Hello everyone! I hope this post finds you well. There isn't much groundbreaking news to report from Bat Yam, but here is an anecdote from yesterday's adventures that I particularly like:
After classes yesterday, a large group of us traveled to Old Yafo (Jaffa) to visit the Etzel museum, which is dedicated to the history of the Irgun, one of Israel's first underground fighting brigades before the birth of the state and the IDF. Our guide, Yosef, was a member of the Irgun. Interestingly, Yosef (he introduced himself as Yoske) was first a member of the British army during British Mandate, and joined the Irgun simultaneously (so really, he was working for both sides at the same time). He was not even 15 years old when he first began serving (he told us he forged the date on his birth certificate so he could enlist at a young age). When he had been with the Irgun for some time, he was given a special mission by Menachim Begin (a leader of the Irgun): on Christmas, they were going to steal all guns and ammunition from a nearby British army base. Since Yoske had been a member of the British army, his English accent was perfect and he already had an official British army uniform. So, on Christmas Eve, Yoske and several other Irgun members soaked themselves in gin, to give the British officers the impression they were drunk, and offered drinks to their British "comrades" as well. Yoske told us a local doctor had told him it would take about half an hour (assuming the British drank all the gin they were given) for them to become tired and fall asleep. During this time, the Irgun fighters who were drinking with the British officers weren't actually downing gin: they were drinking tea. Same color, no adverse affects, no drunkenness. Genius plan.
Two and a half hours later (so much for what that doctor had said), the British had all gone home for Christmas or were asleep from the alcohol. Yoske and his Irgun buddies, running out of tea, loaded trucks with ammunition and drove off the base. However, during their escape, shots were fired and Irgun members were wounded. Yoske made it out alive, and with a whole new artillery.
In June 1948, Yoske was aboard the Altalena, an Irgun ship loaded with fighters and military supplies. David Ben Gurion ordered Menachim Begin, Irgun leader and passenger on the ship heading for Tel Aviv, to hand over the weapons and military supplies on the Altalena to the Israeli government; now that Israel had become a state, it should have only one army. When Begin refused, Ben Gurion ordered the Altalena to be shelled. This is the only time in Israel's (rather short) history that its leader ordered a direct attack on his own people. Several Irgun members were killed. Yoske and his wife (both were aboard the ship) found a lifeboat and saved five other people. One of the people on the lifeboat was a man from Cuba, who, once reaching the shore, went to a local hotel and refused to return to Israel (understandably, he was very upset by the Israeli government's actions). In 2007, he finally came back to Israel, where his daughter now lives, to find Yoske and properly thank him for saving his life. To learn more about the Altalena affair, please visit: http://www.etzel.org.il/english/ac20.htm
Once our museum tour was over, a group of my friends and I decided to venture into Yafo for dinner. One of the most famous and (delicious) restaurants in Yafo is Aboulafiya, which features classic Middle Eastern dishes (best kababs in a fifty mile radius). Everything you order comes with a selection of fifteen salads (cauliflower, corn, tomato, tahina... each one is better than the next) and laffa bread for dipping. Not to mention all the hummus you could ever want or need (it's all very overwhelming, let me tell you). We ate way too much and rolled ourselves onto a bus home.
I know this is somewhat short, but I wanted to share some recent highlights with you.
Thanks for reading - I need to go check on my brisket now.
Love,
Elana
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