Britain bombed ships with Jewish Holocaust survivors
A very respectful new book uncovers shocking secret attacks launched on ships bearing Holocaust survivors en route to Israel. It is entitled "MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909-1949".
The distinguished British historian Keith Jeffery reveals the existence of Operation Embarrass, a plan to try to prevent Jews getting into Palestine in 1946-1948 using disinformation and propaganda but also BOMBS placed on ships with the Jewish refugees and Holocaust survivors.
Nor is this some speculative spy story that can be denied by the authorities: Dr. Jeffrey’s book is actually, in their own words: "Published with the permission of The Secret Intelligence Service and the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office."
When on June 1 this year the British government denounced as "completely unacceptable" the way that the Israelis landed troops on the Turkish flotilla to Gaza we did not know that its predecessor had done much worse, actually blowing up at least one ship and damaging at least two more vessels of a genuinely humanitarian flotilla that was trying to bring Jewish survivors of the Nazi death camps to their people’s ancient homeland.
Of course the hostility of the British establishment toward Jewish immigration into Palestine since long before the notorious 1939 White Paper on the subject is well-known - even King George VI wrote that year to say that he was "glad to think that steps are being taken to prevent these people leaving their country of origin" . Nonetheless this is the first documented indication of the violent lengths to which post-war Britain was willing to go. For it now emerges that in late 1946 the Labour government of Clement Attlee asked MI6 for "proposals for action to deter ships masters and crews from engaging in illegal Jewish immigration and traffic", adding, "Action of the nature contemplated is, in fact, a form of intimidation and intimidation is only likely to be effective if some members of the group of people to be intimidated actually suffer unpleasant consequences." Among the options contemplated were "the discovery of some sabotage device, which had 'failed' to function after the sailing of a ship", "tampering with a ship’s fresh water supplies or the crew’s food", and "fire on board ship in port." Sir Stewart Menzies, the chief of the SIS, suggested these could be blamed on an invented Arab terrorist group called The Defenders of Arab Palestine.
Operation Embarrass was therefore launched after a meeting held on February 14, 1947 between officials from MI6, the armed services, the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office, the last represented by William Hayter, the head of Foreign Office Services Liaison Department, a high-flier who later became ambassador to Moscow. I knew Sir William Hayter in later life, but needless to say he never breathed a word about this operation. In his defense, it must be said that Hayter did order MI6 to ensure that arson "must be arranged, if at all, when the ship is empty."
The Operation Embarrass team was told that "the primary consideration was to be that no proof could ever be established between positive action against this traffic and His Majesty’s Government [HMG]." A special communications network, codenamed Ocean, was set up with a budget of £30,000 ($147,000), a great deal of money in 1947. The operation had three aspects: direct action against refugee ships, a "black" propaganda campaign, and a deception scheme to disrupt immigration from Black Sea ports. A team of former Special Operations Executive agents - with the cover story of a yachting trip - was sent to France and Italy with limpet bombs and timers. If captured, "they were under no circumstances to admit their connection with HMG" but instead claim to have been recruited in New York "by an anti-Communist organization formed by a group of international industrialists, mainly in the oil and aircraft industries," i.e. to lay the blame on rich, right-wing, unnamed Americans. They were told that this cover "was their final line of defense and, even in the event of a prison sentence, no help could be expected from HMG."
During the summer of 1947 and early 1948, five attacks were undertaken on ships in Italian ports, of which one was rendered "a total loss" and two others were damaged. Two other British-made limpet mines were discovered before they went off, but the Italian authorities did not find their country of origin suspicious, "as the Arabs would of course be using British stores." Operation Embarrass even considered blowing up the Baltimore steamship President Warfield when in harbor in France, which later became famous in Israeli history as the "Exodus" ship that "launched a nation."
