The Balad al-Shaykh massacre was the killing of a large number of

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

s by the

Haganah Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...

in the village of Balad al-Shaykh during the early stages of the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine. It was one of the largest, and earliest, massacres during the

1948 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionist forces conquered territory and established the Stat ...

. Between 60 and 70 Arab villagers were killed in the attack, which was conducted as a retaliation to the

Haifa Oil Refinery massacre The Haifa Oil Refinery massacre took place on 30 December 1947 in Mandatory Palestine, when 39–41 Jewish refinery workers were killed by their Arab coworkers in a mass lynching. The massacre was a response to an Irgun terrorist attack, where ...

. The killings had a significant effect on morale amongst Palestinian civilians in the Haifa region and contributed to the 1947–1949 Palestinian expulsion and flight.

Background

The incident was part of the 1947–1948 civil war between Jews and Arabs in Mandatory Palestine. It was preceded by a number of violent incidents, perpetrated one in retaliation for the other. A

attack on the village on December 11th or 12th killed six Palestinians. The

took place on 30 December 1947, the day before the second Balad al-Shaykh attack.Pappé, 1999, p. 119. In this case, it was the

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

paramilitary group, the

Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...

, which threw a number of grenades at a crowd of some 100

Arab Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world. Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of years ...

day laborers who had gathered outside the main gate of the British-owned Haifa oil refinery looking for work, resulting in 6 deaths and 42 wounded. Arab refinery workers and others attacked Jewish workers, killing 39 of them.

Benny Morris Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the ...

, ''1948: A History of the First Arab-Israeli War,

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, p.406. The conclusion of a committee of inquiry established by the Jewish community of Haifa was that the Arab attack was unpremeditated, being a response to the Irgun assault. The

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

condemned the same group for what it called an 'act of madness' that was responsible for the catastrophic loss of Jewish lives. At the same time, it authorized the Haganah to undertake an operation of retaliation.Lockman (1996), p. 353.

Massacre

On the night of December 31, 1947, to January 1, 1948, the

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

, an arm of the

, attacked the town of Balad al-Shaykh while the residents were asleep, firing from the slopes of

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel (; ), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias (; ), is a coastal mountain range in northern Israel stretching from the Mediterranean Sea towards the southeast. The range is a UNESCO biosphere reserve. A number of towns are situat ...

. Israeli historian

writes: According to Zachary Lockman, about 60 men, women and children were killed and several dozen houses were blown up.

References

Bibliography

* *

Morris, Benny Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the g ...

(2003). ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * * 'The British Withdrawal From Palestine: Possible Advance Of Date By Six Weeks, 17 Killed In Attack On Arab Village', ''The Times'', Friday, January 2, 1948; pg. 4; Issue 50958; col A.

External links

Haifa Refinery Riots from MidEastWeb
{{Authority control 1947 in Mandatory Palestine 1948 in Mandatory Palestine Massacres in 1947 Massacres in 1948 December 1947 in Asia January 1948 in Asia Massacres in Mandatory Palestine 1948 massacres of Palestinians Israeli massacres of Palestinians Haganah attacks Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1947 Terrorist incidents in Asia in 1948 Haifa District

Background

Massacre

See also

References

Bibliography

External links