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{{short description|Violence or terrorism motivated by Zionism}}
{{Terrorism}}{{NPOV}}
{{pp-30-500|small=yes}}
{{cleanup-date|August 2005}}


], 1946]]
'''Zionist terrorism''' refers here to acts of political violence committed by ]s, generally against ], ], ] and ]ish targets, <!-- before the establishment of the ],
'''Zionist political violence''' refers to acts of violence or ] committed by Zionists in support of establishing and maintaining a Jewish state in Palestine. These actions have been carried out by individuals, paramilitary groups, and the Israeli government, from the early 20th century to the present day, as part of the ongoing ].


In the pre-state period (1920s–1940s), Zionist paramilitaries like the ], ], ] and ] engaged in violent campaigns against British authorities, Palestinian Arabs, and internal Jewish dissenters to advance their political goals. Targets included security personnel, government figures, civilians, and infrastructure. After Israel's establishment in 1948, the ] (IDF) and other state security forces continued to employ violence against Palestinian and neighboring Arab populations during the 1948 war, subsequent Arab-Israeli wars, and the military occupation of the ] and ].
== Pre-statehood Zionist militancy ==


Later acts of Zionist violence have ranged from the government's use of force to suppress Palestinian unrest (such as during the ] from 1987-1993 and 2000-2005), to attacks perpetrated by ] and right-wing extremists against Palestinian civilians, property and holy sites. In an act of intra-Jewish political violence, former Israeli Prime Minister ] was ] in 1995 by ] who opposed Rabin's peace initiatives and territorial concessions to the Palestinians.The Israeli military has also conducted large-scale assaults in the occupied territories and neighbouring states including Lebanon, resulting in widespread destruction and civilian casualties.
heading now redundant --> in the ] and ], during their campaign for a ] when two ]ish underground organizations, the ] and ] (also known as The Stern Gang), were responsible for a number of violent acts against the ] and Arab inhabitants of the ]


Human and Palestinian rights organisations have accused Israel of ], ], and disproportionate use of force against Palestinians. Israel defends its actions as necessary to preserve the security of the Jewish state and its citizens in the face of Palestinian political violence and regional threats.
The ] and ] underground organizations suspended their activity against the British from the beginning of ] so as not to distract the British from the fight against the ] and many members of the underground volunteered to the ] to fight the ]s.


==Impact==
The Irgun resumed attacks in 1944. The smaller ] continued anti-British attacks throughout the war.


Actions were carried out by individuals and Jewish paramilitary groups such as the ], the ], the ] and the ] as part of a conflict between Jews, ] authorities, and ], regarding land, immigration, and control over Palestine.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jcpa.org/jl/vp490.htm |title=The Beleaguered Christians of the Palestinian-Controlled Areas, by David Raab |publisher=Jcpa.org |access-date=2010-02-21}}</ref>
A fuller list of incidents can be found at ].


British soldiers and officials, ] personnel, Palestinian Arab fighters and civilians, and Jewish fighters and civilians were targets or victims of these actions. Domestic, commercial, and government property, infrastructure, and material have also been attacked.
*During the period 1937-1939, the Irgun conducted a campaign of bombings and other acts of violence against Arab civilians.
* Lehi assassinated British minister ] in ] in ].
* The killings of several suspected collaborators with the ] and the ] government during ] (1944-1945).
* The ] on ], ], killing 91 people. The Irgun delivered a warning to the hotel switchboard but there is disagreement over whether it was sufficiently in advance of the explosion or whether the hotel management responded effectively.
* Attacked British military airfields and railways several times in ].
* The bombing by the Irgun of the ], also in ].
* The ] reprisal killing of two British sergeants who had been taken prisoner in response to British execution of two Irgun members in ] prison.
* Lehi assassinated the ] mediator ] in September ] for his allegedly pro-Arab conduct during the cease-fire negotiations.


==Main occurrences==
== Actions during the 1948 War of Independence ==
* ], in April 1948, by Irgun and Lehi forces
**], various dates, by various regular and irregular forces<!--Both Arab and Zionist events: should probably just copy the Zionist ones into this article-->


During the ], the 1921 ] and the ], Palestinian Arabs manifested hostility against Zionist immigration, which provoked the reaction of Jewish militias.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.ameu.org/getattachment/65e15600-d2b0-472e-923e-be4ed7ed1514/Zionist-Violence-Against-Palestinians.aspx |title=Zionist violence against Palestinians |journal=The Link |volume=21 |issue=3 |date=September 1998 |first=Muhammad |last=Hallaj |publisher=]}}</ref> In 1935, the ], a Zionist underground military organization, split off from the ].<ref name=Welty>{{Cite book |title=Palestinian Nationalism and the Struggle for National Self-Determination |last=Welty |first=Gordon |author-link=Gordon Welty |year=1995 |publisher=Temple University |location=Philadelphia |isbn=978-1-56639-342-3 |page=21}}</ref> The Irgun were the armed expression of the nascent ideology of ] founded by ]. He expressed this ] as ''"every Jew had the right to enter Palestine; only active retaliation would deter the Arab and the British; only Jewish armed force would ensure the Jewish state"''.<ref>]: ''A History of the State of Israel'', pp. 265–266</ref>
<!--== Post-Statehood militant incidents ==
Since the establishment of ], there have been isolated incidents of killings of Israelis and ] by Israelis for political reasons. These actions are '''not''' connected to the organized activities of the Jewish underground in the pre-state period. These acts of ] are conducted without the assistance of an organised group or ideology.


During the ], Palestinian Arabs fought for the end of the ] and the creation of an Arab state based on the whole of Palestine.<ref>Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment (New York, 2011), p. 85.</ref> They attacked both British and Jews as well as some Palestinian Arabs who supported a ]. Mainstream Zionists, represented by the ] and the Haganah, practiced the policy of ] (restraint); Irgun militants did not follow this policy and called themselves "Havlagah breakers."<ref>{{cite book |last1=Tucker |first1=Spencer C. |last2=Roberts |first2=Priscilla |title=The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict |publisher=ABC-CLIO |year=2008 |page=433 |isbn=978-1-85109-841-5}}</ref> The Irgun began bombing Palestinian Arab civilian targets in 1938.<ref name=Welty/> While the Palestinian Arabs were "carefully disarmed" by the British Mandatory authorities by 1939, the Zionists were not.<ref name=Welty/> As a conciliation to the Arabs, the ] was passed, imposing significant limits in Jewish immigration in the shadow of ].
All these incidents have been strongly condemned by the ] and the Israeli public. It is widely believed by the Israeli public that perpetrators of many of these incidents, (e.g. ], ], and ]), were mentally unstable.{{fact}}


After the ] in September 1939, the head of the ] ] declared: 'We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper.';<ref>] by Howard Blum, p. 5.</ref> the Haganah and Irgun subsequently suspended their activity against the British in support of their war against ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/biography/stern.html |title=Avraham Stern |access-date=2007-11-19 }}</ref> However, the smaller ] continued anti-British attacks and ] throughout the war. At that time, the British also supported the creation and the training of ], as a unit that could withstand a German offensive in the area, with the consent of the ] which saw an opportunity to get trained units and soldiers for the planned Jewish state<ref>{{cite book |last=Gal|first=Reuven |title=A Portrait of the Israeli Soldier |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group |year=1986 |page=6 |isbn=978-0-313-24315-8}}</ref> and during 1944–1945, the most mainstream Jewish paramilitary organization, Haganah, cooperated with the British authorities against the Lehi and Etzel.<ref name="galor">Gal-or, Noemi. Tolerating Terrorism in the West: An International Survey. Routledge, 2004. p. 74</ref>
* On ], ], ], a ] supporter, killed 29 ] worshipers in a ], injuring approximately 100. Kach is categorized as a terrorist group by the ], the ], the ], and the ]. Kach was originally disqualified as a political party by the ] before the 1988 elections for ]. Although Goldstein acted alone, in response to his affiliation, the outspoken support for his action by some Kach members, and verbal attacks against the Israeli government, the Israeli government outlawed the group under the 1948 Prevention of Terrorism Ordinance , prohibiting any financial or verbal support, and branding it a "terrorist organization."
* On ], ], ] assassinated ] ] and injured a security guard at a ] held in support of the ] in ]. For his crime he was sentenced to life plus 14 years in prison. Amir was a ] ] at ] and a ] ] who had strenuously opposed Rabin's signing of the Accords.] was possibly inspired by the political philosophy of ].
* On ], ], ], 19, an Israeli soldier who had been ] for weeks, boarded a bus and began shooting at passerby from the busses windows. He killed four ]s and wounded 12. An Arab crowd then ] him, while he was in police custody onboard the bus.


