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King David Hotel bombing^Talk

Terrorism

The bombing appears in literature about terrorism, its practice and history. It has been called one of the most lethal terrorist attacks of the 20th century (Rapoport 2004, pp. 50-51). A book on political terrorism published in 2006 theorises that it provided a model for bombings in the 1980s. Its labelling as terrorism, which is hard to define and tends to be done subjectively, is contentious however (see Definitions of Terrorism, History of Terrorism and Terrorism). In relation to the historical significance of the way the Irgun fought, Begin himself said: "We actually provided the example of what the urban guerrilla is, we created the method of the urban guerrilla."

History of terrorism
Definitions of Terrorism

Encylopedia of the Palestinians, Terrorism article, p478:

In trying to present an overview of how Palestinians and Israelis have used terrorism and simultaneously have been its victims, one encounters the problem of definition. In fact, there is no uniformly accepted definition of terrorism. Because a primary motive of most terrorist acts is political, definitions of terrorism tend to be politicized. For example, with specific reference to Israel and the Palestinians, Western and pro-Israeli writers have tended to dismiss the notion of state terrorism as being applicable to any Israeli actions directed against Palestinians, whereas pro-Palestinian writers have tended to refer to Palestinian acts of violence against Israeli civilians as legitimate tactics in a national liberation struggle. Despite the lack of a clear definition, it is possible to describe the commonly agreed upon characteristics of terrorism. Terrorism is a term generally used to describe organized but unpredictable acts or threats of violence against governments, people, or property. The purpose of actual or threatened violence is to achieve a specific political objective. The political goals of terrorism include intimidating or punishing civilians, governments, or opponents; forcing changes in group behavior or government policy, or possibly overthrowing a government; obtaining recognition for a political group or cause; raising the morale of sympathizers while demoralizing opponents; gaining support from reluctant allies; and getting publicity for goals or grievances. Terrorist practices include—but are not limited to—airplane hijacking, arbitrary arrest and detention, assassination, bombing, hostage taking, kidnapping, sabotage, and torture.

During the 1930s Zionists organized secret groups to retaliate for the killing of Jews and to intimidate Palestinian civilians. The most violent of the covert Zionist groups was Irgun Zvai Leumi (National Military Organization), organized by David Raziel and Avraham Stern in 1937. After the announcement of the MACDONALD WHITE PAPER that restricted Jewish immigration to Palestine, the Irgun began attacking British personnel to induce Britain to change its policy. Although by the outbreak of World War II, the British largely had suppressed Palestinian groups that engaged in terrorism, the Jewish Irgun remained active until 1940, when its leaders agreed to observe a truce— only on attacks against the British but continuing attacks against Palestinians—while Britain fought Germany. This decision prompted Avraham Stern to break away and form a separate organization, Lohamei Herut Yisrael (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel), popularly known as the Stern Gang, which carried out several sensational terrorist actions against Britain between 1940 and 1948, including the 1944 assassination of the British colonial secretary, Lord Moyne, in Cairo. Meanwhile, Menachem Begin—an immigrant from Poland who eventually would become prime minister of Israel (1977–83)—had taken over as leader of Irgun. In 1944 he decided that the organization would resume attacks on the British. Begin believed that both the British and the Palestinians wanted to prevent the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine; thus, he viewed Irgun’s actions as constituting justified defense of the Jewish right to statehood. The Irgun’s more sensational terrorist acts included the blowing up of Jerusalem’s King David Hotel in July 1946, resulting in the death of more than ninety men and women, and the May 1948 massacre of more than 100 Palestinian civilians in the village of DAYR YASIN near Jerusalem. In his subsequent memoirs, The Revolt, Begin credited events at Dayr Yasin with causing panic that induced thousands of Palestinians to flee. After the establishment of Israel and the subsequent involvement of the Stern Gang in the September 1948 assassination of United Nations mediator Count Folke BERNADOTTE, the new government ordered the dissolution of both Irgun and the Stern Gang.