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1948 bombing of the Semiramis Hotel...
1948 bombing of the Semiramis Hotel...
Item # 721248
January 06, 1948
THE SPRINGFIELD UNION, Mass., January 6, 1948
* Semiramis Hotel bombing
* British Mandate of Palestine
* Hajanah - Israel Defense Forces
Page 7 has a somewhat discrete report with one column heading: "Eight More Arabs Killed by Jewish 'Heavy Bombing'" (see image)
Complete with 22 pages, light toning at the margins, generally nice.
AI notes: The Semiramis Hotel bombing occurred on the night of January 5–6, 1948, in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood, amid the civil conflict preceding the end of the British Mandate in Palestine. Carried out by the Jewish paramilitary group Haganah, the attack targeted a Christian-owned hotel that the attackers claimed was being used as a meeting point and arms distribution center for local Arab irregular forces. The bombing destroyed a significant portion of the building and killed between 24 and 26 people, including civilians and the Spanish vice-consul, Manuel Allende Salazar. While the Haganah justified the operation as a military necessity, historians and contemporaneous accounts dispute whether the hotel was actually a legitimate military target, noting that many victims were non-combatants. The attack heightened fear among the Arab population of Jerusalem, contributing to displacement from mixed neighborhoods like Katamon, and drew strong condemnation from British authorities, who were still administering the city. It remains a contested and emblematic event of the 1947–1948 civil war phase, illustrating the blurred lines between military operations and civilian casualties in the escalating conflict over Jerusalem.
Category: The 20th Century
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