Wednesday, May 01, 2013
Elder of ZiyonToday marks the first of May, the anniversary of the outbreak of the Jaffa uprising, where clashes between Palestinians and Jews, who were backed by the British occupation forces, lasted for 14 days.Now, here's what really happened, from Wikipedia:
The uprising started when a group of Jews on May 1 assaulted the Muslims living in Manshiya in Jaffa, where a massive march of Jews was launched from Tel Aviv towards Manshiya, demanding that British troops "avenge the blood of Jews who were killed in the Nebi Musa revolution in the previous year."
Marchers shot Arab passers-by, and Palestinians attacked the home for Jewish immigrants in the region, and killed 13 Jews and wounded 24 others out of a hundred who lived there, mostly young people, then they widened the clashes and events to cover many parts of the north of Palestine, but continued to peak until mid-May 1921.
Palestinians attacked a number of Israeli settlements, such as Hadera and Kfar Saba and Petah Tikva....47 Jews were killed and 146 injured.
The medical reports proved then, that among the dead Muslims were some killed by boiling (silver?) water, and cutting machines, and they were maimed and tortured before being killed, and among the martyrs were women whose beliies were split open and girls violated.
The spineless British decided after these riots that Jewish immigration was the real cause of the Arab murder spree and they started restricting immigration - a decision that would end up costing untold thousands of Jews their lives during the Holocaust.
The Jaffa riots (Hebrew: מאורעות תרפ"א ) were a series of violent riots in Palestine on May 1–7, 1921, which began as a fight between two Jewish groups but developed into an attack by Arabs on Jews during which many were killed. The rioting began in Jaffa and spread to other places.
On the night of 1 May 1921, the Jewish Communist Party (precursor of the Palestine Communist Party) distributed Arabic and Yiddish fliers calling for the toppling of British rule and the establishing a "Soviet Palestine". The party announced its intention to parade from Jaffa to neighbouring Tel Aviv to commemorate May Day. ...The march headed from Jaffa to Tel Aviv through the mixed Jewish-Arab border neighbourhood of Manshiyya.
Another large May Day parade had also been organized for Tel Aviv by the rival socialist Ahdut HaAvoda group, with official authorization. When the two processions met, a fistfight erupted. Police attempted to disperse the about 50 communist protestors, and Muslims and Christians intervened to help the police against the Jews. A general disturbance quickly ensued and spread to the southern part of town.
Hearing of the fighting and believing that Arabs were being attacked, the Arabs of Jaffa went on the offensive. Dozens of British, Arab, and Jewish witnesses all reported that Arab men bearing clubs, knives, swords, and some pistols broke into Jewish buildings and murdered their inhabitants, while women followed to loot. They attacked Jewish pedestrians and destroyed Jewish homes and stores. They beat and killed Jews in their homes, including children, and in some cases split open the victims' skulls.[1]
At 1:00 pm, an immigrant hostel run by the Zionist Commission and home to a hundred people who had arrived in recent weeks and days was attacked by the mob, and though the residents tried to barricade the gate, it was rammed open and Arabs attackers poured in. The stone-throwing was followed by bombs and gunfire, and the Jewish hostel residents hid in various rooms. When the police arrived, it was reported that they weren't shooting to disperse the crowd, but were actually aiming at the building. In the courtyard one immigrant was felled by a policeman's bullet at short-range, and others were stabbed and beaten with sticks. Five women fled a policeman firing his pistol; three escaped. A policeman cornered two women and tried to rape them, but they escaped him despite his shooting at them. A fourteen-year old girl and some men managed to escape the building, but each was in turn chased down and beaten to death with iron rods or wooden boards.
The violence reached as far as Abu Kabir. The Jewish Yitzker family owned a dairy farm on the outskirts of the neighbourhood, in which they rented out rooms. At the time of the riots, Yosef Haim Brenner, one of the pioneers of modern Hebrew literature was living at the site. On May 2, 1921, despite warnings Yitzker and Brenner refused to leave the farm and were murdered, along with Yitzker's teenaged son, his son-in-law and two other renters.
As in the previous year's Nebi Musa riots, the mob tore open their victims' quilts and pillows, sending up clouds of feathers. Some Arabs defended Jews and offered them refuge in their homes; many witnesses identified their attackers and murderers as their neighbours. Several witnesses said that Arab policemen had participated.
High Commissioner Herbert Samuel declared a state of emergency, imposed press censorship, and called for reinforcements from Egypt. General Allenby sent two destroyers to Jaffa and one to Haifa. Samuel met with and tried to calm Arab representatives. Musa Kazim al-Husseini, who had been dismissed as Jerusalem's mayor on account of his involvement in the previous year's Nebi Musa riots, demanded a suspension of Jewish immigration. Samuel assented, and two or three small boats holding 300 Jews were refused permission to land, and were forced to return to Istanbul. At the same time, al-Husseini's nephew, Haj Amin al-Husseini, was appointed Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, a decision that later faced much criticism.
Fighting went on for several days and spread to nearby Rehovot, Kfar Saba, Petah Tikva, and Hadera.
The riot resulted in the deaths of 47 Jews and 48 Arabs. 146 Jews and 73 Arabs were wounded. Most Arab casualties resulted from clashes with British forces attempting to restore order. Thousands of Jewish residents of Jaffa fled for Tel Aviv and were temporarily housed in tent camps on the beach. Tel Aviv, which had been previously lobbying for independent status, became a separate city due in part to the riots.
No wonder the Arab media is celebrating it. It was one of the first times they found out that the West will often abandon all morality, principles and even written promises in order to try to appease Arab anger. Which, of course, teaches the Arabs that threats, violence and terror are effective in getting their goals accomplished.
A lesson that continues to this very day.
