Trying to tell the truth about the "liberation" of Jaffa
Some 20 - 30 demonstrators and at least 40-50 police men, including special forces (Yasam) and border police.In spite of the law, none of those last two groups wore name tags on their uniforms.
At the etzel museum a small audience listens to a sound & light heroism performance,
We are kept at "a safe" distance, but using old pots and sticks as well as small flutes we raise a lot of noise.
Banners tell the story of the naqbe in Jaffa, of the acts of terror carried out by Etzel against civilians. Sixty years ago, the naqbe.
Reuven Abergil tells the story of how that happened, while the Brits and the Hagana conveniently looked in the other direction. They controlled the road blocks on the way to Jaffa and the Etzel people dressed to look like local Arabs, passed through with their weapons and explosives.
Bombs hidden inside a watermelon cart and a truck exploded in Jaffa's market. Children and women were murdered. The aim was to create terror and make the population want to flee away.
The police tried to force us to another location, close to the Turkish railway station, where no one passes by and no one can see nor hear us. So much for democracy. So much for our right to express our views and be heard.
We disagree to move to that far away spot. In reaction they bring iron fences and "cage us in".
More police arrive on the scene.
The atmosphere becomes uneasy, then violent.
Four (?) people are arrested, some are lightly wounded, one journalist's press card appears to have been taken away by a police man who refuses to identify himself. Some of the police become very violent.
The police move us even further away in a concentrated and violent effort. It appears the noise we make bothers some of the "etzel heroes".
Their public doesn't really want to know the true story.
But the true story can be well learned from the etzel themselves. Prior to "pc" language in the fifties and sixties, they published books about their "heroism" against Jaffa's civilian population as well as the acts of looting Jaffa's homes and stores.
The police actively assist in telling the Etzel narrative.
They do all to keep us quiet.
But we won't, we won't be quiet.
And by the way, i found a camera in the area of the demo. I think it belonged to participants, please contact me.
Posts
16 comments:
sad.. very sad..
but there is another side to this story that i know from its inside.. i'll refrain from sharing it and merely state that it exists..
U lie
youre "slideshow" show tag name or sholder tag names on the police officers uniforms.
Look better (or read more carefully) , NONE of the border police carry any tags, nor do most of the yasam, only the blue police do, and a VERY small part of the Yasam officers.
Anonymous, you are both a coward (no providing your name) AND a liar
In my article i write "In spite of the law, none of those last two groups wore name tags on their uniforms."
Look at the images and you will see: blue police with tags, border and yasam and motor cycle-helmeted police: no tags (except for an officer or two).
They also refused to identify when asked for their names.
not sure why you censored my comment again.. :)
Lirun?????
no comment of yours
maybe it's the big blogging brother?
bizarre.. no big deal :)
I think Reuven was conflating the events of 1938 and 1948. I could find an Etzel attack in Jaffa market here (August 26, 1938) but not here. The last one is a Zionist site but they are not shy to report other terrorist attacks by Irgun or Lehi, such as Jan. 7, 1948 Jaffa Gate bombing. Could you ask Reuven if that is indeed the case or there was another bombing of Jaffa market in 1948?
The wikipedia article is called "List of Irgun attacks during the 1930s", and just as it says, it relates to attacks during those years in specific and not any later.
It's not as if the irgun stopped attacking once the thirties were over...
That's right, and just as murderously, if not more, as the second link I brought shows. I was just wondering why I could not find any mention of a Jaffa market attack by Irgun in 1948, neither in this second link nor anywhere else I looked. Better have our facts checked - less ammo to our opponents, don't you think?
Well Peter,
you can find the actual mentioning of that horrid 1948 attack
RIGHT on the actual spot where it happened, where a copper plate put up by Israel's authorities tells us about the irgoun "heroes" who did the attack in 1948
Thanks, Yudit. Do they mention the market attack specifically in the plaque? I did read about indiscriminate shelling of Jaffa and of street fights. I'd be surprised if they got so shameless as to print black and white that Irgun planted bombs in the market, but I guess I might be too naive. What is the exact wording of the plaque?
it says black on tarnished bronze, that on January 4, 1948, the Lehi Jewish underground drove a truck laden with explosives to the structure, and demolished it.....
It also says the structure was previously used by the Palestinian freedom fighters to shoot at Tel Aviv.
It does not state anything about the soup kitchen for poor kids and how many of them were killed in this sick act of terror
OK, that confirms what I thought, namely, the plaque refers to the explosion of the Clock Tower (see here, under "4 JANUARY 1948"), and that Reuven was probably thinking of the 1938 attack (or some other one). The January 4 1948 attack was apparently carried out using a booby-trapped car and either Etzel or Lehi men dressed as British soldiers, not Arabs. I am not sure right now where to get reliable info on this and want to be sure to use only checked facts. As Uri Avnery said:
"ONE DAY, I hope, a "Truth and Reconciliation Commission", on the South African model, will be set up here. It should be composed of Israeli, Palestinian and international historians, whose job will be to establish what really happened in this country in 1948."
What? The clock tower was never demolished nor exploded. It was the seraya building close to the tower that was. And that is what the plaque relates to.
A series of acts of terror were carried out against Jaffa's civilian population in order to convince them to go. It was "effective" as in deed after 1948 there were only 3000 Palestinians left Jaffa.....
OK, I was imprecise, the clock tower itself was not, the Serai building was. Just as it says here:
"4 JANUARY 1948
At 12:25 p.m. two Jewish terrorists, one driving a truck loaded with time bombs and the other driving a jeep, both as usual in British uniforms, drove to the end of a lane between the Arab welfare and relief centre in Jaffa housing children and the Barclay's Bank. The truck was driven in the lane and left there, and the driver was picked up by the jeep driver who was waiting for him. As they drove away, the whole town was rocked by a powerful explosion and many distant buildings were damaged by the concussion. The welfare centre was demolished. Seventeen Arabs were killed in this coldblooded murderous attack and 106 were wounded. Among those killed and seriously wounded were women and children.
United Nations Security Council Official Records, Supplements - 1948."
It then continues:
"4 JANUARY 1948
Lydda. 1240 hours, Jaffa. The Old Serrai in Clock Tower Square which houses the offices of the Arab National Committee, was completely destroyed by an explosion which killed 15 and injured 98 persons. Buildings nearby including Barclay's Bank, the Central Police Station and several shops and houses were also extensively damaged." etc.
This last clearly refers to the same event but the details are a bit different (e.g., 15 killed instead of 17, etc.) which confirms that exact details are hard to establish. I now realize that all this can be reconciled with Reuven's description, it's the word "market" that threw me off. Thanks.
Post a Comment