Seeing
his wife's distraught face, George tried to assure
her, "Don't worry. We'll be back." He
paused before repeating what Palestinians had been
told. "We'll be back in one week."
Neighboring Arab governments had promised to come to
the Palestinian's defense...promised to defeat the
"Zionist gangs"...promised to toss them
into the sea. George repeated the words, this time
as much for himself as for Mary, "We'll be
back...in one week."
Mary
sat silent. Sorrow came flowing over her. She could
not control her tears, which rolled down her cheeks.
George's
father, Mitri, sat ashen-faced, refusing to speak or
even to look back at the house where he had lived
most of his life. He had hoped the British could
keep the peace...at least until the British forces
left the country later in the year. But the British,
claiming they could not implement a policy which was
not acceptable to both sides, had opposed the UN
vote and were planning to leave Palestine the
following month.
Votes,
and mandates, and partitions, and legal talk all
swirled through George Antoun's thoughts--they were
all useless, he concluded. Nothing could change the
fact that he had been forced to leave his home in
order to protect his family from the fighting.
Frightened and angry, George drove his family out of
their beloved city of Haifa, up the Coast North,
through the cities of Acre and Nahariya, and across
the border into Lebanon.
Two
days later, on April 23, 1948, the Jews captured
Haifa.
* * *
When
World War II ended in 1945, the Jews renewed their
demand for a homeland in Palestine. Throughout the
world community, there was widespread support for
the Jews. The unspeakable crimes committed against
the Jews of Europe by the German Third Reich had
given the Holocaust survivors a moral license to be
heard. The Jewish population of Palestine now stood
at 550,000 and they owned 20% of the land. The
remaining 80% was owned by the 1.1 million Muslim
Arabs and 140,000 Christian Arabs also living in
Palestine.
U.S.
President Harry Truman began to push for the
creation of a Jewish State in Palestine. He believed
his own future political interests would be well
served by supporting Jewish demands for a homeland.
Largely as a result of the Truman administration's
efforts, the United Nations voted to partition
Palestine, giving the Jews 55% of the land area.
There were vehement protests from the Arabs. The UN
also voted for Jerusalem to remain an international
city, which infuriated the Jews who claimed that the
formation of a Jewish state without Jerusalem was
impossible.
Once
again, neither Arab nor Jew was appeased.
From
the date of the UN vote, November 29, 1947, Jews and
Arabs set out to exterminate each other. Attacks
followed by reprisal attacks became commonplace.
Hardened Jewish survivors of World War II and the
Holocaust were tenacious fighters. In battle after
battle, Palestinians were losing Palestine.
