I continue to research the vast collection of the photos from the LIFE Magazine archive. I sort the photos by a photographer or an event. In these three posts I curate the 1948 photos from Israel.
Jewish girl, Rachel Levy, 7, fleeing from street w. burning bldgs. as the Arabs sack Jerusalem after its surrender. May 28, 1948. John Phillips
Jewish families leaving the old city through Zion's Gate. June 1948. John Phillips
Jewish families being evacuated from city. June 1948. John Phillips
Egyptian plane shot down on Tel Aviv beach. May 1948. Frank Scherschel
Sandbagging in Tel Aviv. June 1948. Frank Scherschel
Arab refugees on a dock. Hafia, Israel, May 1948, John Phillips
Two Rabbis conference with Arab Legion soldiers. June 1948. John Phillips
Found this comment on some Israeli forum about this photo:
רבני ירושלים
הרב ישראל זאב מינצברג סבי זקני
ראבד העיר העתיקה
החכם הספרדי הוא הרב חזן
שניהם הלכו במסירות נפש עם דגל לבן להיכנע
למרות שראשי ההגנה התנגדו לכך ואפילו ירו לעברם אש חיה!
כי ראשי הממשל רצו שגורל אנשי הרובע יהיה כאנשי מצדה
שכולם ימותו
Translation: “The Rabbis of Jerusalem Rabbi Israel Mintzberg, my grandfather, head of the old city Jewish Court and the Sepharadi Rabbi is Rabbi Hazan. Both went in self-sacrifice with a white flag to surrender despite the Haganah commanders objecting and even firing at them because the heads of the [Jewish] government wanted the fate of the people of the Jewish quarter to be that of the people of Masada, that they all will die”.
Sephardic Rabbi discussing terms of surrender of the Jewish quarter in Jerusalem with Arab Legion Soldiers. June 1948. John Phillips
Morey Altman comments: Yehuda Margalit points out, it was on Friday, May 28, 1948 the Arab Legion succeeded at controlling the main Jewish street of the Quarter; they immediately destroyed the Hurva Synagogue (in anticipation of the arrival of King Abdullah) and began burning and looting Jewish shops. The International Red Cross had – to their credit – been trying to convince the Legion, at the request of the Haganah, to permit women and children to leave. The Legion repeatedly refused, demanding that there be a complete surrender of all Jews. All attempts to stop the Legion had failed, and with fighting now raging along a 20-mile front between Latrun and Ramallah, reinforcements were unavailable.
“At 11:00am on Friday, Rabbis Reuven Hazan, 70, and Israel Mintzberg, 83, walked from one of the Jewish positions toward the Arab lines. They carried a white flag made out of a bit of once-festive tablecloth tacked to a stick. Although he was shot and wounded by a sniper, Rabbi Hazan called out in Arabic, ‘Good morning. We have come to talk to you, and we want to see your commander.’” Mitzberg was held hostage while Rabbi Hazan retrieved the Haganah representative to negotiate the surrender.
After 13 days of shelling (which killed or injured hundeds of civilians) and hand-to-hand fighting, “the exhausted Jewish garrision in the Old City of Jerusalem accepted the Arab Legion’s surrender terms.”
On Friday afternoon “290 able-bodied men from 15 to 50 were taken prisoner and 1,200 women, children and aged were passed to the Jewish lines outside the walls with the cooperation of the U.N. representative and the Red Cross….the evacuation of civlians through Zion gate began on Friday evening and lasted until 2 o’clock on Saturday morning.” Fifty-one of the captives were injured; three physicans and four nurses volunteerd to stay with them.
Jewish boy eating matzos, Jerusalem, June 1948, John Phillips
Jewish soldiers being guarded by Arab Legion soldiers after their surrender in Jerusalem. June 1948. John Phillips
Captured Jewish soldier sitting between two members of the Arab Legion. Jerusalem, Israel. June 1948. John Phillips
Frank Adam comments: Another useful detail in the seated three men photo:Jewish prisoner in pukka Brit shorts and two Arab Legion guards. The corporal on the viewer’s right is a negro. So? The nearest negroes to the Holy Land are in Sudan (deeply south from Egypt) or escaped slaves from Saudi Arabia. Either way he is an immigrant to the region which is one in the eye for the Arab complaint about Zionist Jews being immigrants.
This also illustrates the crafty recruitment of the Arab Legion any number were recruited from outside Jordan in southern Syria, Lebanon, (Saudi, Iraq) and Palestine as commonly taken to be the entire country West of the River J. This profile of personnel being foreign mercenaries were utterly dependent on their engagement & utterly loyal, but Glubb Pasha also realised that he would have less trouble to police by securing the consent of the desert tribes to his operations and recruited from them in balance pro rata to the size of each tribe which in the situation of nomadic pastoralists not averse to smuggling and theft in a subsistence society of who owes and owns whom amounted to representation and committment to the regime of the incipient Jordanian state. It was not so obvious nor institutionalised as the Indian Army system of ethnic regiments and companies with a company or two of different ethnicit(ies) in each regiment, but it was nevetheless political balancing of the grass roots.
Major James M. Hankin Turvin speaking with Lt. Abdallah Mogely. Israel 1948, John Phillips
Arab Legion soldier standing guard in the Jewish quarter in Jerusalem. June 1948. John Phillips.