After World War II, between 1945 and the ], British soldiers and ] were ]. The Haganah and Palmach at first collaborated with the British against them, particularly during ], before actively joining them in the ], then finally choosing an official neutral position after 1946 while the Irgun and the Lehi continued their attacks against the British.<ref>Horne, Edward (1982). A Job Well Done (Being a History of The Palestine Police Force 1920–1948). The Anchor Press. {{ISBN|978-0-9508367-0-6}}. pp. 272, 299. States that Haganah withdrew on 1 July 1946. But remained permanently uncooperative.</ref>
Prior to the incident, Natan-Zada had deserted his IDF unit after he refused to remove ] from the ] as part of the ]. Natan-Zada had previously been been recomended for psychiatric observation by the IDF Medical Corps.


The Haganah, Irgun and Lehi also executed dozens of Jews for alleged treason or collaboration with Britain or Arabs, often after irregular ].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bram |first1=Shir Aharon |title=When the Irgun Decided to Be Judge, Jury and Executioner |url=https://blog.nli.org.il/en/hoi_underground_executions/ |website=The Librarians |date=11 January 2023 |publisher=The National Library of Israel |access-date=12 January 2023}}</ref>
] ] described the incident as "a reprehensible act by a bloodthirsty Jewish terrorist who sought to attack innocent Israeli citizens."
* On ], ] ], in an attempt to disrupt Israel's planned disengagement from the ], ], a 40-year old Israeli bus-driver, shot and killed four Palestinians and injured two others in the ] settlement of ]. The Palestinians worked in the settlement's ] factory and two of them had been driven there by Weisgan. He had snatched the rifle used in the slayings from a settlement guard, after threatening him with a knife. The '']'' newspaper quoted Weisgan as saying before entering a courthouse outside of ], "I'm not sorry for what I did." ] said of the attack, "I view this act of Jewish terror, which was aimed at innocent Palestinians with the twisted thinking that it would stop the disengagement plan, very gravely." -->


The Haganah also carried out violent attacks in Palestine, such as the liberation of interned immigrants from the ], the bombing of the country's railroad network, sabotage raids on radar installations and bases of the British Palestine police. It continued to organize ] throughout the entire war.<ref name="jewishvirtuallibrary">{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/atlit.html |title=Atlit Immigration Camp &#124; Jewish Virtual Library |publisher=jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=2015-06-13}}</ref>
== See also ==

* ]
In February 1947, the British announced that they would end the mandate and withdraw from Palestine and they asked for the arbitration of the ]. After the vote of the Partition Plan for Palestine on 30 November 1947, ]. Jewish and Arab communities fought each other violently in campaigns of attacks, retaliations, and counter-retaliations which provoked around 800 deaths after two months. Arab volunteers entered Palestine to fight alongside the Palestinian Arabs. In April, 6 weeks before the termination of the Mandate, the Jewish militias launched wide operations to control the territory dedicated to them by the Partition Plan.<ref>{{cite book |last=Morris |first=Benny |title=Histoire revisitée du conflit arabo-sioniste |publisher=Editions complexe |year=2003 |pages=16–17 |isbn=978-2-87027-938-0}}</ref> ] during this time. The Arab population in the ] of ], ], ] and ], as well as ] and ] and in the neighbouring villages, fled or were expelled during this period. During the ] where the Jewish community of 100,000 people was besieged, most Arab villages of the ] – Jerusalem corridor were captured by Jewish militias and leveled.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lapierre |first1=Dominique |last2=Collins |first2=Larry |title=O Jérusalem |publisher=Simon & Schuster |year=1971 |pages=131–153 |isbn=978-2-266-10698-6}}</ref>
* ]

At the beginning of the civil war, the Jewish militias organized several bombing attacks against civilians and military Arab targets. On 12 December, Irgun placed a car bomb opposite the Damascus Gate, killing 20 people.<ref name="Karsh 2002, p.32">Karsh (2002), p. 32</ref> On 4 January 1948, the Lehi detonated a lorry bomb against the headquarters of the paramilitary ] located in ]'s Town Hall, killing 15 Arabs and injuring 80.<ref name="Karsh 2002, p.32"/><ref>], 'Palestine 1948', p. 20; The Scotsman newspaper, 6th January 1948; Walid Khalidi states that 25 civilians were killed, in addition to the military targets. 'Before Their Diaspora', 1984. p. 316, picture p. 325; Benny Morris, 'The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949', Cambridge University Press, p. 46.</ref> During the night between 5 and 6 January, the Haganah bombed the ] in Jerusalem that had been reported to hide Arab militiamen, killing 24 people.<ref>Benny Morris, ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited'', p. 123.</ref> The next day, Irgun members in a stolen police van rolled a ]<ref>Larry Collins/Dominique Lapierre, 'O Jerusalem'. History Book Club/ Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London. 1972. p. 135: 'two fifty-gallon oil drums packed tight with old nails, bits of scrap iron, hinges, rusty metal filings. At their center was a core of TNT...'</ref> into a large group of civilians who were waiting for a bus by the ], killing around 16.<ref>Collins/Lapierre. p. 138: 17 killed</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The faithful city: the siege of Jerusalem, 1948|first=Dov|last=Joseph|author-link=Dov Yosef|publisher=Simon and Schuster|year=1960|lccn=60-10976|oclc=266413|url=https://archive.org/details/thefaithfulcity0000unse/page/56/mode/2up|url-access=registration|page=56|quote=It killed fourteen Arabs and wounded forty others.}}</ref><ref>], 8 January 1948: 16 killed, 41 injured.</ref> Another Irgun bomb went off in the Ramla market on February 18, killing 7 residents and injuring 45.<ref>Embassy of Israel, London, website. 2002. Quoting Zeev Vilnai – 'Ramla past and present'.</ref> On 28 February, the Palmah organised a bombing attack against a garage in Haifa, killing 30 people.<ref>], ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem revisited'', p. 221.</ref>

In 1995, ] was the Prime Minister of Israel who was ] by ] after a peace rally. Amir had been opposed to Rabin's peace initiative, which included signing the ] and withdrawing from the West Bank. He believed that Rabin was a ], meaning a "pursuer" who endangered Jewish lives, and that he was justified in removing Rabin as a threat to Jews in the territories according to the concept of din rodef ("law of the pursuer"), which is a part of traditional ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Eisen |first=Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zhpNQWj4YMcC&dq=rodef+yigal+amir&pg=PA158 |title=The Peace and Violence of Judaism: From the Bible to Modern Zionism |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-979294-8 |language=en}}</ref>

