The War of Liberation of Jerusalem
On the eve of the War of Independence, approximately 100,000 Jewish residents lived in Jerusalem, compared to around 65,000 Arab residents. The Jewish residents mainly lived in the northwest of the city and in the Jewish quarter within the walls, which was a Jewish enclave in a crowded Arab majority within the walls of the old city. Economically, Jerusalem depended on the connection with the lowlands and the coastal plain, from where supplies were brought to the city.
After a heavy siege of the city and the closing of the access roads to it by the forces of the Arab Legion, the Jewish residents of the city were weak, without water, food, and fuel. With the UN decision on the partition plan in November 1947, war broke out in the city with the first attack on the connecting bus traveling from the center of the city to Mount Scopus.
The Jewish Defense Force belonged mainly to the Haganah organizations, with about 500 fighters and approximately 1200 defenders, while the Etzel numbered about 100 fighters, and the Lahi a few dozen. Ben-Gurion asked to gather forces to break in and help the city and said, “Jerusalem is the soul of the Land of Israel; otherwise, we would not be worthy of that name with Israel.”
The Jewish quarter inside the walls was put under severe siege. After six months of the siege and the British leaving the quarter, an attack by the Arab Legion was launched. The forces of the Harel Brigade of the Palmach tried several times to breach the walls of the old city and come to the aid of the besiegers, suffering many losses. Finally, the quarter was occupied by the Jordanian Arab Legion, its fighters were captured, and the residents were deported to the west of the city.
Many forces from the lowland were concentrated to break through to Jerusalem in several planned operations, some of which were successful, and some were not. The Israeli forces suffered heavy losses. With the departure of the British from the country on May 14, 1948, the Israeli forces took over the British government compounds after their departure. This is how the buildings where the Mandate troops stayed in the neighborhoods of Talbiah, the German Colony, Bekaa, Talpiot, the Greek Colony, Sheikh Jarrah, and the Notre Dame Church were captured.
During the period, many self-initiated operations were carried out by the defense forces to protect the Jewish population in the city and repel the Jordanian armies and the Arab Legion. Hundreds of Jewish fighters fell in the battle for the defense of the Jewish settlement in the city and the breakthrough to the besieged city. In the photo, a truck with fighters who managed to break through the siege and came to the aid of the Jewish settlement in the city.
At the end of the war, the borders of the city were determined by Moshe Dayan and Abdallah A-Tal, who drew on a map the borders of the city and the demilitarized areas in the Governor’s Palace and the Mandelbaum crossing near the Mosrara neighborhood. Following the agreement, Jews were denied access to the holy places in the Old City, the Western Wall, and the Mount of Olives. Only after 19 years of Jordanian rule in the east of the city, the old city was liberated in the Six Day War and reassembled.
This is our Jerusalem – years of bloody wars, land grabs, pogroms, and non-stop friction with the Arab residents eventually led to the recapture of the city and its declaration as the capital of Israel. A heavy siege without water, fuel, and basic supplies, many heavy losses of residents and fighters, and the independence
We received a valuable deposit that was bought with much blood, grief and bereavement, Independence and a Jewish state after 2,000 years of exile, the Holocaust of European Jews, and the persecution of Jews wherever they are. In memory of the citizens and fighters who fell for the liberation of the city and the independence of the state, For the strong and prosperous company in Israel, an internal and poignant soul-searching- A reminder of where we were, where we want to go – and how, And in honor of the State of Israel, 75 years after.
Shabbat of peace far and near from Jerusalem
תורם הצילום: עמותת דור הפלמ”ח
