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During the 1936–1939 Arab revolt in Palestine against the British Mandate of Palestine the militant Zionist group the Irgun carried out sixty attacks against Arabs and British soldiers.[1] Irgun was described as a terrorist organization byThe New York Times,[2][3] the Anglo-American Committee of Enquiry,[4] prominent world figures such as Winston Churchill[5] and Jewish figures such as Hannah Arendt, Albert Einstein, and many others.[6] The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs describes it as "an underground organization."[7] The New York Times at the time cited sources in an investigative piece which linked the Haganah paramilitary group to the Irgun terrorist attacks such as the King David Hotel Bombing.[8]

Irgun launched a series of attacks which lasted until the beginning of World War II. All told, Irgun attacks against Arab targets resulted in at least 250 Arab deaths during this period. Following is a list of attacks resulting in death attributed to Irgun that took place during the 1930s. The Irgun conducted at least 60 operations altogether during this period.[9][10][11]

List of Irgun attacks 1937-1948[]

Date Casualties References
1937, March 2 Arabs killed on Bat-Yam beach. [12]
1937, November 14 10 Arabs killed by Irgun units launching attacks around Jerusalem, ("Black Sunday") [13][14]
1938, April 12 2 Arabs and 2 British policemen were killed by a bomb in a train in Haifa. [14]
1938, April 17 1 Arab was killed by a bomb detonated in a cafe in Haifa [14]
1938, May 17 1 Arab policeman was killed in an attack on a bus in the Jerusalem-Hebron road. [14]
1938, May 24 3 Arabs were shot and killed in Haifa. [14]
1938, June 23 2 Arabs were killed near Tel-Aviv. [14]
1938, June 26 7 Arabs were killed by a bomb in Jaffa. [14]
1938, June 27 1 Arab was killed in the yard of a hospital in Haifa. [14]
1938, June (late) Unspecified number of Arabs killed by a bomb that was thrown into a crowded Arab market place in Jerusalem. [15]
1938, July 5 7 Arabs were killed in several shooting attacks in Tel-Aviv. [14]
1938, July 5 3 Arabs were killed by a bomb detonated in a bus in Jerusalem. [14]
1938, July 5 1 Arab was killed in another attack in Jerusalem. [14]
1938, July 6 18 Arabs and 5 Jews were killed by two simultaneous bombs in the Arab melon market in Haifa. More than 60 people were wounded. [14][16][17]
1938, July 8 4 Arabs were killed by a bomb in Jerusalem. [14]
1938, July 16 10 Arabs were killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Jerusalem. [14]
1938, July 25 43 Arabs were killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Haifa. [14][18]
1938, August 26 24 Arabs were killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Jaffa. [14]
1939, February 27 33 Arabs were killed in multiple attacks, incl. 24 by bomb in Arab market in Suk Quarter of Haifa and 4 by bomb in Arab vegetable market in Jerusalem. [19]
1939, May 29 5 Arabs were killed by a mine detonated at the Rex cinema in Jerusalem. [14]
1939, May 29 5 Arabs were shot and killed during a raid on the village of Biyar 'Adas. [14]
1939, June 2 5 Arabs were killed by a bomb at the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem. [14][20]
1939, June 12 1 British bomb expert trying to defuse the bombs killed, during a post office in Jerusalem was bombing [14]
1939, June 16 6 Arabs were killed in several attacks in Jerusalem. [14]
1939, June 19 20 Arabs were killed by explosives mounted on a donkey at a marketplace in Haifa. [14][21]
1939, June 29 13 Arabs were killed in several shooting attacks around Jaffa during a one-hour period. [14][22]
1939, June 30 1 Arab was killed at a marketplace in Jerusalem. [14]