==Condemnation as terrorism==
], ], ] and others letter]]
Irgun was described as a ] by the United Nations, British, and ] governments, and in media such as '']'' newspaper,<ref>Pope Brewer, Sam. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817055447/https://www.nytimes.com/1947/12/30/archives/irgun-bomb-kills-11-arabs-2-britons-missile-thrown-from-a-taxi-in.html?sq=terrorist+Irgun&scp=2&st=p |date=2021-08-17 }}. ''New York Times''. December 30, 1947.</ref><ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140407231355/http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0E16F93D55147B93C4A81783D85F438485F9&scp=3&sq=terrorist+Irgun&st=p |date=2014-04-07 }}. ''New York Times''. August 16, 1947.</ref> and by the ].<ref>W. Khalidi, 1971, 'From Haven to Conquest', p. 598</ref> In 1946, The World Zionist Congress strongly condemned terrorist activities in Palestine and "the shedding of innocent blood as a means of political warfare". Irgun was specifically condemned.<ref name = NYTirgun> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180615004618/https://www.nytimes.com/1946/12/24/archives/zionists-condemn-palestine-terror-basle-congress-bars-joining-in.html?sq=Irgun+terrorist+president&scp=13&st=p |date=2018-06-15 }} New York Times. December 24, 1946.</ref>

] was called a ] and a ] by ] and 27 other prominent Jewish intellectuals in a letter to the New York Times which was published on December 4, 1948. Specifically condemned was the participation of the Irgun in the ]:<ref name="New Palestine Party">{{cite letter |author1=Isidore Abramowitz|author2=Hannah Arendt|author2-link=Hannah Arendt|author3=Abraham Brick|author4=Jessurun Cardozo|author4-link=Jessurun Cardozo|author5=Albert Einstein|author5-link=Albert Einstein|author6=Herman Eisen|author7=Hayim Fineman|author8=M. Gallen|author9=H.H. Harris|author10=Zellig Harris|author10-link=Zellig Harris|author11=Sidney Hook|author11-link=Sidney Hook|author12=Fred Karush|author13=Bruria Kaufman|author13-link=Bruria Kaufman|author14=Irma L. Lindheim|author14-link=Irma Lindheim|author15=Nahman Maisel|author16=Seymour Melman|author16-link=Seymour Melman|author17=Myer D. Mendelson|author18=Harry M. Oslinsky|author19=Samuel Pitlick|author20=Fritz Rohrlich|author21=Louis P. Rocker|author22=Ruth Sagis|author23=Isaac Sankowsky|author24=Isaac Jacob Schoenberg|author24-link=Isaac Jacob Schoenberg|author25=Samuel Shuman|author26=M. Singer|author27=Irma Wolfe|author28=Stefan Wolf |recipient=] |subject=New Palestine Party |date=4 December 1948 |url=https://archive.org/details/AlbertEinsteinLetterToTheNewYorkTimes.December41948 |access-date=2015-06-03 }}</ref>

*"terrorist bands attacked this peaceful village, which was not a military objective in the fighting, killed most of its inhabitants – 240 men, women and children – and kept a few of them alive to parade as captives through the streets of Jerusalem."

The letter warns ] against supporting Begin's request for funding of his political party ], and ends with the warning:
*"The discrepancies between the bold claims now being made by Begin and his party and their record of past performance in Palestine bear the imprint of no ordinary political party. This is the unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs, and British alike), and misrepresentation are means, and a "Leader State" is the goal."<ref name="New Palestine Party"/>

Lehi was described as a ] organization<ref>"Stern Gang" ''A Dictionary of World History''. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205070033/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O48-SternGang.html|date=2009-02-05}}.</ref> by the British authorities and United Nations mediator ].<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080507081227/http://domino.un.org/unispal.nsf/9a798adbf322aff38525617b006d88d7/45fc0c6e511ec0c5802564d400560ca0%21OpenDocument%26Highlight%3D0%2Cterrorists%2Cbernadotte |date=2008-05-07 }} 27th Sept 1948, "notorious terrorists long known as the Stern group"</ref>

==Jewish public opinion==
During the conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine before the war, the criterion of "]" was used to distinguish between the respective attitudes of the Irgun and Haganah towards Arabs, with the latter priding itself on its adherence to principle.<ref name="shapira1"/> The Jewish society in the British Mandate Palestine generally disapproved and denounced violent attacks both on grounds of moral rejection and political disagreement, stressing that terrorism is counter-productive in the Zionist quest for Jewish ].<ref name="galor"/> Generally speaking, this precept requires that "weapons remain pure they are employed only in self-defence and against innocent civilians and defenceless people".<ref name="shlaimdebate">], '' {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605062304/http://www.press.umich.edu/pdf/9780472115419-ch5.pdf |date=2011-06-05 }}'', International Journal of Middle East Studies, 27:3, 1995, pp. 287–304</ref> But if it "remained a central value in education" it was "rather vague and intentionally blurred" at the practical level.<ref name="shapira1">] (1992), p. 252</ref>

In 1946, at a meeting held between the heads of the Haganah, ] predicted a confrontation between the Arabs of Palestine and the Arab states. Concerning the "principle of purity of arms", he stressed that: "The end does not justify all means. Our war is based on moral grounds"<ref name="shapira2">] (1992), p. 295</ref> and during the 1948 War, the ], the political party affiliated to Palmach, asked "a strict observance of the Jewish Purity of arms to secure the moral character of war".<ref name="gelber1948">] (2006), p. 291</ref> When he was later criticized by Mapam members for his attitude concerning the ], Ben-Gurion reminded them of the ] and the fact Palmah officers had been responsible for the "outrage that had encouraged the Arabs' flight made the party uncomfortable."<ref name="gelber1948"/>

According to ], this condemnation of the use of violence is one of the key features of 'the conventional Zionist account or old history' whose 'popular-heroic-moralistic version' is 'taught in Israeli schools and used extensively in the quest for legitimacy abroad'.<ref name="shlaimdebate"/> ] adds that 'he Israelis' collective memory of fighters characterized by "purity of arms" is also undermined by the evidence of of rapes committed in conquered towns and villages.' According to him, 'after the 1948 war, the Israelis tended to hail the "purity of arms" of its militiamen and soldiers to contrast this with Arab barbarism, which on occasion expressed itself in the mutilation of captured Jewish corpses.' According to him, 'this reinforced the Israelis' positive self-image and helped them "sell" the new state abroad and (...) demonized the enemy'.<ref name=Morris2008p404>Morris 2008, pp. 404–406.</ref>

