For the first time since the days of Bar Kochba, Jews have appeared on the historical scene fighting with arms for their national rights. Coming on the heels of the Jewish catastrophe in Europe, this manifestation has stirred Jews to their depths. They follow the sensational, often contradictory headlines in the press with bewilderment and mixed emotions: fear of the outcome, scepticism of the wisdom of the Jews’ attempt to obtain their demands by the use of force, and many with pride. Under the impact of fast-moving events, the basic facts of the situation tend to be obscured. For the perplexed, of whatever political view, it should be useful to present a clearer picture of the Resistance Movement in Palestine, its origins, aims, and methods.

Easy comparisons have been advanced. Palestine has been compared to Ireland of World War I days, to the Thirteen Colonies of 1776, to present-day India. But such comparisons between Jewish resistance in Palestine and other historic struggles for freedom are misleading, except on the moral plane, and tend to confuse the situation by forcing it into a historical mold that does not fit.

Where other struggling nations have been in possession of their land, the Jewish people is still scattered. Hundreds of thousands of the future citizens of Palestine are in displaced persons camps in Germany and Italy. The Jewish community is still a numerical minority in Palestine, although most significant achievements in the development of the country have resulted from its efforts. And the position of the surviving Jews in Europe, so many of whom are fighting against every obstacle to reach Palestine, must also be kept in mind, since they constitute one of the most significant factors in the Palestine resistance.

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Although the establishment of an independent Jewish state is an ultimate objective of the Resistance Movement in Palestine, much more immediate and urgent are its two tasks of defense and rescue. Hagana, which has frequently been called the Jewish people’s army, and today constitutes the armed backbone of the Resistance Movement, is a defense organization. The idea of Hagana—self-defense—arose in Europe long before there was a considerable Jewish community in Palestine. It developed among the Jewish youth in Russia, who, with the unsparing words of the Hebrew poet Bialik echoing in their ears, began to organize self-defense units against pogroms a decade before the First World War. At about the same time there was formed in Palestine the organization called “Hashomer” (watchman), to protect “Jewish life, honor, and property.” Hashomer was an organization of professional watchmen who also had plans for national colonization. They dreamed of establishing a chain of watchmen’s settlements on the border of Palestine to protect the Jewish community from Arab marauders.

The Hagana organization was established after the First World War, when the Jewish community in Palestine had grown through immigration, and the British had made it obvious during the Arab attacks of 1921 that the Jews would have to protect themselves.

The primary function of Hagana then as well as now was not to combat either the Arabs or the English, but only to resist attacks. It was not a political organization and had no political aims of its own. The definition and the realization of political objectives remained in the hands of the properly elected Jewish bodies.

But Hagana did not operate in a void. Its members were not professional soldiers, but farmers in the agricultural villages, and students and workers in the cities. The generally progressive atmosphere of the Jewish community, which found expression in the establishment of communes and cooperatives, was reflected in the popular character of Hagana, in its methods, and above all in the moral standards it developed and enforced. Throughout the three years of Arab attacks in 1936-9, attacks inspired and to a considerable extent financed by fascist sources in Europe, the code of havlaga—self-restraint—was rigorously adhered to. This code obligated members of Hagana under no circumstances to resort to retaliation against Arabs who might be innocent. It was a difficult code to obey at a time when almost every day brought news of Arab attacks resulting in the loss of innocent lives, and it is noteworthy that it was not broken by members of Hagana at any time.

At this time there came into being another organization which, although small, figures very prominently in the news of the day. This is the Irgun Zevai Leumi (National Military Organization). Originally it was an offshoot of the Zionist-Revisionists who seceded from the World Zionist Organization.

Today the strength of this organization is variously estimated between 2,000 and 4,000. The sweeping tide of fascism in Europe, the daily deterioration of the position of the Jews in Europe, and the increasing penetration of fascist ideas and influences among Arab nationalist youth drawing their inspiration from the Mufti, caused a number of young Jews in Palestine to feel that indiscriminate terrorist violence was justified. In addition to its defense activities, Hagana was then called upon to combat these tendencies.

So long as the British government pretended to abide by the provisions of the Mandate, the functions of Hagana remained strictly defensive. But the idea of “defense” was extended to include a much broader field after Great Britain in 1939 issued its White Paper, allowing only a few additional Jewish immigrants to enter the country and restricting the Jewish right to purchase land to a narrow strip of the country, thus confining the Jewish community to a virtual ghetto in Palestine. The concept of defense was then broadened to include a struggle against these regulations, which were held to be more dangerous in the long run than the direct assaults of the Mufti’s bands.

