Today is the 65th Anniversary of the Shelling of the Altalena

Todah to Ro for reminding me what day this is.

It is the 65th anniversary of the shelling of the Altalena -- by order of David Ben-Gurion, in an effort to consolidate his power in the leadership of the newly reborn Jewish state.

 

I look forward to the day the remnant of the Altalena is recovered from the sea so that all might learn - and remember - that in the infancy of the modern state of Israel, Jews fired on their fellow Jews and sixteen lives were taken, sixteen worlds that will never be.

In the meantime, we daven Rebbe Nachman's "Prayer of Longing for the Land of Israel," that we should never again betray our inheritance.

Merciful and forgiving God
Forbearing, full of kindness and truth
Grant in your great mercy
To myself and all of Israel
Homesickness and Longing 
And Great Yearning
And true desire
To come to the Land of Israel
To go, to travel, and to come in peace to the Land of Israel
Because You know the great force of the imperative
How much I need to be there
In the Holy Land
Because in that land is the essence, the foundation, the source of the holy faith
There is the root of the holiness of Your people Israel...
The land of true life
Eternal life
Beautiful of vistas, the joy of the world.

 

Taken from the booklet, The Shock of Surrender by Elyakim Ha'etzni, with Timna Katz's translation to English -- originally published in 1986, updated and revised in 2006 in the aftermath of the Expulsion from Gush Katif.

Comments

[Joel]

Ben-Gurion has the blood of Jews on his hands.