Some Israelis justify acts of political violence. Sixty years after participating in the assassination of Swedish diplomat ], ] had no regrets. As a broadcaster on Lehi's radio, she recalled the threats against Bernadotte in advance of the assassination. "I told him if you are not going to leave Jerusalem and go to your Stockholm, you won't be any more." Asked if it was right to assassinate Bernadotte, she replied, "There is no question about it. We would not have Jerusalem any more."<ref> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150925193755/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israels-forgotten-hero-the-assassination-of-count-bernadotte--and-the-death-of-peace-934094.html |date=2015-09-25 }} The Independent, 18 Jan 2008</ref> In July 2006, the ] organized a conference to mark the 60th anniversary of the ]. The conference was attended by past and future Prime Minister ] and former members of Irgun.<ref name="spirit">Tom Segev, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101110165626/http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-spirit-of-the-king-david-hotel-1.193571 |date=2010-11-10 }}, '']'', July 23, 2006</ref> The British Ambassador in Tel Aviv and the Consul-General in Jerusalem protested that a plaque commemorating the bombing stated "For reasons known only to the British, the hotel was not evacuated."<ref name="spirit"/> Netanyahu, then chairman of ] and ] in the ], opined that the bombing was a legitimate act with a military target, distinguishing it from an act of terror intended to harm civilians since Irgun sent warnings to evacuate the building.<ref>{{Cite book|first=Nicholas|last=Bethell|title=The Palestine Triangle|publisher=Andre Deutsch|year=1979}}</ref> He said "Imagine that Hamas or Hizbullah would call the military headquarters in Tel Aviv and say, 'We have placed a bomb and we are asking you to evacuate the area.' They don't do that. That is the difference."<ref name=truth>{{cite news|url=http://www.jpost.com/Features/Article.aspx?id=29576|title=Reflective truth|newspaper=Jerusalem Post|date=July 27, 2006|first=Eetta|last=Prince-Gibson|access-date=2009-05-10}}</ref> The British Ambassador in Tel Aviv and the Consul-General in Jerusalem protested, saying "We do not think that it is right for an act of terrorism, which led to the loss of many lives, to be commemorated", and wrote to the Mayor of ] that such an "act of terror" could not be honored. The British government also demanded the removal of the plaque, pointing out that the statement on it accusing the British of failing to evacuate the hotel was untrue and "did not absolve those who planted the bomb."<ref>Ned Parker and ], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080725004552/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2277717,00.html |date=2008-07-25 }}, '']'', July 20, 2006</ref> To prevent a diplomatic incident, changes were made in the plaque's text. The final English version says "Warning phone calls have been made to the hotel, The Palestine Post and the French Consulate, urging the hotel's occupants to leave immediately. The hotel was not evacuated and after 25 minutes the bombs exploded. To the Irgun's regret, 92 persons were killed."<ref name=truth/>

==Irgun, Haganah and Lehi attacks==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2015}}
{{Main|List of Irgun attacks|Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine War}}
*'''June 30, 1924''' Dutch Jew ] was assassinated by ] on the orders of Haganah leader ]<ref name="DeHaan">{{Cite book| author = Shlomo Nakdimon |author2=Shaul Mayzlish | title = Deh Han : ha-retsah ha-politi ha-rishon be-Erets Yisraʼel / De Haan: The first political assassination in Palestine | year =1985 | language =he | publisher = Modan Press | location = Tel Aviv | edition=1st | oclc=21528172 }}</ref> for his anti-Zionist political activities and contacts with Arab leaders.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://cf.uba.uva.nl/nl/publicaties/treasures/text/t44.html |title=The Rosenthaliana's Jacob Israel de Haan Archive |author=Marijke T.C.Stapert-Eggen |publisher=University of Amsterdam Library |access-date=2008-06-20 |archive-date=2011-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526000444/http://cf.uba.uva.nl/nl/publicaties/treasures/text/t44.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
*'''1937–1939''' During the later stages of the ] The Irgun conducted a campaign of violence against Palestinian Arab civilians resulting in the deaths of at least 250. The group also killed a number of Jews it deemed guilty of "treason."<ref>Perliger and Weinberg, 101.</ref><ref>J. Bowyer Bell, (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977). pp.181</ref>
*'''July 15, 1938''' A bomb left in the vegetable market in Jerusalem by the Irgun injured 28.<ref>The TimesSaturday July 17, 1938</ref>
*'''July 25, 1938''' The Irgun threw a bomb into the melon market in Haifa resulting in 49 deaths.<ref>The Times Tuesday July 26, 1938</ref>
*'''November 6, 1944''' Lehi assassinated British minister ] in ], ]. The action was condemned by the ] at the time, but the bodies of the assassins were brought home from Egypt in 1975 to a state funeral and burial on ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.etzel.org.il/english/ac07.htm |title=The Hunting Season |access-date=August 12, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130925234922/http://www.etzel.org.il/english/ac07.htm |archive-date=September 25, 2013 }} The 'Hunting Season'.</ref>
*'''1944–1945''' The killings of several suspected collaborators with the Haganah and the British mandate government during ].
*'''1946''' Letter bombs sent to British officials, including foreign minister Ernst Bevin, by Lehi.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Walton |first1=Calder |title=Coat Bomb and Explosive Prosthesis: British Intel Files Reveal How the Zionist Stern Gang Terrorized London |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-british-intel-files-reveal-how-the-zionist-stern-gang-terrorized-london-1.5627474 |access-date=5 February 2019 |work=Haaretz |date=2 December 2017}}</ref>
*'''July 26, 1946''' The bombing of British administrative headquarters at the ], killing 91 people — 28 British, 41 Arab, 17 Jewish, and 5 others. Around 45 people were injured. In the literature about the ] and ], it has been called one of the most lethal terrorist attacks of the 20th century.<ref name="rapoport2004">Rapoport, D.C., ''The Four Waves of Modern Terrorism'', in Cronin, A. K. & Ludes, J. M. (eds.), ''Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy'', Georgetown University Press, 2004, Washington, DC., pp. 50-51</ref>
*'''1946''' Railways and British military airfields were attacked several times.
*'''October 31, 1946''' The ]. Nearly half the building was destroyed and 3 people were injured.<ref>{{Cite news|publisher=] |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19461105&id=vL8wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1E4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7048,7096754 |date=1946-11-05 |access-date=2010-04-08 |title=Jewish Terrorists Admit Bombing Embassy in Rome}}</ref>
*'''April 16, 1947''' An Irgun bomb placed at the Colonial Office in London failed to detonate.<ref>{{cite web|title=Time Bomb Found in London after British hang Gruner as Terrorist in Holy Land|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19470417&id=CzUxAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0k4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=5460,3280823&hl=en|website=Google News|publisher=St. Petersburg Times|access-date=17 November 2015|date=Apr 17, 1947}}</ref> The woman arrested for planting the bomb, alias "Esther," was identified as a Jewess claiming French nationality by the Scotland Yard unit investigating Jewish terrorist activities. The attack was linked to the 1946 Rome embassy bombing.<ref>{{cite news|title=Police Say Woman Bomb "Planter" Now in Custody|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206021320|work=]|agency=A.A.P.|date=13 June 1947|quote=The woman, who is a Jewess, claims French nationality. Officers of the special branch of Scotland Yard who have been investigating Jewish terrorist activities are satisfied the man who made the bomb is also under arrest.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=EUROPE-WIDE SEARCH FOR MAN WHO MADE BOMB|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/22421445|access-date=26 May 2018|work=]|agency=A.A.P|date=19 April 1947|quote=The bomb was of the same type as that used in the explosion at the i British Embassy in Rome last year! and in several other outrages by Jewish terrorists.}}</ref>
* '''14 June 1947''' The ] office in Tel Aviv was raided by "Jewish terrorists."<ref>{{cite news|title=Palestine Threat|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/206021320?searchTerm=1946%20embassy%20bomb%20rome%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20&searchLimits=|access-date=26 May 2018|work=]|agency=A.A.P.|date=13 June 1947|quote=Jewish terrorists have raided Reuter's Tel Aviv office, where they forced the staff to lie on the floor.}}</ref>
*'''July 25, 1947''' ]: When death sentences were passed on two Irgun members, the Irgun kidnapped Sgt. Clifford Martin and Sgt. Mervyn Paice and threatened to kill them in retaliation if the sentences were carried out. When the threat was ignored, the hostages were killed. Afterwards, their bodies were taken to an orange grove and left hanging by the neck from trees. An ] was set. This went off when one of the bodies was cut down, seriously wounding a British officer.<ref name=Britainsince1945>Britain Since 1945, David Childs P.34 para 1</ref>
*'''December 1947 – March 1948''' Numerous attacks on Palestinian Arabs in the context of civil war after the vote of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
*'''1947''' Letter bombs sent to the Truman White House by Lehi.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pace |first1=Eric |title=Letter-Bombs Mailed to Truman in 1947 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/12/02/archives/letterbombs-mailed-to-truman-in-1947-truman-was-sent-bombs-book.html |access-date=5 February 2019 |work=New York Times |date=2 December 1972}}</ref>
*'''January 5–6, 1948''' The ], carried out by the Haganah (or, according to some sources, Irgun) resulted in the deaths of 24 to 26 people.
*'''April 1948''' The Deir Yassin massacre carried out by the Irgun and Lehi, killed between 107 and 120 Palestinian villagers,<ref name=numKilled>Kana'ana, Sharif and Zeitawi, Nihad (1987), "The Village of Deir Yassin," Bir Zeit, Bir Zeit University Press</ref> the estimate generally accepted by scholars.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Morris | first = Benny | author-link = Benny Morris | title = The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited | year = 2003 | publisher = ] | location = Cambridge, UK; New York |isbn = 978-0-521-81120-0}}: Chapter 4: The second wave: the mass exodus, April–June 1948, Section: Operation Nahshon, page 238</ref><ref>{{Cite book| last = Milstein | first = Uri | author-link = Uri Milstein | title = History of the War of Independence IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision | publisher = University Press of America, Inc. | orig-year = 1987 | year = 1998 |location = Lanhan, Maryland |language=he, en |translator=Alan Sacks |editor=Alan Sacks | isbn = 978-0-7618-1489-4}}: Chapter 16: Deir Yassin, Section 12: The Massacre, page 377</ref>
*'''September 17, 1948''' Lehi assassination of the United Nations mediator ],<ref name=Independent>{{cite news
| title = Israel's forgotten hero: The assassination of Count Bernadotte – and the death of peace
| first = Donald
| last = Macintyre
| newspaper = ]
| date = 2008-09-18
| url = https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israels-forgotten-hero-the-assassination-of-count-bernadotte--and-the-death-of-peace-934094.html
| access-date = 2008-12-11}}</ref><ref>Sune Persson, Folke Bernadotte and the White Buses, ''Journal of Holocaust Education'', Vol 9, Iss 2–3, 2000, 237–268. Also published in David Cesarani and Paul A. Levine (eds.), ''Bystanders to the Holocaust: A Re-evaluation'' (Routledge, 2002). The precise number is nowhere officially recorded. A count of the first 21,000 included 8,000 Danes and Norwegians, 5,911 Poles, 2,629 French, 1,615 stateless Jews and 1,124 Germans. The total number of Jews was 6,500 to 11,000 depending on definitions. Also see A. Ilan, ''Bernadotte in Palestine, 1948'' (Macmillan, 1989), p37.</ref> whom Lehi accused of a pro-Arab stance during the cease-fire negotiations.

