105-645: The Pro–Wailing Wall Committee was established in Mandatory Palestine on 24 July 1929, by Joseph Klausner , professor of modern Hebrew literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , to promote Jewish rights at the Western Wall . The committee created a programme of political activities organised and promoted by a loose coalition of Revisionist Zionists , religious Zionists and young people. It also spawned many branches, which held meetings throughout
210-512: A League of Nations mandate ; it is not related to the word's more commonplace usage as a synonym for "compulsory" or "necessary". Following the arrival of the British, Arab inhabitants established Muslim-Christian Associations in all of the major towns. In 1919 they joined to hold the first Palestine Arab Congress in Jerusalem. It was aimed primarily at representative government and opposition to
315-538: A British civilian administration headed by a High Commissioner replaced the military administration. The first High Commissioner, Sir Herbert Samuel , a Zionist and a recent British cabinet minister, arrived in Palestine on 20 June 1920 to take up his appointment from 1 July. Samuel established his headquarters and official residence in part of the Augusta Victoria Hospital complex on Mount Scopus on what
420-449: A blue Star of David in the centre and two horizontal blue stripes at the top and bottom, recalling the design of the tallit ( טַלִּית ). The Israeli flag legislation states that the official measurements are 160 × 220 cm. Therefore, the official proportions are 8:11. Variants can be found at a wide range of proportions, with 2:3 being common. The blue color is described as "dark sky-blue", and varies from flag to flag, ranging from
525-409: A blue Star of David, designed by Israel Belkind and Fanny Abramovitch, in a procession marking its third anniversary. In 1891, Michael Halperin, one of the founders of the agricultural village Nachalat Reuven flew a similar blue and white flag with a blue hexagram and the text " נס ציונה " ( Nes Ziona , "a banner for Zion": a reference to Jeremiah 4:6 , later adopted as the modern name of
630-793: A civil war. The three main Jewish underground forces later united to form the Jewish Resistance Movement and carry out several attacks and bombings against the British administration. In 1946, the Irgun blew up the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, the southern wing of which was the headquarters of the British administration, killing 92 people. Following the bombing, the British Government began interning illegal Jewish immigrants in Cyprus . In 1948,
735-531: A clandestine immigration effort called Aliya Bet was spearheaded by an organisation called Mossad LeAliyah Bet . Tens of thousands of European Jews escaped the Nazis in boats and small ships headed for Palestine. The British Royal Navy intercepted many of the vessels; others were unseaworthy and were wrecked; a Haganah bomb sunk the SS ; Patria , killing 267 people; two other ships were sunk by Soviet submarines :
840-611: A counter to British hegemony. On the anniversary of the Balfour Declaration in 1943, Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler and Foreign Minister Joachim von Ribbentrop sent telegrams of support for the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem , Mohammad Amin al-Husseini , to read out for a radio broadcast to a rally of supporters in Berlin . On the other hand, as many as 12,000 Palestinian Arabs, with the endorsement of many prominent figures such as
945-544: A decision was made to set the standard color for government-regulated Israeli flags as "Indanthren Calidon (GCDN)", while Israeli product labels are told to use CMYK 100/70/0/28. The blue stripes are intended to symbolize the stripes on a tallit , the traditional Jewish prayer shawl. The Star of David is a widely acknowledged symbol of the Jewish people and of Judaism. In Judaism, the color blue symbolises God's glory, purity and gevura (God's severity). The White field represents hesed (Divine Benevolence). In
1050-593: A firefight with a Palestine Police patrol hunting fruit thieves and a policeman was killed. Following the incident, British colonial police launched a search and surrounded al-Qassam in a cave near Ya'bad . In the ensuing battle, al-Qassam was killed. The death of al-Qassam on 20 November 1935 generated widespread outrage in the Arab community. Huge crowds accompanied Qassam's body to his grave in Haifa . A few months later, in April 1936,
1155-485: A hue of pure blue, sometimes shaded almost as dark as navy blue, to hues about 75% toward pure cyan and shades as light as very light blue. An early version of the flag was displayed in 1885 at a procession marking the third anniversary of Rishon LeZion . A similar version was designed for the Zionist movement in 1891. The Star of David ( Magen David , מָגֵן דָּוִד ), a Jewish symbol dating from late medieval-era Prague ,
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#17329061533701260-695: A large blue Star of David in the center, the colors blue and white chosen from the design of the tallit . The flag was ten feet by six feet—in the same proportions as the flag of the United States —and became known as the Flag of Zion. It was accepted as the official Zionist flag at the Second Zionist Congress held in Switzerland in 1898 and was flown with those of other nationalities at the World's Fair hosting
1365-668: A meeting of the Jewish Agency executive in June 1938, as well as by Chaim Weizmann. Following the London Conference in February and March 1939, the British Government published a White Paper which proposed a limit to Jewish immigration from Europe, restrictions on Jewish land purchases, and a programme for creating an independent state to replace the Mandate within ten years. This was seen by
