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The
Battle for the Galilee
A defense league
The colonists of
the first wave of immigration – the First Aliyah (1882 –1904) – begin
by entrusting the surveillance of their villages and of their domains
– the moshavot – to some Arabs. But they very quickly discover that
their watchmen are not always loyal, allowing themselves to readily
be intimidated by the gangs of marauders and not hesitating to collaborate
with the Bedouin tribes. For all that, the colonists do not resign themselves
to relying on the new pioneers of the Second Aliyah (1904 – 1918) who
advocate Jewish self-defense: they are not convinced of the military
skills of their young coreligionists. One of the latter, Alexander Zeid
(1886 – 1938), describes his duties as a new guard and the creation
of the first Jewish defense league, which would give rise to Hashomer:
| A
defense league |
About a dozen
men had gathered together in Petah Tikvah to undertake the task
of guarding the vineyards of Zichron Yaacov. […] I began to
guard the vineyards for a monthly salary of 30 francs. This
was my first experience as a guard! The owner entrusted me with
a rifle – that did not shoot - and powder – that was wet…
During the
first night’s watch, the other watchmen, all Arabs, would come
to spy on me, examining me from every angle and addressing me
in a language that I did not understand. How difficult it was
to fight sleep! That summer night seemed interminable! I walked
back and forth endlessly. In the morning, a cold mist covered
the vineyards. My head felt heavy and dizzy; my eyes were glassy.
Time went by so slowly that it seemed to me I had been walking
around in circles for a month. […] I told myself repeatedly
that the second night would be easier! I was so tired that I
could barely drag my feet. At dawn, I sat on a rock to rest.
My senses became confused and my consciousness was hazy. When
I recovered, I saw two Arabs attempting to take my rifle. I
screamed like a madman to drive them away. I went back to my
barrack in the morning, collapsing with sleep. I held my rifle
tightly against me, but the Arab guards who were following me
like shadows waited until I fell asleep to approach me to again
try to steal it. […]
The Arab
guards banded together against me and were continually trying
to pick a quarrel with me. One of them entered the vineyard
and began picking grapes right in front of me. At first I chose
not to react and wait for the owner to send me the pistol that
he had promised me. But I could not control my anger. I chased
the thief, falling into the trap that his companions had set
up for me: they attacked me without warning and beat me until
I bled. The owner, who was nearby and saw them beating me, did
not come to my aid because he feared for his own safety. He
waited until my assailants had withdrawn to approach me in an
agitated state:
“To hell
with you and your vineyards”, I said.
I dragged
myself to Shefeya […], where they bandaged my head before taking
me to the hospital in Zichron Yaacov. I had lost a great deal
of blood and I was ill. […]
[Alexander
Zeid, nevertheless, allows his companions to convince him to
create the first Jewish defense organization.]
Our first
meeting was held in the greatest secrecy in Jaffa in Ben Zvi’s
small room. […] Shohat and Ben Zvi had drawn up a short program
of action. We named ourselves “Bar Giora” and chose the following
slogan:
In blood
and fire, Judea fell
By fire and blood, Judea will rise!
The meeting
ended. An expression of loyalty and conviction was engraved
on our faces […]. Giladi, the most practical among us, proposed
that we concentrate all our efforts in the Galilee… His dream
would be realized in Sejera, one of the ICA farms.
A.
Zeid, Diaries
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The beginnings
of Hashomer
David Ben Gurion (1886 – 1973), who was to proclaim the creation of
the State of Israel and lead the first government, was at Sejera. He
recounts the misgivings of the settlers, more reassured by the Arab
guards than by their Jewish rivals, and the prowess the latter would
have to demonstrate to prove their competence:
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The beginnings of Hashomer |
We had contacted
the officials and the farmers to convince them to engage Jewish
guards on their properties, but they did not take us seriously.
