Thursday, March 6, 2014

Whether it is women and men talking at dinner parties, or the Jews vs. Palestinians, an underlying theme of this book seems to be segregation. One of the many different groups mentioned was the "Lehi." I took interest in this group because unlike the other Israeli groups mentioned, the author blatantly stated they were terrorists and unwanted by the Palestinians, "...and the Lehi (better known as the Stern Gang). These last two organisations were known in Palestine as the terrorists and were responsible for a spectacular campaign of violence against anyone who stood in the way of their aims" (Pg 58). According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, their original name, "Lohamei Herut Yisra El" means "Fighters for the freedom of Israel." This group started in 1940 and ended in 1948 after the state of Israel was created and the moderate Jewish leaders suppressed them. They were thought of as Zionist extremists. The gang attacked many areas of Palestine including railway yards, and airfields. The British police tried to end the group by killing it's leader, Avraham Stern, in 1942, but the gang lived on for six more years. This group has completely disappeared, now, because of the violence British responded with and the little support it got from it's own Jewish leaders.


Facts From: 
The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. "Stern Gang (Zionist Extremist Organization)."   
        Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 07 Mar. 2014.

 
     
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1 comment:

  1. UnknownMarch 17, 2014 at 9:03 PM

    I really see the theme of segregation that you mentioned, I find it especially interesting how divided Ghada describes the Palestinians to be. Ghada describes the growing tensions on page 48, "The pro-Husseini and pro-Nashashibi parties leading Palestinian opposition to the widely feared takeover of the country by European Jews were even more at loggerheads than before. And now they began to attack each other more and more viciously, with uninvolved or apolitical people like my father increasingly caught in the crossfire." According to Hillel Cohen's book Army of Shadows: Palestinian Collaboration with Zionism, the rivalry between the two families began at the end of the Ottoman period, over prestige, jobs, and overall status. In 1920 Ragheb Nashashibi became Jerusalem's mayor after Musa Kazem al-Husseini was ousted by the british. This shift in power caused the competition to manifest in politics. The division of course is palatable and none of my business, but I do think that the deep separation among the Palestinian people made it easier for the Jews to take over Palestine.

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