Palestinian Arabs said no to a state in 1937, when Britain under the Mandate offered the Peel Commission plan. They said no in 1947, when the UN proposed the establishment of two states in the region, one Jewish, one Arab. They said no in 1948, when Israel’s Proclamation of Independence invited the Palestinians to remain in their homes and become equal citizens in the new state. They said...
Today in Jewish History – Tevet 2
Sponsored by Aish.com: On this date in 1947, the Arab Legion surrounded Jerusalem and isolated its 100,000 Jews from the rest of the Israeli population. By March 1948 the city was under full siege, and in May, Jordan invaded and occupied east Jerusalem, dividing the city for the first time in its history, and driving thousands of Jews into exile. The Arabs proceeded to destroy all 58 synagogues...
How Amateur Astronomers Helped Israel Win the War of Independence
From How Amateur Astronomers Helped Israel Win the War of Independence: Mordechai Gihon, 85, a professor, archaeologist and historian, was a former intelligence officer in the pre-state Haganah’s astronomers unit – amateur astronomers who assisted in gathering intelligence about the Arab Legion’s movements in and around Jerusalem. Gihon recalls that in the fall of 1947, David...
“Historical insight” from a Jewish self-loather
An excerpt from the excellent, must-read essay by Seth Frantzman, currently in the doctoral program at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and whose master's thesis was on the 1948 war, in a counterpoint rebuttal of Ilan Pappe, a communist anti-Zionist self-loathing Jewish historian at Haifa University who has defended a student, Teddy Katz, for written essays documenting a fictitious Israeli...
Israelis Laud Alaska Sailor for 1947 Exodus Mission
From Israelis Laud Alaska Sailor for 1947 Exodus Mission: A young Alaskan named Jack Johnson sailed into history and an Israeli hero’s stature in 1947, but never really realized it until he returned to the Mediterranean this winter at age 80. Johnson, who in December retired from piloting ships around Alaska, had a dizzying youth during World War II and then found himself at the right bar...