment of a jewish commonwealth in all of

32:50

palestine it condemned britain’s limits on jewish immigration

32:55

other americans raised concerns about the zionist program in 1943 general patrick hurley

33:03

a former secretary of war submitted a report to president roosevelt following a visit to palestine and a

33:10

meeting with ben gurion in jerusalem in the report hurley was highly

33:16

skeptical of the zionist agenda he summarized its expansionist aims

33:23

zionist organization in palestine has indicated its commitment to an enlarged program

33:29

for one a sovereign jewish state which would embrace palestine

33:34

and probably eventually trans jordan two the eventual transfer of the arab

33:40

population from palestine to iraq three jewish leadership for the entire middle

33:47

east in the fields of economic development and control zionist supporters in

33:54

america were undeterred in 1944 the world jewish conference met in

34:00

atlantic city in the state of new jersey the speeches left little doubt about their drive

34:06

to see the establishment of a jewish commonwealth in palestine

34:16

means nothing more than justice to the jew freedom for the jew equality of the

34:25

jewish people with all the free peoples of earth

34:30

if the real solution of the jewish problem cannot be brought about unless the jewish people will be

34:36

given the right and will be held by the united nations to establish palestine

34:42

once and for all

34:49

this conference appeals to the united nations to ensure that the general scheme of

34:56

post-war reconstruction shall include the establishment of palestine

35:02

as a free and democratic jewish commonwealth in 1945 following the end of world war

35:10

ii u.s president harry truman appeared to encourage the zionist agenda

35:15

by recommending the 100 000 displaced jews in europe be allowed to emigrate to palestine

35:23

always hoping that we’ll finally arrive at the peace in the world which we anticipated when we

35:29

created the united nations that’s the only reason back in palestine britain was maintaining its new policy

35:36

of limiting jewish immigration as a result the different jewish paramilitaries decided to begin

35:43

coordinating attacks against the british military the main jewish force the haganah agreed

35:50

to work with the ergon and sterngang the jewish resistance movement

35:55

was formed david ben-gurion persuaded members of the jewish community in

36:00

america to fund the purchase of arms manufacturing machinery so that the hagana could produce its own

36:10

weapons

36:27

meanwhile palestinian politician musa al-alami went on a tour of the arab world

36:33

in arab capitals he discovered complacency towards the situation in

36:38

palestine the general view being that the arabs vastly outnumbered the jews

36:44

and could control the jewish minority

36:51

for their part the british realized how volatile the situation had become in palestine

36:57

they began to evacuate british families discussions went on between the zionist

37:04

movement and the british authorities documents reveal that heim weissmann held secret conversations in march

37:11

and july of 1946 with the british high commissioner alan cunningham in these talks they

37:18

discussed the partition of palestine and how the parts of a viable israeli state should be linked up

37:25

giving it control of both the negev desert and the waters of galilee

37:31

on the ground in palestine the british army continued to confiscate arms from both sides in the first half

37:38

of 1946 over 300 palestinians were arrested for the possession of weapons

37:46

at this time the grand mufti of jerusalem amin al-husseini was in france he had spent the war years

37:53

in italy and germany hoping the axis countries would win world war ii and that their victory

37:59

would herald independence for palestine

38:51

in may 1946 the mufti went to egypt to participate in a summit meeting

38:57

of arab leaders the newly formed arab league’s first item of agenda was to coordinate a

39:04

response to the situation in palestine a follow-up meeting of arab foreign

39:09

ministers was held in blue dan syria present as an observer was the

39:14

director of british military intelligence in the middle east brigadier ilted clayton meanwhile back

39:21

in palestine the british army was now the target of an increasing number of attacks from

39:26

jewish paramilitary groups against british restrictions

39:32

extremists wreck a train on the outskirts of jerusalem armed crew men inspect the hole where

39:37

the explosion which caused the wreck occurred and guards patrol the area the continued

39:44

violence and death ride the ancient streets of jerusalem and hear the climax blasting of police

39:50

headquarters three men lost their lives in this attack a roving band shot up the station first then launched