1470-506: A policy regarding the admission of Jews to Palestine. In April, the Committee reported that its members had arrived at a unanimous decision. The Committee approved the American recommendation of the immediate acceptance of 100,000 Jewish refugees from Europe into Palestine. It also recommended that there be no Arab or Jewish state. The Committee stated that "in order to dispose, once and for all, of
1575-466: A sparkling robe of white. The hems of the white robe Are crowned with broad stripes of blue; Like the High Priest's robe, The blue bands. These are the colors of the beloved country: Blue and white are Judah's borders; White is the priestly radiance, And blue, the shining of the firmament. In 1885, the agricultural village of Rishon LeZion used a blue and white flag incorporating
1680-519: A unified leadership. Indeed, it might be argued that they were virtually without any leadership at all." In 1937, the Peel Commission proposed a partition between a small Jewish state, whose Arab population would have to be transferred, and an Arab state to be attached to the Emirate of Transjordan , this emirate also being part of the wider Mandate for Palestine . The proposal was rejected outright by
1785-599: A year while the British sent the Peel Commission to investigate. During the first stages of the Arab Revolt, due to rivalry between the clans of al-Husseini and Nashashibi among the Palestinian Arabs, Raghib Nashashibi was forced to flee to Egypt after several assassination attempts ordered by Amin al-Husseini. After the Arab rejection of the Peel Commission recommendation, the revolt resumed in autumn 1937. Over
1890-685: Is only granted the power to make recommendations; therefore, UNGAR 181 was not legally binding. Both the US and the Soviet Union supported the resolution. Haiti, Liberia, and the Philippines changed their votes at the last moment after concerted pressure from the US and from Zionist organisations. The five members of the Arab League , who were voting members at the time, voted against the Plan. The Jewish Agency, which
1995-425: Is white and on it are two stripes of dark sky-blue, 25 cm. broad, over the whole length of the flag, at a distance of 15 cm. from the top and from the bottom of the flag. In the middle of the white background, between the two blue stripes and at equal distance from each stripe is a Star of David, composed of six dark sky-blue stripes, 5.5 cm. broad, which form two equilateral triangles, the bases of which are parallel to
2100-566: The Yishuv as betrayal of the mandatory terms, especially in light of the increasing persecution of Jews in Europe. In response, Zionists organised Aliyah Bet , a programme of illegal immigration into Palestine. Lehi , a small group of extremist Zionists, staged armed attacks on British authorities in Palestine. However, the Jewish Agency , which represented the mainstream Zionist leadership and most of
2205-675: The 1904 Summer Olympics from one of the buildings at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition where large Zionist meetings were taking place. The racial Nuremberg Laws enacted by Nazi Germany in 1935 referenced the Zionist flag and stated that the Jews were forbidden to display the Reich and national flag or the German national colors but were permitted to display the "Jewish colors". In May 1948,
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#17329061533702310-639: The 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine and the 1944–1948 Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine . The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine to divide the territory into two states, one Arab and one Jewish, was passed in November 1947. The 1948 Palestine war ended with the territory of Mandatory Palestine divided among the State of Israel , the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , which annexed territory on
2415-710: The Balfour Declaration . Concurrently, the Zionist Commission formed in March 1918 and actively promoted Zionist objectives in Palestine. On 19 April 1920, elections took place for the Assembly of Representatives of the Palestinian Jewish community . In March 1920, there was an attack by Arabs on the Jewish village of Tel Hai . In April, there was another attack on Jews, this time in Jerusalem. In July 1920,
2520-629: The Haganah , which were to prove decisive in 1948. Secondly, it became clear that the two communities could not be reconciled, and the idea of partition was born. Thirdly, the British responded to Arab opposition with the White Paper of 1939 , which severely restricted Jewish land purchase and immigration. However, with the advent of the Second World War , even this reduced immigration quota was not reached. The White Paper policy itself radicalised segments of
2625-638: The High Follow-Up Committee for Arab Citizens of Israel , which claims that Israel's national symbols, including its flag, constitute an official bias towards the Jewish majority that reinforces the inequality between Arabs and Jews in Israel. Based on the boundaries of the Promised Land given in the Book of Genesis , Palestinians including Yasser Arafat and Hamas have claimed that the two blue stripes on
2730-694: The Levant . The United Kingdom had agreed in the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence that it would honour Arab independence in case of a revolt but, in the end, the United Kingdom and France divided what had been Ottoman Syria under the Sykes–Picot Agreement —an act of betrayal in the eyes of the Arabs. Another issue was the Balfour Declaration of 1917, in which Britain promised its support for
2835-678: The Palestine Police Force withdrew from the Tel Aviv area, home to more than half the Jewish population, and turned over responsibility for the maintenance of law and order to Jewish police. As the civil war raged on, British military forces gradually withdrew from Palestine, although they occasionally intervened in favour of either side. Many of these areas became war zones. The British maintained strong presences in Jerusalem and Haifa , even as Jerusalem came under siege by Arab forces and became
