betartagaruklogo  


Join our email list here:
subscribe
unsubscribe
 




VIEW MORE EVENTS >>


Joseph Trupeldor

Born December 1, 1880, Died March 1, 1920

Tel Hai, an isolated little Jewish settlement located in the northern-most point of Palestine, close to the Syrian border, saw the fall of Captain Joseph Trumpeldor in a battle against an Arab horde. Today the words, "Tel Hai," serve as the password and salutation of Brit-Trumpeldor, Betar, to impress on the Jewish mind determination to fight for our rights in the land of Israel.

He was a Jew. Of his own accord in his early youth, he came to the conclusion that our place was in the Land of Israel and that Jewish youth must prepare itself and fight for that goal.

He was also a Russian subject, and when the Russo-Japanese War broke out, he volunteered for service as a private in the Russian Army. When asked how he reconciled this action with his opposition to the persecution of Jews in Russia, Trumpeldor explained that he felt obliged to fulfill his obligations as a citizen despite the sins of the Russian Government and that, what was even more important, he wanted to prove by his action that the charge of Jewish cowardice was false.

This he proved to the hilt. During the defense of Port Arthur he volunteered for service in the Shock Troops which bore the brunt of Japanese attacks. In the battle on Ugloway Hill a shrapnel splinter shattered his left arm which had to be amputated above the elbow. After his wound was healed, he wrote his company commander: "I have only one hand left but it is the right one. I wish you would let me carry a sword or a revolver." His wish was granted and he was made a non-commissioned officer. He displayed such outstanding heroism in action that he received all four of the highest decorations for bravery, the only Jew in the Russian Empire to be so honored. He was taken prisoner when Port Arthur surrendered and spent a year in a Japanese prison.

Returning from imprisonment Trumpeldor began to work on his project -- preparation of Halutzim (pioneers) for the land of Israel. In the autumn of 1912, he went to Palestine and began to put his plan into operation. However, he did not have much time for this work. He was among the first Jews to be deported by the Turkish government immediately after the outbreak of the World War. In Alexandria, where the refugees were stranded, he met Ze'ev Jabotinsky and began a new chapter in his life.

Jabotinsky had just proposed the formation of a Jewish Legion to fight with the Allies for Palestine. Trumpeldor grasped the meaning and the importance of the Legion immediately and plunged wholeheartedly into the task of creating it. When the first recruits for the Legion were gathered, the formation of a Zion Mule Corps was proposed, which would serve the English forces at Gallipoli. Trumpeldor declared that it made no difference where the Turks would be defeated or on what part of the great front the Legion would fight. He led the Jewish soldiers into the thick of the battle under the command of the great Colonel Patterson.

When the Gallipoli adventure was abandoned, the Zion Mule Corps was disbanded. Trumpeldor returned to Russia with the intention of creating there a vast Jewish Army which would join Jabotinsky's newly-formed genuine Jewish Legion in Eretz Israel and thus secure the land for the Jews. While he was in Russia, however, the Revolution broke out and nothing could be done in the ensuing chaos. Everywhere Jews were in danger of pogroms, and Trumpeldor organized a self-defense unit in Petrograd which assured the safety of the Jewish population there. Then he returned to Palestine.

Meanwhile the question arose as to just where the boundary line was between Syria and Palestine. Three small Jewish settlements, Metulla, Tel Hai, and Ayelet Hashachar lay in the disputed region from which both the French and the British troops withdrew until the matter was decided. The Arabs decided to take advantage of the situation by attacking these colonies. On the last day of 1919, Metulla was almost entirely destroyed and the villages of Kefar Giladi and Tel Hai were attacked. The Jewish settlers decided to withdraw from these exposed places. It was then that Trumpeldor, realizing the importance of retaining that region as part of Eretz Israel, organized a group of volunteers, consisting of thirty-five men and two women, and set out to hold Tel Hai against Arab attacks.

On the morning of the 11th of Adar, March 1, 1920, a band of several hundred Arabs made its first attack. It was beaten off. The band left but soon returned with reinforcements. Again they were repelled. This time Trumpeldor was severely wounded. When he saw that a third attack by a force of more than two thousand Bedouins was imminent, he refused to allow his men to carry him indoors but remained to direct the defense of the settlement. The Arabs approached under a white flag and a sheik of the neighborhood asked to speak to Trumpeldor. When the latter appeared, there was a rifle volley and the Arabs turned their horses and fled. Trumpeldor fell, pierced through the abdomen.

That night he spoke to his sorrowing companions as they stood around the death bed. "En davar," (it doesn't matter), he said to still their grief; "it is good to die for our country."

