1.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, September 16, 1960 —
Dov Joseph and Kimches Expose Britai
Role Against Israel; Books Relate
"The Faithful City — The
Siege of Jerusalem, 1948", the
sensational account of the Holy
City's battle for security and
peace, by Dr. Dov Joseph, who
was named Military Governor
of Jerusalem by Israel's Provi-
sional Government upon the
establishment of the Jewish
State, is more than a war story.
It is an important historical
analysis of a people's struggle
for existence. It is a dramatic
description of an embattled peo-
ple's determined will not to un-
furl a white flag to an enemy
that was set upon destroying it.
It describes the unsavory role
that was played by Great Britain
in its final hours of mandatory
rule in Israel.
Published by Simon and
Schuster (630 5th, N. Y. 20),
this significant book will serve
as a guide towards understand.
ing the siege and the struggle
in and around Jerusalem for
many years to come. Dr. Joseph
exposes some of the sins of
omission and some of the errors
of commission, and he lists
many of the noble deeds that
were part of a great battle dur-
ing which a handful of Jews
fought against great odds —
against unfriendly mandatory
power, in opposition to an en-
circling group of enemies who
were bent upon exterminating
their Jewish cousins, in a strug-
gle to attain unity among Jews
themselves, some of whom were
motivated by political bias and
by differing views from those
who officially governed the new
State.
There are exposes of some
of the Jewish leaders, to whom
Joseph ascribes blunders in
leadership. There are accusa-
tions against some of the Jew-
ish elements in Jerusalem. But
these are less imnortant than
the descriptions of heroism and
the historical analyses. The
reader emerges from the text
of "The Faithful City" with a
better understanding of the- geo-
graphical positon of Jerusalem
and its spiritual munificence.
Primarily, he gets an impressive
lesson in courage.
* * *
Several weeks ago, when the
contents of . Dr. Joseph's book
became known in Jerusalem,
there were sensational reports
about his charges that General
David Shaltiel had erred in the
defense of Jerusalem. It is not
too clear w -r the blame
but Jo-
ha
actually
the
for
seph' cco
y o erusale
as
the
ent proof to show th.. *f
su
had been given th
, all of Jerusalem
en in Israel's han
der
Indeed, there w
the dis •
but the activities
taus
dent groups app a
tro le.
an equal amou
ions e-
Joseph on sev
•brevi on
proved the t
is
i).
for Irgun Z
especially cr c a of th Deir
by th dissi-
Yassin massa
Israel
dents—a crime r w '
several
has been con emn
ter armed than was the case."
The Kimches' analyses inch-
oate, however, that it would
be utterly wrong to blame
any one person or any one
group for the single defeat in
the Israel War of Independence,
in the battle for the Old City.
It was a battle of a handful of
Jews against an organized Arab
Legion, and if the Arabs had
known that the Jews were so
few, and that they were so poor-
ly armed, they could have de-
feated them with a stick, let
alone machine gu
so.
DR. DOV JOSEPH
times and which is consta
being recalled by Israel'
mies whenever there
tempts to discredit th
State.
Dr. Joseph con
ns the
Irgun's massacre of e Arabs
at Deir Yassin, in etaliation
for Arab brutalitie It reiter-
ates that it gave t Arabs "a
strong charge agai t us, and
the words `Deir sin' were
used over and over ain both
to justify their ow
trocities
and to persuade Ara
illages
to join the mass fligh
was now taking place all over
Palestine."
* * *
General Shaltiel's record also
is reviewed in another impor-
tant historical account of the
Israel war of independence, "A
Clash of Destinies—The Arab-
Jewish War and the Founding
of the State of Israel," by John
and David Kimche, which was
issued this week by Frederick
A. Praeger (64 University Place,
N. Y. 3). The Kimches, promi-
nent London newspapermen and
Middle East correspondents for
many years, also make refer-
ence to Shaltiel. Their story o
the battle for Jerusalem stat
"Except for a short peri
there was no unified comm d
of the Haganah forces in
e
city itself and the Pal ch
forces in the hills. Yi ak
Rabin, first commander the
Palmach forces in the Ju can
Hills, and later Yosef Tab kin,
commander of the Hare Bri-
lict
gade, were in constant c
with David Shaltiel, comm der
ho
of the Jerusalem forces,
's-
would often bring these
putes before Ben-Gurion.
of the results of this lack
co-ordination was the failur
to relieve the Old City Jews.
