Read Online Art of a Jewish Woman by Henry Massie - Free Book Online
Authors: Henry Massie
Tags: Literature & Fiction, History, World War II, Biography, Europe, Holocaust, Jewish, Memoir, Art, Jews, World, st louis, World Literature, Palestine, jewish history, Felice Massie, Modernism, Eastern Europe, Poalnd, abstract expressionism, modern art, Szcuczyn, art collector
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for a tooth. It could just as easily have been the other way around as it sometimes was; two Arabs could have been killed first that day and after the Arabs retaliated more vengeance would need to be served. The tinderbox was ready to burst into flames. Arabs poured into the central square of Jaffa and began marching toward Tel Aviv, gaining strength in numbers as they went, attacking Jews in the Jaffa streets and shattering windows with rocks.
“I will take the bus back to Tel Aviv.” Ibrahim could not drive and Felice was still frightened of her employer.
“You can’t. Look out the window.”
People were running, trying to get on buses, and crowds of youth were running after them with placards calling for a general strike. Many had sticks and were beating the people they caught. People were lying in the street.
“They just shattered the windows of Zadoc and Itzak Levy’s pharmacy across the street. You have to go with Sayeed, now. What if they come into our building?”
In the car Dr. el Hadj said, “Get low so they can’t see you.”
At one moment the crowd blocked their way and threw rocks at them, which hit the doors and trunk. There were gunshots, then the way cleared a bit. Sayeed el Hadj turned off the large street and took little lanes to a bridge over a gulley with a seasonal stream. Tel Aviv began on the other side. There the political street scene changed. Throngs of people marched and yelled in Hebrew, “Struggle against the Arabs. Palestine for us. British out.”
They drove to Felice’s house. Dr. Sayeed el Hadj got out, looked sadly at the dents in his Citroen, and opened the door for Felice. “It is the end of your job. You won’t be able to come and work for me because we are now in a time of intifada. It isn’t safe. It is a very sad day for me. Maybe in the future when it will quiet down, I will be in touch with you. Or you will be in touch with me. Now you cannot return.”
“Doctor, I think I owe my life to you.”
He took her hand, put it to his lips and kissed it. “We will not see each other again.” There were tears in both of their eyes.
This became known as the Arab Revolt and it continued with waves of violence for three years, making it the longest, largest Arab action against colonial occupation to that time. The Arab High Commission--a collation of Palestinian sheiks headed by the Mufti in Jerusalem--had ceded effective power to the British, but with the onset of the demonstrations the Mufti called for a general strike. It was to be lifted only when Jewish immigration and the transfer of land to Jewish ownership was stopped, and a general, democratic representative government was established.
Though the daytime streets quieted somewhat, guerrilla action began in earnest: more Jewish property was burnt, travelers were assaulted, and Jewish settlements and British convoys and police were attacked. The British counterattacked. Likewise the Jewish paramilitary group Irgun and terrorist Stern gang--condemned and hunted by the British--started attacking Arab villages as well as British targets to drive the English out.
In the summer of 1936 the British army destroyed hundreds of family houses in the Old City of Jaffa with dynamite, tanks and bulldozers. The Arabs who lived there became refugees, crowding into cellars, tents on the beach, and schools. The Mandate said it was for urban renewal but the chief justice of the British Mandate court protested this rationalization. “The government is throwing dust in people’s eyes,” he said. 1 He was relieved of his position and sent back to England.
The destruction of old Jaffa was really retaliation for a sniper shooting a British soldier. The sniper fled into the Old City where the tangle of alleyways provided an escape. They were also good staging areas for demonstrators and for stone throwers-- children of the stone who symbolized insurrection.
In the months that followed, Arab rebels took control of large sections of
“I will take the bus back to Tel Aviv.” Ibrahim could not drive and Felice was still frightened of her employer.
“You can’t. Look out the window.”
People were running, trying to get on buses, and crowds of youth were running after them with placards calling for a general strike. Many had sticks and were beating the people they caught. People were lying in the street.
“They just shattered the windows of Zadoc and Itzak Levy’s pharmacy across the street. You have to go with Sayeed, now. What if they come into our building?”
In the car Dr. el Hadj said, “Get low so they can’t see you.”
At one moment the crowd blocked their way and threw rocks at them, which hit the doors and trunk. There were gunshots, then the way cleared a bit. Sayeed el Hadj turned off the large street and took little lanes to a bridge over a gulley with a seasonal stream. Tel Aviv began on the other side. There the political street scene changed. Throngs of people marched and yelled in Hebrew, “Struggle against the Arabs. Palestine for us. British out.”
They drove to Felice’s house. Dr. Sayeed el Hadj got out, looked sadly at the dents in his Citroen, and opened the door for Felice. “It is the end of your job. You won’t be able to come and work for me because we are now in a time of intifada. It isn’t safe. It is a very sad day for me. Maybe in the future when it will quiet down, I will be in touch with you. Or you will be in touch with me. Now you cannot return.”
“Doctor, I think I owe my life to you.”
He took her hand, put it to his lips and kissed it. “We will not see each other again.” There were tears in both of their eyes.
This became known as the Arab Revolt and it continued with waves of violence for three years, making it the longest, largest Arab action against colonial occupation to that time. The Arab High Commission--a collation of Palestinian sheiks headed by the Mufti in Jerusalem--had ceded effective power to the British, but with the onset of the demonstrations the Mufti called for a general strike. It was to be lifted only when Jewish immigration and the transfer of land to Jewish ownership was stopped, and a general, democratic representative government was established.
Though the daytime streets quieted somewhat, guerrilla action began in earnest: more Jewish property was burnt, travelers were assaulted, and Jewish settlements and British convoys and police were attacked. The British counterattacked. Likewise the Jewish paramilitary group Irgun and terrorist Stern gang--condemned and hunted by the British--started attacking Arab villages as well as British targets to drive the English out.
In the summer of 1936 the British army destroyed hundreds of family houses in the Old City of Jaffa with dynamite, tanks and bulldozers. The Arabs who lived there became refugees, crowding into cellars, tents on the beach, and schools. The Mandate said it was for urban renewal but the chief justice of the British Mandate court protested this rationalization. “The government is throwing dust in people’s eyes,” he said. 1 He was relieved of his position and sent back to England.
The destruction of old Jaffa was really retaliation for a sniper shooting a British soldier. The sniper fled into the Old City where the tangle of alleyways provided an escape. They were also good staging areas for demonstrators and for stone throwers-- children of the stone who symbolized insurrection.
In the months that followed, Arab rebels took control of large sections of
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