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The
King David Hotel explosion of July 22, 1946, which resulted in the
deaths of 92 Britons, Arabs and Jews, and in the wounding of 58, was
not just an act of “Jewish extremists,” but a premeditated massacre
conducted by the Irgun in agreement with the highest Jewish
political authorities in Palestine-- the Jewish Agency and its head
David-Ben-Gurion.
According to Yitshaq Ben-Ami, a Palestinian Jew who spent 30 years
in exile after the establishment of Israel investigating the crimes
of the “ruthless clique heading the internal Zionist movement,”
The
Irgun had conceived a plan for the King David attack early in 1946,
but the green light was given only on July first. According to Dr.
Sneh, the operation was personally approved by Ben-Gurion, from his
self-exile in Europe. Sadeh, the operations officer of the Haganah,
and Giddy Paglin, the head of the Irgun operation under Menachem
Begin agreed that thirty-five minutes advance notice would give the
British time enough to evacuate the wing, without enabling them to
disarm the explosion.
The
Jewish Agency’s motive was to destroy all evidence the British had
gathered proving that the terrorist crime waves in Palestine were
not merely the actions of “fringe” groups such as the Irgun and
Stern Gang, but were committed in collusion with the Haganah and
Palmach groups and under the direction of the highest political body
of the Zionist establishment itself, namely the Jewish Agency.
That so
many innocent civilian lives were lost in the King David massacre is
a normal part of the pattern of the history of Zionist outrages: A
criminal act is committed, allegedly by an isolated group, but
actually under the direct authorization of the highest Zionist
authorities, whether of the Jewish Agency during the Palestine
Mandate or of the Government of Israel thereafter.
The
following is a statement made in the House of Commons by then
British Prime Minister Clement Attlee:
On July
22, 1946, one of the most dastardly and cowardly crimes in recorded
history took place. We refer to the blowing up of the King David
Hotel in Jerusalem.
Ninety-two persons lost their lives in that stealthy attack, 45 were
injured, among whom there were many high officials, junior officers
and office personnel, both men and women. The King David Hotel was
used as an office housing the Secretariat of the Palestine
Government and British Army Headquarters. The attack was made on 22
July at about 12 o’clock noon when offices are usually in full
swing. The attackers, disguised as milkmen, carried the explosives
in milk containers, placed them in the basement of the Hotel and ran
away.
The
Chief Secretary for the Government of Palestine, Sir John Shaw,
declared in a broadcast: “As head of the Secretariat, the majority
of the dead and wounded were my own staff, many of whom I have known
personally for eleven years. They are more than official colleagues.
British, Arabs, Jews, Greeks, Armenians; senior officers, police, my
orderly, my chauffeur, messengers, guards, men and women-- young and
old-- they were my friends.
“No man
could wish to be served by a more industrious, loyal and honest
group of ordinary decent people. Their only crime was their devoted,
unselfish and impartial service to Palestine and its people. For
this they have been rewarded by cold-blooded mass murder.”
Although members of the Irgun Z’vai Leumi took responsibility for
this crime, yet they also made it public later that they obtained
the consent and approval of the Haganah Command, and it follows,
that of the Jewish Agency.
The
King David Hotel massacre shocked the conscience of the civilized
world. On July 23, Anthony Eden, leader of the British opposition
Conservative Party, posed a question in the House of Commons to
Prime Minister Atlee of the Labor Party, asking “the Prime Minister
whether he has any statement to make on the bomb outrage at the
British Headquarters in Jerusalem.” The Prime Minister responded:
“…It
appears that, after exploding a small bomb in the street, presumably
as a diversionary measure-- this did virtually no damage-- a lorry
drove up to the tradesmen’s entrance of the King David Hotel and the
occupants, after holding up the staff at pistol point, entered the
kitchen premises carrying a number of milk cans. At some stage of
the proceedings, they shot and seriously wounded a British soldier
who attempted to interfere with them. All available information so
far is to the effect that they were Jews. Somewhere in the basement
of the hotel they planted bombs which went off shortly afterwards.
They appear to have made good their escape.
“Every
effort is being made to identify and arrest the perpetrators of this
outrage. The work of rescue in the debris, which was immediately
organized, still continues. The next-of-kin of casualties are being
notified by telegram as soon as accurate information is available.
The House will wish to express their profound sympathy with the
relatives of the killed and with those injured in this dastardly
outrage.
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