Frank Adam comments: the status & responsibility of client state troops is politcally nice. The Arab Legion was British equipped, trained and had a lot of British field officers (majors & colonels) and its commander all, “on contract,” or, “secondment.” In 1920 – 46 it was the originally gendarmerie desert patrol force of the Emirate of Transjordan which the British had created within the Eastern part of the Palestine Mandate. In English English, “gendarmerie” is a nationally organised, armed but police force at the direction of civil power, local and central (state troopers in US?). Britain audited TJ’s books ie approved the budget, and supplied quite a few senior civil officers all supervised by a Resident who reported to the High Commissioner in Jerusalem his immediate local senior, and directly to the Colonial Office, London. So in the 1941 Iraqi campaign and for internal security ie guard duties in Palestine 1945-47 inclusive, the Arab Legion was available (from ’46, turning itself into an “army”) to the British commander in Palestine or Iraq as another British unit – having formally asked for their service through usual channels from the Transjordanian government which was internally fairly independent – or had to be treated as such to keep up appearances and so political effectiveness. In 1946 the British signed a treaty with Transjordan to become the Kingdom of Jordan and so strictly an ally, rather than a dependent territory – but it depended on a pa sub of £4 ($11) million from London till the 50′s when Hussein fired Glubb and the US after ’56 gradually substituted for UK as it frequently has across the World since 1945, but in its own variations of retired officers on contract in Kossovo Iraq and other locations.
Nevertheless there are press photos of Legionaries on duty in Jerusalem’s “Bevingrad” in ’46-’47 as it was Bevin’s initial policy that the Arab parts of Palestine would go in with Jordan – by one of his remarks. Eventually the Jordanian Government withdrew the Legion by early ’48 from West of the Jordan entirely, till Abdullah invaded Palestine in May ’48. By the memoirs and statements of the time any British seconded officers had returned to their own British units or were kept East of the Jordan, but there were still some contract officers in the force across the River.
Just in case this all sounds ad hoc if not outright louche, it is the stuff of British avoidance of systematic big thinking and as a defence measure in the 1941 “flap” when it looked as if Rommel might break through Egypt, the British incorporated the Palestine Police – a civilian formation albeit armed – into the British Army. As such it sent a detachment to march in the victory parade in London.
Arab Legionnaires fight from walls of Jerusalem, May 1948. John Phillips
Two Israely soldiers. May 1948. Frank Scherschel
Illegal Jewish immigrants aboard captured refugee ship surrounded by British troops who halted the craft shortly before the official creation of the state of Israel. Haifa 1948. Dmitri Kessel
Fran Adam Commenst: The half platoon of helmeted British troops on the quay waiting for the illegal immigrants to (be?) disembarked are Parachute Regiment. The giveaway is – unlike the usual British “battle bowler” souplate design from the 14-18 trench war – the brimless helmet developed for airborne units (2 divisions in ’44 – ’45) not to catch the door in the jump, or slipstream. Later a lot of them went to the navy for similar reasons of warship constricted passages and hatches. There is a third design in which the brim angle is not pressed so it has a parabolic outline which served from 43-44 (till GRP – glass reinforced plastic ie kevlar brimless took over in the 70′s because APC’s -armoured personnel carriers are also cramped). The purpose of the broad but parabolic third design which can be seen in the second lot of photos was it protected the neck when on lying the ground as it was impossible to wear jauntily with the chinstrap behind the head.
Refugees on captured ship. Dmitri Kessel
Jewish Refugees from illegal ship. 1948. Dmitri Kessel
Sara Winner comments: “I recognized my father and myself as a baby on the picture titled refugees on captured ship taken by Dimitry Kessel, a picture I see first time in my life. I would like to know if you could find for me date of this picture and the name of the ship.”
Elderly Jews going to Zion's Gate evacuating the Jewish quarter of Jerusalem. June 1948. John Phillips
Somebody said about the photo above:
הזוג המבוגר הם הוריו של הרב קניאל, הרב הראשי הקודם של חיפה
The Legion having a Banquet dinner. April 1948. John Phillips
Arab refugees crowding a British ship carrying them to Acre. May 1948. John Phillips
Haganah Soldiers. May 1948. Frank Schersche
View of Haifa from Mt. Carmel in June 1948. Frank Scherschel
The next two photographs are remarkable. I found them in the different parts of the archive. It occurred to me to compare the architectural elements, the stair, the window openings, etc. This is before and after of the same place!
Jewish families waiting outside their homes to be evacuated by Arab troops. Jerusalem, Israel. June 1948. John Phillips
Rubble lying in the streets after Arab looting of Jewish homes. Jerusalem. June 1948. John Phillips
Looting in burning Jerusalem, John Phillips. June 1948
Jewish people attempting to leave portion of city surrendered to Arab forces. Jerusalem, Israel. June 1948. John Phillips
International Red Cross employees helping Jewish refugees. Jerusalem, Israel. June 1948. John Phillips
People along the waterfront watching an air raid. May 1948. Frank Scherschel
Elderly Jewish man sitting in street after surrender of city. Jerusalem, Israel. June 1948. John Phillips
Arabs evacuating the village of Zenin. May 1948. John Phillips
Women and children refugees evacuating the village of Zenin. May 1948. John Phillips
British Marines guarding a deserted Arab street of Haifa. May 1948. John Phillips
Israeli Soldier. May 1948. Frank Scherschel
Jews take over as British Mandate ends. May 1948. Frank Scherschel
Israeli men celebrate the end of the British Mandate. May 1948. Frank Scherschel
Tel Aviv. May 1948. Frank Scherschel
Tel Aviv, Israel. 1948. Dmitri Kessel
Girls being trained in signal work at British detention camp. Cyprus. June 1948. Frank Scherschel
A British soldier sitting guard on a rooftop. 1948. Dmitri Kessel
Frank Adam comments: The British – Scots by his Tam O’Shanter hat style – soldier with Bren light machine gun on a roof is in front of the dome of the Tiferet Israel Synagogue, also known as the Nissan Bek after its original warden/sponsor. The dome of the Hurva reaches the walls/edges of its main structure and is not on a “drum.” Both synagogue outlines are easy to distinguish on learning this structural difference which is obvious when you look at the Old City from the walls or external viewing points. The Nissan Bek was on the Eastern edge of the Western hill of the old City now crowned with modern yeshiva buildings, while the Hurva is further West.