They did not think that we really wanted to or could do guard
duty. Why sacrifice young lives for the sake of some abstract
principles? Would there be enough men willing to risk their
lives? Wouldn’t a Jewish guard endanger the settlement? Wouldn’t
the Arab guards, who are familiar with every nook and cranny
in the settlement, its every approach and every egress, be the
first to attack and plunder it? We were few and weak, surrounded
by strangers and enemies: the notoriously cruel Arab peasants
of Lubia, the largest village in the Lower Galilee; the Christian
villagers of Kfar Kana, which was full of venom and hatred towards
the Jews; the Zabaiah tribesmen who set up their tents in the
Sejera forest and sowed terror in the region; the haughty and
reckless Circassians also from Kfar Kana. Could we afford to
challenge the Circassians, who had settled in the country at
the invitation of the Turkish government and enjoyed a privileged
status? But we were determined to vindicate our national honor.
We spied on a Circassian
watchman for several nights and discovered that he didn’t even
come to guard, but let his reputation guard in his place! This
was a common trick: most of the guards were recruited from the
most notorious brigands and they were confident that once it
was known that they had taken over a post, no one would have
the audacity to steal in their domains. And when it did happen,
it was easy for them to use their intimate relations with the
underworld to recover the stolen property and return it to its
owner – needless to say, in exchange for a good reward. Instead
of pacing along the stockade around the farm in the darkness
and in the company of the rocks and the eucalyptus trees surrounding
Sejera, the new guard preferred to spend the time carousing
in the neighboring Arab village.
On one particularly
dark night, we led the manager’s fine mule out of the farm and
immediately informed him that it was gone. He ran to the stable
– the mule was not there. He whistled frantically to summon
the guard – the guard did not respond! He went outside and ran
along the stockade – the Circassian was nowhere to be seen.
He sent messengers to look for him in the neighboring Arab village
where they found him fast asleep. The manager dismissed him
and hired one of us to guard the farm: we had captured the first
bastion.
D. Ben Gurion, Writings
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Trumpeldor’s
death
 Joseph
Trumpeldor is another one of the pioneer-guards who marked the national
Israeli epic. Born in Russia in 1880, the son of a Jewish conscript
who had served in the Russian Army for twenty-five years, he himself
lost his left arm in the Russo-Japanese War and was awarded the highest
distinction of the Tzar’s army for his bravery. Trumpeldor immigrates
to Israel where he becomes interested in the security problems of new
Jewish settlements – the moshavot. At the beginning of the First World
War, the Turks deport him to Egypt; together with Zeev Jabotinsky (1880
– 1940), he creates the Zion Mule Corps, which was to precede the formation
of the Jewish Legion within the British Army.
During the war, Trumpeldor returns to Russia where
he organizes Jewish self-defense groups, thus assuring their coordination
during the stormy days of the Bolshevik Revolution. He also establishes
the Hehalutz – the Pioneer – responsible for recruiting and forming
new settlements. When he returns to Palestine, the yishuv is divided
about the future of the three Jewish settlements located in the Upper
Galilee. The French and the English had fought over this territory without
succeeding in agreeing about the drawing of the border between Lebanon,
which had been placed under the authority of the former, and Palestine,
which had been placed under the authority of the latter. The National
Arab Committee, whose head offices are in Damascus, exploits the political
vacuum to arm the villagers and some Bedouin tribes and incite them
to seize control of the region. The leaders of the Jewish population
of Palestine recommend evacuating the small, isolated settlements. Fearing
that evacuation would create a dangerous precedent, Trumpeldor decides
to go to the Upper Galilee to organize its defense.
 Tel
Hai is but a small farm held by a handful of men of Hashomer. It resists
the attacks of Khamil Effendi. The following passage traces the circumstances
of its fall on February 29, 1920 and of the death of Trumpeldor.
One of Trumpeldor’s final
sentences, “Never mind, it is good to die for our country”, entered
the epic of the renaissance of the Hebrew State. A poem that was composed
soon after his death was immediately taken up by the entire yishuv :
In Galilee,
at Tel Hai,
Trumpeldor fell,
for our people
and for our country,
the hero Joseph fell.
Through the mountains and the valleys,
he ran to save
the honor of Tel Hai,
calling out to his comrades:
“Follow me.”
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In 1938, some Arabs also
killed Alexander Zeid while he was on guard duty in the Jezreel Valley.
An equestrian statue immortalizes his memory at the entrance of the
valley.
