Article Preview
The Moyne Case: A Tragic History
- Abstract
Eliahu Hakim and Eliahu Bet-Zouri are figures in a tragic history. The two Jewish youths—the one 18, the other 22—who assassinated Lord Moyne, British Minister Resident in Cairo last autumn, are dead. But the deed for which they died and the motives which led them to such a suicidal act must be understood in correct perspective if we are to understand at all that vast complex of human hopes and human desperations which is Jewish Palestine today.
The noblest voice in Britain called them gangsters. They stole across the borders of Palestine into Egypt—one in the uniform of a British soldier—and in stealth they made their plans and in stealth they ambushed His Majesty’s minister, and shot and killed him. They were caught and they were tried. Their trial was held on an international stage with political intrigues and opposing nationalisms clashing behind a veil of wartime censorship. They were found guilty and they were hanged. What would lead two Jews, belonging to a people which has suffered such a woeful martyrdom to violence, to turn to violence themselves?
About the Author
This article is available for purchase to subscribers and for individual purchase
Subscriber Sign In
Not A Subscriber?