Arab soldier with rifle riding on a motorcycle. March 1948. John Phillips
A trampled tarbouche lying in the street which will be picked up as a trophy by the Jews. Zenin, Israel. May 1948. John Phillips
Photos licensed for personal non-commercial use only by LIFE.
The 1948 Israel LIFE photographs are published in three posts:
Further Reading:
LIFE in Israel in 1948 – Part 2
LIFE in Israel in 1948 – Part 3
LIFE in Israel in 1949 by John Phillips
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{ 112 comments… read them below or add one }
an amazing collection. Very interesting. Looking forward to part 2.
Where are the Jewish refugees from Jerusalem today? Have they ever been recognized as refugees by the UN? And their descendants in second, third and fourth generation, are they recognized as refugees?
Many families still live in Jerusalem, some even returned to their former homes but are considered “settlers” and occupiers for doing so. Jewish refugees have never been recognised as such by any organisation except after WW2; not the refugees from Arab occupation of Jerusalem nor those who fled persecution from Arab countries and found refuge in Israel. At one time we refused to call them refugees since they were considered as coming home but this apparently back fired since neither their refugee status nor their homecoming were recognised!
you have to be kidding !!! There are no Jewish refugees, cause Israel took care and will always take care of Jews evacuated from their homes.
So called “Jewish refugees” found refuge not only in Israel. You will find them having built a new life for themselves after having lost everything in the Arab countries where they had lived for centuries (in Irak for example for millenia) in Italy, France, England, the United States and so on. No government helped them, no Red Cross, no United Nations. The only help came from the various Jewish communitiies and from their hard work, initiative and moral strength. And, over and above all, Hashem’s help.
My great Aunt lived in the old city and had a winery there. My mother is 79 years old and still shows me where the winery was and where her aunt lived. We got nothing.
Part 2 is published after part 1 (reverse chronological order)
these are fascinating pictures! Thanks
The British – Scots by his Tam O'Shanter hat style – soldier with Bren light machine gun on a roof is in front of the dome of the Tiferet Israel Synagogue, also known as the Nissan Bek after its original warden/sponsor. The dome of the Hurva reaches the walls/edges of its main structure and is not on a “drum.” Both synagogue outlines are easy to distinguish on learning this structural difference which is obvious when you look at the Old City from the walls or external viewing points. The Nissan Bek was on the Eastern edge of the Western hill of the old City now crowned with modern yeshiva buildings, while the Hurva is further West.
Under the mandate the obvious roof balcony of the Tiferet Israel between the dome drum and the roof edge was the commmand post of the police band's riot duty to guard the Jewish Quarter. The band was all Jewish and recruited initially from Russian olim who had brought their own instruments. Assistant Superintendent [Major] Aubrey Silver an ex – Londoner who married one of the Bek daughters commanded and conducted the band which also supplied buglers to command riot squads. Silver had been the piano star of the sergeant's mess in 42nd Royal Fusiliers – one of the three Jewish Legion battalions. When Inspector Quigley also ex-RF's who had stayed in Palestine and was forming the CID, he recruited Aubrey Silver to return from London to create the band initially 25, and 36 from 1937. As routine police the band was based in the Old City's Turkish kishli. Silver died in Dec 1944 of the long term effects of being wounded in a bombing of the post office.
In British regimental custom the band (basic police pay of £6 a month, then $24, and uniform) was hired out to non-official functions and made over £200 pa which was split 50/50 between the bandsmen and the police charity fund. The story is in Ch13, “A Job Well Done” by Inspector Edward Horne.
Frank, Hurvah is the Tiferet Israel aka Nissan Bek, they are the same, correct? Why do you say “both synagogues”? I was amused to learn (in Wikipedia) that Tiferet Israel was named after Srul Ruzhiner. What was the structure of the Arab Legion? Did Brits run it, do you know? Obviously they were fighting in Jerusalem.
Nissan Beck is not the Hurva. the other two are the same with different names as this was a complex of buildings if synagogues.
I want to clarify, I new this was the Hurvah but wanted to double check, in the Life archives the synagogue is mislabeled as a “Tel Aviv Synagogue”
Dear Ben Atlas,
The Hurva and the Nissan Bek are two separate buildings, but the Nissan Bek is also called the Tiferet Israel.
I know it is confusing, but the Tiferet Israel or Nissan Bek has two familiar names in common usage; and the Hurva has one name in common usage. Hurva also has a formal name related to its 18th century founder.
I have posted the following on the 2nd collection of Life photos:
There are two interesting technical details here. First the Arab Legion photos show them with the British World War I rifles with the snubbed muzzle cap.
The photo of the arab troops packed into requisitioned civilian lorries with extempore wooden safety grills – in that they are not a standard British or US issue (and do not have French Citroen or Renault trademarks either?) – are carying rifles with muzzles projecting well over the forestock furniture. These are probably French Lebels and so a Syrian unit in spite of the British pattern '37 braces they are wearing. From 1940 to '46 French units in Syria and elsewhere would have used replacement clothing from British or US stocks. By 1948 Syria & Lebanon were independent at British (1945?) insistence which was the French gripe that led to French support of Haganah Aliyah Bet and the independence of Israel in 1948.