==See also==
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==References== ==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{Book reference | Author=J. Bowyer Bell | Title=Terror out of Zion: Irgun Zvai Leumi, LEHI, and the Palestine underground, 1929-1949 | Publisher=St. Martin's Press | Year=1977 | ID=ISBN 0312792050}}

<!-- see Talk
==Notes== ==Further reading==
*{{Cite book|title=Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict: Class, State, and Nation in the Age of Globalization|first=Berch|last=Berberoglu|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|year=2006|isbn= 978-0-7425-3544-2}}
#{{anb|irgun}}The Irgun claim that they made telephone calls urging the evacuation of the King David Hotel prior to the ]. Three telephone calls were allegedly made: one to the hotel, a second to the French Consulate, and a third to the Palestine Post. It is alleged that the British authorities ignored the warnings, resulting in an unintendedly high death toll. The British deny that a warning was given, however according to ]'s 1981 book, ''International Terrorism: Challenge and Response'', evidence was introduced by a member of British Parliament in 1979 that attempted to demonstrate that warnings had been issued but were summarily ignored by the British.-->
*{{Cite book|last=Childs|first=David |title= Britain since 1945|edition=5th }}
*{{Cite book|author=J. Bowyer Bell|title=Terror out of Zion: Irgun Zvai Leumi, LEHI, and the Palestine underground, 1929–1949|publisher=St. Martin's Press|year=1977|isbn=978-0-312-79205-3}}

{{Zionism}}
{{Israeli-Palestinian Conflict}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Zionist Political Violence}}
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Latest revision as of 11:55, 15 November 2024

Violence or terrorism motivated by Zionism

Aftermath of the King David Hotel bombing, 1946

Zionist political violence refers to acts of violence or terrorism committed by Zionists in support of establishing and maintaining a Jewish state in Palestine. These actions have been carried out by individuals, paramilitary groups, and the Israeli government, from the early 20th century to the present day, as part of the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In the pre-state period (1920s–1940s), Zionist paramilitaries like the Irgun, Lehi, Haganah and Palmach engaged in violent campaigns against British authorities, Palestinian Arabs, and internal Jewish dissenters to advance their political goals. Targets included security personnel, government figures, civilians, and infrastructure. After Israel's establishment in 1948, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and other state security forces continued to employ violence against Palestinian and neighboring Arab populations during the 1948 war, subsequent Arab-Israeli wars, and the military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Later acts of Zionist violence have ranged from the government's use of force to suppress Palestinian unrest (such as during the intifadas from 1987-1993 and 2000-2005), to attacks perpetrated by Israeli settlers and right-wing extremists against Palestinian civilians, property and holy sites. In an act of intra-Jewish political violence, former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated in 1995 by Yigal Amir who opposed Rabin's peace initiatives and territorial concessions to the Palestinians.The Israeli military has also conducted large-scale assaults in the occupied territories and neighbouring states including Lebanon, resulting in widespread destruction and civilian casualties.

Human and Palestinian rights organisations have accused Israel of state terrorism, war crimes, and disproportionate use of force against Palestinians. Israel defends its actions as necessary to preserve the security of the Jewish state and its citizens in the face of Palestinian political violence and regional threats.

Impact

Actions were carried out by individuals and Jewish paramilitary groups such as the Irgun, the Lehi, the Haganah and the Palmach as part of a conflict between Jews, British authorities, and Palestinian Arabs, regarding land, immigration, and control over Palestine.

British soldiers and officials, United Nations personnel, Palestinian Arab fighters and civilians, and Jewish fighters and civilians were targets or victims of these actions. Domestic, commercial, and government property, infrastructure, and material have also been attacked.

Main occurrences

During the 1920 Nebi Musa riots, the 1921 Jaffa riots and the 1929 Palestine riots, Palestinian Arabs manifested hostility against Zionist immigration, which provoked the reaction of Jewish militias. In 1935, the Irgun, a Zionist underground military organization, split off from the Haganah. The Irgun were the armed expression of the nascent ideology of Revisionist Zionism founded by Ze'ev Jabotinsky. He expressed this ideology as "every Jew had the right to enter Palestine; only active retaliation would deter the Arab and the British; only Jewish armed force would ensure the Jewish state".

During the 1936–39 Arab revolt in Palestine, Palestinian Arabs fought for the end of the Mandate and the creation of an Arab state based on the whole of Palestine. They attacked both British and Jews as well as some Palestinian Arabs who supported a Pan-Arabism. Mainstream Zionists, represented by the Vaad Leumi and the Haganah, practiced the policy of Havlagah (restraint); Irgun militants did not follow this policy and called themselves "Havlagah breakers." The Irgun began bombing Palestinian Arab civilian targets in 1938. While the Palestinian Arabs were "carefully disarmed" by the British Mandatory authorities by 1939, the Zionists were not. As a conciliation to the Arabs, the White Paper of 1939 was passed, imposing significant limits in Jewish immigration in the shadow of World War II.