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At that time Hagana undertook the new task of bringing Jewish immigrants from Europe into Palestine against the regulations of the British administration.

This activity—which served the double function of helping the surviving Jews of Europe and strengthening the Jewish community in Palestine—was intensified after the war, especially after the newly elected Labour Government demonstrated that in fighting Russian influence in the Middle East it was ready to appease Arab rulers at the expense of Jewish rights and aspirations. In carrying out this task, Hagana had to develop new modes of action. Maritime personnel had to be trained and ground forces organized to defend the landing of the “illegal” Jewish immigrants. Anything that directly contributed to the security of the work became important. When the British began to use coast guard stations, warships, planes, and special police to prevent the immigrants from landing, Hagana forces destroyed their coastal installations. When apprehended immigrants were held in detention camps and there was danger of their deportation, Hagana forces raided these camps and liberated the immigrants by force.

At this time there was no cooperation or understanding between Hagana and the Irgun Zevai Leumi or the Stem Group. The Irgun Zevai Leumi practiced terrorism in the form of attacks on police stations, and even robberies to obtain funds for their activities. The small Stem Group (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), which never had more than a few hundred members, resorted to assassination and claimed responsibility for the murder of Lord Moyne. On this last occasion Hagana took active measures to prevent a repetition of such acts.

With the end of the war the strength of the Resistance Movement, which embraces the bulk of the Jewish community in Palestine, grew. Contributing to the new intensity of feeling were the reports of mass extermination of Jews in Europe, the realization of the hopeless plight of the survivors, and the awareness that England was prepared to sacrifice the Jewish rights in Palestine for the sake of its imperialist interests. Feeling in the Jewish community gained in intensity with the sense of betrayal which came when efforts which recruited tens of thousands of volunteers for the British forces, as well as numerous volunteers from among the ranks of Hagana for specially daring commando missions, brought no change in British hostility to Jewish aspirations. When the British authorities in Palestine began to issue emergency decrees that deprived the population of all democratic rights and began to maltreat political prisoners, the vast majority of the population lined up solidly behind the activities of Hagana.

The pattern of cooperation between the Resistance Movement at large and Hagana found open expression in various ways: while armed units of Hagana protected the landing of Jewish immigrants, masses of the Jewish population would create a diversion by milling around and blocking possible police reinforcements at strategic points; on other occasions they would mingle with the new arrivals, thus preventing their identification and arrest; long-time residents in Palestine would refuse to show their identification papers and therefore be arrested: the time wasted by the police in identifying them gave the newly landed immigrants an opportunity to find refuge; in agricultural settlements the entire population would impede the entry of British forces and refuse to be identified—on several occasions they locked arms and lay down on the ground, compelling the British to force each one individually away from the group and into the barbed wire enclosures where they were searched.

Yet all this time the code of non-retaliation observed in 1936-9 was not abandoned under the political conditions of 1945-6. The code was merely modified and brought up to date. A formulation of the code appeared in an underground publication of Hagana on January 22, 1946. It read:

It is always a tragedy when a people is forced into a struggle in which lives are lost. How to act in such a struggle becomes an extremely important question. . . . For many years fascism has taught its followers to disdain the sanctity of human life. Fascism began by disdaining the lives of Jews and other opponents and ended by applying this attitude to entire nations and classes. . . . The world became accustomed to this attitude. Even many of those who fought in the war against the fascists—but not against fascism—were not immune to this poisonous attitude.

Precisely because we have been forced against our will into a struggle that costs the lives of our own members and those of our opponents, we shall choose only objectives that accentuate the political aspect of our struggle (such as destroying patrol boats or demolishing coast guard stations and other governmental installations that endanger or prevent Jewish immigration) and we shall assign to ourselves tasks that directly aid in the attainment of our goal (the liberation of interned “illegal” immigrants from Athlit, landing operations, etc.). Because we are in this struggle against our will, we shall always accentuate the absolute value of human life. Only the requirements of self-defense compel us to sacrifice our own lives or cause loss of life to our adversaries. . . .