2940-602: The Second Temple period and as an activist in Zionist polemics eventually brought him to the forefront of Jewish anger at the failure of the Zionist establishment in Palestine to resolve problems over access to, and arrangements for worship at, the Western Wall. The political vacuum caused by the absence of the British High Commissioner, Sir John Chancellor , and of the Zionist leadership, who were in attendance at
3045-772: The Selvino children . Later, veterans of the Jewish Brigade were to play a major role in the foundation of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). From the Palestine Regiment, two platoons, one Jewish, under the command of Brigadier Ernest Benjamin , and another Arab, were sent to join Allied forces on the Italian Front , having taken part in the final offensive there. Besides Jews and Arabs from Palestine, in total by mid-1944
3150-693: The War Office announced the formation of the Jewish Brigade Group of the British Army. The Jewish Brigade then was stationed in Tarvisio , near the border triangle of Italy, Yugoslavia , and Austria, where it played a key role in the Berihah 's efforts to help Jews escape Europe for Palestine, a role many of its members would continue after the brigade was disbanded. Among its projects was the education and care of
3255-606: The World Zionist Organization . In a similar vein, contemporary leaders such as Rabbi Moses Feinstein called the Israeli flag "a foolish and meaningless object" discouraging its display in synagogues, while the Chazon Ish wrote that praying in a synagogue decorated with an Israeli flag should be avoided even if there was no other synagogue in the area. The former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Ovadia Yosef , also forbade
Pro–Wailing Wall Committee - Misplaced Pages Continue
3360-454: The "Nile to Euphrates" claim is a popular misconception about Jews that, despite being unfounded and having abundant evidence refuting them, continues to circulate in the Arab world. Criticism from strictly Orthodox Jews stems back to their opposition of early Zionism when some went as far as banning the Star of David, originally a religious symbol, which had become "defiled" after being adopted by
3465-631: The 16th Zionist Congress in Zurich, allowed the Pro–Wailing Wall Committees to pursue a more radical agenda during the run up to Tisha B'Av , the day of mourning and remembrance commemorating the destruction of both the First Temple and Second Temple, which fell on 15 August in 1929. Responding to criticism from the establishment, who feared that incitement of the youth would lead to "accidents" of no "practical utility", Klausner's Committee wrote in
3570-536: The Arab national general strike broke out. The strike lasted until October 1936, instigated by the Arab Higher Committee, headed by Amin al-Husseini. During the summer of that year, thousands of Jewish-farmed acres and orchards were destroyed. Jewish civilians were attacked and killed, and some Jewish communities, such as those in Beisan ( Beit She'an ) and Acre , fled to safer areas. The violence abated for about
3675-411: The Arab rebels in the lower Galilee and in the Jezreel valley" by conducting raids on Arab villages. Irgun , a Jewish militia group, used violence also against Arab civilians as "retaliatory acts", attacking marketplaces and buses . By the time the revolt concluded in March 1939, more than 5,000 Arabs, 400 Jews, and 200 British had been killed and at least 15,000 Arabs were wounded. In total, 10% of
3780-403: The Arab world, there was no unanimity amongst the Palestinian Arabs as to their position regarding the belligerents in the Second World War. A number of leaders and public figures saw an Axis victory as the likely outcome and a way of securing Palestine back from the Zionists and the British. Even though Arabs were not highly regarded by Nazi racial theory , the Nazis encouraged Arab support as
3885-423: The Arabic name instead. The British authorities rejected this proposal; according to the Minutes of the Ninth Session of the League of Nations' Permanent Mandates Commission : Colonel Symes explained that the country was described as "Palestine" by Europeans and as "Falestin" by the Arabs. The Hebrew name for the country was the designation "Land of Israel", and the Government, to meet Jewish wishes, had agreed that
3990-423: The Arabs. The two main Jewish leaders, Chaim Weizmann and David Ben-Gurion , had convinced the Zionist Congress to equivocally approve the Peel recommendations as a basis for more negotiation. In a letter to his son in October 1937 , Ben-Gurion explained that partition would be a first step to "possession of the land as a whole". The same sentiment was recorded by Ben-Gurion on other occasions, such as at
4095-458: The Bible, the Israelites are commanded to have one of the threads of their tassels ( tzitzit ) dyed with tekhelet ; "so that they may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the L ORD , and do them" ( Num 15:39 ). Tekhelet corresponds to the color of the divine revelation ( Midrash Numbers Rabbah xv.). Sometime near the end of the Talmudic era (500–600 CE) the industry that produced this dye collapsed. It became rarer; over time,
4200-541: The British had assembled a multiethnic force consisting of volunteer European Jewish refugees (from German-occupied countries), Yemenite Jews and Abyssinian Jews . In 1939, as a consequence of the White Paper of 1939 , the British reduced the number of immigrants allowed into Palestine. The Second World War and the Holocaust started shortly thereafter and once the 15,000 annual quota was exceeded, Jews fleeing Nazi persecution were interned in detention camps or deported to places such as Mauritius . Starting in 1939,
