Nadene Goldfoot
Jerusalem, the capital of King David's Israel. The time is now 1922, and Arabs are rioting in this beautiful city where Jews have moved to since about 1880 to join their brothers who had never left from here. Their ancestors had most likely hidden in the many recesses of the land, not letting the Romans know they had not left, for once the Romans had occupied the land, they had tried to keep Jews out with the threat of death if discovered nearby.
Arabs had heard that the Jews were talking with the British who held the Mandate about creating their own state once again. It was Haj Amin al-Husseini who stirred up the Arabs to riot. He was also called the Sherif of Jerusalem and THE GRAND MUFTI. No, he did not want to lose his position. The strange fact was that his appointment to such a position was from one of the Englishmen of the mandate-A JEW!. It was Sir Herbert Samuel in 1921 who appointed him the mufti of Jerusalem and head of the Supreme Moslem Council. In 1936, he organized the Palestine disturbances for which he was sentenced to exile in 1937. He ran off to Lebanon. During WWII, he participated in a pro-Axis coup in Iraq before going to Europe, where he assisted Hitler and was largely responsible for the liquidation of the Jews in the Moslem areas of Bosnia. By 1946 he escaped to Egypt. After 1948, he set up a short-lived "Palestine Government" in Gaza, and then moved it later to Cairo.
Husseini was the nemesis of another Arab who had an even higher position in the world, Emir Feisal. Feisal had accepted the Jews' return and hoped their presence would somehow teach his Arabs some skills and changes in their outlook.
The Arabs again rioted in Jerusalem in 1929, the year of the STOCK MARKET CRASH IN THE USA, a bad year for all. More rioting took place from 1936 to 1939, this time caused by the rise in Germany of the Nazi party who hated Jews and blamed all their financial problems on them. Surely it was their fault. They continued to keep their stores running at a small profit, or were at least breaking even, more than the average German could do.
In the meantime, Britain held the Mandate-the power in Palestine, and were keeping Jews out, which was the opposite of what they were expected to do. They were told to help them to create their Jewish Homeland by the League of Nations, who granted the mandate! Instead, they were helping Arabs in while keeping Jews out, and it was the Jews who were in fear for their lives with the Nazis in power. The Jews of Palestine formed resistant movements from 1945 to 1948, my cousin, Stanley Goldfoot among them as a reporter who was thrown in the Acco Prison. Several young men were hung who were imprisoned there. Along with people who were killed, Jerusalem's buildings were damaged and the city outside the walls transformed into a patchwork of security zones.
The Haganah (DEFENSE) army of 1946 was on its way. This was the Jewish Self Defense group in Palestine. It took over from the 1st group called HA-sHOMER IN 1920 AND EXISTED UNTIL 1948 WHEN ITS MEMBERS WERE SENT TO Tzeva Haganah le-Israel. The Jews were not being protected by the attacks from Arabs which the British should have done but didn't. The Haganah combined an illegal organization with individual Jewish participation in the government's security forces and even had certain legal formations. After the 1929 Arab attacks they tried to strengthen their group which resulted in a British policy of appeasement of the Arabs. In 1931, the Haganah spit and the minority, the right-wing groups formed a separate group. After the war, Haganah operatons were directed against the British with the object of getting the withdrawal of the 1939 WHITE PAPER. THEY TRIED TO TRANSPORT UNAUTHORIZED IMMIGRANTS TO PALESTINE. By 1947 they had to just concentrate on defense against Arab attacks.
The UN partition resolution of November 29, 1947 provided for the creation of an independent area of Jerusalem under the UN administration. Arab outbreaks soon were more like actual war between the HAGANAH and the ARABS. The Arabs were first made up of the local bands and then the Arab Legion of Transjordan stepped into the fracas and they put an end to the internationalization scheme. This struggle lasted from December 1947 until July 1948.
The Jewish quarter in the Old City section of Jerusalem had to be evacuated and was destroyed by the fighting. On the other hand, all the New City of Jerusalem, with the exception of the Arab quarters north of the walls, fell into Jewish hands.
The Arab Legion tried to shell and starve the Jews of Jerusalem into surrender but were foiled by the fortitude of the Jewish population and by the opening of the BURMA ROAD which restored the connection between Jewish Jerusalem and the coastline.
On May 14 1948, the Jews of Palestine were able to announce the creation of Israel once again. This was the day that the Brits were moving out and no longer held their mandate. The city from 1948 was divided into 2 parts. The section that was in Israel included the whole of the West and South part of the New City which included Mount Zion and an enclave on Mt. Scopus. The city extended westward by the construction of the Knesset and Government quarter, the HA-KIRYAH, with the National Museum and University campus nearby. New housing projets of which Kirvat Yovel was the largest, were constructed.
In May 1949, the government and Knesset were transferred to Jerusalem.
Theodore Herzl (1860-1904), a writer and creator of political Zionism, and other Zionist leaders were reinterred on a mountain west of the city on Mt. Herzl, the slopes of which were laid out as a cemetery for soldiers who died during active service. New rabbinical centers were also erected. The industrial development lagged behind that of other cities, but a number of factories were set up. Jerusalem was the administrative center of the country.
At the outset of the Six-Day War on June 5, 1967, Jordanian troops in the Old City and Jordanian sections of the city bombarded the New City of Jerusalem. The Israel army reacted and 2 days later, the entire city came under Israeli control.
The first thing that happened was that people made mass visits to the Western Wall which had been banned to Jews for almost 20 years since 1948. On June 29, 1967, the Israeli government formally united the 2 sections of the city and the barriers that had divided them were removed.
The population of the eastern portion of Jerusalem, including 139,600 Moslems and Christians, had been incorporated into the total population of 493,500 in 1990. The proportion of ultra-Orthodox Jews in the population had grown rapidly as had the number of immigrants.
There were Arab-Jewish examples of cooperation in the city, and there were also regular cases of sabotage which tended to exacerbate relations, especially after the beginning of the intifada in 1987. These attacks were encouraged by outside elements and the Arab states continued to cry for Israel to go back to pre-1967 lines, which former President Obama did for them, siding with the Arabs. For Jews, this was life and death; their own and that of their religion. They had determination and for this they were being punished by the American president. It was like a football game for the Arabs, a matter of pride and of winning and was racially something they could not abide. They had 48 states that were Moslem majorities where Palestinians could easily move to if it was a matter of needed land. After 2,000 years of anti-Semitism, Jews felt they had no such choices; especially after wandering for 3,000 years without their own land and going through the Holocaust and losing 6 million to gas chambers because of hatred.
Meanwhile, the motto, to life, drove the Jews. The Jewish administration continued with development plans for Jerusalem including the renewed expansion of the institutions on Mount Scopus, the restoration of the Old City's Jewish Quarter which had been razed by the Jordanians and the building of new suburbs.
The Jerusalem Law of 1980 extended Israel sovereignty over the entire city. This is the year I moved to Israel, arriving in September.
The archaeological excavations which had been carried out at the site of the City of David (Jerusalem) were now supplemented by diggings around the western and southern walls of the Temple enclosure. We know that Arabs have also been trying to find artifacts proving our ancient history and destroying them, and am afraid of how much has been lost since they have free run of the Temple Mount through Jordan's rulings.
Resource: The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Video: Cast a Giant Shadow with Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger, Frank Sinatra, Angie Dickinson, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, about 1947-1948 stuggle for Independence of Israel. It's a romantic war story, based on facts. -found on amazon.com 2 hr 18 min movie.
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| Jews in Jerusalem praying at the Wall, the Kotel, our one holy place we are allowed to pray since the Temple site is covered with a Mosque. |
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| 1920 mandate of Palestine showing where Jewish National Home was to be. World War I was over in 1917 and the Ottoman Empire lost the war. Their land was divided among the Allies. The Law at the time was through the League of Nations. |
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| Britain caved and now Israel's promised land has had 80% of it given away to the Saudi Arab a prince without land. We're down of 20% of the original piece. |
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| Hajj Mohammed Amin el-Husseini (1893-1974) |
Husseini was the nemesis of another Arab who had an even higher position in the world, Emir Feisal. Feisal had accepted the Jews' return and hoped their presence would somehow teach his Arabs some skills and changes in their outlook.
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| Ibn Hussein Feisal (1885-1933) King of Iraq from 1921, oldest son of Hussein, sherif of Mecca. King of Syria He was the 1st to be sympathetic to Zionism and hoped to get help from the Jews in building his future kingdom. He met with Dr. Weizmann in Transjordan in 1918 and Paris in 1919 where they reached an agreement on mutual aid, but the conditions involved Great Britain's promises to the Arabs. He was then kicked out of Syria by the French in 1920 and influenced by the Palestinian Arab leaders, and he became hostile towards Zionism. |
The Arabs again rioted in Jerusalem in 1929, the year of the STOCK MARKET CRASH IN THE USA, a bad year for all. More rioting took place from 1936 to 1939, this time caused by the rise in Germany of the Nazi party who hated Jews and blamed all their financial problems on them. Surely it was their fault. They continued to keep their stores running at a small profit, or were at least breaking even, more than the average German could do.
 |
| Grand Mufti and Hitler 1941Haj Amin went to Germany and spoke with the Nazi leaders and with Hitler about getting rid of Jews. |
The Haganah (DEFENSE) army of 1946 was on its way. This was the Jewish Self Defense group in Palestine. It took over from the 1st group called HA-sHOMER IN 1920 AND EXISTED UNTIL 1948 WHEN ITS MEMBERS WERE SENT TO Tzeva Haganah le-Israel. The Jews were not being protected by the attacks from Arabs which the British should have done but didn't. The Haganah combined an illegal organization with individual Jewish participation in the government's security forces and even had certain legal formations. After the 1929 Arab attacks they tried to strengthen their group which resulted in a British policy of appeasement of the Arabs. In 1931, the Haganah spit and the minority, the right-wing groups formed a separate group. After the war, Haganah operatons were directed against the British with the object of getting the withdrawal of the 1939 WHITE PAPER. THEY TRIED TO TRANSPORT UNAUTHORIZED IMMIGRANTS TO PALESTINE. By 1947 they had to just concentrate on defense against Arab attacks.
 |
| Avraham Stern, of the Stern Group, 1907-1942 In 1939-1940 he left the group of Irgun Tzevai Leumi where he had been the leader because they didn't want to be involved in anti-British activities in Palestine during WWII. he formed an underground organization later known as LOHAME HERUT ISRAEL. The British nicknamed it the Stern Gang. They were said to carry out acts of sabotage. My cousin, Stanley Goldfoot, was their Chief of Intelligence. Stern was killed by the British police while being arrested at age 35. Stanley lived till 92 and resided in Jerusalem, living near Golda Meir. They were the toughest of the resisters. |
The Jewish quarter in the Old City section of Jerusalem had to be evacuated and was destroyed by the fighting. On the other hand, all the New City of Jerusalem, with the exception of the Arab quarters north of the walls, fell into Jewish hands.
The Arab Legion tried to shell and starve the Jews of Jerusalem into surrender but were foiled by the fortitude of the Jewish population and by the opening of the BURMA ROAD which restored the connection between Jewish Jerusalem and the coastline.
 |
| Golda Meir and Moshe Sharett announcing the birth of Israel |
On May 14 1948, the Jews of Palestine were able to announce the creation of Israel once again. This was the day that the Brits were moving out and no longer held their mandate. The city from 1948 was divided into 2 parts. The section that was in Israel included the whole of the West and South part of the New City which included Mount Zion and an enclave on Mt. Scopus. The city extended westward by the construction of the Knesset and Government quarter, the HA-KIRYAH, with the National Museum and University campus nearby. New housing projets of which Kirvat Yovel was the largest, were constructed.
In May 1949, the government and Knesset were transferred to Jerusalem.
Theodore Herzl (1860-1904), a writer and creator of political Zionism, and other Zionist leaders were reinterred on a mountain west of the city on Mt. Herzl, the slopes of which were laid out as a cemetery for soldiers who died during active service. New rabbinical centers were also erected. The industrial development lagged behind that of other cities, but a number of factories were set up. Jerusalem was the administrative center of the country.
At the outset of the Six-Day War on June 5, 1967, Jordanian troops in the Old City and Jordanian sections of the city bombarded the New City of Jerusalem. The Israel army reacted and 2 days later, the entire city came under Israeli control.
The first thing that happened was that people made mass visits to the Western Wall which had been banned to Jews for almost 20 years since 1948. On June 29, 1967, the Israeli government formally united the 2 sections of the city and the barriers that had divided them were removed.
The population of the eastern portion of Jerusalem, including 139,600 Moslems and Christians, had been incorporated into the total population of 493,500 in 1990. The proportion of ultra-Orthodox Jews in the population had grown rapidly as had the number of immigrants.
There were Arab-Jewish examples of cooperation in the city, and there were also regular cases of sabotage which tended to exacerbate relations, especially after the beginning of the intifada in 1987. These attacks were encouraged by outside elements and the Arab states continued to cry for Israel to go back to pre-1967 lines, which former President Obama did for them, siding with the Arabs. For Jews, this was life and death; their own and that of their religion. They had determination and for this they were being punished by the American president. It was like a football game for the Arabs, a matter of pride and of winning and was racially something they could not abide. They had 48 states that were Moslem majorities where Palestinians could easily move to if it was a matter of needed land. After 2,000 years of anti-Semitism, Jews felt they had no such choices; especially after wandering for 3,000 years without their own land and going through the Holocaust and losing 6 million to gas chambers because of hatred.
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| Knesset in Jerusalem |
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| A menorah near the Knesset in Jerusalem, reminding us who we are and what we stand for. |
Meanwhile, the motto, to life, drove the Jews. The Jewish administration continued with development plans for Jerusalem including the renewed expansion of the institutions on Mount Scopus, the restoration of the Old City's Jewish Quarter which had been razed by the Jordanians and the building of new suburbs.
The Jerusalem Law of 1980 extended Israel sovereignty over the entire city. This is the year I moved to Israel, arriving in September.
The archaeological excavations which had been carried out at the site of the City of David (Jerusalem) were now supplemented by diggings around the western and southern walls of the Temple enclosure. We know that Arabs have also been trying to find artifacts proving our ancient history and destroying them, and am afraid of how much has been lost since they have free run of the Temple Mount through Jordan's rulings.
Resource: The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
Video: Cast a Giant Shadow with Kirk Douglas, Senta Berger, Frank Sinatra, Angie Dickinson, Yul Brynner, John Wayne, about 1947-1948 stuggle for Independence of Israel. It's a romantic war story, based on facts. -found on amazon.com 2 hr 18 min movie.
.
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