Hamaas
Hamaas (Hebrew: המעש, HaMa'as, lit. 'the Action' or 'the Deed') was a weekly publication of the Lehi, an armed Zionist militant group in Mandatory Palestine.[1][2] Other publications by the Lehi included the daily Mivrak ('Telegram'), the monthly HaKhazit ('the Front'), and BaMahteret ('Underground').
The publication first came to public attention in July 1946 after the report of the
The events of 1 November have given a striking expression of the firm resolution of the Jews to fight for the freedom of their homeland. The scope of the attack has proved that the Jews are capable of acting under the most difficult conditions.
However the most significant achievement on that night was that for the first time the attack was coordinated and concentrated. The Jewish Resistance Movement has embraced all the Jewish resistance forces with a view to their being guided by a single authority which would control the common fight. (Hamaas, Issue No. 2., November 1945).[4]
In addition to the Hamaas article the British government published intercepted telegrams between the Jewish Agency in Jerusalem and Zionist leaders in London that demonstrated Jewish Agency control over the formal organisation established by the Haganah, Irgun and Lehi to coordinate their actions, which was known as the Tenuat Hameri (United Resistance Movement).[5]
During the operations mentioned by Hamaas, the Haganah planted 500 explosive devices causing 242 breaks in the railway lines, and damaged the stationmaster's office in
The operations were publicised by the illegal Haganah underground radio station Kol Yisrael.[4] The Mandate authorities and the British government in London were outraged by the intensity of the violence and mobilised additional military forces.[3]
Notes
References
- ISBN 978-1-56000-870-5
- Great Britain, Colonial Office (1946). Palestine: Statement of Information Relating to Acts of Violence, July 1946, Cmd. 6873. London: His Majesty's Stationery Office.
- ISBN 0-88728-155-9
- Rapoport, David C. (2006). Terrorism: The Second or Anti-colonial Wave. Taylor and Francis. ISBN 978-0-415-31650-7