Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer
By: Kimberly Cruse
The Israel War of Independence
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The first large-scale assaults began on January 9, 1948, when
approximately 1,000 Arabs attacked Jewish communities in
northern Palestine.
The Arabs rejected the partition of Palestine and refused to set
up the projected Arab state
The British administration, then still governing Palestine under
the Mandate, refused to carry out the recommendations of the
United Nations to implement the partition plan.
The British government made it plain that it would do all in its
power to prevent the birth of the Jewish state.
Britain announced that she would not -- and indeed, she did not
-- carry out the orderly transfer of any functions to the Jewish
authorities in the Interim before the end of the Mandate on May
15, 1948.
The Israel War of Independence
(Cont.)
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Immediately after the United Nations Assembly decision, the
Palestine Arabs launched their preliminary ambush on the
Jewish community
The British Army gave them considerable cover and aid.
It obstructed Jewish defense on the ground
It blocked the movement of Jewish reinforcements and supplies
to outlying settlements
It opened the land frontiers for the entry of Arab soldiers from
the neighboring Arab states
It maintained a blockade in the Mediterranean and sealed the
coast and ports
The End of the Independence War
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Even after a strongly-worded Resolution of May 29, 1948
ordering a four-week cease-fire, they went on fighting, and it
took lengthy negotiations by the UN Mediator to bring the
truce into force on June 11th.
Towards the end of the four weeks, the Council appealed to the
parties to prolong the truce.
Israel responded, but the Arabs did not, and hostilities were
resumed on July 9, 1948.
The War proceeded through the rest of 1948 with a series of
truces, frequently broken, to the negotiated agreements that
ended the war in 1949.
The End of the Independence War
(Cont.)
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Fighting ended with a cease-fire January 7, 1949
The War of Independence was formally terminated on July 20,
1949 with the signing of the Israel-Syria armistice agreement.
Only Iraq did not sign an armistice agreement with Israel. It
preferred to withdraw its troops and hand over its sector to the
Arab Legion of Jordan.
At the end of the War of Independence in 1949, Jerusalem was
left divided, with a border running through the city and cutting
neighborhoods, streets, even houses.
Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer
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Came out in 1955
Israeli film
Black and White
1 hour 45 minutes
Directed by Thorold Dickinson
Cast: Edward Mulhare, Haya Harareet, Michael Shilo, Michael
Wager, Shoshana Damari
Hill 24 Doesn’t Answer (Cont.)
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Based on stories by Zvi Kolitz, Hill 24 Doesn't Answer, is a
series of episodes. A group of young soldiers, one woman and
three men, (an American, a native-born Jew, an ex-member of
the British protectorate and a Yemenite woman) has been
assigned to secure one of the hilltops on the road to Jerusalem
during the last hours of the War of Independence (1948), before
the UN cease-fire comes into affect. The entire film is told as a
flashback and therefore the viewer knows at the start that the
four soldiers do not survive.
Sources
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http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hill_24_doesnt_answer/
http://www.jhvc.org/video_library/index.php?film_id=25
http://www.moviesunlimited.com/musite/product.asp?sku=
537236++
http://www.jfw.at/alte_jahre/1998/body_givah_24_einah_o
nah___hill_24_.html
Many other…