What do you think?
Rate this book
I Am A Palestinian Jew
Margalit Edelson’s Eyewitness Account To The 1948 Birth of the State of Israel and Her Role in the Irgun.
With historical background, this memoir, I Am A Palestinian Jew, covers the period between Margalit Edelson’s birth in 1930 in Jerusalem through the period until the birth of the new state of Israel in 1948. She is a Jewish child living in Palestine under the British Mandate. Her family home, living conditions, Arab attacks, her family’s friendship with an elite Arab family, her school environment, visits to the Kotel, and the onset of World War II are described. So are the ordinary things that children like to do.
As a teenager, Margalit joins the Irgun . She writes about her experiences as a member of this underground organization, including her unique connection with the commander of the Irgun , Menachem Begin, while he is on board the about-to-be-blown-up Altalena.
“It was difficult to set up our state. Tens of generations and millions of wanderers from one land of massacre to another ... burning at the stake and torture in the dungeons, the sweat and toil of generations of pioneers and builders, the uprising of rebels to crush the enemy, the gallows, the banishment beyond seas, the cages in the deserts – all this was necessary for Hebrew independence to be declared in at least part of the country, the whole of which is ours.” ... A portion of what Menachem Begin, commander of the Irgun, tells the new Jewish Nation on May 15, 1948, from the Irgun radio station Kol Zion Halochemet – Voice of the Fighting Zion. (Menachem Begin becomes the Prime Minister of Israel in 1977.)
With historical background, this memoir, I Am A Palestinian Jew, covers the period between Margalit Edelson’s birth in 1930 in Jerusalem through the period until the birth of the new state of Israel in 1948. She is a Jewish child living in Palestine under the British Mandate. Her family home, living conditions, Arab attacks, her family’s friendship with an elite Arab family, her school environment, visits to the Kotel, and the onset of World War II are described. So are the ordinary things that children like to do.
As a teenager, Margalit joins the Irgun . She writes about her experiences as a member of this underground organization, including her unique connection with the commander of the Irgun , Menachem Begin, while he is on board the about-to-be-blown-up Altalena.
“It was difficult to set up our state. Tens of generations and millions of wanderers from one land of massacre to another ... burning at the stake and torture in the dungeons, the sweat and toil of generations of pioneers and builders, the uprising of rebels to crush the enemy, the gallows, the banishment beyond seas, the cages in the deserts – all this was necessary for Hebrew independence to be declared in at least part of the country, the whole of which is ours.” ... A portion of what Menachem Begin, commander of the Irgun, tells the new Jewish Nation on May 15, 1948, from the Irgun radio station Kol Zion Halochemet – Voice of the Fighting Zion. (Menachem Begin becomes the Prime Minister of Israel in 1977.)
204 pages, Paperback
Published May 1, 2023
2 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 5, 2025
This was an engaging memoir of a young woman who was born and grew up in 1930s Jerusalem, then under the British Mandate. The author's childhood memories, along with her passion for the Irgun, make for a fascinating tale. Her insights and tangential involvement with the Altalena affair were compelling, and her account of the massacre of the Hadassah convoy as well as her factual rebuttal of the Deir Yassin fabrication were vigorous and strong, and showed how events of the time deeply impacted on every day people.
Two small detractions - there were some memories that were repeated, which gave a slightly rambling feel, and a number of times the narrative slipped into the present-tense, which I have always found to be a difficult way to tell a story.
Overall, Edelson's voice adds an important contribution to the discourse today.
Two takeaways - 1) how different life would have been if the Nashashibi family had won over the Husseinis and 2) this confirmed my dislike for Ben-Gurion and my respect for Begin.
Two small detractions - there were some memories that were repeated, which gave a slightly rambling feel, and a number of times the narrative slipped into the present-tense, which I have always found to be a difficult way to tell a story.
Overall, Edelson's voice adds an important contribution to the discourse today.
Two takeaways - 1) how different life would have been if the Nashashibi family had won over the Husseinis and 2) this confirmed my dislike for Ben-Gurion and my respect for Begin.
July 16, 2023
Remarkable story a memoir with historical facts from birth of author to present and future about the beginning of the state of Israel . Well written experiences of her childhood and time in the Irgun.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews