Nadene Goldfoot
The history of Israel is recorded by different historians and has had to make sense with us readers. What happened in 1948 to a Palestinian fishing village is now being questioned because the memories of those 17 and 18 year old soldiers are being awakened. They are now members of our seniors in the 80's
As an 88 year old, I can attest to the fact that our long term memories are often better than our short term memories, that's for sure, but to remember why I didn't report to my English class, as important as it was to do so, escapes me. I'm not even sure I knew how to get there. What my daughter remembers is not a part of my memories though I was part of her memory. We remember different things, and they might be jumbled up with another occasion that was similar.
Yet these good or bad memories are being treated like gold by Alon Schwartz who has made a movie, Tantura, changing the course of history in the Palestinian favor saying our IDF just went in and slaughtered all the people for the sake of creating Israel, and he is under the allusion that he is a "good Israeli." So I want to know more. He most likely hasn't a documented history of the condition of each former Haganah soldier of today, like does he has Alzheimer's? How reliable is his memory?
Alon, who may or may not have had the goal of being important at Sundance's program, was the most talked about there this year.
Israeli University Head Slams Research on 1948 Tantura Massacre 'Used to Advance Political Agenda", tells Haaretz'.
The author "made every possible mistake' in his thesis and lacked the training to conduct it, Haifa University's rector argues.In 1948, al-Tantura was within the area designated by the United Nations in the Partition Plan for the Jewish State. Some of the inhabitants were civil servants, working as policemen, customs officials and clerks at the Haifa Magistrates court. A paved road led to the Haifa Highway. The village was one of the most developed in the region.
Some residents of Tantura had been involved in the armed Arab Revolt against the British, and three were killed in a skirmish with the British near the village.
At the beginning of the 1948 Palestine war, the wealthier families fled to Haifa. Approximately 1,200 remained in the village, continuing to tend their fields, orchards, and ply their trade as fishermen.
Tantura was part of an Arab enclave cutting off the road from Tel Aviv to Haifa. Following attacks by local Arab villages on Jewish traffic from Tel Aviv to Haifa, on May 9, 1948, the Haganah leadership decided to "expel or subdue" the villages of Kafr Saba, al-Tira, Qaqun, Qalansuwa and Tantura. On May 11, David Ben-Gurion advised the Haganah to "focus on its primary task", which according to the New Historian, Ilan Pappe, was the bi'ur (lit. cleansing) of Palestine. Dori was appointed Chief of Staff of the Haganah – a position he held until 1946 – with the motive of turning a small self-defense paramilitary into the state's national armed forces. With the establishment of the
The part fact-part fiction movie, "Cast A Giant Shadow," with Kirk Douglas and Senta Berger tells the history that people should see. It tells of Israel's heroic 1947-48 struggle for independence. Both realistic war story and passionate romance, it features an all-star cast with Angie Dickinson as well as Yul Brynner, John Wayne and Frank Sinatra in notable supporting roles.
It's the true story of Mickey Marcus (Douglas) is called to the new state of Israel to build an army capable of withstanding its Arab foes. Against the wishes of his wife Dickinson), Mickey makes the journey and begins transforming a ragtag underground army into a 1st-class fighting machine. But as the threat of war looms, Mickey must also confront his growing attraction to beautiful activist Magda Simon (Berger).
David Daniel "Mickey" Marcus (22 February 1901 – 10 June 1948) was a United States Army colonel, later Israel's first General, who was a principal architect of the U.S. military's World War II civil affairs policies, including the organization of the war crimes trials in Germany and in Japan. He assisted Israel during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, one of the well known Israeli Machal soldiers, becoming Israel's first modern general (Hebrew: Aluf). He was killed by friendly fire. He was portrayed by Kirk Douglas in the 1966 Hollywood movie Cast a Giant Shadow, which focused on his role in the Israeli war.
According to Tiroshi Eitan (a local commander), the people of Tantura were ready to surrender in early May but not prepared to relinquish their arms.
Unverified source on wikipedia said: Between 22–24 April 1948, the women and children of Qannir started to evacuate the village, apparently on [Arab] "orders from on high".
According to a dispatch sent by Fawzi al-Qawuqji to the [Arab] High Command, an enemy attack from Ein Hashofeit started on 0400 on 8 May towards Quannir and Kafr Quari. The attackers were supported by armored cars. According to al-Qawuqji the attack was "resisted and repelled", with a result of one killed and four wounded on the Palestinian side.
