#2. The Violence that Brings Silence: Broken Promises & Mayhem

The acts of terror were noticeable and repetitively reported in Ancient Rome, in Medieval Times, as an effective tool of oppression it survived till modern era. It seems it will never be stopped. It was cruel, it was brutal and it evolved. Terrorism is a barbaric act. The advent of the Great War drew terrorism into the background  as the armies of Europe and America clashed in eruption of violence. During the Second World War  (1918-45) the terrorism was eclipsed by the repressive state terror of Nazi Germany and Russia with its death camps in Europe and Siberia. Colonialism describes the phenomenon of terrorism. The European states used their naval and military to impose their rule on territories  in other parts of the world. By the 20^th century the colonial system starting to break down. The process was slow and enhanced impatience. When all peaceful means failed in this case – negotiations – terror began.

The broken promises brought huge disappointment. The Great Britain was a country to be blamed of! The imperial system had to collapse, and, it did.

It started in 1918 with the break up of Ottoman Empire, the area conquered by it was populated by Arabs, mostly.  There was a small amount of Jews who settled in their traditional, biblical homeland. For some regarded as ‘an imaginary land’. It was a time when Jews wanted by all means to escape form political and religious persecutions out of Europe.

The misunderstanding between the promises and guarantees led to disaster. The Arabs were promised independence in exchange for help in fighting the Turks. Jews were promised a national home in Palestine, therefore, the migration to Palestine in 1920s increased. The British contradictory promises resulted in mayhem. The Palestinian Arabs were outraged. They saw their land was given away, thus, they strike back.  The exact Jewish territory was not precise and specified. ‘Any Land’ – some said.

The League of Nations was supposed to ease the problem, when Hitler seized power in 1930s  the tension between Palestinians and Jews rose sharply. In 1942 the war in Europe erupted in a double strength. Britain with a number of smaller nations  signed a pact agreeing not to implement  any other changes in the colonies:

“(…)  territorial changes that do not accord with the freely expressed wishes of the people concerned (…)”

Acting on that principles the Jews in Palestine demanded the right to form their own government.

[1]Menechem Begin led the Jewish terrorist organization – Irgun. Its purpose was to establish a revolutionary model which was later copied by terrorist groups around the world. It was bombs and publicity that mattered. Yet, timing was bad. Everyone was well aware of the atrocities in Europe, being committed by Nazi Germany, the Jews among other nations were helpless victims of ferocious persecution.

David Ben Gurion – the first Israeli PM, in 1948 espoused such belief:

“(…) We had lived a life of exile in foreign lands, a life of dependence, shame, slavery, and disgrace (…) From now on, we shall guarantee a new death of ourselves, not a death of weakness, helplessness and futile sacrifice. We shall die in arms in our hands (…)”

The Irgun led the bombings of British installations, both, military and civilian. Chose targets with symbolic value, on one single-day in 1944 the Irgun commandos blew up British administrative offices in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Haifa, it was just the beginning of the campaign of assassination killing.

In 1946 the world had witnessed the spectacular bombing at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem. It was the most devastating single incident to that date. Undoubtedly the confidence of the colonial power:

“(…) the every existence of the underground must in the end undermine the prestige of a colonial regime. Every attack which if fails to prevent is a blow at its standing. Even if the attack does not succeed, it makes a dent in that prestige, and that dent widens into a crack which is extended with every succeeding attack (…)”.

The attack at the King David Hotel resulted in withdrawal of the colonial forces from Palestine that began a year later.

The Israeli state came to existence in 1948, shortly after, Ben Gurion stated:

“(…) after many years of underground warfare, years of persecution and suffering … Hebrew revolt has been crowned with success (…) the state of Israel arisen through blood, fire and strong hand and a mighty arm, with suffering and sacrifices (…)”

The establishment of Israel has just triggered the bloody war among two nations which till nowadays is unsolved, the truce is fragile and no one foretells what the future holds for it.

Bibliography:

1. Wisnewski, J. Jeremy, ed. (18 December 2008). Torture, Terrorism, and the Use of Violence (also available as Review Journal of Political Philosophy Volume 6, Issue Number 1). Cambridge Scholars Publishing. p. 175. ISBN 978-1-4438-0291-8.
2. Stevenson, ed. by Angus (2010). Oxford dictionary of English (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-957112-3.
3. White, Jonathan R. (1 January 2016). Terrorism and Homeland Security. Cengage Learning. p. 3. ISBN 978-1-305-63377-3.
4.  "The Illusion of War: Is Terrorism a Criminal Act or an Act of War? – Mackenzie Institute". Mackenzie Institute. 31 July 2014. Retrieved 2017-04-29.
5.  Ronald Reagan, speech to National Conservative Political Action Conference Archived 20 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine. 8 March 1985.
6.  Chaliand, Gerard. The History of Terrorism: From Antiquity to al Qaeda. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2007.
7.  Irish Freedom, by Richard English Publisher: Pan Books 
8. Mousseau, Michael (2002). "Market Civilization and its Clash with Terror". International Security
9. Mark Aarons (2007). "Justice Betrayed: Post-1945 Responses to Genocide." In David A. Blumenthal and Timothy L. H. McCormack (eds). The Legacy of Nuremberg: Civilising Influence or Institutionalised Vengeance? (International Humanitarian Law). Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. ISBN 9004156917
10. Cronin, Audrey Kurth (2009). How Terrorism Ends: Understanding the Decline and Demise of Terrorist Campaigns. Princeton U. Pr. ISBN 978-0-691-13948-7.

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[1] Menachem Begin ( Hebrew: מְנַחֵם בֵּגִין‎ Menaḥem Begin, Polish: Mieczysław Biegun; Russian: Менахем Вольфович Бегин Menakhem Volfovich Begin; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of Likud and the sixth Prime Minister of Israel. Before the creation of the state of Israel, he was the leader of the Zionist militant group Irgun, the Revisionist breakaway from the larger Jewish paramilitary organization Haganah. He proclaimed a revolt, on 1 February 1944, against the British mandatory government, which was opposed by the Jewish Agency. As head of the Irgun, he targeted the British in Palestine. Later, the Irgun fought the Arabs during the 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine. As a prominent pre-war Zionist and reserve status officer-cadet, on 20 September 1940, Begin was arrested by the NKVD and detained in the Lukiškės Prison. He wrote about his experience of being tortured, in later years. He was accused of being an "agent of British imperialism" and sentenced to eight years in the Soviet gulag camps. On 1 June 1941 he was sent to the Pechora labor camps in Komi Republic, the northern part of European Russia, where he stayed until May 1942. Much later in life, Begin would record and reflect upon his experiences in the interrogations and life in the camp in his memoir White Nights. In July 1941, just after Germany attacked the Soviet Union, and following his release under the Sikorski–Mayski agreement because he was a Polish national, Begin joined the Free Polish Anders' Army as a corporal officer cadet. He was later sent with the army to Palestine via the Persian Corridor, where he arrived in May 1942. Upon arriving in Palestine, Begin, like many other Polish Jewish soldiers of the Anders' Army, faced a choice between remaining with the Anders' Army to fight Nazi Germany in Europe, or staying in Palestine to fight for establishment of a Jewish state. While he initially wished to remain with the Polish army, he was eventually persuaded to change his mind by his contacts in the Irgun, as well as Polish officers sympathetic to the Zionist cause. Consequently, General Michał Karaszewicz-Tokarzewski, the second in command of the Army issued Begin with a "leave of absence without an expiration" which gave Begin official permission to stay in Palestine. In December 1942 he left Ander's Army and joined the Irgun.