UNMIA

Yid With a Lid
Today Jews all across the world celebrated the Seventh Day of Passover, which is the day Moses Parted the Reed Sea and lead the Jews to safety. Its Ironic that on the anniversary of that day, another Exodus hero died. Yossi Harel, the ship commander whose attempt to bring Holocaust survivors to Palestine aboard the Exodus 1947 built support for Israel’s founding, died on Saturday. He was 90. Harel’s daughter Sharon said he died of cardiac arrest at his home in Tel Aviv.

Sixty years ago the Exodus, then called the USS President Warfield had its name changed for the last time as it embarked on what would be its last and most famous mission

As the world ramped up to WWII the British caved into Arab pressure (that would never happen now–would it ?) and refused to allow any Jews to enter what was then called Palestine. Many of those trying to get in were trying to escape the Holocaust, after the war, when the Exodus made its final journey, the British were stopping Holocaust Survivors from entering the holy land.

The Exodus voyage was an attempt to smuggle some of these Jews into …

Article from Ami Isseroff

Jews dancing in the streets on November 29, 1947 to celebrate the Palestine Partition Decision

This letter by Zipporah Porath, from her book, “Letters from Jerusalem 1947-1948,” was written the morning after the United Nations voted to approve the Partition of Palestine into two states, paving the way for the establishment of the State of Israel.

The decision of the United Nations to partition Palestine embodied in UN General Assembly Resolution 181 was greeted by Jewish Palestinians with both joy and foreboding. The joy was expressed in the spontaneous celebrations that broke out on the evening of November 29, 1947 throughout Mandatory Palestine. The foreboding was expressed by Jewish leaders, who understood that the partition decision would almost inevitably lead to war. Chaim Weizmann remarked in December that the state would not be handed to the Jewish people on a silver platter. Soon after, the poet Natan Alterman wrote the poem, The Silver Platter, about the heroism of the young people who would be called upon to defend their new country. About 6,000 Israelis were killed in the 1948 Israel War of Independence. (First Arab-Israeli war). But these thoughts were far from the …

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181
November 29, 1947

The General Assembly, Having met in special session at the request of the mandatory Power to constitute and instruct a Special Committee to prepare for the consideration of the question of the future Government of Palestine at the second regular session;

Having constituted a Special Committee and instructed it to investigate all questions and issues relevant to the problem of Palestine, and to prepare proposals for the solution of the problem, and

Having received and examined the report of the Special Committee (document A/364)(1) including a number of unanimous recommendations and a plan of partition with economic union approved by the majority of the Special Committee,

Considers that the present situation in Palestine is one which is likely to impair the general welfare and friendly relations among nations;

Takes note of the declaration by the mandatory Power that it plans to complete its evacuation of Palestine by l August 1948;

Recommends to the United Kingdom, as the mandatory Power for Palestine, and to all other Members of the United Nations the adoption and implementation, with regard to the future Government of Palestine, of the Plan of Partition with Economic Union set out below;

Requests that

The Security Council take the …