The original article in the New York Times read: "In one of the most hopeful periods of their troubled history the Jewish people here gave sigh of relief and took a new hold on life.,
It started on Friday afternoon 14-May-1948, in Tel Aviv, just before the Jewish Shabat, Ben Gurion gathered the Moezet Haam to witness and vote, against all his advisers' recommendations, on establishment of the new State of Israel.
Jerusalem was viewed a centerpiece of the new country and it was under a siege. The whole country was under a threat of invasion (should a new state will be declared), from the Arab countries, including non neighbors like Iraq.
My uncle and many others RIP died defending Jerusalem and the new state. The number of Israelies died in the following war was 1% of the total population. Ben Gurion later (1970's) said that he had feared many more casualties on the Israeli side, while he was speaking and proudly declaring the independence of the new country. Thus, 2000 years of survival, dreams and prayers had come to a crucial moment of "now or never".
In the picture below is a view of the no-man's land area dividing West and East Jerusalem, up until 1967. The photo taken during 1960's shows on the left the public housing the Israeli government built for new immigrants in Israel, while in the background one can see the Citadel of David on the Jordanian side.
Here is a page from Amos Oz excellent book A Tale of Love and Darkness, giving an eyewitness account of the excitement a few months before the 14-May-1948 Independence Declaration:
It started on Friday afternoon 14-May-1948, in Tel Aviv, just before the Jewish Shabat, Ben Gurion gathered the Moezet Haam to witness and vote, against all his advisers' recommendations, on establishment of the new State of Israel.
Jerusalem was viewed a centerpiece of the new country and it was under a siege. The whole country was under a threat of invasion (should a new state will be declared), from the Arab countries, including non neighbors like Iraq.
My uncle and many others RIP died defending Jerusalem and the new state. The number of Israelies died in the following war was 1% of the total population. Ben Gurion later (1970's) said that he had feared many more casualties on the Israeli side, while he was speaking and proudly declaring the independence of the new country. Thus, 2000 years of survival, dreams and prayers had come to a crucial moment of "now or never".
In the picture below is a view of the no-man's land area dividing West and East Jerusalem, up until 1967. The photo taken during 1960's shows on the left the public housing the Israeli government built for new immigrants in Israel, while in the background one can see the Citadel of David on the Jordanian side.
Here is a page from Amos Oz excellent book A Tale of Love and Darkness, giving an eyewitness account of the excitement a few months before the 14-May-1948 Independence Declaration:
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