1952 Beit Jala raid
Encyclopedia
The Beit Jala Raid was an Israel
i attack on Beit Jala
, an Arab town on the border between Jordan
and Israel (today part of the Palestinian territories
) on January 6, 1952. Seven Palestinian Arab civilians were killed in the attack. Based on leaflets dropped at the site it was presumed to be revenge for the rape and murder of a Jewish girl by infiltrators from Beit Jala, even though international investigators found no evidence of Jordanian infiltration.
On December 4, 1951, a Jewish girl who was walking home from the bus stop in the Bayit VeGan
neighborhood of Jerusalem, Leah Feistinger, was raped and murdered and mutilated. Her body was found hidden in a cave about a mile from the Jordan/Israel cease fire line
inside Israeli territory.
Major Loreaux, an investigating officer from the Mixed Armistice Commissions
(MAC), the UN
organization responsible for monitoring violations of the 1949 Armistice Agreements
, reported to MAC chairman Commander E. H. Hutchison and Commandant G. Bouvet that the girl had been raped and murdered, and her face mutilated. Loreaux reported that he saw no evidence of Jordanian infiltration and suggested that the Israeli police investigate the murder.
Israel claimed the perpetrators were Said Salah Jam'an, Jamil Muhammad Mujarrab and Muhammad Mansi, three residents of Beit Jala.
were rigged with explosives and blown up. According to Hutchison, the upper floor of the first house was completely destroyed. The lower part of the house, which had been built into the side of the hill, was still partially intact, with bullet holes visible in the walls and doors. The inhabitants, a twenty-three-year-old Arab and his wife, were killed in the blast. Only one wall was damaged in the second house. The windows were shattered and the walls were pockmarked with bullets. A mother and her four children, ranging in age from 6 to 14, were found dead in the third house. When one of the demolition charges failed the attackers used grenades.
The perpetrators left leaflets in Arabic
at the site which read as follows:
at Beit Jala on behalf of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO). Israel denied her involvement and J.E. Chadwick, a diplomat at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv
, thought it had been the work of Israeli vigilantes. Hutchison reported that the demolition charges had Israeli markings and machine-guns were used Benny Morris
concludes that the raid was carried out by an IDF platoon and that Western diplomats were not convinced that the Feistinger rape-murder had been carried out by infiltrators. In April 1953 the US consul general in Jerusalem wrote: "It was never shown that the act was not committed by her Israeli boy-friend".
" in the Beit Jala reprisal raid.
Israel denied IDF involvement in the raid, and abstained from voting while Jordan and the MAC chairman condemned Israel.
The chief of the Arab Legion
, John Bagot Glubb
, stated that the Israelis had a psychological need to bully their weaker neighbors
The British Embassy in Tel Aviv called the raids "simple reprisals, designed to make Arab infiltration unpopular in the Arab villages". The ambassador compared Israeli/IDF raids with British reprisals against Egypt
ians in the Suez Canal
area.
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i attack on Beit Jala
Beit Jala
Beit Jala is an Arab Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank. Beit Jala is located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem, at altitude...
, an Arab town on the border between Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
and Israel (today part of the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
) on January 6, 1952. Seven Palestinian Arab civilians were killed in the attack. Based on leaflets dropped at the site it was presumed to be revenge for the rape and murder of a Jewish girl by infiltrators from Beit Jala, even though international investigators found no evidence of Jordanian infiltration.
Background
In 1949-1953, there were 99 complaints made by Israel about the infiltration of armed groups or individuals and 30 complaints of armed Jordanian units crossing into Israeli territory. Jordan complained of 5 armed groups or individuals infiltrating and 162 of armed Israeli units crossing into Jordanian territory. One such gang was led by Muhammad Mansi and Jamil Muhammad Mujarrab, who had raped and murdered a Jewish girl in Jerusalem's Katamon neighborhood in February 1951. Mansi was detained by the Jordanians but released and placed on surveillance. The Israeli authorities passed on information that he was stockpiling explosives.On December 4, 1951, a Jewish girl who was walking home from the bus stop in the Bayit VeGan
Bayit Vegan
Bayit VeGan is a neighborhood in southwest Jerusalem, Israel, with a mostly charedi religious population. Bayit VeGan is located to the east of Mount Herzl and borders the neighborhoods of Kiryat Hayovel and Givat Mordechai. The Shaare Zedek Medical Center is located near Bayit VeGan...