Secondly the status & responsibility of client state troops is politcally nice. The Arab Legion was British equipped, trained and had a lot of British field officers (majors & colonels) and its commander all, “on contract,” or, “secondment.” In 1920 – 46 it was the originally gendarmerie desert patrol force of the Emirate of Transjordan which the British had created within the Eastern part of the Palestine Mandate. In English English, “gendarmerie” is a nationally organised, armed but police force at the direction of civil power, local and central (state troopers in US?). Britain audited TJ's books ie approved the budget, and supplied quite a few senior civil officers all supervised by a Resident who reported to the High Commissioner in Jerusalem his immediate local senior, and directly to the Colonial Office, London. So in the 1941 Iraqi campaign and for internal security ie guard duties in Palestine 1945-47 inclusive, the Arab Legion was available (from '46, turning itself into an “army”) to the British commander in Palestine or Iraq as another British unit – having formally asked for their service through usual channels from the Transjordanian government which was internally fairly independent – or had to be treated as such to keep up appearances and so political effectiveness. In 1946 the British signed a treaty with Transjordan to become the Kingdom of Jordan and so strictly an ally, rather than a dependent territory – but it depended on a pa sub of £4 ($11) million from London till the 50's when Hussein fired Glubb and the US after '56 gradually substituted for UK as it frequently has across the World since 1945, but in its own variations of retired officers on contract in Kossovo Iraq and other locations.
Nevertheless there are press photos of Legionaries on duty in Jerusalem's “Bevingrad” in '46-'47 as it was Bevin's initial policy that the Arab parts of Palestine would go in with Jordan – by one of his remarks. Eventually the Jordanian Government withdrew the Legion by early '48 from West of the Jordan entirely, till Abdullah invaded Palestine in May '48. By the memoirs and statements of the time any British seconded officers had returned to their own British units or were kept East of the Jordan, but there were still some contract officers in the force across the River.
Just in case this all sounds ad hoc if not outright louche, it is the stuff of British avoidance of systematic big thinking and as a defence measure in the 1941 “flap” when it looked as if Rommel might break through Egypt, the British incorporated the Palestine Police – a civilian formation albeit armed – into the British Army. As such it sent a detachment to march in the victory parade in London.
Yours, Frank Adam
The Hurva dome has no “drum” as the dome above has, which indicates the picture above is JERUSALEM's Tiferet Israel a.k.a. Nissan Bek – both names are /were in common use.
The Great Synagogue in Tel Aviv has a dome but somewhat flatter and the building is concrete and stucco not the obvious – and expensive – ashlars in the masonry work above.
Another useful detail in the seated three men photo:Jewish prisoner in pukka Brit shorts and two Arab Legion guards. The corporal on the viewer's right is a negro.
So? The nearest negroes to the Holy Land are in Sudan (deeply south from Egypt) or escaped slaves from Saudi Arabia. Either way he is an immigrant to the region which is one in the eye for the Arab complaint about Zionist Jews being immigrants.
This also illustrates the crafty recruitment of the Arab Legion any number were recruited from outside Jordan in southern Syria, Lebanon, (Saudi, Iraq) and Palestine as commonly taken to be the entire country West of the River J. This profile of personnel being foreign mercenaries were utterly dependent on their engagement & utterly loyal, but Glubb Pasha also realised that he would have less trouble to police by securing the consent of the desert tribes to his operations and recruited from them in balance pro rata to the size of each tribe which in the situation of nomadic pastoralists not averse to smuggling and theft in a subsistence society of who owes and owns whom amounted to representation and committment to the regime of the incipient Jordanian state. It was not so obvious nor institutionalised as the Indian Army system of ethnic regiments and companies with a company or two of different ethnicit(ies) ineach regiment, but it was nevetheless political balancing of the grass roots.
The half platoon of helmeted British troops on the quay waiting for the illegal immigrants to (be?) disembarked are Parachute Regiment. The giveaway is – unlike the usual British “battle bowler”souplate design from the 14-18 trench war – the brimless helmet developed for airborne units (2 divisions in '44 – '45) not to catch the door in the jump, or slipstream. Later a lot of them went to the navy for similar reasons of warship constricted passages and hatches. There is a third design in which the brim angle is not pressed so it has a parabolic outline which served from 43-44 (till GRP – glass reinforced plastic ie kevlar brimless took over in the 70's because APC's -armoured personnel carriers are also cramped). The purpose of the broad but parabolic third design which can be seen in the second lot of photos was it protected the neck when on lying the ground as it was impossible to wear jauntily with the chinstrap behind the head.
Frank, i would like to incorporate your comments into the body of the post. Remarkable knowledge of the British army and that particular time in history.Thank you for your contribution.
The UNRWA is concerned with support to refugees of the 1948 Israeli-Arab wars. Its mandate is not limited to a given race or religion of refugees. Instead, “For operational purposes, UNRWA defines Palestine refugee as any person whose “normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict.”
The curious choice of the May 15th date (the day after the creation of the State of Israel, the “Nakba”) become clearer with these pictures. Many Arabs fled after May 15th but were “sacrificed” so as not to give refugee status to a single Jew.
I have many friends in Israel who’s parents were forced from their home in Arab countries with only what they could carry. They don’t have refuge status. UNRWA doesn’t give a hoot about them. Never did, never will. Why? They are Jews. As to what became of them, Israel integrated them. They are all productive members of society as are their children.
I just noticed there is wide patch on the right cheek of the Sephardi Rabbi, he must have been hit in the face.
Im not sure that the “British” troops guarding jews by the ship Dimitri Kessel are really British. The British Army never wore helmets of that shape, but rather flattish, what were known as 'tin hats' I wonder whose troops they could have been.
Please read comment about the helmets under the photo, also more about the helmets in part 2.