However, according to Haganah sources, the forces of the Alexandroni Brigade "raided the village on 9 May 1948, killed four Arabs and blew up 55 houses". According to Morris (Benny Morris?) , the remaining villagers probably left at this time.The Alexandroni Brigade (3rd Brigade) is an Israel Defense Forces brigade that has fought in multiple Israeli wars. In 1998, Teddy Katz wrote a master's thesis at Haifa University arguing that the Alexandroni Brigade committed a massacre in the Palestinian village of Tantura during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. The veterans of the brigade sued Katz for libel. During the court hearing Katz conceded by issuing a statement withdrawing his own work. He then tried to withdraw his statement, but the court disallowed it and ruled against him. This was never shown on JBS in this interview of Alon Schwartz.
On 15 May 1948, the civil war transformed into a conflict between Israel and the Arab states following the Israeli Declaration of Independence the previous day.
Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, and expeditionary forces from Iraq entered Palestine. The invading forces took control of the Arab areas and immediately attacked Israeli forces and several Jewish settlements. The 10 months of fighting took place mostly on the territory of the British Mandate and in the Sinai Peninsula and southern Lebanon, interrupted by several truce periods.
As a result of the war, the State of Israel controlled the area that the UN had proposed for the Jewish state, as well as almost 60% of the area proposed for the Arab state, including the Jaffa, Lydda and Ramle area, Upper Galilee, some parts of the Negev and a wide strip along the Tel Aviv–Jerusalem road. Israel also took control of West Jerusalem, which was meant to be part of an international zone for Jerusalem and its environs.
Transjordan took control of East Jerusalem and what became known as the West Bank, annexing it the following year, and
the Egyptian military took control of the Gaza Strip.
At the Jericho Conference on 1 December 1948, 2,000 Palestinian delegates called for unification of Palestine and Transjordan as a step toward full Arab unity. The conflict triggered significant demographic change throughout the Middle East.
Around 700,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were expelled from their homes in the area that became Israel, and they became Palestinian refugees in what they refer to as the Nakba ("the catastrophe").
A similar number of Jews moved to Israel during the three years following the war, including 260,000 from the surrounding Arab states.
Tantura (Arabic: الطنطورة, al-Tantura, lit. The Peak; Hebrew and Phoenician: דור, Dor) was a Palestinian Arab fishing village located 8 kilometers (5 mi) northwest of Zikhron Ya'akov on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. Near the village, lies ruins of the ancient Phoenician city of Dor.
The events have been made quite clear in many reference books. Israelis begged the Palestinians not to leave but they had listened to their Arab leaders and left with the promise that the Arabs would win in the fight of a few hours from then and they would be able to take over the Jewish homes. It didn't happen because the Jews won the battle and became a state.
It would be unthinkable that any young teen-age Israeli could and would massacre an Arab or many Arabs. That's not in our way of thinking or believing. Schwartz should have realized that and double-checked what he was creating. What he did was get a lot of publicity abut the trade-off was in giving anti-Semitic ammunition to the world to hate Jews. Today's teens are not the teens of yesterday, not the background or experiences. I bet that as a teen, Schwartz didn't like history.
For some, Shwarz’s film simply picks at scabbed over wounds. However, the power Tantura lies in getting on camera those soldiers and residents who were there to witness the events. The film provides no easy answers, even if the filmmaker’s point of view of the events is clearly articulated. Some already see the work as providing definitive truths, with an Al Jazeera headline from yesterday after the Sundance debut stating flatly that “200 Palestinians were killed by Zionist gangs” citing (but, interestingly, not hyperlinking) to Israeli newspaper Haaretz’s article about Schwarz’s discoveries outlined in the film. .
Everyone forgets that the king of Syria and Iraq, Emir Feisal, who wanted his Arabs to be at peace with Israel and learn skills from the Israelis. It was Haj Amin al- Husseini who led the Arabs astray and attacking the Jews.
Resource:
https://businessdoceurope.com/sundance-review-tantura-by-alon-schwartz/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tantura#:~:text=Tantura%20(Arabic%3A%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B7%D9%86%D8%B7%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9%2C%20al,the%20Mediterranean%20coast%20of%20Israel.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Arab%E2%80%93Israeli_
War
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haganah
https://povmagazine.com/tantura-director-alon-schwarz-talks-memory-and-healing/
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