Political violence Zionist

Between 1920 and 1948, during the period of the British Mandate on Palestine, several organizations Zionists used violence within the framework of their political claims, in particular nationalist. The use of violence will culminate at the time of the first two phases of the war of 1948 in Palestine.

These events are registered in parallel in the context of the birth and the awakening of Arab nationalism in Palestine and the Palestinian Political violence. The context becomes complicated by events external like the rise of the Nazism in Europe, the second world war and the Holocauste.

At the beginning of the Zionism

Several nationalist organizations Zionists were active at the time of the first years of Jewish immigration of the new yichouv in Palestine.

In the context of the fight for creation of a Jewish State and against Arab nationalism, of the fight against the authorities British agents and within the framework of a progressive rise of reciprocal violence, some of these organizations chose the use of violence. Most radical in the camp Zionist were the Irgoun and the Lehi.

The Irgoun, certainly most famous, was founded in 1931 following the political and ideological disagreements between the Zionists revisionists and the left Zionist on the objectives to be reached and the policy to adopt to react to the situation. Irgoun chose a clandestine armed struggle.

It organized attacks mainly during the Grande Arab Revolt in Palestine (1936-1939), then between 1944 and 1947 against the British and at the time of the war of 1948. Those made tens of dead among the Arab population and the troops britanniques+.

The Group Stern or Lehi continued its actions during the Second world war, refusing the truce of the Irgoun with the British. The group asserted itself like terrorist.

After the Second world war

Irgoun is in particular responsible for the explosion which destroyed the hotel King David of Jerusalem the July 22nd 1946, at midday. This hotel then sheltered the secretariat of the British government of Palestine. An attack, initially financed by Haganah in Irgoun, was planned by Menahem Begin, which was with the head of the organization (it will become Prime Minister of Israel at the end of the years 1970. He will conclude then a peace with Egypt and will also receive the Nobel Prize of peace). Ben Gourion asks for the cancellation of the attack initially envisaged, when he learns the potentiality from civilian victims, Begin refuses and continues the plan. The attack is conducted by Yosef Avni, which will take part in the massacre of Deir Yassin, and Yisrael Levi. The hotel is planted with six loads representing 350 kg of explosives. A telephone message informs the French consulate and the newspaper Jerusalem Post 25 minutes before the explosion. Another warning message is given to the hotel little time before the explosion, which will deny a long time the British authorities. 91 people perished, the majority civil, including 28 British, 41 Arabs, 17 Jews, and 5 of other nationalities. There were also 45 wounded. Irgoun immediately asserted the attack and Mehahem Begin reports this episode in an autobiographical book published in 1978.

The Massacre of Deir Yassin of April 9th, 1948 made by Irgoun and Lehi made between 100 and 120 dead and remained, until our days, most famous of the historiography of the time although other massacres, sometimes making more victims, proceeded for this period. For multiple reasons, the impact of this one was nevertheless much more important.

Denunciations of these violences

Irgoun was regarded as an terrorist organization and was fought by the British authorities. Several members of Irgoun were captured and certain were condemned to died and were carried out.

David Ben Gourion and the Jewish authorities representing the Yichouv disapproved the actions and methods of the organizations Irgoun and Lehi ( to see Histoire of the Zionism ). Between 1945 and 1947, several members of Irgoun were delivered to the British authorities by the Haganah

The expression Jewish terrorism is still used in this context by Jewish media (like the site of the UPJF, for example), as by media not-Jews (the newspaper Libération , for example).

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