OVERVIEW When Collins and Lapierre published what was to become a minor classic in its genre, Israel was not yet 25 years old and the Six-Day War had only five years earlier restored Jerusalem to Jewish sovereignty after nearly ten centuries. In that context, the authors set about to explore Jerusalem's meaning and its place in recent history. They acquitted themselves admirably and produced a volume that was greeted with wide acclaim. Even Arab delegates to the United Nations found something to commend: An account of the killing of the Arab residents of Deir Yassin by Stern Gang and Irgun forces in the 1948 War for Independence. To this day, Deir Yassin is a call-to-arms for Arabs and an embarrassment for some Jews. For historians, it is a metaphor for the chaos that erupted on the Yishuv (Jews in pre-1948 Palestine) as a coordinated attack by eight Arab nations tried to thwart the will of the world expressed in the 1947 UN resolution to create a Jewish state in Mandate Palestine. That same resolution called for an Arab state (which the Arabs also rejected) in what would have been a further division of land promised to the Jews under the Balfour Declaration of 1917.
The authors believe that the 1948 War of Independence was inevitable. While a good argument can be made for that view, some looked for peaceful implementation of the UN resolution. Their voices drowned in the gunfire that soon became a crescendo and threatened to engulf the nascent Jewish state. Yet, as the authors so dramatically show, it was not a state alone that stood in peril, nor was it the Arab front alone. Communities and families -- ordinary people -- Jews and Arabs, these were the victims and the heroes. The war, initiated by the Arab attack, brought suffering and cruelty to all who were touched by it directly and indirectly.
The authors conducted hundreds of interviews over a two-year period. As journalists, they came fresh to the details, unhindered by historical predilections. They tend sometimes to overdramatize, sometimes to underplay. Yet, because they are journalists and had done this before ("Is Paris Burning?" and "Or I'll Dress You in Mourning"), we have a most readable, fact-filled story of the war that set Israel on its feet, fashioned its myths and assured its future. The personal vignettes are eloquent testimony to the war's impact and the consequences of the battle for Jerusalem, the central effort in that war. Both the larger conflict and the struggle over Jerusalem are still very much with us.
STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK The tightly packed pages cover a brief interlude, November 29, 1947 to July 17, 1948, in a centuries-old drama. The period from the United Nations' adoption of its Palestine Partition Plan to the signing of the UN-imposed cease-fire between Jews and Arabs defines the destiny of the Middle East to this day. The story ranges from the UN's temporary quarters in Flushing Meadow, New York to Jerusalem's new status as a divided city, a seminal fact that obtained for the next 19 years. The 1967 Six-Day War, which united Jerusalem, created a new reality. Though bearing its own name, it was, in fact, another battle in one protracted war that is still being fought and which still pivots on Jerusalem.
The four parts and their forty-six sections are presented, as they must be, chronologically. Yet, the tale is so compelling you can open the book at random and instantly be immersed in it. At any point you can understand the long-term implications of ordinary bravery, of necessity-bred ingenuity, of commitment to an ideal -- for Jews and Arabs alike. The authors intended to show then, and we certainly can acknowledge now, that wars affect ordinary men, women and children. We recognize human tragedy without validating the enemy's ideal--to create a world without a Jewish nation in it, and, for some, a world without Jews. Our task then, and now, is to survive by defeating those who nurture that ideal. And that's what the War of Liberation was all about. That is what the authors limn so powerfully.
History unfolds on every page. The photo sections concretize marvelous you-are-there experiences and enhance the compelling word-pictures of the narrative. Read for hours. Read for short periods. Return to the words again and again and savor the language and the style. Above all, recognize that this story told by non-Jews is a Jewish story. It was your story when the events were unfolding even though you might not have been born yet. For those of us who lived those times it is a story of remembrance, of renewed wonder at how much our People achieved with so little in the face of such overpowering force. It is a tale for those who were there and for those who will come after us. We should reacquaint ourselves with the tale so as to be inspired anew by that miraculous victory, limited though it might have been and despite the possibility of defeat by a superior force of soldiers and arms.
Discussion Theme: The creation of a third Jewish commonwealth by the 1947 vote of the United Nations is the impetus for this book. There were important antecedents to that historic moment.
What was the region's prior status? At the end of World War I, the Allies dismembered the Ottoman Empire and divided it into spheres of influence and protectorates. Palestine, which had been a backwater province in the empire and was mainly ignored by the Sultanate, became part of the British Mandate.