UNWRA indeed was originally non- ethnic and supported Israel's Jewish refugees – or some of them – till into 1951 at the latest. It is forgotten that the 1948 fighting caused Jewish refugees from the areas along the Jew-Arab divide in Jerusalem and Haifa and along the TA – Jaffa border: I have seen a total of 5000 JEWISH refugees mentioned in ths respect, but Israel finally said thanks to UN and looked after its own. Cetrainly in 1951 the Israeli government made a determined effort that nobody should have to spend another winter under canvas.
Equally in 51 the US tried to wind up UNWRA but ran into Arab objections and had to keep funding the layabouts at 50% budget. In the 50's and 60's UK funded another 25% and the Arabs – Zilch! Currently the non – US half of UNWRA funds comes from €U, Canada and 5% (???) from Arab governments. This note among other things preserves the identities and separate administration of the families of the refugees in spite of “refugee” never having been a hereditary status of any sort. The simplest – and cheapest – means of “solving the refugee problem” or at least diminishing it, would be to turn over the property & employment to the municipalities, but the funds to the PA.
photos kind of knock any points of Jews not being in Jerusalem. people are so uninformed with bias
Jews didn’t live only in the Jewish Quarter. They also lived in the other sections of the Old City (my family lived in the Moslem Quarter – near Damascus Gate) as well as outlying “arab” neighborhoods like Silwan. There were also significant communities in Hebron and Gaza – though most fled in the 30′s due to the Arab riots.
All of us heard so much about that time. And mythology confuses the truth and everyone is pulling his own brand of wool. Yet when you see the photos, there is an entirely tangible perspective on the events. You can see that that war was much smaller than we imagined, it’s always is. You can see that Brits where involved to huge degree, this is to be expected. You can also argue that it was up to the Brits to mage the situation and they clearly did nothing to facilitate the transition. You can also see that Arab Legion was trained and equipped by Brits. The Arab Legion was fighting Jews at least in Jerusalem and contrary to the popular perception at that time Jews were an amateur army.
Fran, I want to thank you for the comments. You can see that I added some of your comments to the body of the posts. They tremendously help in understanding of the pictures. You knowledge about the weaponry and of the stretch of history is really remarkable.
Yep, the Arabs had to erm… “evacuate” a lot of villages. Hundreds of 'em. If they didn't “evacuate” they were killed.
Paul, when people tell about the events that occurred in front of their eyes they tend to confuse and imagine things. This is the problem every crime investigator encounters. But unlike humans photography can only copy what the camera sees, and it's always the case that camera sees one thing at a time and never see the entire picture. To demand that from a camera would be foolish.
Great collection!!! The Bible said: 'Peace be within thy walls' (Sea la paz/shalom sobre tus muros) Jerusalem is the promised land (Jerusalen es la tierra prometida)
You are mistaken there, my friend.
There is a substantial group of Jordanians of Sudanese ancestry.
This group is called “the Ghawarna”. They are decedents of Sudanese slaves brought to Jordan to help dry wetlands along the Jordan valley. Most live along the Ghor channel. I'm not sure though if they were consider:honorable” enough to join the Arab Legion.
There are also blacks among the Bedouin in Southern Israel near Beersheva. As noted by vallyofdawn they are likewise of Sudanese ancestry and descendants of slaves. Interesting that they have to constitute themselves as a separate tribe and live separately from the other Bedouin Arabs. So much for the assertion that there is no racism among the Arabs by their apologists.
Dear Ben Atlas:
If you think that talking about the promised land 'Jerusalem' is not original, I do not mind it. Moreover, your blog has impressed me very much on how all the Jewish people has remained century after century in this world. That is why I wrote on it.
Israel keeps on fighting, still having to all the nations of the world against it. That is to say, nations that support and 'believe' in the Islam without any History knowledge, as the saying goes 'People are destroyed for lack of knowledge'. Nevertheless, I support Israel. Certainly, I believe in God, and even more seeing how his selected Jewish people still stands from the exile of Egypt (Exodus) to these days.
Greetings from Spain
P.S (Forgive my 'English')
Thank you for your comment, your English is very good but you see Exodus was very important but in the end of the day what matters to people is their lives, their friends and their real people they meet, fight and love.
Here are some AMAZING photos of Israel during the 1948 war.
Yona, if you would like to tell somehting to the readers, please do but please don't burst into the room with some links to the old preservation, a pps crap to boot. Really.
Most wonderful photos and commentary of a very significant time in our history….
Why waste the space on the obvious? Attempting a complete paragraph, that would have been wonderful.
not only that this commercial site took your copyrighted material without permission. they use the images that stored on your server, so you they even steal your bandwidth – SITE DELETED
I know, but photos no longer display on their site, i blocked them.
i can see most of the are still visible. funny you can now put a different image on their site, perhaps “shall not steal”. this site belong to a Ultra-Orthodox group.
you can see images there because they are in your cash from visiting this site, if you clear your cash you will not see photos there, try it and report back please.
nice :-)
THE OLD CITY OF JERUSALEM SURRENDERED ON THE 28 OF MAY 1948. THE RESPECTIVE CAPTIONS AT THE RELEVANT PHOTOS OF THE OLD CITY STATING JUNE 1948 SHOULD BE CORRECTED TO READ MAY 1948.
THE UNDERSIGNED TOOK PART WITH A HAGANA PLTOON IN THE LAST ATTEMPT TO BREAK INTO THE OLD CITY THROUGH ZION GATE ON THE NIGHT 27/28 MAY. THE ATTEMPT FAILED AS THE GATE ENTRANCE HAS BEEN FORTIFIED AND HEAVILY BLOCKED BY THE ARAB LEGION.
