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The Gazette and the 1952 revolution (287) The revolution and Israel Intimidating Arabs (5) The Massacre at Dair Yasin Strategically Located Village (I)
“Deir Yassin massacre was not only necessary, but without it the state of Israel could not have emerged" – Menachem Begin, a former Israeli Prime Minister said. The Arab village of Deir Yassin was strategically situated on a hill overlooking the main highway entering Jerusalem as well as a number of Jerusalem's western neighbourhoods. Estimates of the town's population in 1948 vary. The last official British census, in 1945, counted 610 residents, and Arab sources believe the number had grown to 750 by April 1948. The town was also host to several hundred temporary residents who had relocated from other parts of Jerusalem which were close to the battlefields, where Arab and Jewish forces were clashing. But because of Deir Yassin's strategic location, it was almost inevitable that it, too, would become a battle site. Early in April 1948, the Haganah launched a major military offensive against Arab strongholds in the western Jerusalem area, in order to break the siege of western Jerusalem. Irgun Zivi Leumi (IZL) and Lehi representatives met with the Haganah's commander for Jerusalem, David Shaltiel, to discuss what action the IZL and Lehi could take to assist the Haganah's offensive. In late 1947, as Arab-Jewish hostilities intensified, the Deir Yassin village leadership agreed to an informal truce with their Jewish neighbours, with both sides promising to refrain from attacking each other. Some historians have claimed that Deir Yassin's leaders initially rebuffed a proposal to Syrian station or Iraqi units of the Arab Liberation Army (ALA), an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi e l-Qawuqji, in their village. But by March 1948, the militant Jews claimed there were numerous reports of Arab soldiers taking up positions in Deir Yassin. It was in this context that the idea of capturing Deir Yassin first arose. Exactly who first raised the idea of targeting Deir Yassin is unclear. The chief of Lehi intelligence in Jerusalem, Moshe Barzili, later said that Shaltiel was the first to speak of Deir Yassin, in a discussion with Lehi commanders in early April. According to Barzili, Shaltiel said, “If you want to help and to initiate an action, take Deir Yassin." Shaltiel said that the Haganah intended to build an airfield between Deir Yassin and the adjacent Jewish neighbourhood of Givat Shaul. Mordechai Ra'anan, the IZL commander for Jerusalem, likewise recalled discussing with Shaltiel the idea of attacking Deir Yassin, with the two of them agreeing on the strategic value of its capture. [email protected]
