Visit to the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum (blog by Avery)

We went to the Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum and the Maritime Museum. The Clandestine Museum is about Israel’s navy and the illegal immigration of Jews into Israel, before it became a country. The Maritime Museum is about the history of boating within Israel and the Mediterranean.

In 1939, the British government issued a policy, known as the White Paper, which allowed only 75,000 Jews to immigrate to Palestine for the next five years, after which Jews would only be allowed to immigrate if permission was given by the Arabs. In response to the persecution by the Nazis and the immigration limit imposed by the British, European Jews were forced to enter Palestine illegally. Even though the British blockaded the Palestine coast, tens of thousands of Jews were smuggled in.

At the Clandestine Museum, we saw an exhibit about the ships used to bring Jews into Palestine. Some of the boats used contained thousands of people, with the largest carrying over 7,600 people.

We saw a model of the Exodus, which held over 4,500 people. Of all the boats, only seven were sunk. However, many of the boats were stopped by the British, and the Jews onboard sent to prison camps, primarily in Cyprus.

Elsewhere in the museum, we saw sculptures made by the Jewish prisoners in the Cyprus prison camps.

Also in the Clandestine Museum was an exhibit about Israel’s navy. The exhibit told about how Israel converted old passenger ships and World War II ships purchased as salvage. They combined these ships with weapons acquired by purchasing scrap parts from naval ships of other countries into a navy which it used to defend itself from the surrounding countries after it declared its independence. They even sneaked 5 warships out of France when the French reneged on a deal to sell them.

Outside on the grounds of the museum, we walked through a submarine and a destroyer. The boats were very cool.

The Maritime Museum was less interesting. It was mainly a history of boating in the Mediterranean Sea. However, there was an exhibit about pirates downstairs, which was more interesting. According to the exhibit, the pirate Jean LaFite was Jewish as were a few other captains and a small percentage of crew members.

The Clandestine and Maritime Museums were, for the most part, fun to visit.

The exhibit on illegal immigration was interesting, the boats were cool, and the exhibit on pirates was okay. I liked going to the museums.