Auctions | February 26, 2019

Rare British Booklets on Palestine Policy to be Auctioned

Los Angeles - Three scarce British pamphlets ranging from 1936 to 1946 will be auctioned by Nate D. Sanders Auctions on June 28, 2018.

British Air Force Booklet

In 1936, the British Air Force published a booklet entitled, “Notes on Tactical Lessons of the Palestine Rebellion.”  The booklet was published in Jerusalem and was marked secret. It was a response to the 1936 Arab Revolt due to the perceived response by the British government to the early insurgency. The 18-page booklet gives tactical directives to British pilots in response to the uprising, described as ''armed bands and saboteurs in hill country and rural districts, directed against the civil organization, armed forces, Jewish interests and road, rail and telegraph communications.'' Air tactics are presented including how to locate and hit the enemy with machine gun and bomb attacks. The last section of the booklet outlines various attacks by Arab groups in Palestine during the summer of 1936.

Bidding begins at $1,750.

Additional Information can be found at https://natedsanders.com/British_Air_Force_Booklet_Written_in_Response_to_t-LOT51492.aspx

White Paper of 1939 Booklet

The booklet being auctioned is an original printing of the White Paper of 1939- Britain’s controversial policy towards Palestine from 1939 until the United Nations took over in 1948. The 12-page booklet was “Presented by the Secretary of State for the Colonies to Parliament.” The Palestine Statement of Policy was heavily influenced not only by the three-year-long Arab revolt in Palestine but more recently by the failed London Conference between Arabs and Jews in March 1939. Within the White Paper, the intention of creating ''a national home for the Jewish people'' is stated, with an independent Palestine to be established within ten years governed jointly by Arabs and Jews. Jewish immigration is also delineated, limited to 75,000 over five years, with subsequent numbers dependent upon Arab consent. The policy, officially adopted by the British government on May 23, 1939, was almost immediately rejected by both Arab and Jewish groups.

Bidding begins at $3,000.

Additional information can be found at https://natedsanders.com/__White_Paper_of_1939______Original_Printing_of_th-LOT51494.aspx

Rare 1946 British Counter-Terrorism Pamphlet for Palestine 

This pamphlet was published by the British ''Headquarters, Chief Engineer, Palestine and Transjordan'' in December 1946 and was entitled, “Palestine Pamphlet / Terrorist Methods With Mines and Booby Traps.” The 38-page booklet is both an instruction manual on how to detonate various types of mines and booby traps, and also a history of terrorist activity in 1946 undertaken by Jewish groups. Plates of multiple attacks are included, such as the partially destroyed King David Hotel in July 1946, and the demolished building in the David Quarter, Jerusalem, bombed in November 1946. Of that attack, the booklet reads, ''This incident is included for its illustration of the extreme methods which Jewish Terrorists may employ when planning deliberate murder.'' All seven plates are present, including the frontispiece showing a British soldier ''Disarming a Jewish Wooden Box Mine.''

Bidding begins at $2,800.

Additional information on the booklet can be found at 
https://natedsanders.com/Rare_British_Counter_Terrorism_Pamphlet_for_Palest-LOT51493.aspx