4305-409: The British maintained the ban on immigration. The Jewish Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel) and Irgun (National Military Organisation) movements initiated violent uprisings against the British Mandate in the 1940s. On 6 November 1944, Eliyahu Hakim and Eliyahu Bet Zuri (members of Lehi) assassinated Lord Moyne in Cairo . Moyne was the British Minister of State for the Middle East and
Pro–Wailing Wall Committee - Misplaced Pages Continue
4410-528: The British withdrew from most of Haifa but retained an enclave in the port area to be used in the evacuation of British forces, and retained RAF Ramat David , an airbase close to Haifa, to cover their retreat, leaving behind a volunteer police force to maintain order. The city was quickly captured by the Haganah in the Battle of Haifa . After the victory, British forces in Jerusalem announced that they had no intention of overseeing any local administration but also that they would not permit actions that would hamper
4515-435: The Chief Rabbinate and Klausner's Committee to continue the political struggle for the Wall. On 15 August 1929, Tisha B'Av , the Revisionist youth leader Jeremiah Halpern and three hundred Revisionist youths from the Battalion of the Defenders of the Language and Betar marched to the Western Wall proclaiming "The Wall is ours". The protesters raised the Zionist flag and sang the Hatikvah . The demonstration took place in
4620-442: The Committee published an appeal: The appeal was followed by a protest meeting organised by the World Federation of Hebrew Youth which was addressed by Revisionists and religious Zionists from Mizrachi , the movement supported by Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook . The meeting was held in Tel Aviv on the eve of Tisha B'Av, and was attended by 6,000 people, according to British intelligence. It adopted four resolutions and called on
4725-436: The French-ruled Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon , and organised and established the Black Hand , an anti-Zionist and anti-British militant organisation. He recruited and arranged military training for peasants, and by 1935 he had enlisted between 200 and 800 men. They used bombs and firearms against Zionist settlers and vandalised settlers' orchards and British-built railway lines. In November 1935, two of his men engaged in
4830-439: The Homeland is illegal. It will never be recognised. The signature by institutions and individuals of the partition agreement is invalid. It will not bind the Jewish people. Jerusalem was and will forever be our capital. Eretz Israel will be restored to the people of Israel. All of it. And for ever." When the United Kingdom announced the independence of the Emirate of Transjordan as the Hashemite Kingdom of Transjordan in 1946,
4935-448: The Israeli flag represent the Nile and Euphrates rivers and allege that Israel desires to eventually seize all the land in between. The Hamas Covenant states "After Palestine, the Zionists aspire to expand from the Nile to the Euphrates," and in 2006, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar issued a demand for Israel to change its flag, citing the "Nile to Euphrates" issue. Responding to these claims, Arab writer Saqr Abu Fakhr wrote that
5040-433: The Jewish community lost the tradition of which species of shellfish produced this dye. Since Jews were then unable to fulfil this commandment, they have since left their tzitzit ( tallit strings) white. However, in remembrance of the commandment to use the tekhelet dye, it became common for Jews to have blue or purple stripes woven into the cloth of their tallit . Israeli Arab criticism has been raised by
5145-436: The Jewish population, still hoped to persuade Britain to allow resumed Jewish immigration and cooperated with Britain during the Second World War . On 10 June 1940, during the Second World War , the Kingdom of Italy declared war on the British Empire and sided with Nazi Germany . Within a month, the Italians attacked Palestine from the air , bombing Tel Aviv and Haifa , inflicting multiple casualties. In 1942, there
5250-412: The Jewish population, this building, located on the 'Hill of Evil Counsel' on the ridge of Jabel Mukaber , remained in use as the headquarters and official residence of the British High Commissioners until the end of British rule in 1948. One of the first actions of the newly installed civil administration was to begin granting concessions from the Mandatory government over key economic assets. In 1921
5355-421: The Jewish population, who after the war would no longer cooperate with the British. The revolt had also a negative effect on Palestinian Arab leadership, social cohesion, and military capabilities, and it contributed to the outcome of the 1948 War because "when the Palestinians faced their most fateful challenge in 1947–49, they were still suffering from the British repression of 1936–39, and were in effect without
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#17329061533705460-850: The Jews of Prague to fly a "Jewish flag" over their synagogue. This flag was red with a yellow Magen David in the middle. The idea that the blue and white colors were the national color of the Jewish people was voiced early on by Ludwig August von Frankl (1810–94), an Austrian Jewish poet. In his poem, "Judah's Colors", he writes: Anlegt er, wenn ihn Andacht füllt Die Farben seines Landes; Da steht er beim Gebet verhüllt, Weiß schimmernden Gewandes. Den Rand des weißen Mantels breit Durchziehen blaue Streifen, Sowie des Hohenpriesters Kleid Die blauen Fädenschleifen. Die Farben sind's des theuren Lands, Weißblau sind Juda's Grenzen: Weiß ist der priesterliche Glanz, Und blau des Himmels Glänzen. He puts on, when prayer fills him, The colors of his country. There stands he, wrapped in prayer, In
