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Holmes 1 Kiana Holmes Mr Neuburger Eng Comp 101-103 8 June 2011 Israeli's War of Independence Since the time

of the Roman Empire the Arabs and Jews have been fighting over land they both believe to be theirs. Wars of fury and hatred filled the land and still do to this day. Jews dreams of someday being reunited with their birthplace began to seem more possible when the Holocaust ended. Millions of Jewish survivors had no place to call home, and the Zionist in Palestine was willing to take them, but at what cost? During the Israelis War of Independence, Albert Einstein stated, "It would be my greatest sadness to see Zionists (Jews) do to Palestinian Arabs much of what Nazis did to Jews." (qtd. Albert Einstein, "Israel Is Guilty of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity | NowPublic News Coverage."). In the fall of 1944 the Holocaust had ended, and immigration began. Nearly ten million survivors were free to go, and that was a haunting thought to many. Where were they free to go to? Katarzyna Person states that the creation of displaced camps for survivors, who were called displaced persons, was made in November of 1944. DP camps were there until they could return to their home countries. Within a year more than half of the displaced persons had either gone home or immigrated elsewhere, but there was still over two million left. Unwilling to return home due to fighting and wars still going on, they remained in the DP camps. Over time surrounding countries began to allow more immigrants into their countries, but Palestine remained closed. Palestine was the preferred country for Jewish displaced persons, and the Jewish community in Palestine intended to get them there (Person, Katarzyna. "Survivors in Post-War Europe."). United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) points out the movement to

Holmes 2 organize the Brihah, which started in 1944. The Brihah was formed by young Polish Zionists to smuggle other Jew's from surrounding countries into Germany. They took over 250,000 Jewish immigrants across borders into the camps of Germany. Shortly after, the Jewish Brigade who was a part of the British army took over the operation, along with the Jewish army in Palestine the Hagana. The Hagana was formed in the 1920's as an underground Jewish military to defend against Arab riots, not recognized by the British. Zionists thought of smuggling displaced persons from the camps into Palestine started to take action (Brihah.). Zionist in Palestine started organizing underground groups and funds to get all the displaced Jew's to Palestine. According to the article "1948 War of Independence." Zionism is the ancient movement of rebirth and recapturing of the land Israel, the historical homeland of the Jews, dating back to 70th century. Modern Zionist combined the Jewish biblical, and historical ties to their homeland with the idea of nationalism. Their dream was to take Israel for their own and turn it into a Jewish state. Over two thousand years ago the Roman Empire exiled most of the Jews, and the land was controlled by different Christian and Muslim empires over time. A battle between the Jews and Arabs for the land has been ongoing ever since. The Ottoman Empire, a Muslim empire, was the last empire to run the region when it fell during WWI. Great Britain and France were given control over the majority of the Middle East. Jewish immigration began to grow and eventually they formed the Jewish Agency to manage the Zionist affairs in Palestine. British policy allowed but did not recognize the creation of Jewish militias (Hagana) and governing bodies. Consequently small groups formed off the Hagana called the Irgun and Lehi that eventually refused to obey the British ("1948 War of Independence). Katarzyna Person discusses during the years from 1944 to 1947, when the Brihah and Hagana worked to send Jewish immigrants to Palestine. Palestinian Jews felt this was their calling to take Israel as their own. They would have a place to call home and would bring all

Holmes 3 the Jewish DPs there. Meanwhile as the wars continued and economic hardship set in more immigrants poured into Germany from other countries seeking refuge. Displacement camps were becoming overcrowded, and many countries still had a limit on immigration. The Hagana began sending Jew's to the borders in order to smuggle them onto ships. Still sick and frail from living in camps, they traveled hundreds of miles to reach the seas. When they arrived they found old and overcrowded cargo ships waiting to take them to Palestine. Almost all the ships that sailed to Palestine were intercepted by the British and sent back (Person, Katarzyna. "Survivors in Post-War Europe."). USHMM also states that in July of 1947 the Hagana arranged to have the Exodus 1947 arrive in Europe for the transfer of Jewish immigrants. The ship was an originally US owned coastal passenger ship named President Warfield from the 1920's. First the ship was sold for scrap, and then bought by the Hagana to use for the transferring of Jew's. With over 4,500 Jewish DPs aboard the Exodus 1947 the ship sailed towards Palestine. Before the ship could even reach Palestine's waters the British closed in on it,
The ship Exodus 1947 Source: http://bit.ly/q2pkip

demanding it turn around. During the struggle a crew

member and two passengers were killed and many others were wounded. Planning to make an example out of the ship, and the passengers the British sent the Exodus 1947 back, where they first landed in Toulon, France. The French refused to resort to violence and force to remove the passengers, and the British afraid of outrage decided to wait for them to come out on their own. Many including the women and children began to declare a hunger strike, and would not leave the ship. Thus forcing the British to return the ship back to their hands in Germany, where the passengers were transferred to displacement camps. As the people from the Exodus 1947 arrived into the camps and the news spread, other displaced people began