1939, June 30 2 Arabs were shot and killed in Lifta. [14]
1939, July 3 1 Arab was killed by a bomb at a marketplace in Haifa. [14][23]
1939, July 4 2 Arabs were killed in two attacks in Jerusalem. [14]
1939, July 20 1 Arab was killed at a train station in Jaffa. [14]
1939, July 20 6 Arabs were killed in several attacks in Tel-Aviv. [14]
1939, July 20 3 Arabs were killed in Rehovot. [14]
1939, August 27 2 British officers were killed by a mine in Jerusalem. [14]
1944, September 27 Unknown number of casualties, around 150 Irgun members attacked four British police stations [24]
1944, September 29 1 Senior British police officer of the Criminal Intelligence Department assassinated in Jerusalem. [24]
1945, November 1 5 locomotives destroyed in Lydda station. Two staff, one soldier and one policeman killed. [25]
1945, December 27 3 British policemen and 4 Basuto soldiers killed during the bombing of British CID headquarters in Jerusalem; 1 British soldier killed during attack of British army camp in north Tel Aviv [26][27]
1946, February 22 Destroyed 14 aeroplanes at 5 RAF stations. [28]
1946, July 22 91 people were killed at King David Hotel Bombing mostly civilians, staff of the hotel or Secretariat,
41 Palestinian Arabs, 15-28 British citizens, 17 Palestinian Jews, 2 Armenians, 1 Russian, 1 Greek and 1 Egyptian.
[29][30][31]
1946, October 30 2 British guards killed during Gunfire and explosion at Jerusalem Railway Station. [32]
1946, October 31 Bombing of the British Embassy in Rome. Nearly half the building was destroyed and 3 people were injured. [33]
1947, January 12 4 killed in bombing of British headquarters. [34]
1947, March 1 17 British officers killed, during raid and explosion. [35]
1947, March 12 1 British soldier killed during the attack on Schneller Camp. [35]
1947, July 19 4 locations within Haifa are attacked, killing a British constable and injuring 12. [36]
1947, July 29 2 kidnapped British sergeants hanged. [37]
1947, September 26 4 British policemen killed in Irgun bank robbery. [34]
1947, September 29 13 killed, 53 wounded in attack on British police station. [34]
1947, December 11 13 killed in attack on Tireh, near Haifa [38]
1947, December 12 20 killed, 5 wounded by barrel bomb at Damascus Gate. [39]
1947, December 13 6 killed, 25 wounded by bombs outside Alhambra Cinema. [40]
1947, December 13 5 killed, 47 wounded by two bombs at Damascus Gate. [40]
1947, December 13 7 killed, 10 seriously injured in attack on Yehudiya. [40]
1947, December 16(ca) 10 killed by bomb at Noga Cinema in Jaffa. [41]
1947, December 29 14 Arabs killed by bomb in Jerusalem. [34][42]
1947, December 30 6 Arabs killed and, 42 injured by grenades at Haifa refinery, precipitating the Haifa Oil Refinery massacre, which lead to the Balad al-Shaykh massacre. [43]
1948, January 1 2 Arabs killed and 9 injured by shooting attack on cafe in Jaffa. [44]
1948, January 5 14 Arabs killed and 19 injured by truck bomb outside the 3-storey 'Serrani', Jaffa's built Ottoman Town Hall [45]
1948, January 7 20 Arabs killed by bomb at Jaffa Gate. [46][47]
1948, February 10 7 Arabs killed near Ras el Ain after selling cows in Tel Aviv [48]
1948, February 18 12 Arabs killed and 43 wounded at a marketplace in Ramla [49]
1948, March 1 20 Britons killed and 30 wounded in the Bevingrad Officers Club bombing [50]
1948, April 9-April 11 107-120 Palestinians killed and massacred (the estimate generally accepted by scholars, instead the first announced number of 254) during and after the battle at the village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, by 132 Irgun and 60 Lehi fighters. [51][52][53][54][55]
1948, April 6 7 British soldiers, including Commanding Officer, killed during an arms raid on Pardes Hanna Army camp. [56]