5565-593: The Lehi assassinated Count Bernadotte , the UN mediator, in Jerusalem. Yitzak Shamir , a future Prime Minister of Israel , was one of the conspirators. The negative publicity resulting from the situation in Palestine caused the Mandate to become widely unpopular in Britain itself and caused the United States Congress to delay granting the British vital loans for reconstruction. The British Labour Party had promised before its election in 1945 to allow mass Jewish migration into Palestine but reneged on this promise once in office. Anti-British Jewish militancy increased, and
5670-502: The Mandate's territory was "Palestine", in accordance with local Palestinian Arab and Ottoman usage and with European tradition. The Mandate charter stipulated that Mandatory Palestine would have three official languages: English, Arabic and Hebrew. In 1926, the British authorities formally decided to use the traditional Arabic equivalent to the English name, and its Hebrew transcription i.e. Filasţīn (فلسطين) and Pālēśtīnā (פּלשׂתינה) respectively. The Jewish leadership proposed that
5775-422: The Muslim Maghribi district in front of the house of the Mufti. Two days later, in raised tensions caused by a 2000-strong Muslim counter-demonstration after Friday prayers the day before, a Jewish youth, Avraham Mizrahi, was killed and an Arab youth picked at random was stabbed in retaliation. Subsequently, the violence escalated into the 1929 Palestine riots . The demonstration by Revisionist youth of 15 August
5880-470: The Palestine Mandate and place the Question of Palestine before the United Nations , the successor to the League of Nations . The UN created UNSCOP (the UN Special Committee on Palestine) on 15 May 1947, with representatives from 11 countries. UNSCOP conducted hearings and made a general survey of the situation in Palestine and issued its report on 31 August. Seven members (Canada, Czechoslovakia , Guatemala, Netherlands, Peru, Sweden, and Uruguay) recommended
5985-403: The Provisional State Council asked the Israeli public to submit proposals for a flag and they received 164 entries. Initially the council had wished to abandon the traditional design of the Zionist flag and create something completely different in order to prevent Jews around the world being charged with dual loyalty when displaying the Zionist flag, which could create the impression they are flying
6090-480: The Rock and sometimes in their place. The heads of the Yeshivot in the Old Yishuv also used photomontages showing the Dome of the Rock with the Star of David and flags of Zion superimposed in fundraising appeals to Diaspora Jews . It thus came to be widely believed that a Jewish conspiracy was at work to replace the Muslim holy sites by a rebuilt Jewish Temple. The resulting tensions were exploited by both Palestinian Arab and Jewish nationalists. Joseph Klausner
6195-467: The West Bank of the Jordan River , and the Kingdom of Egypt , which established the " All-Palestine Protectorate " in the Gaza Strip . Mandatory Palestine was designated as a Class A Mandate , based on its social, political, and economic development. This classification was reserved for post-war mandates with the highest capacity for self-governance. All Class A mandates other than mandatory Palestine had gained independence by 1946. The name given to
6300-435: The adoption and implementation of the Plan of Partition with Economic Union as Resolution 181 (II), while making some adjustments to the boundaries between the two states proposed by it. The division was to take effect on the date of British withdrawal. The partition plan required that the proposed states grant full civil rights to all people within their borders, regardless of race, religion or gender. The UN General Assembly
6405-420: The adult Arab male population was killed, wounded, imprisoned, or exiled. From 1936 to 1945, while establishing collaborative security arrangements with the Jewish Agency, the British confiscated 13,200 firearms from Arabs and 521 weapons from Jews. The attacks on the Jewish population by Arabs had three lasting effects: firstly, they led to the formation and development of Jewish underground militias, primarily
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#17329061533706510-476: The assassination is said by some to have turned British Prime Minister Winston Churchill against the Zionist cause. After the assassination of Lord Moyne, the Haganah kidnapped, interrogated, and turned over to the British many members of the Irgun (" The Hunting Season "), and the Jewish Agency Executive decided on a series of measures against "terrorist organisations" in Palestine. Irgun ordered its members not to resist or retaliate with violence, so as to prevent
6615-445: The city). A blue and white flag, with a Star of David and the Hebrew word " Maccabee ", was used in 1891 by the Bnai Zion Educational Society . Jacob Baruch Askowith (1844–1908) and his son Charles Askowith designed the "flag of Judah", which was displayed on 24 July 1891, at the dedication of Zion Hall of the B'nai Zion Educational Society in Boston , Massachusetts. Based on the traditional tallit , or Jewish prayer shawl, that flag
6720-409: The country. During the nineteenth century the Western Wall came to be viewed in Jewish circles as a site of commemoration and particular sanctity. It was also invested with national significance by the Jewish national movement. From the late nineteenth century onwards pictures and postcards often depicted a rebuilt Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount , sometimes next to al-Aqsa Mosque or the Dome of
6825-408: The creation of independent Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem to be placed under international administration . Three members (India, Iran, and Yugoslavia ) supported the creation of a single federal state containing both Jewish and Arab constituent states. Australia abstained. On 29 November 1947, the UN General Assembly, voting 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions, adopted a resolution recommending
