Page 13 - Underground Prisoner Museum, Advanced Level

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Advanced Level - ‫מוזיאון אסירי המחתרות‬

The British Occupation in the Land of Israel

The British occupation in the land of Israel began in 1917. Before it,
for 400 terrible years the Turks ruled in the land of Israel.
The Turkish rule was corrupt and cruel and all the residents in the
land suffered rom it very much. Therefore, when the British
conquered the land in 1917, the Jews and the Arabs were happy and
helped them to enter the land of Israel. In November 1917, the
English wrote the famous Balfour Declaration in which was written:
"His Royal Majesty's government looks favorably on the
establishment of a Jewish home for the Jewish people in the Land of
Israel."
The Balfour Declaration angered the Arabs very much and they
pressured the British to annul it.
The Arabs started a series of pogroms against the Jews throughout
the country and killed many Jews. The British surrendered to the
pressure and started to support the Arabs. In every confrontation
between the Arabs and the Jews, the British arrested the Jews and
justified the Arabs.
In 1939, the White Paper was written in which it was said that it is
prohibited to let the Jews immigrate to Israel.
And thus, when Jews fled from the inferno in Europe and tried to
reach Israel, the British captured them and put them into prisons and
detention camps.
The response of the Jews to the situation was: the establishment of
underground movements that fought the Arabs and the British.
The first and largest underground movement, "The Hagana" ("The
Defense"), was established in 1920. Its purpose was defense of the
Jews from the Arabs. In 1931, the "Etsel" (acronym for "National
Military Organization") organization was established that fought the
Arabs in a more active way. In 1940, the "Lekhi" (acronym for
"Israel Freedom Fighters") was established – a militant organization
that thought that now that England is busy with the war in Europe,
they need to fight against the British rule in Israel.
Many of the fighters of the Hagana, the Etsel and the Lekhi were
captured and imprisoned in the British prison and some were even
sentenced to death.

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