After the British Declaration of War in September 1939, the head of the Jewish Agency for Palestine David Ben-Gurion declared: 'We will fight the White Paper as if there is no war, and fight the war as if there is no White Paper.'; the Haganah and Irgun subsequently suspended their activity against the British in support of their war against Nazi Germany. However, the smaller Lehi continued anti-British attacks and direct action throughout the war. At that time, the British also supported the creation and the training of Palmach, as a unit that could withstand a German offensive in the area, with the consent of the Yishuv which saw an opportunity to get trained units and soldiers for the planned Jewish state and during 1944–1945, the most mainstream Jewish paramilitary organization, Haganah, cooperated with the British authorities against the Lehi and Etzel.

After World War II, between 1945 and the 29 November 1947 Partition vote, British soldiers and policemen were targeted by Irgun and Lehi. The Haganah and Palmach at first collaborated with the British against them, particularly during the Hunting Season, before actively joining them in the Jewish Resistance Movement, then finally choosing an official neutral position after 1946 while the Irgun and the Lehi continued their attacks against the British.

The Haganah, Irgun and Lehi also executed dozens of Jews for alleged treason or collaboration with Britain or Arabs, often after irregular drumhead courts-martial.

The Haganah also carried out violent attacks in Palestine, such as the liberation of interned immigrants from the Atlit detainee camp, the bombing of the country's railroad network, sabotage raids on radar installations and bases of the British Palestine police. It continued to organize illegal immigration throughout the entire war.

In February 1947, the British announced that they would end the mandate and withdraw from Palestine and they asked for the arbitration of the United Nations. After the vote of the Partition Plan for Palestine on 30 November 1947, civil war broke out in Palestine. Jewish and Arab communities fought each other violently in campaigns of attacks, retaliations, and counter-retaliations which provoked around 800 deaths after two months. Arab volunteers entered Palestine to fight alongside the Palestinian Arabs. In April, 6 weeks before the termination of the Mandate, the Jewish militias launched wide operations to control the territory dedicated to them by the Partition Plan. Many atrocities occurred during this time. The Arab population in the mixed cities of Tiberias, Safed, Haifa and Jaffa, as well as Beisan and Acre and in the neighbouring villages, fled or were expelled during this period. During the Battle for Jerusalem (1948) where the Jewish community of 100,000 people was besieged, most Arab villages of the Tel Aviv – Jerusalem corridor were captured by Jewish militias and leveled.

At the beginning of the civil war, the Jewish militias organized several bombing attacks against civilians and military Arab targets. On 12 December, Irgun placed a car bomb opposite the Damascus Gate, killing 20 people. On 4 January 1948, the Lehi detonated a lorry bomb against the headquarters of the paramilitary Najjada located in Jaffa's Town Hall, killing 15 Arabs and injuring 80. During the night between 5 and 6 January, the Haganah bombed the Semiramis Hotel in Jerusalem that had been reported to hide Arab militiamen, killing 24 people. The next day, Irgun members in a stolen police van rolled a barrel bomb into a large group of civilians who were waiting for a bus by the Jaffa Gate, killing around 16. Another Irgun bomb went off in the Ramla market on February 18, killing 7 residents and injuring 45. On 28 February, the Palmah organised a bombing attack against a garage in Haifa, killing 30 people.

In 1995, Yitzhak Rabin was the Prime Minister of Israel who was assassinated by Yigal Amir after a peace rally. Amir had been opposed to Rabin's peace initiative, which included signing the Oslo Accords and withdrawing from the West Bank. He believed that Rabin was a rodef, meaning a "pursuer" who endangered Jewish lives, and that he was justified in removing Rabin as a threat to Jews in the territories according to the concept of din rodef ("law of the pursuer"), which is a part of traditional Jewish law.

Condemnation as terrorism

Hannah Arendt, Jessurun Cardozo, Albert Einstein and others letter

Irgun was described as a terrorist organization by the United Nations, British, and United States governments, and in media such as The New York Times newspaper, and by the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry. In 1946, The World Zionist Congress strongly condemned terrorist activities in Palestine and "the shedding of innocent blood as a means of political warfare". Irgun was specifically condemned.

Menachem Begin was called a terrorist and a fascist by Albert Einstein and 27 other prominent Jewish intellectuals in a letter to the New York Times which was published on December 4, 1948. Specifically condemned was the participation of the Irgun in the Deir Yassin massacre:

  • "terrorist bands attacked this peaceful village, which was not a military objective in the fighting, killed most of its inhabitants – 240 men, women and children – and kept a few of them alive to parade as captives through the streets of Jerusalem."

The letter warns American Jews against supporting Begin's request for funding of his political party Herut, and ends with the warning:

  • "The discrepancies between the bold claims now being made by Begin and his party and their record of past performance in Palestine bear the imprint of no ordinary political party. This is the unmistakable stamp of a Fascist party for whom terrorism (against Jews, Arabs, and British alike), and misrepresentation are means, and a "Leader State" is the goal."

Lehi was described as a terrorist organization by the British authorities and United Nations mediator Ralph Bunche.

Jewish public opinion

During the conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine before the war, the criterion of "Purity of arms" was used to distinguish between the respective attitudes of the Irgun and Haganah towards Arabs, with the latter priding itself on its adherence to principle. The Jewish society in the British Mandate Palestine generally disapproved and denounced violent attacks both on grounds of moral rejection and political disagreement, stressing that terrorism is counter-productive in the Zionist quest for Jewish self-determination. Generally speaking, this precept requires that "weapons remain pure they are employed only in self-defence and against innocent civilians and defenceless people". But if it "remained a central value in education" it was "rather vague and intentionally blurred" at the practical level.

In 1946, at a meeting held between the heads of the Haganah, David Ben-Gurion predicted a confrontation between the Arabs of Palestine and the Arab states. Concerning the "principle of purity of arms", he stressed that: "The end does not justify all means. Our war is based on moral grounds" and during the 1948 War, the Mapam, the political party affiliated to Palmach, asked "a strict observance of the Jewish Purity of arms to secure the moral character of war". When he was later criticized by Mapam members for his attitude concerning the Arab refugee problem, Ben-Gurion reminded them of the Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle and the fact Palmah officers had been responsible for the "outrage that had encouraged the Arabs' flight made the party uncomfortable."

According to Avi Shlaim, this condemnation of the use of violence is one of the key features of 'the conventional Zionist account or old history' whose 'popular-heroic-moralistic version' is 'taught in Israeli schools and used extensively in the quest for legitimacy abroad'. Benny Morris adds that 'he Israelis' collective memory of fighters characterized by "purity of arms" is also undermined by the evidence of of rapes committed in conquered towns and villages.' According to him, 'after the 1948 war, the Israelis tended to hail the "purity of arms" of its militiamen and soldiers to contrast this with Arab barbarism, which on occasion expressed itself in the mutilation of captured Jewish corpses.' According to him, 'this reinforced the Israelis' positive self-image and helped them "sell" the new state abroad and (...) demonized the enemy'.

