The Creation Of Israel Through Illegal Immigration

The Creation of Israel through Illegal Immigration
Immigration has had a great influence on the creation of cultures and populations within countries in the modern era. Without immigration the success of the United States and its industrial era might have never happened. One of the most important mass immigrations within the last century was that of the Jewish people out of Europe into Palestine between and after the World Wars. Hitler’s rise to power and his execution of over six million Jews in the Holocaust led to large illegal immigration of Jews out of Eastern Europe into Palestine and Southern Europe known as the “Aliyah Bet”.2 During the Aliyah Bet many prominent underground organizations such as the “Berihah” had considerable success of moving displaced Jews out of Eastern Europe.1 Both the amount of illegal immigration and the political ramifications faced by the British for attempting to stop the immigration helped influence the creation of Israel in 1948. The illegal immigration of Jews into Southern Europe (Berihah), and from Europe to the Jewish camp Eretz in Palestine (Aliyah Bet), played a role in the creation of Israel both through the immigration itself and the political fallout suffered by the British.12
While the illegal immigration of Jews into Palestine was going on for decades before World War II, it was not until Hitler’s rule did the immigration start to ramp up due to the anti-Semitism of the Nazi party. Some of the illegal immigration of the Aliyah Bet began before World War II as Slutsky claims, “The rise of Hitler increased the pressure for aliyah, and in 1934 the first organized efforts at clandestine immigration by sea took place.”2 The first of many attempts over the next decade to illegally immigrate Jews by boat began as Hitler took power. The purpose of these boats was to get the Jewish people out of central Europe and thus out of grasp of the Nazis. Most of these boats and illegal immigration attempts were setup at the time by the Mossad and private individuals.3 These attempts made were largely unsuccessful due to the British’s attempts to curb illegal immigration into Palestine as Slutsky also says, “The Mandatory government did everything in its power to stop the stream of "illegal" immigrants / When in May 1939 Britain published the White Paper restricting Jewish immigration to 10,000 per annum.”3 The British government was trying to stop the illegal immigration of Jews into Palestine before the war by turning boats way, and with the creation of the White Paper. The White Paper only allowed 10,000 Jews to immigrate to Palestine each year, a number which was far too low when millions would be killed during the Holocaust. These attempts to immigrate to Palestine would still be stopped by the British even during the war: “About 1,600 of the immigrants were deported and detained in Mauritius until the end of the war.”3 The British continued to deport illegal Jewish immigrants to the island of Mauritius. While these immigrants would not arrive in Palestine they still would manage to escape the Nazis. Overall, the attempts made at illegal immigration to Palestine by the Jews before and during World War II were little and unsuccessful, but these attempts would only gain more traction once the war was over.
Known at the time as the “Aliyah Bet”; the illegal immigration of Jews, would considerably increase after World War II. While many more attempts were made after the war they would still continually be stopped by the British as Slutsky asserts, “In the years from 1945 to 1948, 65 immigrant boats embarked for Palestine, all under the aegis of the Mosad, / Most of these were intercepted by the British.”4 The amount of ships with illegal Jewish immigrants bound for Palestine launched by the Mossad after the war would greatly increase but would also still be stopped. But the hope of the Jewish immigrants would not stop with their barrage from Palestine. The immigrants captured by the British would still long to arrive to Erez as Slutsky claims, “They organized themselves and prepared for settlement in Ereẓ Israel with the aid of emissaries from there, learning Hebrew, and even undergoing military training.”5 The persistence of the illegal Jewish immigrants would continue to be a driving force of the Aliyah Bet during the time after the war. If the immigrants would have given up after being detained by the British it is possible the immigration movement would have been deterred from continuing on. The perseverance of the immigrants would slowly lead to success as “Aliyah Bet came to an end with the establishment of the State of Israel in May 1948. / From the early days of the Vellos more than 115,000 Jews had reached Palestine by means of Aliyah Bet.”5 While not all the Jewish immigrants would make it to Israel until after its creation, over a hundred thousand would still make it before5. These illegal Jewish immigrants were no doubt a large factor in the creation of Israel as without them present there would not have been enough public pressure on the British from within Palestine. In the end, the Aliyah Bet was a significant portion of illegal Jewish immigration at the time, but there were also other organizations at the time trying to move Jews out of Eastern Europe.