Why did the UN take up debate on Palestine's future? Recently liberated Holocaust survivors searched in vain throughout the world for safe harbor, while "illegal" Jewish immigrants to Palestine were detained and deported by the British. Jewish clashes with British authorities over the refugee problem escalated, violence increased. Arab reactions to increased Jewish population, fueled by decades-old hostility toward Jews, added to growing chaos. Unable and unwilling to contain the situation or find a solution, Britain decided to pull out of Palestine.
Who else had grappled with the issue of Jewish statehood in Palestine prior to UNSCOP (United Nations Special Commission on Palestine)? Some earlier proposals to recognize Jewish and Arab claims to thelands of Palestine included Britain's Balfour Declaration in 1917 and the 1919 Paris Peace Conference which envisioned a Jewish homeland bounded by the Mediterranean on the west to the furthest easternboundary of what is now the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 43,075 sq.mi. Also in 1919, following Britain's creation of Transjordaneast of the Jordan River, (British) Col. Meinertzhagen proposed a Jewish state from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River plus all of Sinai (33,150 sq. mi.). The same year, the British Peel Commission proposed 2,995 sq. mi. along the north Mediterranean coast and in the Galilee.
What did UNSCOP propose? The 1947 Partition Plan placed a Jewish State in the eastern Galilee, the coastal area excluding the Gaza Strip and most of the Negev (5,575 sq. mi.). UNSCOP created an Arab state in the remaining territory. Jerusalem was to be an international enclave. Jews reluctantly accepted the three provisions. The Arabs rejected the plan in its entirety and attacked the fledgling Jewish State in May 1948.
Discussion Theme: UNSCOP created a Jewish Nation in the ancestral land for the first time in nearly 1900 years. How did the parties respond?
Should the Jews reject? The proposed state was almost one-sixth the size of that promised by the Balfour Declaration. King David's Jerusalem, political and religious heart of two Jewish commonwealths, was denied Jewish hegemony. Intercourse between the piecemeal sections of the state would be difficult at best and defense would be well nigh impossible. Most of the territory was the arid Negev, hardly helpful for feeding a populace or developing economically.
Should the Jews accept? A Jewish state would exist, with world approval. Jews would be guaranteed access to Jerusalem even if they could not govern it. If water could be brought to the Negev, it might be developable. The death-camp refugees were being denied entry by every nation. The fields of Cyprus housed British detention camps for those who had escaped Hitler's slaughterhouses and had been captured trying to enter Palestine. It was a question of survival for thousands of Jews, an opportunity for Jews to control their own destinies as a nation in their own land.
What would the Arabs do? Haj Amin, a.k.a. the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, had led Palestine's Arabs in riots against and massacres of Jews since as early as 1920. A personal ally of Hitler, he pursued a relentless jihad against Palestine's Jews, laying the groundwork for Arabs to oppose any plan ever to develop a permanent and recognized Jewish presence in Palestine. Arabs were prepared to continue the effort to oust all Jews from Palestine and prevent a single Jew from entering.
Discussion Theme: Despite desperate preparations on the eve of the U.N. vote, statehood found the Yishuv militarily disorganized. Who was in charge?
What was the Haganah? It was the Jewish underground army founded in 1920 from semiautonomous units that had formed in towns and villages to protect Jews from Arab attacks. It was precursor to the Israel Defense Forces, which was formed shortly after the proclamation of statehood. In WW 2, Haganah members served with the British in the Jewish Brigade. After the UN vote in November 1947, Haganah emerged into the open and clashed frequently with the British as well as with local Arabs intent on preventing the creation of a Jewish state.
What was the role of Irgun Tzvei L'umi (Etzel)? The Irgun was founded in 1931 by young Revisionist followers of Joseph Trumpeldor (Betar) and Vladmir Jabotinsky, who believed that only retaliation could deter Arab attacks. The Jewish Agency and Haganah opposed the Irgun, sometimes violently. After 1939, Etzel attacked British forces, but suspended that to join with them during WW 2. Menahem Begin commanded Etzel 1944-1948, a period of renewed and violent anti-British action, including the King David Hotel explosion. Etzel gained public notice also for its attack at Deir Yassin (see above) and for the Altelena, an arms-carrying cargo ship that was set afire off Tel Aviv in June 1948 by Israeli government forces.
What was the goal of the Stern Group (Lohamei Herut Israel, Lehi)? When Etzel ceased operations against the British to join them in the fight against Hitler, Abraham Stern and his followers split away and continued violent confrontations with the British to force them to honor the commitment of the Balfour Declaration. Lehi's terrorist acts, including the assassination of Lord Moyne in 1944, were condemned by most of the Yishuv and the Haganah.