Some Israelis justify acts of political violence. Sixty years after participating in the assassination of Swedish diplomat Folke Bernadotte, Geulah Cohen had no regrets. As a broadcaster on Lehi's radio, she recalled the threats against Bernadotte in advance of the assassination. "I told him if you are not going to leave Jerusalem and go to your Stockholm, you won't be any more." Asked if it was right to assassinate Bernadotte, she replied, "There is no question about it. We would not have Jerusalem any more." In July 2006, the Menachem Begin Heritage Center organized a conference to mark the 60th anniversary of the King David Hotel bombing. The conference was attended by past and future Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former members of Irgun. The British Ambassador in Tel Aviv and the Consul-General in Jerusalem protested that a plaque commemorating the bombing stated "For reasons known only to the British, the hotel was not evacuated." Netanyahu, then chairman of Likud and Leader of the Opposition in the Knesset, opined that the bombing was a legitimate act with a military target, distinguishing it from an act of terror intended to harm civilians since Irgun sent warnings to evacuate the building. He said "Imagine that Hamas or Hizbullah would call the military headquarters in Tel Aviv and say, 'We have placed a bomb and we are asking you to evacuate the area.' They don't do that. That is the difference." The British Ambassador in Tel Aviv and the Consul-General in Jerusalem protested, saying "We do not think that it is right for an act of terrorism, which led to the loss of many lives, to be commemorated", and wrote to the Mayor of Jerusalem that such an "act of terror" could not be honored. The British government also demanded the removal of the plaque, pointing out that the statement on it accusing the British of failing to evacuate the hotel was untrue and "did not absolve those who planted the bomb." To prevent a diplomatic incident, changes were made in the plaque's text. The final English version says "Warning phone calls have been made to the hotel, The Palestine Post and the French Consulate, urging the hotel's occupants to leave immediately. The hotel was not evacuated and after 25 minutes the bombs exploded. To the Irgun's regret, 92 persons were killed."

Irgun, Haganah and Lehi attacks

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
Main articles: List of Irgun attacks and Killings and massacres during the 1948 Palestine War
  • June 30, 1924 Dutch Jew Jacob Israël de Haan was assassinated by Avraham Tehomi on the orders of Haganah leader Yitzhak Ben-Zvi for his anti-Zionist political activities and contacts with Arab leaders.
  • 1937–1939 During the later stages of the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt in Mandatory Palestine The Irgun conducted a campaign of violence against Palestinian Arab civilians resulting in the deaths of at least 250. The group also killed a number of Jews it deemed guilty of "treason."
  • July 15, 1938 A bomb left in the vegetable market in Jerusalem by the Irgun injured 28.
  • July 25, 1938 The Irgun threw a bomb into the melon market in Haifa resulting in 49 deaths.
  • November 6, 1944 Lehi assassinated British minister Lord Moyne in Cairo, Kingdom of Egypt. The action was condemned by the Yishuv at the time, but the bodies of the assassins were brought home from Egypt in 1975 to a state funeral and burial on Mount Herzl.
  • 1944–1945 The killings of several suspected collaborators with the Haganah and the British mandate government during the Hunting Season.
  • 1946 Letter bombs sent to British officials, including foreign minister Ernst Bevin, by Lehi.
  • July 26, 1946 The bombing of British administrative headquarters at the King David Hotel, killing 91 people — 28 British, 41 Arab, 17 Jewish, and 5 others. Around 45 people were injured. In the literature about the practice and history of terrorism, it has been called one of the most lethal terrorist attacks of the 20th century.
  • 1946 Railways and British military airfields were attacked several times.
  • October 31, 1946 The bombing by the Irgun of the British Embassy in Rome. Nearly half the building was destroyed and 3 people were injured.
  • April 16, 1947 An Irgun bomb placed at the Colonial Office in London failed to detonate. The woman arrested for planting the bomb, alias "Esther," was identified as a Jewess claiming French nationality by the Scotland Yard unit investigating Jewish terrorist activities. The attack was linked to the 1946 Rome embassy bombing.
  • 14 June 1947 The Reuters office in Tel Aviv was raided by "Jewish terrorists."
  • July 25, 1947 The Sergeants affair: When death sentences were passed on two Irgun members, the Irgun kidnapped Sgt. Clifford Martin and Sgt. Mervyn Paice and threatened to kill them in retaliation if the sentences were carried out. When the threat was ignored, the hostages were killed. Afterwards, their bodies were taken to an orange grove and left hanging by the neck from trees. An improvised explosive device was set. This went off when one of the bodies was cut down, seriously wounding a British officer.
  • December 1947 – March 1948 Numerous attacks on Palestinian Arabs in the context of civil war after the vote of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine.
  • 1947 Letter bombs sent to the Truman White House by Lehi.
  • January 5–6, 1948 The Semiramis Hotel bombing, carried out by the Haganah (or, according to some sources, Irgun) resulted in the deaths of 24 to 26 people.
  • April 1948 The Deir Yassin massacre carried out by the Irgun and Lehi, killed between 107 and 120 Palestinian villagers, the estimate generally accepted by scholars.
  • September 17, 1948 Lehi assassination of the United Nations mediator Folke Bernadotte, whom Lehi accused of a pro-Arab stance during the cease-fire negotiations.

