Mizrahi, Meir
Son of Rivka and Shlomo, was born on 26 June 1906. His father, a veteran of Jerusalem, saved many Jews from the Turks during the First World War and during the 1929 riots, his parents’ home in Yemin Moshe served as a base for the Haganah headquarters in the city. From his youth he was a member of the Hagana, was always in its ranks and participated in its various activities. In his capacity as a senior official in the postal service of the Mandatory government, he made great efforts to provide assistance to the Haganah and the national institutions, installing secret telephone lines, sending telegrams and other important services. In this capacity he left for Mount Scopus. The road to Mount Scopus passed through the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah and upon the outbreak of the war the movement was allowed to mount convoys secured by the British army. On the morning of April 13, 1948, a convoy left for Mount Scopus, after the British promised that the road was open and safe. The convoy encountered an Arab ambush in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and hundreds of Arabs hurled heavy gunfire at it. Some of the vehicles managed to get out and return, but two buses, an ambulance and an escort vehicle were ambushed. For many hours the convoy members fought and tried to prevent the Arabs from approaching the vehicles. Fire from our positions in the city and Mount Scopus, as well as armored vehicles sent to the area, failed to help the convoy. British military forces in the area did not intervene and did nothing to help, despite appeals to them. In the afternoon, the Arabs managed to set fire to two buses on their passengers, and only late in the evening did the British intervene and rescue the survivors from the trapped vehicles. He was laid to rest in a mass grave in Sanhedria.