How did the separate commands defend the new Jewish state? The disciplined, "official" Haganah, the ideological, aggressive Etzel and the terrorist Lehi agreed on goals. Before 1947, they worked to force the British to honor the promise of statehood or be driven from Palestine, and to protect Jews from the ever-present Arab attacks and riots. After 1947 and, especially after May 1948, the goal was to defend the newly proclaimed state against increasing Arab attacks and to face massed attack by eight Arab nations. There was a difference in goal only during WW 2, when Lehi continued to fight the British. In 1945, the three groups began to coordinate their activities under a single High Command.
What eventually became of the non-Haganah units? When Haganah became the Israel Defense Forces in 1948, Lehi was disbanded although many of its units fought to defend Jerusalem and joined with Haganah and Etzel in the failed attempt to capture the Old City. With the September 1948 assassination in Jerusalem of UN Mediator Count Folke Bernadotte, both Lehi and Etzel were permanently disbanded. In 1961, the Knesset recognized the contributions of Etzel and Lehi and extended pension and severance benefits to their members on the same basis as those available to Haganah members.
Discussion Theme:: It was central to Israel's strategy to capture Jerusalem's Old City even while coping with invasions on three fronts by the regular armies of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq, and volunteers from Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Libya. The cities, kibbutzim, moshavim and rural towns of Israel had to be protected, but Jerusalem's symbolic power justified massive military effort.
How old are Jewish roots in Jerusalem? Genesis records a meeting between Abraham and Melchi- Zedek, king of Salem. The Bible refers to Jerusalem or a form of Salem almost 700 times. 3,000 years ago, David made it the capital of the Jewish nation. Solomon built the Holy Temple there in the second half of the tenth century b.c.e. Subsequent Jewish kings and dynasties expanded the city, built defensive walls and welcomed Jewish pilgrims during the Sh'losh Regalim, the Pilgrimage Festivals of Pesach, Shavuot and Succot. The power of Jerusalem for Jews was strengthened during exiles, celebrated at each return. The Roman destruction in 70 c.e. reinforced attachment to God's special place on earth.
What brought about the New City? Rome, Byzantium, Persia, early Moslems, later Moslems, Mamelukes, Ottoman Turks -- each in succession -- knew only the walled city of Jerusalem. Jews lived there continuously in a small section and mostly in poverty. Starting in the 1840s, Russian Orthodox and Greek Orthodox pilgrims, drawn to Jerusalem, entered the Holy Land in large numbers, settling outside the city walls in what came to be known as the New City. Starting in the 1860s, encouraged by Moses Montefiore, Jews, too, began to build institutions and neighborhoods in the New City.
What is the Heavenly Jerusalem? Because the Temple stood there, Jerusalem achieved an aura of sanctity for Jews for all times. Even when the Temple and the city lay in ruins and the Jews were in exile, Jerusalem remained the link between earth and heaven. In prayer, poetry and history, Jerusalem was replicated in heaven (Yerushalayim Shel Malah) to mirror the earthly Jerusalem (Yerushalayim Shel Matah). The Jerusalem on high is the Jews' spiritual home; the Jerusalem below, the physical home. Both profoundly influence Jewish aspirations and Jewish identity.
Why is Jerusalem holy to other religions? Christians associate Jerusalem with the life of Jesus and consider heavenly Jerusalem to be holy. Yet, the Crusaders destroyed the earthly Jerusalem and the center of Christian life moved to places like Antioch and Rome. Islam identifies the Dome of the Rock with the site from which Mohammed ascended to heaven to receive Allah's revelation. Yet, in Islam, Mecca and Medina are religiously superior to Jerusalem. Over the centuries, both Christianity and Islam have erected houses of worship and institutions in Jerusalem. For Jews, there is no other holy city -- only Jerusalem.
What is Jerusalem like today? In 1948, Jordan took the walled city. Six months later, it was incorporated with other Arab portions of Palestine and Transjordan into the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The Old and New cities were separated by barbed wire and border patrols. The Mandelbaum Gate provided limited access between Jewish and Arab Jerusalem. In 1967, following the Six-Day War, all of Jerusalem was united under Israeli sovereignty. The Mandelbaum Gate came down. Israel built Jewish neighborhoods throughout Jerusalem. Jerusalem is in the forefront of the present no-peace between Jews and Arabs. Jews continue to regard Jerusalem as the undivided, eternal capital of the Jewish state. Arabs continue to press their claims. In 1972, the authors wrote, "As the image of ancient Jerusalem had decorated the walls of Jewish homes in the Diaspora, a portrait of the Dome of the Rock now graces Arab homes from Beirut to Baghdad--and unless Arab and Jew can display more tolerance and understanding of each other than they have done in the past, the ancient prayer 'If I forget thee, O Jerusalem' may well become a war cry for future generations of another Semitic people."
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