Page 162 - big friday
P. 162
The British are Leaving
Z eev Sharef
I n 1959, Zeev Sharef, secretary of the People's Administration (which
became the Provisional Government upon the establishment of the
state) published a book entitled Three Days, about May 12-14, 1948.
The following excerpt describes the final hours of British Mandatory rule
in Palestine.
O n the morning of May 14, at precisely 8am, the High Commissioner, General Sir Alan
Cunningham, exited the gate of Government House, wearing his generals' uniform with
all his decorations, and trod confidently to the parade ground where some fifty soldiers
presented arms in his honor. He reviewed the guard, and then got into his motorcar for
the short drive to the airport in Kalandiya, north of Jerusalem. The commander of the air
force honored him by flying the plane himself. As the plane took off from Kalandiya, the
Union Jack was lowered from atop the King David Hotel building, where the government's
administrative headquarters were located. Jerusalem now had no government. The
Supreme Command had been transferred a few days before May 1, and now the local
headquarters, too, was deactivated; in their stead came the commanders of two convoys
that were now making their final journey: one moved through Sheikh Jarrah northward to
Ramallah; from there south-westward to Latrun; via Ramle, Lydda, and Hadera, to Haifa.
This convoy consisted of about 250 vehicles – trucks and motorcars, tanks and armored
cars, tank carriers, and the other vehicles that comprise a typical military convoy. As they
passed through King George Street in Jerusalem, crowds stood watching and wondering:
"So – they're leaving; they're actually leaving. Can it be? And what comes next?"
Another convoy, of similar size and form, was moving southward, via Bethlehem, past
the smoldering ruins of Gush Etzion, and onwards via Hebron to Rafah. When night came,
they were no longer within the country's borders. That night all units that had headed
northward were within a British enclave designated as "occupied territory". Following
on after the convoys, the military guards, who had been placed the previous day at set
intervals along the sides of the roads, likewise packed their gear and joined the exodus.
Amongst the rearguard was a small tank unit that had been stationed near Latrun, its
shelling preventing the Jews from reaching the area, which was defended by irregular
Arab forces. Apparently, the British command did not want this junction, where the forces
leaving Jerusalem and heading northward would have to pass, to become a battleground.
They therefore kept the Jews at a distance and did not allow them to deviate from the
corridor between Jerusalem and Sha'ar HaGai (Bab el-Wad). Now this command had no
further interest in either Latrun or the battle between Jews and Arabs; they could fight to
160 The Friday That Changed Destiny
Z eev Sharef
I n 1959, Zeev Sharef, secretary of the People's Administration (which
became the Provisional Government upon the establishment of the
state) published a book entitled Three Days, about May 12-14, 1948.
The following excerpt describes the final hours of British Mandatory rule
in Palestine.
O n the morning of May 14, at precisely 8am, the High Commissioner, General Sir Alan
Cunningham, exited the gate of Government House, wearing his generals' uniform with
all his decorations, and trod confidently to the parade ground where some fifty soldiers
presented arms in his honor. He reviewed the guard, and then got into his motorcar for
the short drive to the airport in Kalandiya, north of Jerusalem. The commander of the air
force honored him by flying the plane himself. As the plane took off from Kalandiya, the
Union Jack was lowered from atop the King David Hotel building, where the government's
administrative headquarters were located. Jerusalem now had no government. The
Supreme Command had been transferred a few days before May 1, and now the local
headquarters, too, was deactivated; in their stead came the commanders of two convoys
that were now making their final journey: one moved through Sheikh Jarrah northward to
Ramallah; from there south-westward to Latrun; via Ramle, Lydda, and Hadera, to Haifa.
This convoy consisted of about 250 vehicles – trucks and motorcars, tanks and armored
cars, tank carriers, and the other vehicles that comprise a typical military convoy. As they
passed through King George Street in Jerusalem, crowds stood watching and wondering:
"So – they're leaving; they're actually leaving. Can it be? And what comes next?"
Another convoy, of similar size and form, was moving southward, via Bethlehem, past
the smoldering ruins of Gush Etzion, and onwards via Hebron to Rafah. When night came,
they were no longer within the country's borders. That night all units that had headed
northward were within a British enclave designated as "occupied territory". Following
on after the convoys, the military guards, who had been placed the previous day at set
intervals along the sides of the roads, likewise packed their gear and joined the exodus.
Amongst the rearguard was a small tank unit that had been stationed near Latrun, its
shelling preventing the Jews from reaching the area, which was defended by irregular
Arab forces. Apparently, the British command did not want this junction, where the forces
leaving Jerusalem and heading northward would have to pass, to become a battleground.
They therefore kept the Jews at a distance and did not allow them to deviate from the
corridor between Jerusalem and Sha'ar HaGai (Bab el-Wad). Now this command had no
further interest in either Latrun or the battle between Jews and Arabs; they could fight to
160 The Friday That Changed Destiny
