NCJ Number
62228
Date Published
1963
Length
317 pages
Annotation
A DESCRIPTION IS GIVEN OF EVENTS LEADING TO THE TRIAL AND EXECUTION OF TWO YOUNG TERRORISTS WHO ASSASSINATED THE BRITISH MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MIDDLE EAST DURING THE LAST MONTHS OF WORLD WAR II.
Abstract
ELIAHU BET ZOURI AND ELIAHU HAKIM, WHO JOINED THE MOST EXTREME JEWISH UNDERGROUND ORGANIZATION, THE STERN GANG, BELIEVED THAT BRITAIN WOULD NOT GIVE UP PALESTINE UNLESS FORCED TO, THAT FREEDOM WOULD BE WON ONLY BY FIGHTING FOR IT, AND THAT THE FIGHTING SHOULD BE LIKE THAT OF THE JEWISH ZEALOTS WHO ROSE UP AGAINST ROME CENTURIES AGO. THEY WERE INFLUENCED BY THE EXISTENCE OF VARIED PALESTINIAN YOUTH MOVEMENTS, BY THE BRITISH WHITE PAPER BARRING FURTHER JEWISH IMMIGRATION INTO PALESTINE, BY THE SINKING OF SHIPS AND LOSS OF REFUGEES FLEEING FROM THE NAZIS, AND BY THE GROWTH OF PALESTINIAN TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, THE IRGUN ZVAI LEUMI AND THE STERN GANG. THE REORGANIZATION OF THE STERN GANG AS THE FIGHTERS FOR THE FREEDOM OF ISRAEL (FFI) IS DESCRIBED, AS ITS ROLE IN THE PLANNED ASSASSINATIONS, WHICH FAILED, OF THE HIGH COMMISSIONER OF PALESTINE, SIR HAROLD MACMICHAEL, AND THE ASSASSINATION OF THE BRITISH MINISTER OF STATE, LORD MOYNE. THE PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCE OF THE TERRORIST ORGANIZATION AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF SPLIT PERSONALITIES IN THE TWO YOUTHS ARE ALSO DISCUSSED. IN THEIR DEFENSE, THE ACCUSED STATED THAT ENGLISH RULE HAD RESULTED IN THE LOSS OF JEWISH REFUGEES, THAT HEBREWS WERE THE NATURAL AND LEGAL OWNERS OF PALESTINE, THAT ENGLISH LAW WAS ENFORCED THROUGH FEAR AND TORTURE, AND THAT KILLING WAS THE ONLY WAY TO GAIN RESPECT FROM THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. DEFENSE AND PROSECUTION ARGUMENTS ARE ALSO PRESENTED. A LIST OF ACKNOWLEDGMENTS IS ATTACHED. (AOP)