Another was the loss of a num-
ber of opportunities for offen-
sive action. Moreover, the fact
that Ben-Gurion repeatedly in-
tervened in tactical questions
concerning the Jerusalem front
seriously hampered the initia-
tive of the local commanders.
The Palmach, in particular, was
not given the free hand it would
have liked to have had on this
front, though when it took inde-
pendent action on occasion it
was not always appreciated by
. . Shaltiel was too
G REDFORD Shaltiel
remote from his men. He was
AT1ON WAGON a stern disciplinarian as a com-
mander, but appeared to be un-
SELL-A-BRATION
able to gain the affection or
trust of the troops fighting
NEW 1960
under him. Some of his orders
and methods were high-handed
and ill-suited to the difficult
conditions prevailing in the city
at the time . In a different
FULL
context, Shaltiel also had to
ONLY
PRICE
contend with the private ene-
mies of the Irgun and the Stern
COMPLETE DELIVERED PRICE
Group . . . They only accepted
INCLUDING:
All Taxes, License, Title
such orders as they approved
and All Factory Equipment at
of. But most serious was the
fact that they did not merely
EDFORD
keep Shaltiel in the dark about
AMBLER
their own strength, numbers
and equipment — they led him
GRAND RIVER BETWEEN
to believe that they were far
6 MILE & EVERGREEN
more numerous and much bet-
RAMBLER
STATION WAGON
$1 888
R
Dr. J
Jerusal
ggle is so serious
an
ctment of the •Brit: h -
even now, when
sraeli relations are
Albion emerges as p
and a grea de ,f
will be fel
tragic situ
birth of Isr
co
been avoi d
the
h
been more r easonable.
ficers
Instead,
itish arm
disarmed
turned
ws, of
them over
the
s for mass
murders and di
1 they could
to obstruct t
sraelis on their
road to in
endence.
Count Folke Berna-
The
oes not appear in a good
dot
Joseph believes he was
under British influence. Cer-
tainly, his policies and proposals
were far from friendly to the
Jews of Palestine. -
* * *
An unsavory role was played
by Red Cross representatives in
Jerusalem. They, too, se
. Dr.
under British infl
it, how-
Joseph gives fu
s people in
ever, to Red
honorably ful-
Tel Aviv
ties in accordance
filled th
inciples of the inter-
with
nati
ovement they repre-
se
ac-
of the most shock'
ts in "The Faithf
the
Dr. Joseph's expo
ctivities of the Uni '
• i i
Truce Commissi
that the comm
did everything
ey
hurt the Jewish posit'
of the men, Jean Nie
of Belgium, and
of France, 'both Ca i olics, were •
so deeply concerned that Jerus-
alem should be internationa
ized, that all their activit'
seemed to be directed at i er-
vide
fering with efforts to
e em-
some sort of relief for
erusalem
battled and starvin
ews.
shel
efarions
truggle
the Jews. "Even Presi-
ruman, who may not have
lized in advance what
cision involved, bac
tate Departm
xplain his
io
c
ind to a
seph states.
n "The Faithf
1
n about Arab-
nd-
, how Jews c per
with
so
friendly Br' ' ers and
how
was
le with the
Arabs. ere were contend-
ing forces, Abdullah's desire to
grab up territory, the assistance
yen to the Arabs by Bevin and
d
who could not believe
British would not be
ack to govern Palestine.
h's is a most important
To cover all its aspects
(Continued on Page 1'7)
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*
sgraceful role was
that played by the U. S. Consul
General, John J. Macdonald.
Dr. Joseph reveals:
"The most inveterate oppo-
sition to us came from the
American member of the com-
mission, John J. Macdonald,
and his alternate, William C.
Burdett, Jr. As early as June
22 (1948), Burdett was fight-
ing to reduce our food quota
in a long-drawn-out session to
which he had brought a young
army doctor who later admit-
ted that he was no expert on
nutrition." (At this point, Dr.
Joseph tells of the yeoman
services that were rendered
by the Hadassah nutrition ex-
pert, Dr. Sarah Bawly. (See
Commentary in this issue).
Macdonald, according to Jo-
seph, "quickly became obsessed
with bitterness against those of
us who were trying to organize
and govern the city." The situ-
atitbn became so bad that pro-
tests were lodged against Mac-
donald with the U. S. State De-
partment and he was recalled
from Jerusalem. "For this we
were not sorry," Joseph com-
ments.
• •
The embargo on arms to Is-
rael, with the backing of the
United States, came as a bomb-
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