------

There have been many famous Betaris throught our long history. You can click on the links below to read about these special and brave individuals.

 

 


Search article archive:

Israeli government surrenders to terrorism.. again By David Shalom with Betar UK - 16th Jul 08

What is a proportionate response? By Tom Carew - 5th Mar 08

Extortion Payout to Arab Mafia By Steven Shamrak - 6th Jan 08

On dialogue between Jews and Muslims By Isi Leibler - 1st Jan 08

Wake up call - Time to stop Annapolis Madness By David Shalom - 19th Nov 07

The Enemy Within By David Shalom - 8th Aug 07

Boycott Anglo Jewry By Jeremy Rosen - 22nd Jul 07

The Internal Fighting Between Hamas and Fatah in Gaza By Leon Ruskin - 27th Jun 07

A day in the life of Hebrew University By Angela Bertz - 6th Jun 07

In the Trenches: Why the British journalists union boycotts Israel By David Harris - 20th Apr 07

British journalists union boycott motion reflects deep animosity towards Israel By Chas Newkey Burden - 20th Apr 07

Weakness fosters anti-Semitism By ISI LEIBLER - 6th Nov 06

The media war against Israel By Melanie Philips - 5th Sep 06

The Civilian Casualties Are Aweful, But Israel Is Fighting For Its Existence By Richard Littlejohn - 4th Aug 06

Evidence mounts that Qana collapse and deaths were staged. By Reuven Koret - 31st Jul 06

Seeing Through The Fog Of War, The Truth... By Bernard J. Shapiro - 30th Jul 06

Why Israels Reaction to Hezbollah is Right By Matthias Küntzel - 28th Jul 06

Hezbollah, The war against Israel By Melanie Phillips - 27th Jul 06

Lunatic, Terrorist, Suicide Society By Amnon Dankner, Editor of Maariv Newspaper - 29th Jun 06

Those who celebrate death By Michael Freund - 16th May 06

Terror and Peace By Dori Gamliel - 1st Mar 06

Why the Hamas Victory is a Good Thing By Steven Plaut - 30th Jan 06

Two faces of an old bully By Shmuel Katz - 2nd Jan 06

Why Syria Welcomed David Duke By Dr. Rafael Medoff - 3rd Dec 05

The Right Strategy By Caroline Glick - 21st Oct 05

The Deliverance of Israel By Caleb Corbin - 15th Oct 05

Hold Palestinians accountable for Gaza synagogues destruction By Jerusalem Post - 14th Sep 05

Speech at Duke University by a Lebanese Christian By Brigitte Gabriel - 9th Sep 05

Was Arafat a Homosexual that died of Aids-UPDATED By Yaniv - 8th Sep 05

The End of Myhtology By Caroline Glick - 27th Aug 05

Is "Disengagement" promoting security, democracy and the economy? By Yoram Ettinger - 16th Aug 05

Ethnic Cleansing By Joseph Farah - 5th Aug 05

Does Corruption Drive Israeli Disengagement? By Rachel Neuwirth - 1st Aug 05

Where Now for the National Camp? By David Shalom - 20th Jul 05

The Beginning of the Reckoning By Caroline Glick - 17th Jul 05

'Orange fever' strikes Israel, Campaign colors country to stop Gaza evacuation By Aaron Klein - 13th Jul 05

The Israelification of Europe By Mark Steyn - 13th Jul 05

The BBC discovers ‘terrorism,’ briefly By Tom Gross - 12th Jul 05

The Lynch Against the Maoz Yam Hotel By Nadia Matar - 6th Jul 05

Disengaged from Reality By David Shalom - 6th Jul 05

Ariel Sharon - A coward for prime minister By Caroline Glick - 23rd Jun 05

A bolshevik state comes to Israel? By Israel Hanukoglu / Betar/ Women in Green - 19th May 05

This Year, Free Men? By Avi Hyman - 26th Apr 05

A dying lion that can still do harm/Britain's slide into self-destruction By Caroline Glick - 25th Apr 05

Pollard's freedom and our freedom By Caroline Glick - 24th Apr 05

BETAR joins fight for Gush Katif By Betar - 12th Apr 05

What Bush doesn't understand By Dr. Ron Breiman - 12th Apr 05

The Temple Mount Secret By Boris Shusteff - 11th Apr 05

Betar fights PLO on Oxford street By Betar-Tagar UK - 3rd Apr 05

Our World: The Holocaust Fetish By Caroline Glick - 2nd Apr 05


VIEW MORE ARTICLES >>

All Graphics Text, Control Management System Copyright Betar Tagar UK 2002 - Web Designers KD Web web designers kd web

 

 

web designers kd web