Monday, March 05, 2007

First Jewish Flag in Jerusalem

Today I got the Brit-Am Now-871 newsletter with the following story:
In 1917 the British forces that conquered (then) Palestine
included a contingent of Anzac soldiers. Among them was a Jewish soldier
from New Zealand named Louis Salek. While serving in Egypt he had made
contact with the local Jewish community and was given a Jewish flag, half
blue and half white, with a Star of David in the middle.
In December 1917, Allenby, the British commander, made his official entry
into Jerusalem on foot, through the Jaffa Gate. Corporal Louis Salek (Za"L)
who had prepared for the moment and had the flag in his backpack, quietly
detached himself from the soldiers and climbed up to the top of David's
Tower and flew the flag! As a result for the first 20 minutes of the
official ceremony in Jerusalem of the British conquest of Palestine, a
Jewish flag was flying from David's Tower. 

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