6930-428: The distribution of the seats, arguing that as they constituted 88% of the population, having only 43% of the seats was unfair. Elections took place in February and March 1923, but due to an Arab boycott , the results were annulled and a 12-member Advisory Council was established. At the First World Congress of Jewish Women which was held in Vienna , Austria, 1923, it was decided that: "It appears, therefore, to be
7035-475: The duty of all Jews to co-operate in the social-economic reconstruction of Palestine and to assist in the settlement of Jews in that country." In October 1923, Britain provided the League of Nations with a report on the administration of Palestine for the period 1920–1922, which covered the period before the mandate. In August 1929, there were riots in which 250 people died. In 1930, Sheikh Izz ad-Din al-Qassam arrived in Palestine from Syria, then part of
7140-476: The economic development of the country as a whole, while at the same time securing their commitment to facilitate a Jewish National Home through economic – rather than political – means. In May 1921, following a disturbance between rival Jewish left-wing protestors and then attacks by Arabs on Jews, almost 100 died in rioting in Jaffa . High Commissioner Samuel tried to establish self-governing institutions in Palestine, as required by
7245-475: The end of the Second World War, especially by the Haganah, who carried mostly illegal Jewish immigrants in the period 1945-47. After the war, 250,000 Jewish refugees were stranded in displaced persons (DP) camps in Europe. Despite the pressure of world opinion, in particular the repeated requests of the U.S. President , Harry S. Truman , and the recommendations of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry that 100,000 Jews be immediately granted entry to Palestine,
7350-408: The establishment of a Jewish "national home" in Palestine. Mandatory Palestine was then established in 1920, and the British obtained a Mandate for Palestine from the League of Nations in 1922. During the Mandate, the area saw successive waves of Jewish immigration and the rise of nationalist movements in both the Jewish and Arab communities. Competing interests of the two populations led to
7455-448: The exclusive claims of Jews and Arabs to Palestine, we regard it as essential that a clear statement of principle should be made that Jew shall not dominate Arab and Arab shall not dominate Jew in Palestine". U.S. President Harry S. Truman angered the British Government by issuing a statement supporting the 100,000 refugees but refusing to acknowledge the rest of the committee's findings. Britain had asked for U.S. assistance in implementing
7560-479: The eyes of Israel and the eyes of all nations. So I ordered a blue and white flag with the Shield of David painted upon it. That is how the national flag, that flew over Congress Hall, came into being." Morris Harris, a member of New York Hovevei Zion , used his awning shop to design a suitable banner and decorations for the reception, and his mother Lena Harris sewed the flag. The flag was made with two blue stripes and
7665-518: The fighting, the British did not allow the regular armies of the surrounding Arab states to cross into Palestine. Flag of Israel The flag of the State of Israel ( Hebrew : דֶּגֶל יִשְׂרָאֵל deḡel Jiśrāʾēl ; Arabic : عَلَم إِسْرَائِيل ʿalam ʾIsrāʾīl ) was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the Israeli Declaration of Independence . It consists of a white background with
7770-637: The final Assembly of the League of Nations and the General Assembly both adopted resolutions welcoming the news. The Jewish Agency objected, claiming that Transjordan was an integral part of Palestine, and that according to Article 80 of the UN Charter , the Jewish people had a secured interest in its territory. During the General Assembly deliberations on Palestine, there were suggestions that it would be desirable to incorporate part of Transjordan's territory into
7875-464: The flag of a foreign country. On 14 October 1948, after Zionist representatives from around the world allayed the concerns of their Israeli colleagues, the flag of the Zionist Organization was adopted as the official flag of the State of Israel. The Provisional Council of State Proclamation of the Flag of the State of Israel states: The flag is 220 cm. long and 160 cm. wide. The background
7980-452: The flying of the Israeli flag in synagogues, calling it "a reminder of the acts of the evil-doers" and Rabbi Joel Teitelbaum referred to the flag as the "flag of heresy" and viewed it as an object of idol worship. Despite the legal requirement (since 1997) for all government-funded schools to fly the Israeli flag, Haredi Jews generally refrain from displaying the flag at all, although in a rare symbolic gesture in gratitude to state funding,
8085-411: The government granted Pinhas Rutenberg – a Jewish entrepreneur – concessions for the production and distribution of electrical power. Rutenberg soon established an electric company whose shareholders were Zionist organisations, investors, and philanthropists. Palestinian-Arabs saw it as proof that the British intended to favour Zionism. The British administration claimed that electrification would enhance
8190-434: The mandate, but the Arab leadership refused to co-operate with any institution which included Jewish participation. When Kamil al-Husayni , the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem , died in March 1921, High Commissioner Samuel appointed his half-brother, Mohammad Amin al-Husseini , to the position. Amin al-Husseini, a member of the al-Husayni clan of Jerusalem, was an Arab nationalist and Muslim leader. As Grand Mufti, as well as in