The establishment
of Hanita
Between 1936 and 1939, the Arab attacks against the Jewish population
all over Palestine prompt the pioneers to settle in the coastal plain,
north of Akko and in the Beth Shean and Huleh Valleys to guarantee a
belt of settlements around the Galilee. The kibbutzim are secretly established
so as not to alienate the British authorities and to limit the risk
of clashes with the Arabs. Within twenty-four hours, a makeshift wall
surrounded the site destined to receive the kibbutz and a watchtower
overlooked the immediate surroundings. The volunteers then set to work
to build the first houses before dispersing, leaving a handful of settlers
at the site. This phase of the settlement movement culminated in March
1938 with the creation of Kibbutz Hanita on the Lebanese border, a brilliant
feat that greatly contributed to boosting the morale of the Jewish inhabitants
of the area. The following passage reconstructs the atmosphere that
prevailed during the settlement enterprise known by the name of Tower
and Wall:
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The establishment of Hanita |
The project provided
for the occupation of the site by a group of ninety young people,
five of them women. They came from diverse places, had been
carefully selected and were supposed to hold out in that frontier
region, which had recently been the scene of violent clashes
between the governmental forces and the Arab gangs. All the
streams of the Zionist movement were represented, from the extreme
Hashomer Hatzair [socialist] to the orthodox Hapoel Hamizrahi
[religious]. Everyone had undergone rigorous training to prepare
for this operation. […]
The final preparations
were secretly carried out in Kiryat Haim at the foot of the
Carmel… The deployment was scheduled for the 21st of March and
the site was occupied on the 20th. Tents, boards, beds, all
sorts of pipes, tools, supplies and water were loaded on thirty-seven
trucks. As soon as the equipment was loaded, we received the
last orders. […] and we spent the evening celebrating the event
seeing that after the deployment, festivities would be the last
thing in our minds. First, we listened to a speech about the
role and the importance of the authorized efforts to include
the Galilee in the Jewish sector of colonization. We then began
to sing songs…, followed by the unavoidable hora… Finally, someone
pointed out that it was late and everyone agreed that it was
time to go to bed – since we had to get up at four o’clock!
– but no one could bring himself to do so. […]
The order to leave
was given when the evanescent moon still reflected in the dark
waters of the Mediterranean. The air was sweet and everything
indicated good weather… The procession got under way. There
was a group of horsemen (all Jews, of course!) at the head.
Behind them was a group of cars carrying the representatives
of the Zionist Movement, distinguished visitors and four hundred
workers who came to assist the new settlements from Haifa, from
the valleys of Zevulun, Jezreel and the Jordan, from the Galilee
and from as far as Judea. Trucks followed the cars and a contingent
of mules destined to convoy the load to the hill. A second group
of Guardians were at the end of the procession.
The trip unfolded
without mishap. As soon as we arrived, we began to work…, each
person settled down to a specific task that had been well-defined
in advance. Some mapped out the road connecting the encampment
to the main road; others laid the pipes that were to bring water
from the nearest spring. The tents were set up, the terrain
was cleared of weeds and the rocks were piled to form a wall
behind the barbed wire that we unrolled against it. A tower
was erected, equipped with a powerful projector to watch over
the settlement. Some gaffirs mounted guard, the others worked,
armed with picks and shovels, the rifles slung across their
backs, ready if needed.
At noon, we took
a break; food was quickly distributed and eaten for there was
still a great deal to do before nightfall. A few minutes before
resuming work, a whisper, almost inaudible, made the rounds
in the camp: “How about singing!”
Someone shouts out,
“artsa alinu!” [We have recovered our country!] Circles were
immediately formed, increasing in size and speed. But not for
long! For the signal inviting us to resume working came quickly.
We obeyed without hesitation. The hammers resonated once again,
the saws buzzed, the picks echoed against the rocky ground.
Our arms worked briskly. We didn’t have a minute to loose. We
only stopped again to receive – the big surprise of the day
– a delegation from Yesod Hamaala, the nearest populated point
in the Upper Galilee, also the oldest, that came with the Torah
Scrolls as a gift. A tent was quickly converted into a synagogue
and the members of the Hapoel Hamizrahi escorted the Scrolls
to their new and temporary home, singing and dancing…
The sun was setting
in the sea. The visitors were preparing to leave. Ninety young
people were going to spend the night alone in this corner of
the desert. God willing, may it elapse in peace.