Jehuda, thank you for your service and heroism.
Is it true that Jews who live in quarter remained there after the surrender. So the actual evacuation was in June and the photos dating the evacuation in June are correct? This implies that the Jewish inhabitants of the quarter remained their after the Legion captured it. So they account of the Rabbanim with a white flag and Haganah shooting at them might not be correct.
these are really great, just highlights how little i really know…
Absolutely correct. There have been black Arabs in Syria/Jordan/Palestine/Sinai for more than 300 years, originally coming from Chad as mercenaries. They are known as Abbad (slaves) in Arabic, and form the lowest strata of Bedouin society.
I'm sorry Mr Adam, but you are incorrect.
Read http://yajaffar.tripod.com/african.html for more information.
Ben, I would change that info if I were you. It's a wonderful collection but that piece of information is flawed.
Josh, thank you for your comment and clarification but the immigrant claim is still on shaky ground and in that sense Frank Adam's comment is accurate.
Ben,
Terrific work. The photos do a great job of highlighting how tumultuous and complex the situation was during this period. Jerusalem is a case in point. Although a number of 'New Historians' like to claim that Israel had the upper hand throughout the war, it's clear the Arab Legion was well-armed and trained (by the British) and fought hard. They also violated more principles of war than I can list here. In fact, British politicians ( especially Winston Churchill, then sitting as Opposition Leader) were privately concerned that it would come out that they were directly involved in the conflict, but they were assured by Bevin that British officers had been removed from 'active participation' in the attacks, having been ordered “to abandon their units if these invaded Jewish territory.” (Arabs at war: military Effectiveness, 1948-1991 By Kenneth M. Pollack, pg. 271) Nevertheless, Jewish witnesses in Jerusalem and Kfar Etzion said otherwise.
As for the dates, as Yehuda Margalit points out, it was on Friday, May 28, 1948 the Arab Legion succeeded at controlling the main Jewish street of the Quarter; they immediately destroyed the Hurva Synagogue (in anticipation of the arrival of King Abdullah) and began burning and looting Jewish shops. The International Red Cross had – to their credit – been trying to convince the Legion, at the request of the Haganah, to permit women and children to leave. The Legion repeatedly refused, demanding that there be a complete surrender of all Jews. All attempts to stop the Legion had failed, and with fighting now raging along a 20-mile front between Latrun and Ramallah, reinforcements were unavailable.
“At 11:00am on Friday, Rabbis Reuven Hazan, 70, and Israel Mintzberg, 83, walked from one of the Jewish positions toward the Arab lines. They carried a white flag made out of a bit of once-festive tablecloth tacked to a stick. Although he was shot and wounded by a sniper, Rabbi Hazan called out in Arabic, 'Good morning. We have come to talk to you, and we want to see your commander.'” Mitzberg was held hostage while Rabbi Hazan retrieved the Haganah representative to negotiate the surrender.
After 13 days of shelling (which killed or injured hundeds of civilians) and hand-to-hand fighting, “the exhausted Jewish garrision in the Old City of Jerusalem accepted the Arab Legion's surrender terms.”
On Friday afternoon “290 able-bodied men from 15 to 50 were taken prisoner and 1,200 women, children and aged were passed to the Jewish lines outside the walls with the cooperation of the U.N. representative and the Red Cross….the evacuation of civlians through Zion gate began on Friday evening and lasted until 2 o'clock on Saturday morning.” Fifty-one of the captives were injured; three physicans and four nurses volunteerd to stay with them.
There are some reports that Jews were, in fact, invited to stay in theOld City if they promised allegiance to King Abdullah. I haven't been able to find out if anyone accepted the offer.
An excellent first-hand account of the surrender can be read in 'Forever My Jerusalem' by Puah Shteiner. Further accounts are now online in archived editions of The Palestine Post, available here: http://jpress.huji.ac.il/publications/PPost-en.asp
All quotes above are from the Sunday, May 30 edition of the Palestine Post.
Thank you for your time and this priceless historic reference.
OUTSTANDING.KEEP ME IN YOUR LOOP.
What a wonderfull memories, I was there as baby ! My father related me the story as it is ! Your pictures come to confirm it
Many thanks
Azran Soly
born on 10 Nov 1946 in Morocco and arrived to Jerusalem within 1947
hi
i was born half a year before the state of israel was born. i hate the british because they refuse to give jews
theright to come to palestine. but arabs came from all the surrounding countries.
also you can see that arabs from haifa flew from their homes willingly. nobody forced them.
Amishay, there was not a single person in the history of the world who left home willingly. The only exception are children running away from parents or people trying to get away from a spouse. FYI, this blog is an idiot free zone.
NO. you are mistaken.
arableaders told their people that in 3 weeks they are going to kill all the jews and win the war. so all the housesof the jews will be theirs. so , people that were afraid of the war, went away until this will happen. but this never happened. the jews had enourmous winning and the state of israel was established.
Amishay, the point of publishing these picture was do dispel some caricatures about that time. If you insist on thinking in caricatures this blog is no the place to do it.
In the picture headlined as: “Jewish soldiers being guarded by Arab Legion soldiers after their surrender in Jerusalem. June 1948. John Phillips” the short man in the front right is named formally Alkotzer (which interestingly means short)
David, thank you for the info. Is Alkotzer still alive?
I knew him as a child. I have not met him for decades. I guess that he is not alive for a while.
I personally heard a British officer cursing arabs who refused to storm the dining room of Kibbutz Ramat Rachel ( May 25th) . They were answering ” el yahud iktir ” . Could you please search for photo in LIFE (May 7th ? ) of funeral procession of IRGUN fighters who died in capture of DIR YASSIN ???