The country that ought to be embarrassed by Operation Embarrass - indeed shamed - is Great Britain, which used explosives to try to stop truly humanitarian flotillas after the Holocaust, but now condemns embattled Israel for halting entirely politically inspired flotillas to Gaza despite her rights of legitimate self-defense. The depth of the animosity that Establishment Britain, especially the Foreign Office, felt toward the Jews of Palestine clearly went even further than we had ever imagined, and even 70 years later is by no means extinguished.
The distinguished British historian Keith Jeffery reveals the existence of Operation Embarrass, a plan to try to prevent Jews getting into Palestine in 1946-1948 using disinformation and propaganda but also BOMBS placed on ships with the Jewish refugees and Holocaust survivors.
Nor is this some speculative spy story that can be denied by the authorities: Dr. Jeffrey’s book is actually, in their own words: "Published with the permission of The Secret Intelligence Service and the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office."
When on June 1 this year the British government denounced as "completely unacceptable" the way that the Israelis landed troops on the Turkish flotilla to Gaza we did not know that its predecessor had done much worse, actually blowing up at least one ship and damaging at least two more vessels of a genuinely humanitarian flotilla that was trying to bring Jewish survivors of the Nazi death camps to their people’s ancient homeland.
Of course the hostility of the British establishment toward Jewish immigration into Palestine since long before the notorious 1939 White Paper on the subject is well-known - even King George VI wrote that year to say that he was "glad to think that steps are being taken to prevent these people leaving their country of origin" . Nonetheless this is the first documented indication of the violent lengths to which post-war Britain was willing to go. For it now emerges that in late 1946 the Labour government of Clement Attlee asked MI6 for "proposals for action to deter ships masters and crews from engaging in illegal Jewish immigration and traffic", adding, "Action of the nature contemplated is, in fact, a form of intimidation and intimidation is only likely to be effective if some members of the group of people to be intimidated actually suffer unpleasant consequences." Among the options contemplated were "the discovery of some sabotage device, which had 'failed' to function after the sailing of a ship", "tampering with a ship’s fresh water supplies or the crew’s food", and "fire on board ship in port." Sir Stewart Menzies, the chief of the SIS, suggested these could be blamed on an invented Arab terrorist group called The Defenders of Arab Palestine.
Operation Embarrass was therefore launched after a meeting held on February 14, 1947 between officials from MI6, the armed services, the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office, the last represented by William Hayter, the head of Foreign Office Services Liaison Department, a high-flier who later became ambassador to Moscow. I knew Sir William Hayter in later life, but needless to say he never breathed a word about this operation. In his defense, it must be said that Hayter did order MI6 to ensure that arson "must be arranged, if at all, when the ship is empty."
The Operation Embarrass team was told that "the primary consideration was to be that no proof could ever be established between positive action against this traffic and His Majesty’s Government [HMG]." A special communications network, codenamed Ocean, was set up with a budget of £30,000 ($147,000), a great deal of money in 1947. The operation had three aspects: direct action against refugee ships, a "black" propaganda campaign, and a deception scheme to disrupt immigration from Black Sea ports. A team of former Special Operations Executive agents - with the cover story of a yachting trip - was sent to France and Italy with limpet bombs and timers. If captured, "they were under no circumstances to admit their connection with HMG" but instead claim to have been recruited in New York "by an anti-Communist organization formed by a group of international industrialists, mainly in the oil and aircraft industries," i.e. to lay the blame on rich, right-wing, unnamed Americans. They were told that this cover "was their final line of defense and, even in the event of a prison sentence, no help could be expected from HMG."
During the summer of 1947 and early 1948, five attacks were undertaken on ships in Italian ports, of which one was rendered "a total loss" and two others were damaged. Two other British-made limpet mines were discovered before they went off, but the Italian authorities did not find their country of origin suspicious, "as the Arabs would of course be using British stores." Operation Embarrass even considered blowing up the Baltimore steamship President Warfield when in harbor in France, which later became famous in Israeli history as the "Exodus" ship that "launched a nation."