Holmes 4 hunger strikes and protesting. As it spread all across the world, protests and sympathy for the Jew's came in a rush (""Exodus 1947). Ami Isseroff describes in her brief on the UN Resolution181 how the wars began to escalate in Palestine after WWII. The British felt as though they had done all they could do to help solve the war. The Hagana were frequently organizing attacks on them, and illegally bringing Jewish immigrants over. Financially and physically they were drained, and could no longer pour more into the Civil War there. In 1947 they called upon the United Nations for help, and declared they would be leaving Palestine no later than August of 1948. Debates began within the United Nations for separate states. Support came from the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and the United States, all in favor of the separate states. Jerusalem was to be declared an international city and be ran by the UN. As for the rest of the land half was given to the Jews and the remaining to the Arabs. Voting was held in New York for the Partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with 33 votes pro separation and 13 against. On November 29th 1947 the partition plan named the UN General Assembly Resolution 181 was passed, and with no regard to the Arab League and Palestinian Institutions. Both the Arab and Palestinian rejected the plan, and by December of 1947 their armies
The Partition Plan of 1947 Source: http://bit.ly/gvVHfR

had infiltrated Palestine (Isseroff, Ami. "UN General Assembly Resolution 181: Palestine Partition Plan of 1947.). Daniel S Culter claims that over the next year attacks from both the Hagana and the Arab army continue to go on endlessly over the entire country. Bombs were put off in buses, shopping centers, and in the middle of the streets. Arabs of a local oil refinery found out about the bombing of the bus, and unexpectedly started beating their Jewish coworkers with hammers, chisels, and other sorts of tools. Jewish food conveys were being destroyed along

Holmes 5 with the streets before the villages. On the morning of April 9th 1948 the Irgun (a branch off the Hagana) attacked Dier Yassin, a village that had not been involved in the war, and was trying to keep it out. This attack was a vicious and bloody one that took many hours, killing 93 Arabs. The Jewish Agency was appalled at the Irgun for maliciously attacking them, and later dismissed them as a part of the Hagana (Culter, Daniel S. "Einstein Zionism 1940-1949."). Furthermore, the British announced their departure May 15th 1948 and left Palestine. Within the same day the Jewish forces decided to declare their independence, leading to an invasion of Arab armies. This is the first day of the war known as Israeli's War of Independence. Armies came from Lebanon. On May 28th the Jew's, now known as the Israeli's, surrendered their quarter inside the Old City of Jerusalem, and then were forced out to surrounding territory by the Arab armies. Within a few weeks Israeli's forces attacked and took Lydda and Ramla captive, forcing the Arabs to other territory. From corner to corner of the Middle East, the continuous pushing out of the Jews and Arabs went back and forth (Culter, Daniel S. "Einstein Zionism 1940-1949."). The article "1948 War of Independence." points out the fact that despite all the fighting that was going on, immigration was open to the Jewish DPs. Some were willing and ready to come over and help fight the war, while others had no idea what was happening. As the Jewish DPs came into Palestine, the Arabs were slowly disappearing into surrounding countries. Around 700,000 Arabs were either forced out of their homes or were fleeing the fighting. Refugee camps were being opened and ran by the UN for them in the surrounding states ("1948 War of Independence."). Dr. Hana Yablonka writes that out of 26,000 recruits for the Israeli War of Independence, at least 23,000 were Holocaust survivors, with the remaining coming from 37 other countries. The Holocaust survivors were known as the Gachal, which is Hebrew for the meaning overseas recruits, and the remaining recruits were known as the Machal, meaning

Holmes 6 overseas volunteers. Most of all the immigrants that came from the displaced persons camps were immediately drafted into the war, including the 70,000 DP immigrants who came between the years of 1945 and 1947 (Yablonka, Dr. Hana. "Israel '98 World Stamp Exhibition."). Between January and June of 1949 the Arab states slowly agreed
Israel stamp: And a homeland awaited him. But he gave back his life some time in the night, dying for its sake. Source: http://bit.ly/p99WVM

to the truce with the Israeli's. The article 1948 War of Independence emphasizes the results of the Arabs loosing most of the land originally

given to them in the Resolution 181. Only Egypt and Jordan was able to walk away with more land then they had before, and refused to take any of the Arab refugees. Israel's population and power continued to grow as they brought in large amounts of Jewish refugees from Europe and the Middle East ("1948 War of Independence."). After the Holocaust ended, Jewish survivors came from overseas in search of safety and a place to call home. Only to end up in a battle of people fighting for a piece of land, similar to the one they had left behind. Although Israel was declared a Jewish state, this did not fix everything. The Arabs and Israeli's still are fighting to this very day, land has been alternating between them for a lifetime, and yet it seems no one will ever be satisfied.

Holmes 7 Works Cited "1948 War of Independence." Thedavidproject.org. Web. 6 July 2011. Angryindian, The. "Israel Is Guilty of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity | NowPublic News Coverage." NowPublic.com | The News Is NowPublic. Web. 11 July 2011. "Brihah." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 3 July 2011. Culter, Daniel S. "Einstein Zionism 1940-1949." Dan Cutler Medical Art. 2005. Web. July 2011. ""Exodus 1947"" United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Web. 05 July 2011. Isseroff, Ami. "UN General Assembly Resolution 181: Palestine Partition Plan of 1947." Middle East: MidEastWeb. Web. 05 July 2011. Person, Katarzyna. "Survivors in Post-War Europe." ORT and the DP Camps: Home. Web. 05 July 2011. Yablonka, Dr. Hana. "Israel '98 World Stamp Exhibition." Engaging.net - Web Sites & Systems. Web. 10 July 2011.

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