8295-485: The mayors of Nablus and Gaza and media such as "Radio Palestine" and the prominent Jaffa -based Falastin newspaper, volunteered to join and fight for the British, with many serving in units that also included Jews from Palestine. 120 Palestinian women also served as part of the Auxiliary Territorial Service . However, this history has been less studied, as Israeli sources put more focus in studying
8400-617: The motor schooner Struma was torpedoed and sunk in the Black Sea by a Soviet submarine in February 1942 with the loss of nearly 800 lives. The last refugee boats to try to reach Palestine during the war were the Bulbul , Mefküre and Morina in August 1944. A Soviet submarine sank the motor schooner Mefküre by torpedo and shellfire and machine-gunned survivors in the water, killing between 300 and 400 refugees. Illegal immigration resumed after
8505-422: The next 18 months, the British lost Nablus and Hebron. British forces, supported by 6,000 armed Jewish auxiliary police, suppressed the widespread riots with overwhelming force. The British officer Charles Orde Wingate (who supported a Zionist revival for religious reasons ) organised Special Night Squads of British soldiers and Jewish volunteers such as Yigal Alon ; these "scored significant successes against
8610-576: The other influential positions that he held during this period, al-Husseini played a key role in violent opposition to Zionism . In 1922, al-Husseini was elected President of the Supreme Muslim Council which had been established by Samuel in December 1921. The Council controlled the Waqf funds, worth annually tens of thousands of pounds, and the orphan funds, worth annually about £50,000, as compared to
8715-464: The pages of Doar HaYom : "We cannot trust any more the actions of existing institutions in this matter and it was decided to take separate action". In an article in the pages of The Palestine Weekly on the same day Klausner wrote: "But what about the Jews, cannot they too throw stones, have they not hands or even fists? What did Shakespeare say through his Shylock? 'Hath not a Jew eyes ... if you wrong us, shall we not revenge...' " During The Nine Days
8820-521: The partition plan, but refused to enforce it, arguing it was not accepted by the Arabs. Britain also refused to share the administration of Palestine with the UN Palestine Commission during the transitional period. In September 1947, the British government announced that the Mandate for Palestine would end at midnight on 14 May 1948. Some Jewish organisations also opposed the proposal. Irgun leader Menachem Begin announced, "The partition of
8925-490: The proper Hebrew name should be ʾĒrēts Yiśrāʾel (ארץ ישׂראל, Land of Israel ). The final compromise was to append the initials of the Hebrew proposed name, Alef - Yod , within parenthesis (א״י) after Pālēśtīnā whenever the Mandate's name was mentioned in Hebrew in official documents. The Arab leadership saw this compromise as a violation of the mandate terms. Some Arab politicians suggested " Southern Syria " (سوريا الجنوبية) as
9030-684: The proposed Jewish state. A few days before the adoption of Resolution 181 (II) on 29 November 1947, US Secretary of State Marshall noted frequent references had been made by the Ad Hoc Committee regarding the desirability of the Jewish State having both the Negev and an "outlet to the Red Sea and the Port of Aqaba". According to John Snetsinger, Chaim Weizmann visited President Truman on 19 November 1947 and said it
9135-407: The recommendations. The US War Department had said earlier that to assist Britain in maintaining order against an Arab revolt, an open-ended US commitment of 300,000 troops would be necessary. The immediate admission of 100,000 new Jewish immigrants would almost certainly have provoked an Arab uprising. These events were the decisive factors that forced Britain to announce their desire to terminate
9240-559: The role played by Jewish soldiers. Meanwhile, Palestinian sources "were not eager to glorify the names of those who cooperated with Britain not so many years after the British put down the Arab Revolt of 1936-1939, and thereby indirectly helped the Jews establish a state." On 3 July 1944, the British government consented to the establishment of a Jewish Brigade within the British Army , with hand-picked Jewish and also non-Jewish senior officers. On 20 September 1944, an official communiqué by
9345-414: The safe and orderly withdrawal of their forces; military courts would try anybody who interfered. Although by this time British authority in most of Palestine had broken down, with most of the country in the hands of Jews or Arabs, the British air and sea blockade of Palestine remained in place. Although Arab volunteers were able to cross the borders between Palestine and the surrounding Arab states to join
9450-435: The scene of fierce fighting, though the British occasionally intervened in the fighting, largely to secure their evacuation routes, including by proclaiming martial law and enforcing truces. The Palestine Police Force was largely inoperative, and government services such as social welfare, water supplies, and postal services were withdrawn. In March 1948, all British judges in Palestine were sent back to Britain. In April 1948,
9555-478: The situation required the presence of over 100,000 British troops in the country. Following the Acre Prison Break and the retaliatory hanging of British sergeants by the Irgun, the British announced their desire to terminate the mandate and to withdraw by no later than the beginning of August 1948. The Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry in 1946 was a joint attempt by Britain and the United States to agree on
9660-499: The stars are the seven golden hours of our working-day. For we shall march into the Promised Land carrying the badge of honour." Aware that the nascent Zionist movement had no official flag, David Wolffsohn (1856–1914), a prominent Zionist, felt that the design proposed by Herzl was not gaining significant support. Herzl's original proposal however was for a flag completely devoid of any traditional Jewish symbolism: seven golden stars