The country that ought to be embarrassed by Operation Embarrass - indeed shamed - is Great Britain, which used explosives to try to stop truly humanitarian flotillas after the Holocaust, but now condemns embattled Israel for halting entirely politically inspired flotillas to Gaza despite her rights of legitimate self-defense. The depth of the animosity that Establishment Britain, especially the Foreign Office, felt toward the Jews of Palestine clearly went even further than we had ever imagined, and even 70 years later is by no means extinguished.
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History[edit]
The British Mandate for Palestine was an instrument of government instituted by the League of Nations for the administration of territories formerly under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. British rule lasted from 1917-1948.
During the 1936–1939 Arab revolt, the militant group known as the Irgun embarked on an intensive armed campaign againstArab targets. Later British targets were added also. With the outbreak of World War II, militant actions against the British were halted, but one of the leaders of the group, Avraham Stern, insisted that the fight must go on, leading to a split in the Irgun which led to the formation of a new group, Lehi (also known as the Stern Gang). In 1944, the Irgun, now headed byMenachem Begin rejoined the fight against the British. After the end of World War II, the larger Haganah joined the fight within a union called the Jewish Resistance Movement, which lasted for just about ten months, from October 1945 until August 1946.[2]
The term "Olei HaGardom" refers to the eight Irgun and two Lehi members who were executed during this period and a further member of each group who committed suicide prior to their intended executions. Two of the executions were carried out in Egypt in 1945. With the exception of Ben Yosef, all the executions and suicides within the British Mandate of Palestine occurred in 1947. They were tried under the Defence Emergency Regulations, enacted in September 1945. These regulations suspended Habeas Corpus and established Military courts. They prescribed the death penalty for various offences, including carrying weapons or ammunition and membership in an organization whose members commit these offenses.[3]
List of Olei Hagardom[edit]
Irgun members[edit]
- Shlomo Ben-Yosef: The first Oleh Hagardom. He was arrested after an attack on a bus carrying Arab civilians in Safed. He was executed on June 29, 1938.
- Dov Gruner: Arrested while attacking the Palestine Police station in Ramat Gan. He was executed on April 16, 1947.
- Mordechai Alkahi, Yehiel Dresner, Eliezer Kashani: Arrested en route to an attack on British officers on the "Night of the Beatings". They were executed on April 16, 1947.
- Meir Feinstein: Captured after bombing Jerusalem train station. Committed suicide together with Moshe Barazani on April 21, 1947 by using a grenade smuggled into their cell.
- Yaakov Weiss, Avshalom Haviv, Meir Nakar: Convicted for their roles in the Acre Prison Break. Executed on July 29, 1947.
Lehi members[edit]
- Eliyahu Hakim, Eliyahu Bet-Zuri: assassinated Lord Moyne in Cairo. Executed in Cairo on March 22, 1945.
- Moshe Barazani: captured while carrying a grenade and accused of attempting to assassinate Brigadier Davis, theBritish army commander of Jerusalem. Committed suicide in jail together with Meir Feinstein on April 21, 1947.
Barazani and Feinstein[edit]
Moshe Barazani and Meir Feinstein committed suicide in their prison cell with handgrenades smuggled to them in a basket of oranges. The grenades were placed inside hollowed out orange peels.[4] The original plan was to carry the concealed grenades with them as they were taken to the gallows then use them to carry out a suicide attack, but allegedly after they learned that Rabbi Goldman would be present at the time of the execution, the plan was dropped. Instead, Barazani and Feinstein blew themselves up in their jail cell shortly before the execution.
Irgun actions to stop the executions[edit]
Main article: The Sergeants affair
After Yaakov Weiss, Avshalom Haviv, Meir Nakar were sentenced to death for their role in the Acre Prison Break, the Irgun kidnapped two British military policemen, Clifford Martin and Mervyn Paice while they were off duty in Netanya. The Irgun announced that hanging its fighters would result in the subsequent hanging of the British soldiers. The death sentences were carried out on July 30, 1947. Clifford Martin and Mervyn Paice were found hanged in Netanya. Their bodies had been booby-trapped with a homemade bomb.
