J. Borisov - Palestine Underground

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Text originally published in 1947 under the same title.

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PALESTINE UNDERGROUND

THE STORY OF JEWISH RESISTANCE

BY

J. BORISOV

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

JEWISH Palestine is enveloped in the flames of revolt. There is a virtual state of war between Palestinian Jewry and Great Britain, the Mandatory Power. The Jerusalem correspondent of the London Observer (March 30, 1946) most clearly told the readers of that influential English weekly: The tragic truth, which becomes clear here on the spot, is that what is now going on is mainly a British-Jewish conflict and not so much an Arab-Jewish quarrel which needs impartial arbitration.

The Jews did not enter this conflict light-heartedly; they do not defy the British unnecessarily. The Jews were never an aggressive, war loving nation, never a people seeking conflict. They do not seek it today. Nor does anyone suggest for a moment that the British Empire is not stronger by far than the Palestine Yishuv, which is now engaged in a desperate Resistance struggle. But history has proved that Resistance movements do not count the might of the adversary, nor the price to be paid. Neither does their own strength lie in their numbers. The war the Jewish Resistance forces are waging is a deliberate attempt to persuade the Mandatory Powerto persuade by deeds and not by wordsthat no military or police force can keep the gates of Palestine closed to the Jewish repatriates and crush the Jewish longing for freedom and statehood.

The epos of the Jewish Resistance Movement in Palestine will be written someday, after it has achieved its goal. This pamphlet is a very imperfect attempt to tell the story of Resistance in the light of the available material, published and unpublished. The publishers believe that even in its present incomplete form the story deserves public interest.

The author of the pamphlet who writes under the pen-name J. Borisov is a well-known Zionist leader and journalist; he was in a position to secure firsthand information about the Resistance.

MODERN Zionist colonization of Palestine has always faced the crucial problem of security. During the earliest years of Zionist settlement in Palestine Arabs exclusively were employed as night guards over Jewish rural property against the incursions of thieves and brigands. Often the Arab watchmen made bargains with the thieves and at all times the Jewish colonists were in fear, and often at the mercy, of their Arab guardsmen. The Jewish pioneers soon realized that Jewish land and property must not only be worked, but also defended by Jews.

So it came about that in the week of Succoth, 1907, ten young men met in Jaffa and decided to form a Jewish Watchmens Organization. This small group became the guiding force of Hashomer, the Guild of Jewish Watchmen. They called themselves Bar Giora, after the Galilean who played so important a role in the Jewish struggle against Rome. The slogan of the group was By blood and fire Judaea fell and by blood and fire Judaea shall arise. Pesach, 1909, this organization adopted its constitution, which made eligible for membership every Jew of sound body and mind who had completed six months of training and agreed to place his duty to Hashomer above all personal concern. Each member took an oath to obey orders promptly and without questions. A loan fund was established to purchase weapons and to guarantee losses of property by theft.

By 1914, the Hashomer operated throughout the country as village police. After the outbreak of World War I, the Turkish authorities proscribed the organization and imprisoned many of its members. Nevertheless, the depleted ranks of the Hashomer were active until the society disbanded in 1919 and was superseded by the Hagana (Defense).

From its inception the Hagana had broader functions than the Hashomer. Its original recruits were primarily drawn from the Jewish Legion which was created by V. Jabotinsky and had fought with the Allies in the last war. The founders of the Hagana thought of this organization as of a purely defensive body, to be mobilized in emergency only and solely against eventual Arab attacks. During the early interwar years repeated Arab anti-Jewish outbreaks led to Haganas rapid expansion. Its existence was an open secret, not only in the Yishuv, but also in governmental circles. But with the comparative lull of the mid-twenties, the Haganas militant pathos whittled down considerably and its ranks thinned. The organization became an outgrowth of the official Zionist policy of appeasement.

The 1929 pogrom was a bitter awakening. It found the Hagana completely unprepared for action, without arms, trained cadres and commanders. This cruel lesson led to a new numerical and technical expansion of the organization. In this respect much has been attained. But the spirit behind remained unchanged. The Hagana lacked a dynamic militant approach to the Jewish security problem. On the other hand, many Hagana members resented the fact that this organization practically was a branch of the Histadruth (leftist labor union), and insisted that the defense of the Jewish community in Palestine must be entrusted to an independent body, controlled not by one party, but by the community as such.

This brought about the first split in the Hagana ranks. In 1930-1932, a separate Hagana B was created. This new body was organized on a purely military basis and was politically controlled by a committee in which were represented all Zionist parties (General Zionists, Misrachi, Revisionists) with the exception of the Left. In 1933, Hagana started the publication of a periodical Bacherev (With the Sword).

After the outbreak of the Arab revolt in 1936, the official Hagana meekly followed the official Zionist line of havlaga (restraint), which prescribed purely defensive tactics and condemned every attempt of retaliation for the wanton murder of Jews. Thus, the Arab bands have always been free to choose the place and the time for their attacks against the Jews, while the Jewish defense was permanently bound to accept the struggle under conditions imposed by the enemy and was forbidden to take the offensive.

This absurd and humiliating situation led to violent conflicts in the ranks of both Hagana groups. Growing indignation provoked sporadic retaliation actions by individual commanders of single Hagana cells. Finally, in April 1937, the Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organization) was officially formed. The new body, which was the outcome of the split in Hagana B, categorically rejected the futile policy of restraint. It considered itself an embryo of a Jewish national military force waging a struggle for the survival of Palestine Jewry and the creation of a Jewish State. An army never limits itself to passive defense. Even in a purely defensive war the attack is often the most effective means of defense. And the Irgun was firmly determined to prove to the Muftis henchmen that armed Jewish patriots do not intend to take the mass murder of their brethren lying down and are ready to strike where and when they will choose.