The Birya affair ( he, העלייה לביריה, ''HaAliya LeBirya'', lit. ''The Ascent to Birya'') was an attempt by the British army to take over Kibbutz

Birya Birya ( he, בִּירִיָּה, also Biriya) is an agricultural village in northern Israel. Located in the Upper Galilee near Safed, it falls under the jurisdiction of the Merom HaGalil Regional Council. As of its population was . Biriya exist ...

during the British Mandate for Palestine.

History

On March 5, 1946, British soldiers searched the new settlement of Birya, in the northern Galilee, near the city of Safed, and having found hidden weapons, arrested all 24 inhabitants and declared the settlement an "Occupied military zone".Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry, Public Security
/ref> The Jewish Zionist leadership saw the British action as a dangerous precedence against Jewish settlements and as violation of the Jews' right to settle freely in the Land of Israel. On March 14 (Yud-Alef Adar, close to the date of

Tel Hai Tel Hai ( he, תֵּל חַי [] "Hill of Life") is a name of the former Jewish settlement in northern Galilee, the site of an early battle between Jews and Arabs heralding the growing civil conflict, and of a monument, tourist attraction, and a c ...

events) thousands of young people, organized by the

Hagana Haganah ( he, הַהֲגָנָה, lit. ''The Defence'') was the main Zionist paramilitary organization of the Jewish population ("Yishuv") in Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and its disestablishment in 1948, when it became the core of the Is ...

underground climbed the mountain on which Birya was built and resettled it, proclaiming their tents "Birya Bet" (the second Birya). After a few hours they were driven off by British armoured cars and

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...

s, only to reappear the same night and build "Birya Gimel" (the third Birya). On March 17 the British authorities agreed to the presence of 20 Jewish settlers on Birya soil. The affair was considered a great triumph for Zionist resistance to British rule in Palestine, and was the subject of books and poems. The

Bnei Akiva Bnei Akiva ( he, בְּנֵי עֲקִיבָא, , "Children of Akiva") is the largest religious Zionist youth movement in the world, with over 125,000 members in 42 countries. It was first established in Mandatory Palestine in 1929. History B ...

youth movement marks the event by marching to Birya on the Hebrew date (Yud Alef Adar, 11th of Adar) of the 1946 ascent to Birya.

References

External links

The Birya affair on the Palmach site
1946 in Mandatory Palestine Jewish insurgency in Mandatory Palestine {{israel-stub

History

See also

References

External links