39:56

high explosives soldiers combed the debris for other dead as turmoil seized in the cradle of

40:02

brotherly love new high commissioner cunningham investigates tommy’s patrol the streets

40:07

and quiet descends isn’t the calm before another storm the king david hotel in jerusalem

40:14

site of the largest and most audacious attack on the british mandate forces

40:20

the building was used by the british as their administrative and military headquarters

40:28

on july the 22nd 1946 a huge explosion demolished the entire

40:34

southwest side of the hotel 91 people were killed

40:44

the attack was carried out by ergon the jewish paramilitary group the king david hotel was not to be their

40:52

last target on march the 1st 1947 ergun blew up the

40:57

british officers club at goldsmith house in jerusalem jewish terrorist gang to intimidate authority 16 persons die

41:06

and 13 others are injured as extremists blow up the officers club in an unremitting campaign of violence

41:13

universal’s cameraman on the scene minutes after the explosion records the stunned and shaken victims

41:19

as they are carried from the wreckage few of the 50 officer inmates of the club escaped injury

41:24

as extremists undercover rifle fire hurled explosive laden suitcases through the windows and doors of the building

41:32

several of the injured died later of their wounds the club is a shambles a reprisal for the deportation of jews

41:39

from haifa in july 1947 ergon kidnapped two british

41:45

sergeants clifford martin and mervin pace they were abducted as retaliation for

41:52

the arrest and scheduled execution of three ergon members the british

41:57

authorities carried out the executions of the three jewish militants the following day

42:03

the two british soldiers were found hanging in a field near netanya just follow the hanging of two british

42:10

sergeants by extremists palestine becomes an armed camp

42:15

sad hanging of the two british army sergeants probably

42:22

accelerated the speedy exodus from publish to another british

42:28

monday the graves of the british soldiers can still be found in a british military

42:34

cemetery in ramler south of tel aviv

42:50

following the so-called sergeants affairs british forces in palestine went on a heightened state of alert

43:02

the leader of ergon was menachem began the group’s symbol contained the map of

43:08

a jewish state that encompassed the whole of palestine as well as trans-jordan

43:13

25 high-ranking officials of the year gunsville me and stern gang were arrested british authorities

43:19

arrested bagan after distributing his photo with the slogan wanted for murder

43:35

thirty years later bagan became the prime minister of israel

43:57

in 1978 begin was awarded the nobel peace prize along with egypt’s president anwar

44:06

al-sadat

44:13

during the last eight years of the british mandate in palestine british documents recorded over 500

44:19

attacks by underground jewish groups these included parcel bombs

44:24

sent to british officials on january the 12th 1947

44:29

another jewish group the stern gang parked a truck loaded with explosives outside a british police station

44:38

from haifa come pictures showing the result of the recent outrage that shattered the brief lull in terrorist activity

44:44

the incident was caused by a man believed by some to be one of the stern gang this time driving a stolen van full of explosives

44:51

to police headquarters where it blew up two british and two arab policemen were killed

44:56

and others are reported missing more than 60 police soldiers and civilians were injured

45:06

many of the casualties were caused by flying glass and a great deal of damage was done not only at police headquarters but also

45:12

in the neighborhood windows were broken as far as a mile away

45:17

former british prime minister winston churchill who had been a prominent and enthusiastic supporter of zionism

45:24

condemned the attack

45:31

with attacks on british troops escalating the british felt increasingly beleaguered in palestine

45:44

and

46:16

in february 1947 britain announced the decision to end its mandate in palestine

46:23

its spokesman said his country would turn over the difficult situation to the united nations

46:29

british public opinion will permit no more expenditure of life and treasure

46:38

it will acquiesce no longer in the use of british forces and the squandering of british

46:44

lives to impose a policy in palestine which one or other of the parties is

46:51

determined to resist it is brought down on our heads the execration of the jews

46:58

and the bitter resentment of the arabs it has made us the butt of malicious

47:03

criticism throughout the world we have played our part

47:09

britain was now washing its hands of palestine setting in motion events that would lead

47:15

towards the momentous year of 1948

47:29

you

(Segituko du)