The Cold War. What exactly was the Cold War? Who started it? Could it have been avoided?…
…If there is a god of history, he must have been an angry sovereign in the year 1947, for hot and cold wars and terrorism erupted like scarlet fever all over the globe. In addition to civil war in Greece and China and colonial war in Indochina, rebellion against the British Empire was breaking out across the world and most particularly in the Middle East: on January 12, Jewish guerillas blew up the Haifa police station. Jewish leaders announced that there would be no letup in the fighting until the British got out of Palestine and recognized the free and independent nation of Israel.
— and again between 1945 and 1948. Even in the interim years, and especially in 1944, there were significant illegal immigration attempts.
It is a misconception to assume that the immigration was an initiative of the Zionist movement only, and it is certainly incorrect to say that the Zionist movement deliberately chartered bad ships to bring Jews to Palestine in unsafe conditions, when they could have been safe in Europe.
European Jews were desperate for ways to leave Europe, but for the most part there were few options. No country was willing to take Jewish immigrants. However, some countries would give them transit visas. In particular, Romania was an Axis ally, but had a relatively lenient policy toward Jews, and a bribable officialdom, until it was actually invaded by the Germans. Romanian Jews and those from all over Europe who could escape gathered in Black Sea ports of their own accord, and different agencies, including profiteers, offered transportation in overcrowded death traps to Istanbul. From there, it would presumably be possible to get to Palestine. The Jewish Agency could not stop this immigration, they could only facilitate it.—click image for source…
On the sleepy Saturday morning of February 21 in “Foggy Bottom,” headquarters of the State Department in Washington, the inevitable happened. The morning courier brought two notes from the British Government. They were brief but they did their part to change the history of the world. One concerned Greece, the other Turkey.
The note concerning Greece pointed out that the Government was on the brink of collapse. It needed at least $280 million in foreign exchange, plus economic and military aid- with the certain prospect of continued aid beyond that for some time to come. Great Britain, near collapse itself, would not supply further financial aid to Greece after March 31. The note concerning Turkey made the same points, even more starkly: Britain could no longer assure Turkey’s survival.
—Read More:http://idf-israel1948.blogspot.ca/
The State Department officers who received the notes needed no background information to understand what they were reading. Yet, even they were stunned by the swift pace of events and the incredible deadline required for an American decision: the notes arrived on February 21; Washington had to meet a major foreign policy challenge by March 31. …( to be continued)…
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