Deir Yassin
Sir: I cannot clarify the point at issue between Anne Connell and David M. Jacobs since I do not have a copy of Menahem Begin's book The Revolt: Story of the Irgun. But there can be no disagreement about the essential fact of Begin's responsibility for and subsequent approval of the events in the village of Deir Yassin. Since Mr Jacobs distrusts Palestinian sources will he accept the evidence of Israeli writers?
In 1948 the commander of the Irgun was Menahem Begin. The army liaison officer who accompanied the Irgun forces into Deir Yassin (Colonel Meir Pa'el) has stated that before the attack the Irgun leaders were told that Deir Yassin was a peaceful village which had a non-belligerency agreement with its neighbours. After the attack, when the shooting had ceased, the men of the Irgun and Stern gangs 'shot whoever they saw, men, women and children, and the commanders did not try to stop the mas
sacre . . . Together with several men from Jerusalem I pleaded with them but to no avail.' Subsequently they refused to bury the 254 bodies and this task had to be car' ried out by the Jewish cadet corps from Jerusalem (Yediot-Ahronot, 4 April 1972).
Following the widespread criticism of this operation the leadership of the Irgun and Stern gangs put out proclamations (April 1948) justifying their achievement. Part of the Stern gang's proclamation read: 'The conquest of Deir Yassin frightened Arabs in all the surrounding villages. In Malcha, in Colognia and in Bet-lksa, the Arabs are in flight.' On the first anniversary of the massacre Yehoshu Ofir, the historian of the Irgun, wrote in Begin's party newspaper (Herut, 5 April 1949): 'The most important consequence of the Deir Yassin affair has been the mass flight of Arabs from towns and villages throughout the country. . . The conquest of Deir Yassin has therefore solved the housing problem for the multitudes of new immigrants.' Later that year Jacob Meridor, Begin's predecessor as the commander of the Irgun, was speaking in the Knesset. In answer to the taunt 'You are scheming. A second Deir Yassin is in the making', he said: 'Thanks to Deir Yassin we won the war, Sir!' (Minutes of the Knesset, 1 August 1948.)
Menahem Begin and his Herut party have always stated that the massacre of Deir Yassin could be justified by its political con sequences. It may be uncomfortable for those who support Israel to see it led by the man who committed one of the worst atrocities of the 1948 war, but to pretend otherwise is to cast unjustified doubt on Mr Begin's admirable political consistency. Patrick Mamham 34 Greek Street, London W1
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