9765-460: The two horizontal stripes. Although the stripes are described as a "dark sky-blue" and the Shield of David as simply "sky-blue", the two elements of the flag are almost always the same shade. In Hebrew, the blue is described as תְּכֵלֶת tḵēleṯ , which traditionally refers to a dark sky-blue dye identical to indigo , so identical in fact that supposedly only God could distinguish between
9870-520: The two, and which was extracted from a sea creature called a חִלָּזוֹן ḥillāzōn (almost certainly the banded dye-murex , from which a dye chemically identical to indigo can be extracted). Regardless, flags with vastly differing shades of blue are commonplace, such that it's not uncommon for Israel's national colors to be referred to as כָּחֹל לָבָן kāḥol lāḇān (“(dark) blue (and) white”) instead of תְּכֵלֶת לָבָן tḵēleṯ lāḇān (“(sky) blue (and) white”). In 1950
9975-401: The word "Palestine" in Hebrew characters should be followed in all official documents by the initials which stood for that designation. As a set-off to this, certain of the Arab politicians suggested that the country should be called "Southern Syria" in order to emphasise its close relation with another Arab State. The adjective " mandatory " indicates that the entity's legal status derived from
10080-643: The £600,000 in the Jewish Agency 's annual budget. In addition, he controlled the Islamic courts in Palestine. Among other functions, these courts had the power to appoint teachers and preachers. The 1922 Palestine Order in Council established a Legislative Council, which was to consist of 23 members: 12 elected, 10 appointed, and the High Commissioner. Of the 12 elected members, eight were to be Muslim Arabs, two Christian Arabs, and two Jews. Arabs protested against
10185-504: Was a member of the Odessa circle of political activists which included Ze'ev Jabotinsky and Menachem Ussishkin and although not a 'party man' he was a fellow traveller with Revisionist Zionism and contributed significantly to the Zionist education of Betar , the Revisionist youth movement, and nationalist youth in general. Klausner's background as an academic with expertise in the history of
10290-632: Was a period of great concern for the Yishuv , when the German forces of General Erwin Rommel advanced east across North Africa towards the Suez Canal , raising a fear that they would conquer Palestine. This period was referred to as the " 200 days of dread ". This event was the direct cause for the founding, with British support, of the Palmach – a highly trained regular unit belonging to Haganah (a paramilitary group composed mostly of reserves). As in most of
10395-610: Was adopted by the First Zionist Congress in 1897. In the Middle Ages, mystical powers were attributed to the pentagram and hexagram, which were used in talismans against evil spirits. Both were called the "Seal of Solomon", but eventually the name became exclusive to the pentagram, while the hexagram became known as a "Magen David", or "Shield of David". Later the star began to appear in Jewish art . In 1648, Ferdinand II permitted
10500-653: Was imperative that the Negev and Port of Aqaba be within the Jewish state. Truman telephoned the US delegation to the UN and told them he supported Weizmann's position. However, the Trans-Jordan memorandum excluded territories of the Emirate of Transjordan from any Jewish settlement. Immediately after the UN resolution, civil war broke out between the Arab and Jewish communities, and British authority began to break down. On 16 December 1947,
10605-655: Was later identified as the proximal cause of the riots by the Shaw Commission . Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the region of Palestine under the terms of the League of Nations Mandate for Palestine . After an Arab uprising against the Ottoman Empire during the First World War in 1916, British forces drove Ottoman forces out of
10710-573: Was representing the 7-hour workday of the enlightened state-to-be, which would have advanced socialist legislations. In preparing for the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897, Wolffsohn wrote: "What flag would we hang in the Congress Hall? Then an idea struck me. We have a flag—and it is blue and white. The talith (prayer shawl) with which we wrap ourselves when we pray: that is our symbol. Let us take this Talith from its bag and unroll it before
10815-570: Was the Jewish state-in-formation, accepted the plan, and nearly all the Jews in Palestine rejoiced at the news. The partition plan was rejected by the Palestinian Arab leadership and by most of the Arab population. Meeting in Cairo on November and December 1947, the Arab League then adopted a series of resolutions endorsing a military solution to the conflict. Britain announced that it would accept
10920-578: Was then the northeastern edge of Jerusalem, a building that had been constructed for the Germans circa 1910. Damaged by an earthquake in 1927, this building served as the headquarters and official residence of the British High Commissioners until 1933. In that year, a new, purpose-built headquarters and official residence for the High Commissioner was completed on what was then the southeastern edge of Jerusalem. Referred to as Armon HaNetziv by
11025-441: Was white with narrow blue stripes near the edges and bore in the center the ancient six-pointed Shield of David with the word "Maccabee" painted in blue Hebrew letters. In Theodor Herzl 's 1896 Der Judenstaat , he stated: "We have no flag, and we need one. If we desire to lead many men, we must raise a symbol above their heads. I would suggest a white flag, with seven golden stars. The white field symbolizes our pure new life;
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