See also[]

  • Irgun
  • List of Irgun members
  • List of massacres committed prior to the 1948 Arab-Israeli war in Mandate Palestine

References[]

  1. Arie Perliger and Leonard Weinberg, Jewish Self Defense and Terrorist Groups Prior to the Establishment of the State of Israel: Roots and Traditions. "Totalitarian Movements & Political Religions", Vol. 4, No. 3, 100, (2003); Online version.
  2. Pope Brewer, Sam. IRGUN BOMB KILLS 11 ARABS, 2 BRITONS. The New York Times. December 30, 1947.
  3. IRGUN'S HAND SEEN IN ALPS RAIL BLAST. The New York Times. August 16, 1947.
  4. Walid Khalidi, From Haven to Conquest, p. 598; updated 1987 to From Haven to Conquest: Readings in Zionism and the Palestine Problem Until 1948, Institute for Palestine Studies, ISBN 978-0-88728-155-6.
  5. Martin Gilbert. Churchill and the Jews. p. 270. 
  6. Adam Shatz. Prophets Outcast. pp. 65–67. 
  7. http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/history/modern%20history/centenary%20of%20zionism/lexicon%20of%20zionism#I
  8. Irgun implicates Haganah in blast By Gene Currivans, The New York Times. July 27, 1947, Sunday Page 11, 628 words, http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00715F7355A147B93C5AB178CD85F438485F9&scp=4&sq=irgun+terrorist&st=p
  9. Perliger and Weinberg, 101.
  10. Prof. Yehuda Lapidot, The Irgun website, links to sections on history of Irgun.
  11. J. Bowyer Bell, Terror out of Zion: the fight for Israeli independence (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1977). pp.181
  12. Leonard Weinberg, Ami Pedahzur, Religious fundamentalism and political extremism, Routledge, p. 101, 2004.
  13. J. Bowyer Bell, Moshe Arens, Terror out of Zion,p. 39, 1996 edition
  14. 14.00 14.01 14.02 14.03 14.04 14.05 14.06 14.07 14.08 14.09 14.10 14.11 14.12 14.13 14.14 14.15 14.16 14.17 14.18 14.19 14.20 14.21 14.22 14.23 14.24 14.25 14.26 14.27 14.28 14.29 14.30 (Hebrew)Y. 'Amrami, A. Melitz, דברי הימים למלחמת השחרור ("History of the War of Independence", Shelach Press, 1951. (a sympathetic account of events, mostly related to Irgun and Lehi).
  15. Tom Segev, Haim Watzman. The Seventh Million. p. 39.  Citing Arnold Zweig's letters to Sigmund Freud
  16. Irgun site Restraint and Retaliation section.
  17. "18 Arabs Die In Bomb Blast". The Vancouver Sun. June 19, 1939. http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zzFlAAAAIBAJ&sjid=MIkNAAAAIBAJ&pg=5544,2680322. Retrieved 15 October 2011. 
  18. Palestine Post, July 26–27, 1938
  19. Y. Ben-Ami, Years of Wrath, Days of Glory; Memoirs of the Irgun, Speller and Sons, New York 1982; p 229. Casualty figures from Palestine Post Feb 28, 1939.
  20. The Irgun web site, "The Split within the Irgun" section
  21. Palestine Post, June 20–22, 1939
  22. Palestine Post, June 30, 1939
  23. Palestine Post, July 5, 1939
  24. 24.0 24.1 Martin Gilbert. Churchill and the Jews. p. 221. 
  25. Horne, Edward (1982). A Job Well Done (Being a History of The Palestine Police Force 1920 - 1948). The Anchor Press. ISBN 0-9508367-1-2. Page 289.
  26. The Irgun web site, "The United Resistance" section.
  27. Horne. Page 294
  28. Horne. Page 296
  29. Thurston Clarke, By Blood and Fire, G. P. Puttnam's Sons, New York, 1981
  30. Martin Gilbert. Churchill and the Jews. p. 253. 
  31. Horne, page 300: Counts 16 British subjects, 3 policemen (2 Britons and one Arab), one Arab soldier, no British soldiers, and a third of those killed were Jews.
  32. The Irgun web site, "The Raid on the Jerusalem Railway Station" section.
  33. "Jewish Terrorists Admit Bombing Embassy in Rome". St Petersburg Times. 1946-11-05. http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19461105&id=vL8wAAAAIBAJ&sjid=1E4DAAAAIBAJ&pg=7048,7096754. Retrieved 2010-05-22. 
  34. 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 Donald Neff, Hamas: A Pale Image of the Jewish Irgun And Lehi Gangs, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, May/June 2006, p. 14-15.
  35. 35.0 35.1 The Irgun web site, "Raid on the Jerusalem Officers Club" section.
  36. Currivan, Gene (20 July 1947). "BRITISH CONSTABLE SHOT DEAD IN HAIFA; 5 Soldiers, 7 Jews Are Hit in Wide Terrorist Blows Protesting Ship Seizure". New York Times. Jerusalem. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10B10FD3C5D167A8EDDA90A94DF405B8788F1D3&scp=5&sq=terrorist+1947+july&st=p. Retrieved 17 August 2011. 
  37. The Irgun web site, "The Gallows" section.
  38. Palestine Post, Dec 14; Milstein, Vol 11, p91
  39. Uri Milstein, History of Israel's War of Independence, Vol II. p51
  40. 40.0 40.1 40.2 Palestine Post, Dec 14
  41. Milstein, Vol II, p81.
  42. Milstein, Vol II, p214.
  43. Milstein, Vol II, p91.
  44. Palestine Post, Jan 2, 1948
  45. The Scotsman newspaper, Jan 6, 1948
  46. Palestine Post, Jan 9-10, 1948
  47. Milstein, Vol II, p53
  48. Palestine Post, Feb 13, 1948
  49. Encyclopedia of the Palestine Problem
  50. Bard, Mitchell G., PhD (2005). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict. Alpha. ISBN 1-59257-410-6. 
  51. Kana'ana, Sharif and Zeitawi, Nihad (1987), "The Village of Deir Yassin", Bir Zeit, Bir Zeit University Press
  52. Morris, Benny (2003). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited. Cambridge, UK; New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-81120-1; ISBN 0-521-00967-7 (pbk.). : Chapter 4: The second wave: the mass exodus, April—June 1948, Section: Operation Nahshon, page 238
  53. Milstein, Uri (1998) [1987] (in Hebrew, English version translated and edited by Alan Sacks). History of the War of Independence IV: Out of Crisis Came Decision. Lanhan, Maryland: University Press of America, Inc.. ISBN 0-7618-1489-2. : Chapter 16: Deir Yassin, Section 12: The Massacre, page 376-381
  54. Morris, Benny (2005). "The Historiography of Deir Yassin". pp. 79–107. Digital object identifier:10.1080/13531040500040305. : page 100-101
  55. britannica.com
  56. The Scotsman: 17th, 18th April. Yaakov Meridor was reported to have be in command of the Irgun attackers. Those dead included Lieut-Colonel G.L. Hildebrand, Royal Artillery

External links[]

  • Palestine Post Archive
  • Arie Perliger and Leonard Weinberg, Jewish Self Defense and Terrorist Groups Prior to the Establishment of the State of Israel: Roots and Traditions. Totalitarian Movements & Political Religions, Vol. 4, No. 3 (2003) 91-118. Online version
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