neighborhood of Jerusalem, Leah Feistinger, was raped and murdered and mutilated. Her body was found hidden in a cave about a mile from the Jordan/Israel cease fire line
Green Line (Israel)
Green Line refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbours after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...
inside Israeli territory.
Major Loreaux, an investigating officer from the Mixed Armistice Commissions
Mixed Armistice Commissions
The Mixed Armistice Commissions is an organisation for monitoring the ceasefire along the lines set by the General Armistice Agreements. It was composed of United Nations Military Observers and was part of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization peacekeeping force in the Middle East...
(MAC), the UN
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
organization responsible for monitoring violations of the 1949 Armistice Agreements
1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established armistice lines between Israeli forces and the forces in...
, reported to MAC chairman Commander E. H. Hutchison and Commandant G. Bouvet that the girl had been raped and murdered, and her face mutilated. Loreaux reported that he saw no evidence of Jordanian infiltration and suggested that the Israeli police investigate the murder.
Israel claimed the perpetrators were Said Salah Jam'an, Jamil Muhammad Mujarrab and Muhammad Mansi, three residents of Beit Jala.
Reprisal raid
On January 6, 1952, three houses in Beit JalaBeit Jala
Beit Jala is an Arab Christian town in the Bethlehem Governorate of the West Bank. Beit Jala is located 10 km south of Jerusalem, on the western side of the Hebron road, opposite Bethlehem, at altitude...
were rigged with explosives and blown up. According to Hutchison, the upper floor of the first house was completely destroyed. The lower part of the house, which had been built into the side of the hill, was still partially intact, with bullet holes visible in the walls and doors. The inhabitants, a twenty-three-year-old Arab and his wife, were killed in the blast. Only one wall was damaged in the second house. The windows were shattered and the walls were pockmarked with bullets. A mother and her four children, ranging in age from 6 to 14, were found dead in the third house. When one of the demolition charges failed the attackers used grenades.
The perpetrators left leaflets in Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
at the site which read as follows:
Investigation
Major Hutchison investigated the Jordanian complaint of a violation of the General Armistice agreement1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established armistice lines between Israeli forces and the forces in...
at Beit Jala on behalf of the United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation (UNTSO). Israel denied her involvement and J.E. Chadwick, a diplomat at the British Embassy in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
, thought it had been the work of Israeli vigilantes. Hutchison reported that the demolition charges had Israeli markings and machine-guns were used Benny Morris
Benny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
concludes that the raid was carried out by an IDF platoon and that Western diplomats were not convinced that the Feistinger rape-murder had been carried out by infiltrators. In April 1953 the US consul general in Jerusalem wrote: "It was never shown that the act was not committed by her Israeli boy-friend".
Reactions
The United Nations Truce Supervision Organisation issued a condemnation to Israel for the "serious breach of the General Armistice Agreement1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established armistice lines between Israeli forces and the forces in...
" in the Beit Jala reprisal raid.
Israel denied IDF involvement in the raid, and abstained from voting while Jordan and the MAC chairman condemned Israel.
The chief of the Arab Legion
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...
, John Bagot Glubb
John Bagot Glubb
Lieutenant-General Sir John Bagot Glubb KCB, CMG, DSO, OBE, MC better known as Glubb Pasha , was a British soldier, scholar and author, best known for leading and training Transjordan's Arab Legion 1939-1956 as its commanding general...
, stated that the Israelis had a psychological need to bully their weaker neighbors
The British Embassy in Tel Aviv called the raids "simple reprisals, designed to make Arab infiltration unpopular in the Arab villages". The ambassador compared Israeli/IDF raids with British reprisals against Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ians in the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
area.