 |
|
|
| |||
| ||||
| ||||
|
American
journalist I.F. Stone was on board an illegal ship to Palestine. At 4:30 o'clock the afternoon of the sixth day out all passengers were summoned to a meeting on the foredeck. They were addressed from the bridge by a Haganah worker. He gave them instructions about how they should act if they were captured and questioned by the British. There were cheers and applause when he said: "As far as we are concerned, you are already citizens of Eretz Israel, whatever the English say." He warned that there were still many difficulties ahead, but one of his warnings created a reaction that seemed natural to all of us. "For a while you may find you have not gone to Eretz, but to a prison in Eretz." There was a burst of relieved laughter. Prison didn't matter so long as it was a prison in Eretz. . . We were told to line up on deck and proceed one by one to the captain's cabin, where we would be given our illegal immigration certificates. We each filled out a blue certificate printed in Hebrew on one side and in English on the other. It was called, "Permit to Enter Palestine." We wrote in our name, the names of our parents, the place and date of our birth, and our nationality by birth. The certificate stated that we "had been found qualified by the representatives of the Jewish Community of Palestine for repatriation to Eretz Israel." The certificate cited four authorities for the Jewish community's action. The first was from Ezekiel: "And they shall abide in the lands that I have given unto Jacob my servant, wherein your fathers abode, and they shall abide therein, even they, and their children, and their children's children, forever." The second was from Isaiah: "With great mercies will I gather thee." The third was Lord Balfour's Declaration of 2 November 1917, and the last was The Mandate for Palestine. . . The next morning the Sabbath sky was blue and cloudless. Services were held on deck again, and as a special honor the captain and the underground Haganah emissary were called up to read the Torah. The captain was called up as the hero and he read the Maftir, the regular weekly portion from the prophets. The Maftir that morning had special significance for all of us. It was 66 Isaiah 13, and those who understood Hebrew wept as they heard the words of the ancient prophecy: "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort ye; and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem."
(Excerpted from Underground to Palestine, © 1978 Pantheon Books)
Israel Record Front Page | Israel Front Page |