Menachem Begin spoke of the event saying: "it was one of the most bitter moments of my life but the cruel action in Netanya not only saved dozens of Jews from the gallows but also broke the neck of the British occupation, because when the gallows break down, the British rule, which relied on it, breaks on its own".[citation needed] After this event, there were no more executions of Jewish militants by the British.
Commemoration[edit]
Many streets in Israel are named after Olei Hagardom, and postage stamps bearing their images have been issued. TheRamat HaHayal neighbourhood in Tel Aviv and the Armon HaNatziv neighbourhood in Jerusalem have streets bearing the name Olei Hagardom or the names of individual fighters.[1] In Ramat Gan, there is an official square and statue honouring Dov Gruner and the Olei Hagardom. An official commemoration ceremony takes place on Yom Hazikaron at the memorial inRishon LeZion, which stands near Olei HaGardom Street, and the Knesset holds an annual memorial service for them.
See also[edit]
References[edit]
 | Wikimedia Commons has media related toOlei Hagardom. |
- ^ a b Sheleg, Yair (2007-04-07). "The good jailer - Haaretz - Israel News". Haaretz. Retrieved2013-06-19.
- ^ Jewish Agency for Israel, History of the Jewish Agency for Israel Retrieved on 27 April 2012
- ^ Guy Carmi, On the Constitutionality of the Death Penalty in Israel
- ^ The good jailer - Haaretz - Israel News
NO JEW HAS THE RIGHT TO GIVE UP
ReplyDelete(Eretz Yisrael) THE LAND OF ISRAEL
By David Ben Gurion
"No Jew has the right to yield the rights of the Jewish People in Israel. No Jew has the authority to do so. No Jewish body has the authority to do so. Not even the entire Jewish People alive today has the right to yield any part of Israel.
It is the right of the Jewish People over the generations, a right that under no conditions can be cancelled. Even if Jews during a specific period proclaim they are relinquishing this right, they have neither the power nor the authority to deny it to future generations. No concession of this type is binding or obligates the Jewish People.
Our right to the country - the entire country - exists as an eternal right, and we shall not yield this historic right until its full and complete redemption is realized."
This quotation of David Ben Gurion made at the Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland in 1937, more than 65 years ago. At the Freeman Center, we quote this profound statement often.
NO JEW HAS THE RIGHT TO GIVE UP
ReplyDelete(Eretz Yisrael) THE LAND OF ISRAEL
By David Ben Gurion
"No Jew has the right to yield the rights of the Jewish People in Israel. No Jew has the authority to do so. No Jewish body has the authority to do so. Not even the entire Jewish People alive today has the right to yield any part of Israel.
It is the right of the Jewish People over the generations, a right that under no conditions can be cancelled. Even if Jews during a specific period proclaim they are relinquishing this right, they have neither the power nor the authority to deny it to future generations. No concession of this type is binding or obligates the Jewish People.
Our right to the country - the entire country - exists as an eternal right, and we shall not yield this historic right until its full and complete redemption is realized."
This quotation of David Ben Gurion made at the Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland in 1937, more than 65 years ago. At the Freeman Center, we quote this profound statement often.
NO JEW HAS THE RIGHT TO GIVE UP
ReplyDelete(Eretz Yisrael) THE LAND OF ISRAEL
By David Ben Gurion
"No Jew has the right to yield the rights of the Jewish People in Israel. No Jew has the authority to do so. No Jewish body has the authority to do so. Not even the entire Jewish People alive today has the right to yield any part of Israel.
It is the right of the Jewish People over the generations, a right that under no conditions can be cancelled. Even if Jews during a specific period proclaim they are relinquishing this right, they have neither the power nor the authority to deny it to future generations. No concession of this type is binding or obligates the Jewish People.
Our right to the country - the entire country - exists as an eternal right, and we shall not yield this historic right until its full and complete redemption is realized."
This quotation of David Ben Gurion made at the Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland in 1937, more than 65 years ago. At the Freeman Center, we quote this profound statement often.