Unfortunately, at
midnight, a gang of armed pillagers attacked the small camp
from three sides. The defenders resisted calmly without succumbing
to fear, backed by the women. After an hour of heavy combat,
the assailants withdrew. The ground of Hanita had been sanctified
by young, Jewish blood: a gaffir, Yehuda Brenner, was killed
when he tried to help his companion, Yaacov Berger, who was
seriously wounded.
The events of the
night and the spilt blood did not weaken the determination of
those at Hanita. Early in the morning, they were once again
at their posts, resuming the work of fortifying their settlement…
Fortunately, the second night passed without incident.
These young
people are made of the same stuff as the first pioneers, although
they have a considerable advantage over them: they know that
the whole of the Jewish people are behind them and that the
beginning of the settlement in the Upper Galilee will allow
thousands of new settlers to rally to assure the security of
the yishuv.
The Epic of Hanita:
The New Jewish
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The Battle at
the entrance of Deganya
The Galilee remains no less predominantly Arab.
In 1947, the plan to partition Palestine, put to a vote in the United
Nations, includes it in the Arab State and, in 1948, the Syrians make
preparations to invade it. On the eve of the attack, Yosef Baratz of
Deganya Alef is in Tel Aviv where he attempts to obtain arms and reinforcements
to assure the defense of the region. Ben Gurion, the President of the
Provisional Council, replied: “The whole country is on the front line.
We don’t have any reinforcements for you.” Yigal Yadin who was responsible
for operations in the Hagana advises: “I see no other solution than
to allow the Arabs to approach to within twenty or thirty meters from
the gates of Deganya and to repulse them.” A Syrian tank at the entrance
of the kibbutz attests to the intensity of the combat:
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The battle
at the entrance of Deganya |
Very early in the morning, the Syrians opened fire with all
their weapons, tanks, artillery and aviation. Our men could
not withstand such a large-scale assault, which had made clear
advances near Zemah. They were forced to withdraw having suffered
heavy losses and evacuated the police station that they had
just taken. Few of those sent to help Zemah returned… That night,
Shaar ha-Golan and Masada fell into the hands of the enemy.
Their defenders believed that the fight for the Galilee was
irremediably lost…
The land
shelling on Deganya began at sunrise and lasted almost nine
hours, interrupted by brief pauses… The Syria forces then launched
an attack in three columns… The tanks led the assault, covered
by machine-guns and rifles… An enemy’s armored car was hit and
destroyed on the road that led to the kibbutz gate… One tank
even reached the entrance where our men stopped it. The three
crewmen managed to escape, but we do not know if they were able
to return to their base. As for the tank, which had not sustained
much damage, it is at the service of our forces since then.
Another
tank from the second column succeeded in breaking through the
security gates, crossing the trench dug on the road in Deganya
Alef and storming the internal security line… Our men had to
get out of the trenches to spray it with Molotov cocktails.
The tank caught fire, igniting under the massive amount of bottles
that rained all over it. The crew was burned to death. The burning
of the tank must have had an impact on the crews of the other
vehicles because they made an about-face and were beaten into
retreat, leaving behind heavy losses. The battle of Deganya
had ended. A lull followed. The fighters went out of the trenches,
exhausted but proud of their victory. What would have been the
fate of the Galilee and of Tiberias had the Syrians succeeded
in conquering Deganya? […]
The victory
of the Israelis was accompanied by the exodus of part of the
Arab populations in the Galilee. They found refuge in the camps
in Lebanon, in Trans-Jordan and in Cis-Jordan where their living
conditions were precarious: “The rooms were narrow”, a refuge
recounted, “and the roof was made of corrugated iron. In the
winter, the rain seeped into the rooms. In the summer, it was
stifling hot.” Soon, a movement of resistance and return was
created within the Palestinian Diaspora. The poet, Mahmoud Darwish
(born in 1942), having secretly returned to Galilee at a young
age, describes the sense of rending and of alienation that awaited
the rare refugees that succeeded in infiltrating their own villages:
“Some Yemenite Jews and others, British, now lived in two settlements
implanted on the ruins of our village.” Nostalgia in exile will
continue to nourish his poetic creation: “I am proud to be from
Galilee”, he declares, “from that region that abounds with the
traces of mythology, history and civilization.” Today, the Galilee
is the place where the Jews and the Arabs search for a model
of coexistence…
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