Part 1 of Multi-Part Work
מלחמה בפשיזם
Milḥamah ba-fashizm.
In this pamphlet, LEHI rebuts the accusation that it is a fascist group, distinguishing between "fighters for the freedom of Israel" and "Hebrew fascism." LEHI argues that the British are a colonial and imperial occupier while the Jewish community is the native population fighting for its freedom - just as in other British imperial holdings such as India. The fight to expel the British, even if violent, cannot be fascist, it argues.
Collection
Part of
Jewish Underground Ephemera from Late British Mandate Palestine
These documents capture a fascinating moment in Jewish history, a turmoil-filled “interregnum” of sorts, between the destruction of European Jewry in World War II and the establishment of Israel: the violent fight against the British, efforts to rescue Jewish refugees in Europe and smuggle them into Eretz Israel, diplomatic maneuvering over the end of the British Mandate, the proposed partition of Palestine, and anticipation of a war with the Arab world. But this collection does more than merely capture this moment. It adds nuance and layers to a discourse that can suffer from overly simplified, ahistorical, and context-free narratives about the history of Zionism, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli conflict.