H Haganah The Haganah (Hebrew for “defense”) was an underground Jewish paramilitary organization created during the British mandate in Palestine in 1920 The Haganah began as a small voluntary body of men called Ha Shomer, formed to guard Jewish settlements, or kibbutzim The Haganah consisted of soldiers who had fought for the British in World War I as well as local farmers who were determined to defend their property from Arab attacks After the Arab riots of 1920 and 1921, when Jews and their property fell under attack, the Jewish population realized that the British administrators would nothing to guarantee their safety and that they had to learn to defend themselves At this time, the Haganah was poorly armed and not well coordinated Its duties mainly consisted of guarding the borders between Arab and Jewish populations In the Arab-Jewish clashes of 1929, the Haganah improved as a defense organization by securing their three main sectors in Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, and Haifa as well as in other settlements of Palestine The Haganah became a countrywide organization including men and women of all ages from both kibbutzim and the cities Training programs as well as officers’ training began, while a steady stream of weapons started to arrive from Europe The underground production of weapons also began During the Arab revolt in 1936–39, the Haganah matured and developed from a militia into a military body to successfully defend Jewish quarters and settlements from Arab attack The British did not officially recognize the Haganah, but in the midst of the uprising they did help to organize several special forces groups trained in different tactics to help defend British interests In April 1937, a revisionist splinter group of the Haganah known as Irgun Zvai Leumi, or simply Irgun, began its own operations Irgun’s policies differed from those of the Haganah in that Irgun targeted the British as well as Arab Palestinians The British 1939 White Paper, restricting Jewish immigration into Palestine, added to Jewish anger toward the British The White Paper was viewed by Zionist leaders as a betrayal of British intentions stated in the Balfour Declaration of 1917 As a result, the Haganah began helping to guard illegal immigrant ships as they arrived along the Palestinian coast In the process, many illegal Jewish immigrants died due to drowning and overcrowding on the tiny ships and also ended up in Nazi camps after being turned away by the British upon arrival In June 1940, a splinter group of the Irgun left the organization after a disagreement on the decision to suspend its armed campaign against the British during World War II These members established a more radical group called Lehi, also known as the Stern Gang, named after its new leader The Haganah itself was evolving into a national and relatively nonpartisan clandestine Jewish army At this time it wished to distance itself from the Irgun’s and Lehi’s methods The Haganah was officially an illegal organization, too, and yet at the same time the British 137