Page 127 - ISRAEL'S CRADLE

At 6:00 PM, the large audience began to disperse. The fasters received a light meal and remained in their rooms until the evening hours, when a "Second Seder" was conducted in their honor, this time with a lot more than "Kazait Matza" and cups of tea. The hunger strike had lasted 101 hours. The celebratory dinner was prepared by the kitchen of the "Hadassah" Hospital at Mount Scopus, and the portions were adjusted for those coming off of a lengthy fast. The doctors, who accompanied the fasters throughout the past four and quarter days, were present at the meal and made sure that they did not eat excessively. Upon their advice, it was decided that the 15 fasters would remain in their rooms until the following morning and would return only then to their homes.
After the end of the holiday, David Remez, the Chairman of the Jewish National Council, convened a press conference. He did not hide his and his fellow fasters› satisfaction in light of the show of solidarity of Jewish Jerusalem and of the entire Yishuv. Among other things, he stated that:
We have ended the fast. The immigrants will make Aliya. We will accept them in the Land of Israel. The minor mortification we bore greatly rewarded the Yishuv. We have understood the feelings the residents of Jerusalem and those of the members of the delegations, who came to us from the entire Land of Israel. [...] We have a reason to be excited to our core from the tidal wave of affection and anxiety which flooded the home of the Jewish National Council in these four days of fasting. [...] This Passover of immigrants was a great holiday for the Yishuv.
Remez thanked all those who assisted the people׳s elected representatives in their lengthy fast: The employees of the National Institutions Building, the medical team, the journalists who publicized the details of the ongoing event and "Kol Yerushlaim," the Hebrew network of the mandatory radio, which brought news of the fast to all corners of the Land of Israel.
On the margins of the fast, which enjoyed tremendous coverage, the highly unflattering coverage of the Jaffa-based Arab newspaper "Falastin" is noteworthy. In an editorial piece, "Falastin"determined that the hunger strike was not serious and was solely intended to promote the public relations of the Jews in the country. "We can determine with certainty that the Spezia Jews and their leaders in Jerusalem are not serious about their intention to hunger strike." Anyone comparing the hunger strikes of the Indian leader Gandhi to these Jewish strikes, does so erroneously – continued the Arab newspaper – since the Jews are constantly committing terrorist actions while Gandhi was a man of peace. The hunger strikers only wish to arouse their brethren in America so that they pressure London to grant as many visas as possible for Jews to enter Palestine.
An examination of the list of 15 reveals that many of them would hold senior positions in the State of the Israel in the following years. One of them (Shazar) was President of the State of Israel; one (Golda Meir) would serve as Prime Minister. Both were previously Knesset Members and
125