An announcement that the five leaders of the Irgun now under detention by the Israeli Government–including Peter Bergson, co-president of the American League for a Free Palestine–will begin an “until death” hunger strike tomorrow following the court verdict that their arrest is legal, was made today by Menachem Beigin, Irgun chief.
Beigin made this announcement at a press conference at which he explained that the five Irgunists are kept “in the first Jewish concentration camp in history,” he said that he himself was responsible for the attempt to land arms in Israel during the first U.N. truce period on the ship “Altalena,” for which the five Irgunists were arrested. He demanded that the Israeli authorities arrest him, too.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.