Are these photos published in a book that I could use in my synagogue?
tks
Dahlia
Moshe, I did not see photos from dir yassin or may 7th.
Dahlia, there was a book published in Israel by the photographer John Phillips – “Jerusalem, A Will to Survive”. I didn't see the book but I heard it includes some of the photos reproduced here.
May I suggest NOT hating. Emotional involvements are hard work and it is more profitable to invest in loving one’s family and colleagues.
A pupil once asked whether I hated the Germans and I replied, and stand by it, that I do not have to as they have blotted their copy book and lost their position for ever. The crime is often its own punishment and we have little time on Earth so be constructive – after being careful.
In the photo titled ‘Arab soldier with rifle riding on a motorcycle’ the soldier is carrying a modified STEN gun(which is a Submachine gun, or, as the british called it, a carbine).
Hi, if you look at the comments there is some history to the Hagnah used Sten guns by Frank Adam.
Wonderful information, photos, history. A Spielberg should make a movie of those times.
Otto, I agree, that time is hot potato but a treasure chest of great stories.
Why hasnt the Tifereth Israel synagoge been rebuilt?
All, Israelis, Arabs.British,Soldiers, refugees, men women and children look so Human and “naive” from here and now.
Great collection
Giora
Can someone transklate the Hebrew beneath the 7th photo, with the two rabbis?
Thanks, terrific pictures.
May be you should translate your anonymous handle into a real name.
i recognized my father and myself as a baby on the picture titled refugees on captured ship taken by dimitry kessel a picture i see first time in my life i would like to know if you could find for me dateof this picture and the name of the the ship i’m looking for informashin of my familly history this details would help mevery much
Sara, this is truly unbelievable. Makes me feel like my effort is worthwhile. There are four photos in the archive by Dmitri Kessel showing immigrant ships. Three are published with this post and the 4th one I believe from a different ship. Dmitri Kessel photos are sometimes mislabeled by this appears to be Haifa few months before the creation of the state. The caption under the British soldiers says:
“Illegal Jewish immigrants aboard captured refugee ship surrounded by British troops who halted the craft shortly before the official creation of the state of Israel.Dmitri Kessel”
The photo with you and your father is from the same group but it is not dated. The caption is:
Refugees from illegal ship.
Location: Israel
Date taken: 1948
Photographer: Dmitri Kessel
Size: 988 x 1280 pixels (13.7 x 17.8 inches)
There is so much interest in this photos that I am thinking of publishing Part 4 soon, I will make sure to publish the 4th photo by Dmitri Kessel with a ship, but it shows mostly teenagers. Would be interested to hear more about you, your father and the amazing story capture in that moment.
Sara, one more thing. I don’t know of any way to trace this back to a print publication and I don’t really know if this photo was ever published in print.
wow, you lived. such a good thing.
The Old Yishuv Court Museum at 6 Or Chaim Street, Jerusalem, shows how Jews lived in Jerusalem from the mid-19th century to just after World War I, with a final room that displays photos and artifacts about the battle for Jerusalem in 1948. The Museum is housed in the remains of two former synagogues in the Old City – the 16th century HaAri Synagogue and the 19th century Or HaHayim Synagogue. More information about this gem of a museum can be found at http://www.jewish-quarter.org.il/atar-museum.asp
do you have more pics of Israel? i love them.
thank you
THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPOTANT HISTORICAL TRUTH WHAT EVER PRODUCED. IT SHOULD BE WIDELY DISTRIBUTED IN MANY FORMES. IT SHOULD BE SENT TO MANY ORGANISATIONS NOT ONLY JEWISH BUT TO TV STA.TIONS L IBRARY AND NEWS ORGANISATIONS. IT IS TIME TO REVEAL WHAT REALLY HAPENED AND DONE. KLARA
Ben, thank you for posting these pictures.
At risk of being a nitpicker, isn’t it redundant to point out that a girl named Rachel Levy is Jewish?
And I would have preferred that someone point out the significance of an Egyptian airplane with RAF markings – and what it says about the credibility of British claims of neutrality. For the informed, the picture speaks for itself. For others an explanatory caption would help.
Jack, where possible I tried to follow original captions from Life archive. R.Levy caption is exact caption as it appears in Life. I did change caption in few places where obviously in error. Like some Jerusalem shots labeled as Tel Aviv, etc. In regards to RAF markings this was not obvious to me so I rely on commentators for contribution in lieu of nitpicking.
The picture of my late sister in Part 3 was removed from Phillipp’s exhibition and from his book at our request. My Mother was alive at that time and we did not want her to see the photo with its shocking caption.
As of Shabbat pm My 29th 1948, there were no more Jews in what had been the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. So the captions should read May 1948 and not June.
My sister, Esther, died in the early hours of Shabbat morning and she and one other Haganah soldier were brought out through Zion gate and in 1950, they were buried in the Military cemetery on Mount Herzl. Others who were killed in the fighting were buried in a mass grave in the Jewish Quarter and, in 1967, the bodies were reburied on the Mount of Olives.
Asher, bless your sister’s memory. I will add this to Part 3.
It is interesting to see this historic pictures.
Blanche
Great historic pictures;
Where was any talk about an international Jerusalem or a Palestinian State when the Arab Legion and Jordanian
troops controlled the West Bank from 1948 to 1967 ?
With that said the only way peace will come to us Jews and Arabs is for G-D to put it in our hearts.
Why don’t you shown us the Israeli massacres against civilian Arabs in Haifa, Yazor, Deir Yassen and else, a total of 13 tragic genocides during the 1948, not to mention other years!
I published photos from the Life archive. This is not a “show”. Any collection is incomplete but unless you present only one side of a story it would never satisfy people who refuse to acknowledge that there was suffering on both sides.