See also

References

  1. "The Beleaguered Christians of the Palestinian-Controlled Areas, by David Raab". Jcpa.org. Retrieved 2010-02-21.
  2. Hallaj, Muhammad (September 1998). "Zionist violence against Palestinians". The Link. 21 (3). Americans for Middle East Understanding.
  3. ^ Welty, Gordon (1995). Palestinian Nationalism and the Struggle for National Self-Determination. Philadelphia: Temple University. p. 21. ISBN 978-1-56639-342-3.
  4. Howard Sachar: A History of the State of Israel, pp. 265–266
  5. Mazin B. Qumsiyeh, Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment (New York, 2011), p. 85.
  6. Tucker, Spencer C.; Roberts, Priscilla (2008). The Encyclopedia of the Arab-Israeli Conflict. ABC-CLIO. p. 433. ISBN 978-1-85109-841-5.
  7. The Brigade by Howard Blum, p. 5.
  8. "Avraham Stern". Retrieved 2007-11-19.
  9. Gal, Reuven (1986). A Portrait of the Israeli Soldier. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 6. ISBN 978-0-313-24315-8.
  10. ^ Gal-or, Noemi. Tolerating Terrorism in the West: An International Survey. Routledge, 2004. p. 74
  11. Horne, Edward (1982). A Job Well Done (Being a History of The Palestine Police Force 1920–1948). The Anchor Press. ISBN 978-0-9508367-0-6. pp. 272, 299. States that Haganah withdrew on 1 July 1946. But remained permanently uncooperative.
  12. Bram, Shir Aharon (11 January 2023). "When the Irgun Decided to Be Judge, Jury and Executioner". The Librarians. The National Library of Israel. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  13. "Atlit Immigration Camp | Jewish Virtual Library". jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 2015-06-13.
  14. Morris, Benny (2003). Histoire revisitée du conflit arabo-sioniste. Editions complexe. pp. 16–17. ISBN 978-2-87027-938-0.
  15. Lapierre, Dominique; Collins, Larry (1971). O Jérusalem. Simon & Schuster. pp. 131–153. ISBN 978-2-266-10698-6.
  16. ^ Karsh (2002), p. 32
  17. Yoav Gelber, 'Palestine 1948', p. 20; The Scotsman newspaper, 6th January 1948; Walid Khalidi states that 25 civilians were killed, in addition to the military targets. 'Before Their Diaspora', 1984. p. 316, picture p. 325; Benny Morris, 'The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949', Cambridge University Press, p. 46.
  18. Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, p. 123.
  19. Larry Collins/Dominique Lapierre, 'O Jerusalem'. History Book Club/ Weidenfeld and Nicolson. London. 1972. p. 135: 'two fifty-gallon oil drums packed tight with old nails, bits of scrap iron, hinges, rusty metal filings. At their center was a core of TNT...'
  20. Collins/Lapierre. p. 138: 17 killed
  21. Joseph, Dov (1960). The faithful city: the siege of Jerusalem, 1948. Simon and Schuster. p. 56. LCCN 60-10976. OCLC 266413. It killed fourteen Arabs and wounded forty others.
  22. The Scotsman, 8 January 1948: 16 killed, 41 injured.
  23. Embassy of Israel, London, website. 2002. Quoting Zeev Vilnai – 'Ramla past and present'.
  24. Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem revisited, p. 221.
  25. Eisen, Robert (2011). The Peace and Violence of Judaism: From the Bible to Modern Zionism. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-979294-8.
  26. Pope Brewer, Sam. Irgun Bomb Kills 11 Arabs, 2 Britons Archived 2021-08-17 at the Wayback Machine. New York Times. December 30, 1947.
  27. Irgun's Hand Seen in Alps Rail Blast Archived 2014-04-07 at the Wayback Machine. New York Times. August 16, 1947.
  28. W. Khalidi, 1971, 'From Haven to Conquest', p. 598
  29. Zionists Condemn Palestine Terror Archived 2018-06-15 at the Wayback Machine New York Times. December 24, 1946.
  30. ^ Isidore Abramowitz; Hannah Arendt; Abraham Brick; Jessurun Cardozo; Albert Einstein; Herman Eisen; Hayim Fineman; M. Gallen; H.H. Harris; Zellig Harris; Sidney Hook; Fred Karush; Bruria Kaufman; Irma L. Lindheim; Nahman Maisel; Seymour Melman; Myer D. Mendelson; Harry M. Oslinsky; Samuel Pitlick; Fritz Rohrlich; Louis P. Rocker; Ruth Sagis; Isaac Sankowsky; Isaac Jacob Schoenberg; Samuel Shuman; M. Singer; Irma Wolfe; Stefan Wolf (4 December 1948). "New Palestine Party". Letter to The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-06-03.
  31. "Stern Gang" A Dictionary of World History. Oxford University Press, 2000. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press Archived 2009-02-05 at the Wayback Machine.
  32. Ralph Bunche report on assassination of UN mediator Archived 2008-05-07 at the Wayback Machine 27th Sept 1948, "notorious terrorists long known as the Stern group"
  33. ^ Anita Shapira (1992), p. 252
  34. ^ Avi Shlaim, The Debate About 1948 Archived 2011-06-05 at the Wayback Machine, International Journal of Middle East Studies, 27:3, 1995, pp. 287–304
  35. Anita Shapira (1992), p. 295
  36. ^ Yoav Gelber (2006), p. 291
  37. Morris 2008, pp. 404–406.
  38. Israel's forgotten hero: The assassination of Count Bernadotte – and the death of peace Archived 2015-09-25 at the Wayback Machine The Independent, 18 Jan 2008
  39. ^ Tom Segev, "The spirit of the King David Hotel" Archived 2010-11-10 at the Wayback Machine, Haaretz, July 23, 2006
  40. Bethell, Nicholas (1979). The Palestine Triangle. Andre Deutsch.
  41. ^ Prince-Gibson, Eetta (July 27, 2006). "Reflective truth". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2009-05-10.
  42. Ned Parker and Stephen Farrell, "British anger at terror celebration" Archived 2008-07-25 at the Wayback Machine, The Times, July 20, 2006
  43. Shlomo Nakdimon; Shaul Mayzlish (1985). Deh Han : ha-retsah ha-politi ha-rishon be-Erets Yisraʼel / De Haan: The first political assassination in Palestine (in Hebrew) (1st ed.). Tel Aviv: Modan Press. OCLC 21528172.
  44. Marijke T.C.Stapert-Eggen. "The Rosenthaliana's Jacob Israel de Haan Archive". University of Amsterdam Library. Archived from the original on 2011-05-26. Retrieved 2008-06-20.
  45. Perliger and Weinberg, 101.
  46. J. Bowyer Bell, Terror out of Zion: the fight for Israeli independence (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977). pp.181
  47. The TimesSaturday July 17, 1938
  48. The Times Tuesday July 26, 1938
  49. "The Hunting Season". Archived from the original on September 25, 2013. Retrieved August 12, 2013. The 'Hunting Season'.
  50. Walton, Calder (2 December 2017). "Coat Bomb and Explosive Prosthesis: British Intel Files Reveal How the Zionist Stern Gang Terrorized London". Haaretz. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  51. Rapoport, D.C., The Four Waves of Modern Terrorism, in Cronin, A. K. & Ludes, J. M. (eds.), Attacking Terrorism: Elements of a Grand Strategy, Georgetown University Press, 2004, Washington, DC., pp. 50-51
  52. "Jewish Terrorists Admit Bombing Embassy in Rome". St Petersburg Times. 1946-11-05. Retrieved 2010-04-08.
  53. "Time Bomb Found in London after British hang Gruner as Terrorist in Holy Land". Google News. St. Petersburg Times. Apr 17, 1947. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  54. "Police Say Woman Bomb "Planter" Now in Custody". The Age. A.A.P. 13 June 1947. The woman, who is a Jewess, claims French nationality. Officers of the special branch of Scotland Yard who have been investigating Jewish terrorist activities are satisfied the man who made the bomb is also under arrest.
  55. "EUROPE-WIDE SEARCH FOR MAN WHO MADE BOMB". The Argus (Melbourne). A.A.P. 19 April 1947. Retrieved 26 May 2018. The bomb was of the same type as that used in the explosion at the i British Embassy in Rome last year! and in several other outrages by Jewish terrorists.
  56. "Palestine Threat". The Age. A.A.P. 13 June 1947. Retrieved 26 May 2018. Jewish terrorists have raided Reuter's Tel Aviv office, where they forced the staff to lie on the floor.
  57. Britain Since 1945, David Childs P.34 para 1
  58. Pace, Eric (2 December 1972). "Letter-Bombs Mailed to Truman in 1947". New York Times. Retrieved 5 February 2019.
  59. Kana'ana, Sharif and Zeitawi, Nihad (1987), "The Village of Deir Yassin," Bir Zeit, Bir Zeit University Press
  60. Morris, Benny (2003). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81120-0.: Chapter 4: The second wave: the mass exodus, April–June 1948, Section: Operation Nahshon, page 238
  61. Milstein, Uri (1998) . Alan Sacks (ed.). History of the War of Independence IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision (in Hebrew and English). Translated by Alan Sacks. Lanhan, Maryland: University Press of America, Inc. ISBN 978-0-7618-1489-4.: Chapter 16: Deir Yassin, Section 12: The Massacre, page 377
  62. Macintyre, Donald (2008-09-18). "Israel's forgotten hero: The assassination of Count Bernadotte – and the death of peace". The Independent. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  63. Sune Persson, Folke Bernadotte and the White Buses, Journal of Holocaust Education, Vol 9, Iss 2–3, 2000, 237–268. Also published in David Cesarani and Paul A. Levine (eds.), Bystanders to the Holocaust: A Re-evaluation (Routledge, 2002). The precise number is nowhere officially recorded. A count of the first 21,000 included 8,000 Danes and Norwegians, 5,911 Poles, 2,629 French, 1,615 stateless Jews and 1,124 Germans. The total number of Jews was 6,500 to 11,000 depending on definitions. Also see A. Ilan, Bernadotte in Palestine, 1948 (Macmillan, 1989), p37.

Further reading

  • Berberoglu, Berch (2006). Nationalism and Ethnic Conflict: Class, State, and Nation in the Age of Globalization. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 978-0-7425-3544-2.
  • Childs, David. Britain since 1945 (5th ed.).online version at Internet Archive
  • J. Bowyer Bell (1977). Terror out of Zion: Irgun Zvai Leumi, LEHI, and the Palestine underground, 1929–1949. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-79205-3.
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