The Supreme Court is in the headlines these days. Did you know that the General Federation of Labor also had a court? It was called: the Friends' Trial, and that one of the defendants convicted in it was none other than Abba Khushi, secretary of the Haifa Workers' Council and later the mythical mayor of Haifa. And the event that happened was this: December 1944. The plaintiff, Sarah Magrile, claimed through her attorney, attorney Kushner, that during an exchange of words during Abba Khushi's lecture at the "Electrical Wires" factory on the eve of the elections, he insulted the plaintiff, and in accordance with his demand - she was demoted from her job (that is: fired from her job) and did not work for four days and three hours. Therefore, the plaintiff's attorney asked to punish Abba Khushi, to make him make a public apology and pay unemployment benefits and legal costs.
The trial transcript reads as follows: "The defendant did not deny the insult, and claimed that the plaintiff behaved unfairly and caused the outburst. The defendant expressed his sorrow for the sad incident and apologized for not controlling his temper."
"As for the second part of the claim, the defendant announced that he did not give any instructions to terminate the plaintiff's employment. On the contrary: when he learned of this, he contacted the workers' committee to have her reinstated." Judge Moshe Pomruk's conclusions were: "After the defendant did not deny the insult claim, it was decided to waive the hearing of witnesses. In light of
"The defendant's confession (in thousand), his expression of sorrow, his apology, and his assessment of the circumstances - I decide to impose a symbolic fine only."
Summary of the trial: The judge ordered Abba Khushi to pay a symbolic fine of fifty Israeli mils to "Mishan". The judge dismissed the claim for payment of unemployment benefits, but ordered Abba Khushi to pay the plaintiff
The court costs amount to four hundred Israeli mils. It is clear that it is not the symbolic fine or the payment of the court costs imposed on Abba Khushi that are the most serious, but rather the very conviction of a man who was a figurehead.
Very strong politically for decades, not only in Haifa, but also outside of it.
So far from the Haifa City Archives.
"Show me there are 13 months in a year!"
The following story about Abba Khushi was told by the veteran advertising man, the late Zechariah Freilich. Freilich was formerly a department manager in the Haifa Municipality, and also the chairman of the workers' committee. One day – in the mid-1950s – the committee members discussed salary increases with Mayor Abba Khushi. Khushi agreed to grant a salary increase to all department managers, except for one department manager.
Freilich was surprised and said to Father Khushi: "Why not give him a raise too? This manager is an honest man." Father Khushi stood up, walked over to the wall, ran his hand over the wall, and said: "So what? This wall is also honest." Zechariah Freilich did not give up. He asked Father Khushi to give the municipal workers a 13th month salary. Father Khushi did not hesitate. He pointed to a calendar on his desk and said: "Okay. If you show me on the calendar that there are 13 months in a year, then I will give the workers a 13th month salary." It seems that Zechariah Freilich was unable to prove that there are more than 12 months in a year...
"Bio'or Chametz" Passover 1948 version
Passover Eve. Preparations for the "Seder Night" are in full swing, and the country is wearing a holiday. This is the routine of our people every year at this time. But on Passover Eve in Haifa in 23.4.1948, April XNUMX, XNUMX, it was different. If on the private level the utensils were prepared from every speck of leaven, then the burning of the leaven on the public level wore fire, brimstone, and smoke. Because "burning the leaven" was the name of the military operation of the Jewish settlement to liberate Haifa from the Arabs. This happened three weeks before the declaration of the establishment of the State of Israel. "Burning the leaven" lasted three days and ended hours later.
A few moments before the Seder.
On April 21, two days before the Seder, General Hugh Charles Stockwell, who was the commander of the British Paratrooper Division in Israel, announced the withdrawal of his forces from most of the positions they held in various places in Haifa. This was in preparation for their departure from the country through the port of Haifa within three weeks. In the absence of a barrier from the British soldiers, the Jewish Defense Force decided to act immediately to take control of the city. The operation involved fighters from the 22nd Battalion of the Carmeli Brigade, reinforced by soldiers from the 24th Battalion and members of the Palestinian Liberation Organization from the Port Company, as well as a platoon of the Irgun.
The heroic battle took place in the "Beit Hanjada" (originally called: "Beit Waad Hasakunot Hasarayot") on Salah a-Din Street (now Ha-Giborim) in the Arab neighborhood of Khalisa. Fighters under the command of Yitzhak Soroka, later a professor at the Technion, captured the house, which was a very important Arab front position. The fighters were besieged in the house for more than 20 hours, until their dead and wounded were rescued. The goals of Operation "Eliminate the Vinegar" were to take control of transportation arteries
centers within the city, and connecting with Jewish enclaves in the port and the two commercial centers in the lower city. The operation was not intended to subdue the Arabs of Haifa and occupy their neighborhoods, but in practice this happened following the collapse of the fighting Arab formation and the mass flight of the city's Arabs.