From 13–18 May 1948 Jewish forces from 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 ...

and

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 ...

executed Operation Pitchfork (''mivtza kilshon''). Its aim was to capture the Jewish suburbs of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, particularly

Talbiya Talbiya or Talbiyeh (; ), officially Komemiyut (), is an upscale neighborhood in Jerusalem, between Rehavia and HaMoshava HaGermanit. It is renowned for its eclectic architectural styles, and often regarded as one of the most beautiful neighborh ...

in central Jerusalem.

Operation

At midnight on Friday 14 May, the British declared their civil and military authority in Jerusalem to be at an end. In the morning they evacuated the city in two large convoys, one moved north towards

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

and the other south towards

Bethlehem Bethlehem is a city in the West Bank, Palestine, located about south of Jerusalem, and the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate. It had a population of people, as of . The city's economy is strongly linked to Tourism in the State of Palesti ...

. The Zionists managed to obtain a schedule of their withdrawal in advance and could thereafter launch the operation almost immediately. The

Yishuv The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 2 ...

forces quickly managed to take control of buildings that the British had nationalized in "Bevingrad" zones. These were heavily fortified security zones that the British had built up around key installations in the city to protect against Irgun attacks. From 1946 to 1948, security zones with huge coils of

barbed wire Roll of modern agricultural barbed wire Barbed wire, also known as barb wire or bob wire (in the Southern and Southwestern United States), is a type of steel fencing wire constructed with sharp edges or points arranged at intervals along the ...

filling the streets and dragon's teeth blocking the incursion of armed vehicles began appearing around Jerusalem. (subscription)Rosenne, Shabtai
"The United Nations and Israel's War of Independence"
in ''An International Law Miscellany''. 1993: Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, p. 646. . One such zone, established in 1946, encompassed the eastern end of Jaffa Road and included the

Russian Compound The Russian Compound (; ; ) is one of the oldest districts in central Jerusalem, featuring a large Russian Orthodox church, the Russian-owned Sergei's Courtyard and the premises of the Russian Consulate General in Jerusalem, as well as the si ...

, the Anglo-Palestine Bank, the Central Post Office, and the Generali Building. Jerusalemites called these fortified zones "Bevingrad", a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

of the name of the British Foreign Secretary

Ernest Bevin Ernest Bevin (9 March 1881 – 14 April 1951) was a British statesman, trade union leader and Labour Party politician. He co-founded and served as General Secretary of the powerful Transport and General Workers' Union from 1922 to 1940 and ...

, who had denied

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

survivors entry to Palestine, and the Russian city of

Stalingrad Volgograd,. geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn. (1589–1925) and Stalingrad. (1925–1961), is the largest city and the administrative centre of Volgograd Oblast, Russia. The city lies on the western bank of the Volga, covering an area o ...

, where large-scale fortifications had been emplaced prior to the 1942

Battle of Stalingrad The Battle of Stalingrad ; see . rus, links=on, Сталинградская битва, r=Stalingradskaya bitva, p=stəlʲɪnˈɡratskəjə ˈbʲitvə. (17 July 19422 February 1943) was a major battle on the Eastern Front of World War II, ...

. On Friday, 14 May 1948, the Irgun forces headed for the Bevingrad on Jaffa Road. The first building they captured was the Generali Building, now evacuated. The Irgun forces hoisted the Israeli flag over the lion statue on the roof before moving on to take control of the Russian Compound and the Police Academy further north. They also captured the Notre Dame Church, the American Colony,

Sheikh Jarrah Sheikh Jarrah (, ) is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, north of the Old City, on the road to Mount Scopus. It received its name from the 13th-century tomb of Hussam al-Din al-Jarrahi, a physician of Saladin, located ...

, German Colony, Baka,

Talpiot Talpiot (, literally 'turrets' or 'magnificently built') is an Israeli neighborhood in southeastern Jerusalem, established in 1922 by Zionist pioneers. It was built as a garden suburb on land purchased by the Tel Aviv-based Palestine Land Devel ...

, and the

Greek Colony Greek colonisation refers to the expansion of Archaic Greeks, particularly during the 8th–6th centuries BC, across the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. The Archaic expansion differed from the Iron Age migrations of the Greek Dark Ages ...

. A large portion of what was captured was to become the Israeli-controlled portion of Jerusalem—"West Jerusalem"—but some of the heaviest battles of the

1948 Arab-Israeli war Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...

were to follow and the Jerusalem frontier was to be redrawn many times.

References

External links

Etzel (Irgun) history

Photos

Bevingrad surrounded by barbed wire on the left
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kilshon 1948 Battles and operations of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War Jerusalem in the 1948 Palestine war May 1948 in Asia Plan Dalet

Operation

See also

References

External links

Photos