Have you found any concurrent references to Palestinians in 1948? I recall the Arabs of the region being called Arabs. I understand Mark Twain and his contemporaries used the term “Palestinian” to refer to Jews and possibly Christians and other non-Muslims in the area. That is, until Yassir Arafat turned the word around and applied it to Arab “refugees” in the mid-1980s. Since you are using documentation from a critical juncture in history to dispel myths and lies of propagandists and historical revisionists, perhaps you have found evidence, one way or the other, regarding the term “Palestinian.” I would be very interested to know. Thank you.
Lesley, I am not trying to prove anything. Here are the photos. Some people say there not enough of this or that in the photos. Just like in life there is never enough of somehting and you can’t make everyone happy. But I am not interested in spin of any kind.
Ben, Thank you very much. I was born in Tel Aviv 8 years after most of these photos were taken, but still they awake a lot of emotions. I hope these photos will be seen by many generation to come (Jews, Arabs and British) Again, thank you.
very interesting, very nice of you to share these photos. I thank you, too.
By the way, may I ask: does anyone happen to see a picture of the the dome of the rock in 1967 with some kind of ladder on the roof and a flag on top of it? I was thinking maybe it is a jewish flag? I have somewhere that picture….
Very nice. Thanks!
מאוד מרשים
האם אתה לא יכול לכתוב גם דו לשוני?
אני מבינה את החשיבות של הכתיבה באנגלית אך בל זאת…
תודה ושבת שלום
Thanks so much for assembling these photos!!
Someone in my synagogue just referred me to this site containing photos from Israel taken during the 1948 war because her father, a Haganah soldier is in one of the photos. I looked at all of them and the comments and noticed this comment.
And I would have preferred that someone point out the significance of an Egyptian airplane with RAF markings – and what it says about the credibility of British claims of neutrality. For the informed, the picture speaks for itself. For others an explanatory caption would help.
As my father (A WWII veteran of the Normandy invasion) became an aircraft and aerospace engineer after the war, I have always had a keen interest in military aircraft. Many countries mark their planes with roundels. (See link below) But as the photo in the collection is black and white, one cannot tell what colors comprise the markings. As I will explain, the fighter plane in the picture probably has Egyptian markings even though it is a British-made Spitfire. That does not necessarily affect whether Britian was neutral, because, ironically, the inventory of the Israeli Air Force at that time included many German Messerschmitt ME-109 fighters (built in Czechoslovakia) as well as other planes including British Spitfires and American P-51 Mustangs. The Czechs were a conduit for the creation of the Israeli air force and many World War II veteran pilots and mechanics (both Christians and Jews) from the US, Canada, Great Britian and other countires flew the planes and gave their lives for Israeli independence
http://israelvets.com/pictorialhist_air_force.html
Back to the markings, this link shows (in alphabetical order) markings of military aircraft used by countries around the world both present and past.
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Roundel
If you check the Egyptian roundel in use in 1948 with the markings of the same era United Kingdom aircraft you will see that they both have three concentric circles (as do most other roundel markings). The only difference is the colors (Egypt green center and outside, white inside; UK red center then white and blue) . As far as I can tell from the photo, the center of the roundel and the outer circle appear to be the same shade suggesting the green, white, green Egyptian markings. If it was a British plane even in a back and while photo there may be a contrast between the red and the blue. And, as shown in the link to the Israeli Air Force page above, some British planes only had roundels comprised of a red center and one blue circle. The one in the picture has three parts.
Don Horowitz
Don, thank you for explaining the air force military insignia.
These pictures are wonderful & historic. a friend just emailed them to me. I enjoyed them immensely & while versed in Israeli history I still learned from the comments. THANK YOU!
thank you! Very touching!
Thank you – I found this very moving especially with all the comments from which I have learned much.
Incredible. Absolutely incredible.
An amazing Yom Ha’atzmaut opportunity. Thank you for all your efforts. My late husband Alfi a”h was in Chativa 7 (Seventh Brigade). He saw action at Latrun and also drove the first armoured vehicle into Nazareth. He had told us a Life magazine photographer was at Nazareth at the time. Any possibility you could research if a picture exists. He had a pin-up of Betty Grable in the cab.
Evelyn, thank you for your comment. There are only four photos from Nazareth from that time, showing landscapes and government officials. Although LIFE has plenty of photos of Betty Grable, non in an armored car.
This history is so important to be aware of..thank-you very much for making this available.
treasure!!!
keep up the good work
Thank you for preserving and posting these wonderful pictures. Without a photographic record of history, there are those who would attempt to re-write it.
I can see our aunts, uncles, and grandparents who paved the road for future generation of us, our children and grandchildren.
very intersting also brings me back to the 1948 war.
how can I forward this article it is so important for the next generation to know how far Israel is today and what sacrifices it has cost
Carla, on the bottom of the post you will find “share-email” buttons. Don forget there is also part two and three of this post.
I have a copy of John Phillips’ book. It is outstanding. Teddy Kolek helped Phillips track down many of the people in the pictures 25 years later, and Phillips records their stories in the book, with their pictures “then” and “now”. The first part is a photo diary of the day of the surrender of the Old City. In fact, they used Phillips’ pen to write and sign the terms of surrender at the Lions Gate. It is a shame the book is not widely available. Phillips had to smuggle the films out of the country because the Arabs would not have wanted pictures of Arabs looting to be published.
Awesome collection. Pictures speak so much louder than words. Thanks for gathering these for prosperity.
Thak you for posting these historic picures.
I wasn’t here at that time but i is wonderful information.
Spielberg should make a movie of those times,in order to be widely distributed in many formes.