The illegal immigration of Jews increased greatly with the fall of Hitler and the Nazis now that the Jews were no longer being actively hunted. One of the most prominent underground organizations leading the illegal immigration was the Berihah as Bauer says, “name [Berihah] of an organized underground operation moving Jews out of Poland, Hungary,…, and the U.S.S.R. into Central and Southern Europe between 1944 and 1948 as a step toward their – mostly "illegal" – immigration to Palestine.”6 The Berihah was the driving force of moving Jews out of the displaced persons camps into Southern Europe as they began their long journey to Palestine. The Berihah would face hardships when the British would not allow mass immigration to Palestine even after the war as its main goal was to “take out the remnants of the Jewish population and bring them to Ereẓ Israel.”6 Therefore, the Berihah was the first step for many Jews after World War II for getting closer to Palestine. Even though the Berihah did not get as many displaced Jews into Palestine as they wanted, they were still largely successful with the movement of Jews out of Eastern Europe as “The total number of people who left Eastern Europe between 1944 and 1948 can be estimated at about 250,000, and of these about 80% at least came with the organized Beriḥah.”6 The Berihah was clearly an important player of the illegal immigration of Jews out of Eastern Europe. Due to the Berihah’s success it played a significant role in the creation of Israel as Bauer claims, “The Beriḥah was a prime factor in the struggle for the establishment of the Jewish State from 1945 to 1948. / the masses of immigrants that fought together with the yishuv to open the gates of Palestine to Jewish immigration and to establish the State of Israel.”6 Thus, the Berihah and the illegal immigration they promoted was an important contribution to the creation of Israel. Without the Berihah moving so many Jews out of Eastern Europe and closer to and into Palestine it would be unlikely the Jewish state would have been created as quickly. Overall, the Berihah was a momentous push for Jewish illegal immigration out of Eastern Europe and the creation of Israel, but there were also other groups of illegal immigrants that helped carve the way to a Jewish state.
One of the many groups of illegal Jewish immigrants that played a role in the creation of Israel was the Cyprus detainees. The Cyprus detainees consisted of the illegal immigrants that were detained in Palestine and sent to the island of Cyprus to be held.7 As these were the immigrants that made it to their promised land only to be sent away they ended up playing a large political and public role in the creation of Israel. As Ofer claims, “Highly motivated to get to Palestine, the Cyprus detainees became a symbol of the survivors' determination to make a new life for themselves in the Jewish homeland.”7 The illegal Jewish immigrants on the island of Cyprus then became a representation of hope for any fellow Jewish immigrant trying to venture to Palestine.7 Thus, the Cyprus detainees would only increase the amount of illegal immigration to Palestine and would also be a burden for the British politically as they would have to continue deporting them. Ultimately, the Cyprus detainees helped in the creation of Israel by being a symbol of the resilience of Jewish immigrants trying to illegally enter Palestine. One of the many groups deported to the island of Cyprus was those that were aboard the famous Exodus voyage.
The Exodus was one of the dozens of boats of illegal Jewish immigrants that would attempt to make the voyage to Palestine only to be stopped by the British. Unlike the other boats that made the journey the Exodus became famous due to battle on the ship, “the British rammed the ship and boarded it, while the immigrants put up a desperate defense. Two immigrants and a crewman were killed in the battle, and 30 were wounded.”8 The ramming of the ship and fight aboard would kill immigrants in the end only angering the Yishuv and other illegal immigrants. This situation and the way in which the British attacked the boat would then become a thorn in the side of the British as the Exodus would become a symbol for their rule, “Journalists who covered the dramatic struggle described to the entire world the heartlessness and cruelty of the British. World public opinion was outraged and the British changed their policy. Illegal immigrants were not sent back to Europe; they were instead transported to detention camps in Cyprus.9 Due to the way in which the British acted towards the immigrants upon the Exodus the world would see the barbaric ways in which the British were stopping the immigrants looking for a new home. This would cause them to setup the island of Cyprus for detained illegal immigrants which also would also end up in contributing to the Jewish immigrant movement by becoming a symbol of determination as stated before. The ways in which the British would handle their illegal immigration crisis would continue to be a problem and would eventually push forward the creation of Israel.
