Count Bernadotte Assassination by Zionist Gangs:

17 September 1948

Ghada Sharqawy (Al-Ahram, 17 September 1998)

It was realized by those who established the Zionist entity,  that this State would never come to be without using force. They justified this necessity in their books and speeches, most notably those by Herzl, the founder of the Zionist State, who urged the use of arms against the difficulties that may deter the establishment of the Zionist state, and Jabutensky, the professor of Zionist  terrorism, who taught major terrorists such as Menachem Begin and Issac Shamir how to prepare the young Zionists to be absolute belligerent terrorists.

When the Zionist state  was founded, Wiseman, the first Zionist  head of State, called for the use of terrorism. Then David Ben Gurion drew up the plans of this terrorism, outlining how the Zionist state would never continue to exist without the use of force. Based on this premise, some Fascist military trends were formed within the Zionist community, becoming the core of the Zionist ideology. Due to this trend toward violence, several Zionist terrorist gangs were organized in the 1940s in order to “liberate” the Zionist State and establish an independent one. The most notable gangs were the Argon organization led by Begin, the former Zionist premier; and the Stern organization led by Issac Shamir, also a former Zionist premier. These organizations carried out numerous terrorist operations against the Arabs and the British forces before the Zionist gangs were unified when “Israel” was declared  as an independent State in May of 1948 and the British forces left Palestine. The most important terrorist operations which Begin boasted of in his book entitled, The Rebellion—Argon Story, was the Deir Yaseen massacre or genocide, and the bombing of the King David hotel, which resulted in the deaths of about 200 civilian, in addition to other bloody operations, which Begin considered the only means to realize the Zionist goals.

Consequently, the assassination on 17 September 1948 of Swedish Count Folk Bernadotte, the United Nations delegate sent to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict, was a natural link in the Zionist series of terrorist operations against peace. Count Bernadotte was a member of the royal family in Sweden and the Chairman of the Swedish Red Cross who became a target of extermination as a result of some historical events which began on 29 November 1947, the date on which the UN approved the Division Resolution by majority. This decision divided Palestine into two independent States—an Arab one and a Jewish one—while Jerusalem was put under international protection. This was accepted by most of the Jews, however, it was rejected by Palestinians and Arabs who prepared themselves to fight against it. The British announced that the decision would be a failure, and so they would not apply it.

When the war broke out between the Arabs and the Zionist state on 15 May 1948, after the British forces had withdrawn, the UN sent Count Bernadotte as a mediator to Palestine to solve this problem. He began his mission on 21 March 1948 because there was a cease-fire between the Arabs and the Zionist state. He suggested several proposals. In particular, he felt the issue of Zionist  immigration to Palestine, which he considered an issue against peace because the Arabs feared it, was one that needed to be organized at the international level because it was essential for the Jews to be on good terms with their neighbours. Moreover, he also suggested some changes in the borders between the Arab and the Zionist  States as shown in the UN decision, in particular annexing Al-Naqab to the Arab State, the Galilee to the Jewish State, and Al-Quds  to be ruled by the Arabs provided the Jews were given autonomy in its municipal affairs; however, it emphasized that the city was to be under the protection of the Arabs.

As soon as the Zionists  heard this, they became irate and furious and considered the Count to be against their goals, especially with respect to Jerusalem and the Zionist immigration to Palestine. The most resistant organization was known as the Shtern led by Shamir. This gang, which had independent units in Jerusalem, began carrying out demonstrations against Sweden. Some of its leaders, such as Israel Aldad—the godfather of the gang—Joshua Zetler and Mashaloum Macover, persuaded Nathan More and Issac Shamir, the gang leaders, to arrange to assassinate the Count, which was planned by Shamir himself. This was documented by Charles Anderline in his book, War or Peace—the Secrets of the Arab-Israeli Negotiations in 1917-1997.

When the Count and his French assistant, Colonel Pierre Andrea Seiro, came back to Jerusalem from Syria on Friday, 17 September 1948, they were sitting in the back seat of their car after having finished some tasks when a Jeep full of armed men stopped them and three of the armed men opened fire on the Count and killed him. The criminals ran away. The details of this crime remained a secret until they were released by the Zionists  on the 40^th anniversary of the assassination.

This act clearly indicated that the Zionists  never intended to work toward a peaceful coexistence with the Arabs and also showed that peace would never be  a Zionist target because peace is always a barrier against its goals. The assassination is also evidence that terrorism is the core of Zionist ideology adopted by the Zionist leaders who led this State. This crime was not forgotten by the passing of time; however, the international community did not want to know about it. Even after the details of the assassination had been released, the criminals were not punished. This is not surprising since most Zionist crimes in the Middle East are perpetrated without condemnation or reprimand by the international community.