In this newsreel from 1946 Haifa, nearly 4,000 Jewish refugees arrive in Haifa on the Knesset Israel, only to be stopped by British troops.
“When she docked, violent resistance broke out against troops ordered to transfer the Jewish refugees to a ship, presumably bound for Cyprus,” the narrator announces.
“Fire hoses and tear gas were used in a battle lasting half an hour,” he continues, “during which a number of the refugees jumped overboard, apparently intending to swim ashore.”
In the end, despite the refugees’ fierce resistance, the transfer was completed. The violent battle left casualties on both sides.
(The Associated Press and Movietone News recently released their vast video archives on YouTube, allowing the public to freely access a million minutes worth of historical news clips dating back to 1895 — including many iconic scenes from Israel’s history featured in this Times of Israel series.)
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Discover Israel's most beloved poet
She died more than four decades ago, but Leah Goldberg remains a magnetic and enigmatic figure: Israel’s most beloved poet, a powerful woman who lived with her mother and never married, who reinvented herself from the ashes of World War I through her magical writing.
You can screen 'The Five Houses of Leah Goldberg' June 4-11. Join The Times of Israel Community today to support our work and watch this and other outstanding documentary films in our DocuNation series.
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