Another contributing factor to the creation of Israel was the way in which the British handled the illegal immigration of Jews into Palestine. The British capped the amount of Jews that could enter Palestine but not Arabs as “The British placed restrictions on Jewish immigration while allowing Arabs to enter the country freely.”10 This cap amount of Jews before the war likely led to the deaths of many of the Jewish people to Nazis as well as the cap after the war would lead to many Jews left in displaced people’s camp. Thus, this angered the Yishuv not only because the Jewish people were not being let into Palestine but because it was for political purposes. “The influx of Jewish settlers was said to be forcing the Arab fellahin (native peasants) from their land. This was at a time when less than a million people lived in an area that now supports more than six million.”10 The land of Palestine could easily hold masses of Jewish immigrants but they were barred in order to please the current Arab population of Palestine. By doing this and angering the Jewish population they were pressured by the Yishuv and the American government to ultimately let more immigrants in. “The report of the Anglo-American Commission of Inquiry in January 1946 led US president Harry Truman to pressure Britain into admitting 100,000 Jewish refugees into Palestine.”11 Due to the pressure put on by the American government the British were forced into letting more Jewish immigrants into Palestine which would ultimately help in the argument for the creation of Israel. This accumulation of Jewish immigrants into Palestine would eventually lead to a breaking point when “As the crisis escalated, the British government decided to submit the problem of Palestine to the United Nations (UN). In a special session, the UN General Assembly voted on November 29, 1947, to partition Palestine into two new states, one Jewish and the other Arab.”11 Ultimately, the amount of pressure put on by the large populace of Jewish immigrants both on the British and other governments would force the creation of Israel. Without the illegal immigration of the Aliyah Bet and the poor handling by the British the necessary Jewish population would not have been present in Palestine to create Israel. Therefore, the British mandate on immigration to Palestine would eventually help contribute to the creation of Israel even though its intentions were to slow immigration into Palestine.
Through the Aliyah Bet, also known as illegal immigration of Jews after the war, the Cyprus detainees, and the help of the underground organizations such as the Berihah, the creation of Israel was a much more feasible challenge. Thanks to the sheer number of Jews put into Palestine by these movements and organizations along with the improper handling of the immigration by the British there was enough pressure put on the British by the Yishuv and other world powers to create the state of Israel. Through the determination of these immigrants, similarly to the creation of other world powers today, and their desire for their own home, the state of Israel was born. If we are to not accept immigrants today then we also cannot say we believe in the pursuit of happiness.
Works Cited
Bauer, Yehuda. "Beriḥah." Encyclopaedia Judaica. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. 2nd ed. Vol. 3. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 433-36. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.
Jewish Virtual Library. "Immigration to Israel:Aliyah Bet." Aliyah Bet (1929-1939). Jewish Virtual Library, n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2015. <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Immigration/Aliyah_during_war.html>.
Jewish Virtual Library. "Immigration to Israel: British Restrictions on Jewish Immigration to Palestine." British Restrictions on Jewish Immigration to Palestine. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Jewish Virtual Library. "Immigration to Israel: "Exodus 1947" Illegal Immigration Ship." "Exodus 1947" Illegal Immigration Ship. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.
Ofer, Dalia. "Holocaust Survivors as Immigrants: The Case of Israel and the Cyprus Detainees." Modern Judaism 16.1 (1996): 1-23. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1996. Web. 12 Feb. 2015. <http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/modern_judaism/v016/16.1ofer.html>.
Ofer, Dalia. Escaping the Holocaust: Illegal Immigration to the Land of Israel, 1939-1944. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.
"Postwar Refugee Crisis and the Establishment of the State of Israel." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 20 June 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2015.
Slutsky, Yehuda. ""Illegal" Immigration." Encyclopaedia Judaica. Ed. Michael Berenbaum and Fred Skolnik. 2nd ed. Vol. 9. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2007. 722-24. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 12 Feb. 2015.