Amongst things I was not expecting to do in 2008...

[lethargic_man]

Today I got to hear a terrorist speak. Well, someone who would be called a terrorist by the British government at any rate (and the speaker of the very next session I went to), though a freedom fighter by others: he was Yoske Nachmias, an Irgun member.

He had some amazing stories to tell, of fighting in the British Army to keep the Nazis out of Palestine during the War; of audacious raids on British army camps to steal their weaponry, and to destroy (along with (IIRC) the Palmach) the entirety of the British air fleet based in the Middle East; of being captured and sentenced to death, only to have his sentence commuted to life imprisonment when the Irgun threatened to kill five British soldiers they had captured; and then being rescued from Acre prison; of liberating Jaffa (which was filled with Arab snipers taking potshots at civilians in Tel-Aviv) when Menachem Begin was prepared to give up on the assault.

I didn't take any notes, as I was feeling a bit frazzled by then (I slept really poorly last night, and should really be in bed now), but wow. The man was truly a piece of living history.

ETA: And he encourages you to visit him at the Museum of the Irgun at 38 King George Street, Tel Aviv.

Comments

[curious-reader.livejournal.com]

It sounds very interesting to me, too. It sounds as if he did not actually killed anybody. Destroying weapons is another thing. It sounds more like self-justice.

[lethargic-man.livejournal.com]

I'm sure he did kill people, in the attack on Jaffa. He describes how he tried not to kill British soldiers, and how Menachem Begin, the leader of the Irgun, went to great lengths to impress upon his soldiers that they were not to fire upon Jews (a civil war at that point would probably have allowed the Arabs to destroy the nascent State of Israel); but as far as the Arabs were concerned, Israel was fighting for its life. It was no time for pacifism. Nevertheless, the Irgun's tactics were highly controversial, and it was made illegal by Ben Gurion after the foundation of the state. The Irgun—though not, I think, the speaker—was partly responsible for the Deir Yassin massacre, which has blighted the cause of Israel to this day.

[curious-reader.livejournal.com]

I know it was a hard time and Israeli fought for their life. It was self-defence. Going out and deliberately killing people from behind is another thing. I don't know in what kind of position he was.