[lit-ideas] The Irgun and the King David Hotel bombing
- From: "Lawrence Helm" <lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2006 17:23:43 -0700
Okay, you sneaky little Simon you. I followed your advice and began to look
into the history of the Irgun. I could think of only one book I have on the
beginning of Israel, The High Walls of Jerusalem. I haven't read it yet,
but I searched the index and found reference to the Irgun using "terrorist
tactics," but no specific examples were given.
I next went to the Irgun site <http://www.etzel.org.il/english/>
http://www.etzel.org.il/english/ . I referred to reading their material
yesterday, but the site failed me. It froze and I only got to about 3
chapters, but today I was able to get further. I was reading quickly
looking for evidence that Irgun targeted civilians. They targeted military
communications, immigration sites (their big beef with the British) and
other military or governmental sites. At last I got to The King David Hotel
bombing which several of you referred to. It "sounded" as though the Irgun
were here targeted civilians. I finally got to that episode and learned:
"The King David Hotel in Jerusalem was built by the Moseri family, members
of the wealthy and influential Jewish establishment in Cairo and Alexandria.
They set up a shareholding company to finance its construction, consisting
mainly of Egyptian businessmen and wealthy Jews from all over the world. The
luxurious seven-storey building, with 200 rooms, was opened to the public in
1931. In 1938, the Mandatory government requisitioned the entire southern
wing of the hotel, and housed the military command and the Mandatory
government secretariat there. The British chose the King David for its
central location and because it was easy to guard. They built a military
communications center in the hotel basement and, for security reasons, added
a side entrance linking the building to an army camp south of the hotel.
Fewer than a third of the rooms were reserved for civilian use."
The Irgun set the explosives, encountered the staff and warned them to
leave, told the French in an adjacent building to open their windows to
avoid blast damage, set the explosives for 30 minutes and sent warning by
phone to the Hotel phone operator: "I am speaking on behalf of the Hebrew
underground. We have placed an explosive device in the hotel. Evacuate it
at once - you have been warned."
"Some 25 minutes after the telephone calls, a shattering explosion shook
Jerusalem, and reverberated at a great distance. The entire southern wing of
the King David Hotel - all seven storeys - was totally destroyed. For
reasons unclear, the staff of the government secretariat and the military
command remained in their rooms. Some of them were unaware of events, and
others were not permitted to leave the building, thus accounting for the
large number of victims trapped in the debris. . . ."
"The success of the Jewish underground in striking at the heart of British
government in Palestine, and the high toll of victims, sent shock waves
through England and the rest of the world. At first, the Mandatory
government denied having received a telephone warning, but testimony
submitted to the interrogating judge made it clear beyond a doubt that such
a warning had in fact been given. Moreover, the Palestine Post telephone
operator attested on oath to the police that, immediately after receiving
the telephone message, she had telephoned the duty officer at the police
station. The French Consulate staff opened their windows as they had been
told to by the anonymous woman who telephoned them, and this was further
evidence of the warning."
It seems clear to me that civilians were not targeted in this bombing. The
British Military command, centered in the southern wing of the hotel was
targeted. Thus, Simon, unless you have some other evidence against the
Irgun, I don't believe you have shown that the Irgun was a terrorist
organization in the modern sense of targeting civilians.
Lawrence
_____
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Simon Ward
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 2:46 PM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Islam, Israel and the Code of the West
You should take an interest Lawrence, at least in the broader history. Well
worthwhile.
As for what Nazi Germany thought of the British Empire I have little or no
interest. Whatever they thought, the Brits didn't want to know. And as
regards what I think of British Imperialists...well perhaps you could tell
me.
Simon
----- Original Message -----
From: Lawrence <mailto:lawrencehelm@xxxxxxxxxxxx> Helm
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 8:59 PM
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Islam, Israel and the Code of the West
I'm not conceding anything. It isn't a subject that I'm interested; so I
haven't studied it. I certainly wouldn't take the word of someone who took
one of my statements out of context to, apparently, divert attention from my
criticism of Hezbollah.
However, the British Imperial power was something admired by Hitler. He
liked the way the operated. He hoped Britain would join him in ruling the
world. Apparently he saw something different in the British Imperialists
dominating Palestine (and the Jews) than you see.
Lawrence
_____
From: lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:lit-ideas-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Simon Ward
Sent: Wednesday, July 19, 2006 11:19 AM
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [lit-ideas] Re: Islam, Israel and the Code of the West
You're forgetting the nature of the conflict.
The Nazis were military conquerers, the British in Palestine were a Mandated
Power.
Further, French action had tactical and, later, strategic purposes and were
conducted against military targets.
Zionists militants on the other hand had political goals and were willing to
engage civilian targets.
There is a clear and marked difference.
I do find it interesting that Lawrence appears to have conceded the view
that the Zionists were terrorists.
Simon
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