Blue-and-white Fiag of Palestine Presented to Jewish Brigade at Moving Ceremony in Italy

Palestine’s blue and white national flag was formally raised over Jewish Brigade Headquarters today in a simple, quiet ceremony.

The proceedings were so moving that many of the soldiers participating had tears streaking their dust caked faces. They watched the Star of David, which the Nasis had forced them to wear as a badge of shame, unfurled as a symbol of fighting honor. The ceremony took place in a grassy meadow, near a shell-pocked baronial mansion to the constant accompaniment of crashing distant cannon, which sounded like the ruffle of war drums.

The flag was presented to the brigade by the jewish Agency for palestine. Moshe shertok, head of the political department of the jewish Agency, brought the flag from palestine and presented it to Brigadier Ernest Benjamin, Brigade commander, while the troops, in a hollow square, stood stiffly at attention.

The flag was unfurled by the Brigade’s oldest enlisted man, sucher spiegel, whose entire family, except for one uncle living in New Jersey, was massacred by the Nasis, Sgt. Major Spiegel is one of the finest soldiers this correspondent has ever met in any army. when the Brigade is in the line, he fights all 24 hours of the day. As Spiegel unfurled the flag it seemed that all the guns on the front opened up almost drowning out the bugle’s notes.

Shartok addressed the Brigade soldiers, who represented every unit of the outfit. He spoke in Hebrew. He said that at last Palestinians could see the flag for which they had always fought in their hearts. It represented not only their national homeland but “the blood of the 5,000,000 European Jews who had died without a chance to fight back.” He told the Brigade that they were fighting for the opportunity to live a new, peaceful life.