The+King+David+Hotel+Bombing

toc = = =Main Question: What lead to the bombing of the King David Hotel?=

=Rationale=

I chose to do my project on the King David Hotel, because I am interested in the establishment of the Jewish State. I am interested in learning about all about the organizations that helped establish this unique country. How did they do it? Why did they do it? The King David Hotel bombing was only one out of many actions that the Jewish fighters took did in order to help achieve their ultimate goal; the establishment of a Jewish State.

To me, the fact that we have a Jewish Homeland is very important. I feel that it is essential to know why we have this country. Equally vital, is to understand what steps were taken in order to obtain this country.

Every Jewish person should be familiar with the many ways and actions that the Organizations such as, the Irgun and the Lechi did and the sacrifices they made so that we could have this country today.

=What was the British Mandate?= Palestine was under the Ottoman Empire (Turkish) prior to World War One. In 1917 a British intelligence officer called T.E Lawrence, defeated the Turkish forces and took control over Palestine and Syria. The land was administered by the British for the rest of the war.

The League of Nations granted the United Kingdom control over Palestine. During World War One, the British made two promises regarding the region in the Middle East:
 * The first promise was to the Arabs. The British promised independence to the united Arab countries spreading over most of the Middle East.
 * The second promise was to the Jews. The British promised to create a Jewish state in Palestine. The Balfour Declaration was declared in 1917. The declaration assured the territory, which today we know to be the State of Israel, to the Jewish people. It was to include the Gaza strip, the West Bank, a part of the Golan Heights and the Kingdom of Jordan.

In June, 1922, the British Mandate was officially approved by the League of Nations. The document regarding Britain's responsibilities and powers of administration in Palestine included the "securing of the establishment of the Jewish national home",etc. From 1936-1939 the Palestinian Arabs began to be nationalistic and realize that they too wanted a state of their own. This was due largely to the increase in Jewish immigration and the influence of European anti-Semitism. The Arabs began to bomb places and kill people, the Arabs did whatever they felt was right to do. Eventually, the uprising was stopped as a result of the British using severe measures.

=Who bombed the King David Hotel and why?= The Irgun (short for: Irgun Zvai Leumi) was an unauthorized militant Zionist group. It operated in Palestine from 1931-1948. At the time, people referred to the Irgun as the "Etzel", which means the "organization of the national army".

The attack on the King David hotel was made as a result of British arrests – Operation Agatha, in June 1946. The British troops attacked the Jewish agency and confiscated large amount of documents. These valuable documents retained vital information regarding Jewish operations that were being planned. They also included intelligence activities in Arab countries. At the same time, 2500 Jews from all over Palestine were arrested. However, before the British troops raided the Jewish agency the bomb attack had already been planned. The British army had leased the top floor of the King David Hotel as its emergency headquarters, later the entire southern wing became the military center of British rule in Palestine. The Irgun was interested in destroying files and documents that were kept in the British Headquarters on the top floor of the King David Hotel. They felt that if they could destroy plans for attacks on Jewish strongholds by British soldiers, then they would eliminate the threat.

The reason for the attack was to show the British troops that the Jewish organizations were strong and could defeat them. However, the purpose was not to kill and destroy them. The Irgun fighters notified the British troops that were in the hotel and warned them; saying that they were going to attack the hotel. They explained that if they wanted to leave the hotel, they had a chance to survive. The British troops thought that it was a joke. They did not believe that the Irgun was going to attack them. There was only one British soldier that had a feeling something would happen, so he left.

In July 1946 the Irgun placed a bomb in the restaurant kitchen. The hotel had become a British fortress building until May 4, 1948. As a result of the bombing the British flag was lowered and the building became a Jewish stronghold.

= = What were the reactions to the King David bombing The Bombing of the King David hotel attracted the attention of the whole world. Two days after the bombing occurred. Atlee, the prime minister of the United Kingdom at the time, said, “The British Government has stated and stated again they will not be diverted by acts of violence in their search for a just and final solution to the Palestine problem.” Although the Jewish agency and the Hagganah denounced the bombing, the British viewed them as responsible.

