IS and Israel
I’ve recently read an article by Belal Fadl where he talked about a documentary he watched about the Nakba. The documentary laid bare the roles of the Jewish pilots, whether American or of other nationalities in the 1948 war. The pilots who took part in World War II were discharged from their jobs after returning to their countries.
At the beginning of the article, the writer made a clever link between Israel and IS. He said that the Western media is replete with reports about many young Muslims who were born and raised in Western countries, but amazingly they then traveled to fight for IS. He asked what the effect would be if a similar documentary was produced exalting those young Muslims who went to fight in foreign countries defending their religion, and portraying killing and terrifying civilians as great heroism?
After the establishment of the state of Israel, a war broke out. Fearing a repeat of the Holocaust tragedy which was still keenly present in memories then, the pilots joined a covert squad to help Israel build their air force. This force was supported by Zionist businessmen in New York. Donations were collected and faded into the woodwork. A number of planes which had been used in World-War-II were purchased, dismantled and shipped abroad.
These pilots weren't a large number and not all of them supported Zionism. One of them, who became a famous scriptwriter later in Hollywood, said he wasn’t even a practising Jew. What pushed him to join this squad was to fulfill his desire to go back to the battlefield and fly. Others believed that they shouldn’t shrink from defending the Jewish people.
When Arabs made some progress moving toward Tel Aviv, pilots received orders to shorten their training period and quickly joined the war. This huge unplanned risk was taken after showing the pilots what the Arabic press and broadcasters were saying then. Arabic newspapers and radio said that if the Arabs entered Tel Aviv, they wouldn’t leave a Jew alive. They wouldn’t make the same mistake as Hitler and leave some Jews alive. Right after that, the pilots headed to the newborn state to save their “people” which showed how successful the emotional and religious call had been.
A short time later, the Israeli leaders knew they were right about bringing these pilots because the surprise factor turned the table on the Arabs. The Egyptian forces stopped advancing towards Tel Aviv after being bombarded by only four airplanes.
When Israelis saw their planes in the sky, they were delighted that they had the same power as the Arabs but they didn’t know that these pilots weren’t “sons of Israel”.
One of these pilots’ planes was brought down after a clash with the Jordanian air forces. He parachuted down in an area that he thought was for Arabs. He came across some Israeli villagers who shouted in Hebrew and in return thought he was Arab and wanted to kill him. They didn’t know he had come to fight for them. The pilot tried to remember every single word in Hebrew he had heard from his family and started repeating them hysterically. When they found he was a pilot in the Israeli air force, they rolled out the red carpet for him and helped him to get back to the air force base.
Although the pilots’ role was the decisive factor in the victory of that war, Israel didn’t acknowledge it. The reason wasn’t just because they didn’t want these pilots to get arrested by their countries whose laws ban participating with foreign forces. They also saw that sweetness of the victory would vanish if the public knew that victory had been achieved by the help of foreigners, even if they were Jewish.
The writer says it’s sad that whereas Israel had hidden the role of these pilots to raise her people’s spirit and acknowledged it at the right time meanwhile we seal our lips about our defeats and loss just to glorify our dictators and let them avoid being put on trial.
He mentioned that the audience showed sympathy during watching the documentary and applauded as soon as it ended.
These pilots weren't a large number and not all of them supported Zionism. One of them, who became a famous scriptwriter later in Hollywood, said he wasn’t even a practising Jew. What pushed him to join this squad was to fulfill his desire to go back to the battlefield and fly. Others believed that they shouldn’t shrink from defending the Jewish people.
When Arabs made some progress moving toward Tel Aviv, pilots received orders to shorten their training period and quickly joined the war. This huge unplanned risk was taken after showing the pilots what the Arabic press and broadcasters were saying then. Arabic newspapers and radio said that if the Arabs entered Tel Aviv, they wouldn’t leave a Jew alive. They wouldn’t make the same mistake as Hitler and leave some Jews alive. Right after that, the pilots headed to the newborn state to save their “people” which showed how successful the emotional and religious call had been.
A short time later, the Israeli leaders knew they were right about bringing these pilots because the surprise factor turned the table on the Arabs. The Egyptian forces stopped advancing towards Tel Aviv after being bombarded by only four airplanes.
When Israelis saw their planes in the sky, they were delighted that they had the same power as the Arabs but they didn’t know that these pilots weren’t “sons of Israel”.
One of these pilots’ planes was brought down after a clash with the Jordanian air forces. He parachuted down in an area that he thought was for Arabs. He came across some Israeli villagers who shouted in Hebrew and in return thought he was Arab and wanted to kill him. They didn’t know he had come to fight for them. The pilot tried to remember every single word in Hebrew he had heard from his family and started repeating them hysterically. When they found he was a pilot in the Israeli air force, they rolled out the red carpet for him and helped him to get back to the air force base.
Although the pilots’ role was the decisive factor in the victory of that war, Israel didn’t acknowledge it. The reason wasn’t just because they didn’t want these pilots to get arrested by their countries whose laws ban participating with foreign forces. They also saw that sweetness of the victory would vanish if the public knew that victory had been achieved by the help of foreigners, even if they were Jewish.
The writer says it’s sad that whereas Israel had hidden the role of these pilots to raise her people’s spirit and acknowledged it at the right time meanwhile we seal our lips about our defeats and loss just to glorify our dictators and let them avoid being put on trial.
He mentioned that the audience showed sympathy during watching the documentary and applauded as soon as it ended.
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