This insistence on a code that stresses the absolute value of human life was made necessary by a number of factors. For one thing, a growing bitterness against the indifference of the democracies toward the Jews in Europe during the war, and against the postwar repudiation of the legitimate claims of the Jewish people by the British government, resulted in moods of desperation and a consequent inclination to support terroristic acts against the British even if such acts served no immediate or practical purpose. Aside from purely ethical considerations, there was also the realization that a moral letdown could only weaken the Resistance Movement and provide the British with a weapon to discredit it.

In its present form the Hagana code expresses itself in the unusual procedure of informing the personnel of any governmental installation about to be destroyed that they are in danger and asking them to evacuate. This practice has been employed consistently in all cases where lives were endangered. It places a heavy burden on Hagana and in at least one case it resulted in the undoing of its plans. This happened in connection with the British radar station on Mt. Carmel, which was very effective in locating ships approaching the coast with “illegal” immigrants. The station was mined and its personnel were warned by telephone to evacuate it. They used the few minutes of grace to locate and remove the mines, and a second try was necessary before the station was destroyed.

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The nature of the Jewish Resistance Movement in Palestine thus becomes clear: it is engaged in a struggle for survival, with political independence a necessary condition for that survival. Until recently there were still differences of opinion among Jews in Palestine about the wisdom of a policy of open resistance. Those in favor of such a policy urged precisely the activities now practiced. Their opponents maintained that the world could still be educated to an understanding of Jewish needs and a realization of the justice of Jewish demands in Palestine, although even they had grave doubts about the “moral resonance” of the world of today. In large measure, it was the British who ended this debate by the intransigence of their anti-Jewish policy.

The British not only ended the debate, they also brought together groups that were formerly very far apart. Under the impact of British terror in Palestine, even Hagana and the Irgun Zevai Leumi are getting closer. It is true that their relationship is still limited to a certain degree of liaison aimed at preventing clashes between their forces when engaged in operational activities. But there appears to be little doubt that unless there is a change in the near future in the British attitude toward the immigration of Jewish survivors from Europe, even the Irgun Zevai Leumi will be brought into closer cooperation with the main Resistance Movement, and the British will create a degree of unity among the Jews of Palestine that could not otherwise be attained.

The objectives of the struggle of the Resistance Movement are explicit. In the memorandum of the Jewish Resistance Movement to the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry during its session in Jerusalem, Hagana stated:

We will not permit the implementation of any solution that puts an end to the last hope of our people. The Jewish ethic recognizes the existence of commandments for whose sake one must risk one’s life and even take another’s life. We have raised the defense of our national existence above all our other commandments. We will not break this commandment. No solution can be enforced against our will: we are strong enough for that. As a result of our opposition there will be created in this country a new problem—a British problem, the problem of British security in Palestine.

The above statement provides the explanation for the acts of resistance practiced in past months, as well as a clue to operations still to come. The blowing up of the railways on November, 1945, the attacks on Mobile Police Stations and the destruction of planes in air bases in February 1946, and the dynamiting of bridges and railway shops in June 1946, do not constitute a declaration of war against England, or even an uprising. They are warnings that the Jewish community in Palestine, through its Resistance Movement, will not acquiesce to a policy leading to the destruction and demoralization of the Jewish people. Each of those operations was carried out in response to a definite anti-Jewish move by the British government. The operations carried out in June had a threefold purpose: to reply to Bevin’s claim that an additional division of British troops would be needed to protect the entrance of 100,000 displaced Jews into Palestine, by demonstrating that he would need more troops than that to keep them out; to protest against the “laxity” that resulted in the Mufti’s return to the Middle East; to make a show of strength against British plans to disarm the Jewish Resistance Movement. These plans had been uncovered by the counter-intelligence of the Resistance Movement and were to have been carried out within a short time.

The above mentioned memorandum to the Committee of Inquiry states explicitly that the Resistance Movement is not anti-British per se:

The Jewish Resistance Movement is not anti-British. We have declared war against the hostile policies of the British government toward us. But we have no animosity either toward the English people or toward the British Commonwealth of Nations. . . . The only opposition that exists between us was created by the British government when it repudiated the Mandate. There is nothing left for us but to take a firm and forceful stand for our interests and rights, and as a last resort, a desperate stand.

This attitude, resting on a firm conviction that law is on the Jewish side and that the British government is guilty of lawlessness, terrorism, and injustice, will determine events in the coming months.