Due to the negative publicity, The Jewish Agency was also held responsible to any acts of violence. As a result, they decided to disconnect themselves from the Irgun.

The split between the Jewish agency and the Irgun did not represent a set back, meaning the Jewish agency didn't just give up and follow the British and there demands. The Jewish agency was not willing to return to their earlier policy of collaboration with the British agency. By denouncing the Irgun, the Jewish agency was not to be blamed for the actions of the Irgun.

=The meaning of living in the Jewish State today= After the Holocaust, the Jews finally understood that they had to make Aliyah to Israel. Many understood that they would never be able to survive as a normal Jewish nation, without living in the Country that was promised to them by G-d. In 1948, when we received the land of Israel, survival was essential. The people did their utmost to work and keep the land of Israel. After a while people saw that living in Israel wasn’t easy. It wasn't just the hard work but it was their physical survival that had become a priority. The Arabs were attacking them on all frontiers. No Jew lived in a safe and happy place. For many Jews, they felt the only option open to them was to leave Israel.

This Land was promised to the Jewish people. We have been living and working the land for survival. The Jewish nation has survived the Holocaust and other terrible events in a tragic history; so they could live in Israel. I feel so saddened to see and hear about those people that just gave up in tough times.

Today living in Israel is a privilege, to those who believe in Israel. It is the hardest thing to leave your family and friends and make Aliyah to Israel. Not just that it’s a privilege, it is important too. It is important to have a country where each Jew feels like he really belongs; where everybody is family. At this point, the saddest thing to hear, is how some Jews in Israel are saying how horrible the situation is in Israel and if they could they would just leave. We should represent our country; we should let everybody know that no matter what we have gone through we are still together and still fighting.

If someone leaves Israel in order to represent the country, by going to Hollywood and becoming an actor, it is different than someone who enters a contest in Israel and represents your country. It is very important for people to see and know that we, the Jewish People, are still out there. However, for people to see an Israeli, Jewish actress that has left our country so that she could become famous and "represent" us. That isn’t showing the other nations that we are strong. It shows them that we are leaving our country for something bigger and better. It's almost as if we are trying to be someone that we are not, and it just shows that were shallow and weak.

=Conclusion= This is a topic with many opinions. The British side, the Turkish side and our Israeli/Jewish side. So it was hard to search the internet and find conclusive answers to all my questions. How can the Jewish nation continue living and working this land without knowing what brought us to this land and how we actually achieved independence? By doing this project I have learnt how important the Jewish land has always been to the Jewish people. I’ve learnt how different it is now for the Jewish nation. At this current point in our history, the situation in Israel is not perfect. Parts of our promised land are being taken away from us by the Arabs. There is a lot of hatred within our nation. Some even believe that we might as well all go and live in a foreign land and have a better life there. But after I read all the material, I learnt about the Irgun and the other organizations that were so active in bringing about the birth of this wonderful country. I feel as though there is some hope. I understand that we should work harder to hold on to what we have. We must never take this country for granted. Some thoughts have come to mind about reestablishing the land of Israel. The way Jews thought about the Promised Land more than 60 years ago, amazes me over and over again. If a Jewish person from 60 years ago would see how the Jews are behaving now, he would be shocked, upset and disappointed. He probably wouldn't believe it. He probably wouldn’t be able to understand it! I find it hard to believe myself. However, because I am part of this Jewish nation, I must continue to hope and have faith in this people and country, and continue to fight for all that is vital for our survival.

=Bibliography= The Jerusalem municipality site- [|www.jerusalem.muni.il]

Israel ministry of foreign affairs- [|www.mfa.gov.il]

Wikipedia- [|www.wikepedia.org\wiki\king_david_hotel_bombing]

__Jewish Virtual Library__- http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Histry/King_David.html