Brit HaBirionim (Hebrew: ברית הבריונים, variously translated as The Strongmen Alliance,[1] Alliance of the Hoodlums,[2] and The Covenant of the Outlaws[3]) was a clandestine, self-declared fascist faction of the Revisionist Zionist Movement (ZRM) in Mandatory Palestine, active between 1930 and 1933.[4][5] It was founded by Abba Ahimeir, Uri Zvi Greenberg and Yehoshua Yeivin.
Brit HaBirionim ברית הבריונים | |
|---|---|
| Historical leaders | Abba Ahimeir Uri Zvi Greenberg Yehoshua Yeivin |
| Founded | 1930 |
| Dissolved | 1933 |
| Headquarters | Jerusalem |
| Ideology | Revisionist Zionism Revisionist Maximalism Fascism Anti-communism |
| Political position | Far-right |
| Religion | Judaism |
| Colors | Black (official) Blue (informal) |
History
The 1929 Palestine riots and the Haganah's inability to successfully prevent the 1929 Hebron and Safed massacres led to the creation of the first militant organization characterized by its complete disassociation from the existing Zionist establishment.[6] Brit HaBirionim was founded in October 1930 and was right-wing and nationalist in its orientation in contrast to the Labor Zionism majority.[2]
Ideology
The organization's ideology was Revisionist Maximalism, which was modelled upon Italian Fascism;[4][5][7] Ahimeir suggested that Ze'ev Jabotinsky be referred to as 'duce'.[8][9] The group also was influenced by the ancient Jewish Sicarii insurgents.[2]
Brit HaBirionim was part of the Zionist Revisionist Movement (ZRM). Its formerly socialist members primarily targeted the British and other Zionists rather than Arabs.[9] It sought to create an integralist nationalism among Jews.[10] It looked unfavorably upon liberal Zionists for only being for middle-class Jews rather than all Jews, including the poor.[11][12] In 1932, Ahimeir also called for
- the creation of an independent Zionist federation;
- a "war on funds" to end corruption in the Zionist movement;
- a war on anti-Semitism.[13] The movement's motto was "conquer or die".[7]
Operations
Members of Brit HaBirionim carried out several "minor operations", including demonstrations against the British, interfering with British census takers, removing the Nazi flag from two German consulates, and other activities that would now be considered religious freedom but at the time were forbidden for Jews, e.g. blowing the Shofar at the Western Wall in celebration of Rosh Hashanah.[14][15]
In 1933, the British Mandatory Authority arrested Ahimeir, and charged him with the murder of Chaim Arlosoroff. He was fully acquitted of the charges in 1934, by which time the group had dissolved.[15]
Some of the group became members of Irgun and Lehi.[16] Gershon Schatz, for instance, joined Lehi.[17]
References
- ^ Casif, Erez (2014-01-08). Why was the State of Israel 'Really' Established?. Cambridge Scholars Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4438-5563-1.
- ^ a b c Ben-Yehuda, Nachman (1996-01-01). Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel. Univ of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-14833-1.
- ^ Gur-Ze'ev, Ilan (1997). "Total Quality Management and Power/Knowledge Dialectics in the Israeli Army". Journal of Thought. 32 (1): 9–36. ISSN 0022-5231. JSTOR 42589479.
- ^ a b Kaplan, The Jewish Radical Right. University of Wisconsin Press, 2005. p15
- ^ a b Shindler, Colin. The Triumph of Military Zionism: Nationalism and the Origins of the Israeli Right. I.B.Tauris, 2006. p13.
- ^ Weinberg, Leonard; Ami Pedahzur (2004). Religious fundamentalism and political extremism. Routledge. p. 97. ISBN 978-0-7146-5492-8.
- ^ a b Ofira Seliktar. New Zionism and the foreign policy system of Israel. Beckenham, England, UK: Croom Helm, Ltd., 1986. p. 84
- ^ Peleg, Ilan (2005). "The Zionist Right and Constructivist Realism: Ideological Persistence and Tactical Readjustment". Israel Studies. 10 (3): 127–153. doi:10.2979/ISR.2005.10.3.127. ISSN 1084-9513. JSTOR 30245770. S2CID 144141400.
- ^ a b McGlynn, Margaret (2004-12-20). The Royal Prerogative and the Learning of the Inns of Court. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-511-05737-3.
- ^ Larsen, p364-365.
- ^ Kaplan, p15
- ^ Shindler, Colin. The Triumph of Military Zionism: Nationalism and the Origins of the Israeli Right. I.B.Tauris, 2006. p. 156.
- ^ Larsen, Stein Ugelvik (ed.). Fascism Outside of Europe. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-88033-988-8. p. 378.
- ^ Golan, Zev. Free Jerusalem: Heroes, Heroines and Rogues Who Created the State of Israel, (Israel: Devora, 2003), pp. 49-53, 66-77.
- ^ a b "Terrorism Experts". Archived from the original on 2007-12-17. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
- ^ Ben-Yehuda, Nachman (2012-02-01). Political Assassinations by Jews: A Rhetorical Device for Justice. SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-9637-4.
- ^ "נסיכי הליכוד: ילדי המחתרת שהפכו למנהיגי המדינה" ["The Likud princes: the children of the underground who became the leaders of the state"]. Makor Rishon (in Hebrew). 2015-04-17. Retrieved 2023-09-03.