The Arabs, who many suppose to be the main opponents of the Jews, and whose interests the British ostensibly protect, play no role in this struggle between the Jewish Resistance Movement and British authority. In due course the Mufti, or one of his relatives, may be brought forward as the leader of an Arab “uprising” against the Jews. But the indifference of the Arab masses at this time, and the continued friendly relations between Jews and Arabs, are a true indication of the facts.

Bringing “illegal” Jewish immigrants into Palestine will continue to be the major activity for some time to come. All other operations of a more drastic character will be closely related to this fundamental activity. The degree of violence used in the future depends on whether or not there is a major change in British policy on Jewish immigration. Should there be a favorable change in that policy, there is little doubt that the political struggle for the establishment of a Jewish state would return to normal political channels.

However, should England remain adamant in its determination to stop immigration and enforce the land purchase restrictions, the coming months will bring a noticeable intensification of the struggle. There are numerous indications pointing in this direction, both in the continuing anti-Jewish attitude of the Colonial Administration and in the intransigent policy of the Labour Government. The “last resort,” the “desperate stand” referred to in the memorandum of the Resistance Movement, may become a reality.

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How long could the Jewish Resistance Movement hold out in such a stand? Here, too, generalizations should be avoided. The specific conditions governing the situation must not be overlooked. One must consider the unanimity that now predominates in the Yishuv. Hagana, with an organized strength of nearly ninety thousand, has the direct support of the vast majority of the Jewish population in the country.

It should likewise be borne in mind that British efforts to liquidate the Resistance Movement as a prelude to the total liquidation of Zionism are very likely to meet with enormous difficulties. Simultaneous raids on most Jewish settlements, seizure of arms caches, and arrest and deportation of thousands of Jewish leaders would, in effect, involve the British in the liquidation of the entire Jewish community in Palestine. Warning to that effect has been given the authorities.

It is obvious that the Jewish Resistance Movement could not withstand the armed might of the British Empire in a showdown battle along conventional lines. But this has been anticipated and no such battle is planned even if resistance to the British becomes intensified beyond anything seen so far. The strategic plan is no secret. In its memorandum the Resistance Movement stated:

The number of our people who are trained and arrayed for military action is not the determining factor, because we are not preparing for one decisive battle between our forces and the forces of the Empire. Our trained forces and our equipment suffice for a long and difficult conflict. But they are not our main strength. The main thing is that all the Jews of Palestine are with us and twelve million Jews are behind us. In place of every hundred or thousand who will be arrested or who will fall there will rise other hundreds and thousands. . . . Those who do not bear arms can also fight with passive resistance and civil disobedience. We are not a secret sect. We are the militant Jewish people. We will confront the British government with a choice: accept our vital demands or destroy us. We will not surrender.

In the face of such a challenge it is difficult to see what the British forces can do. England is today not in a position to incur the animosity of the world by resorting to wholesale slaughter of Jews in Palestine. England needs friends and allies too much to dare risk such a move. It may seek its friends in doubtful, faraway quarters, but the British government is aware that public opinion in England, and in many other countries whose support England needs, would not tolerate such action. That is why “illegal” immigrants caught off the shores of Palestine are not forced to turn back when they have no port to return to. England cannot afford a repetition of the “Patria” and “Struma” cases. This also explains why England is so anxious to involve the United States in its plans for “disarming” the Resistance Movement. It cannot at this time take that responsibility on its own shoulders.

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In an effort to justify its actions and to lighten the burden of its responsibility, the British government and various agencies under its influence seek to confuse public opinion about the real issues involved. In Palestine itself there have been numerous attempts to provoke violence of a sort that would discredit the Resistance Movement. Credit is due to Hagana that it did not fall into the trap of such provocations and kept to its main task—defense of the Yishuv and rescue of Jews from Europe.

Suspicions are sowed in the outside world by stories concerning great differences between Jewish “moderates” and “extremists.” Fears of Arab flight into the supposedly open arms of Russia are suggested to those who will listen, despite the fact that the feudal Arab rulers dread Soviet influence among their people more than almost anything else. Or the world is suddenly advised that thousands of Jews in Palestine are requesting permission to return to their native Austria.

But these moves are signs of weakness, and betray an uneasiness that is not allayed by Britain’s military might. The struggle of the Jewish Resistance Movement for free immigration, for the rescue of the Jews of Europe, and for a Jewish State, is not the last-ditch stand of a people that has lost all hope and fights suicidally merely for a dignified end. The Jews of Palestine are not without good grounds for hope that their resistance will be successful.