Latrun

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The Trappist Monastery

Latrun (Hebrew: לטרון‎) (al-Latrun in Arabic) is a strategic hilltop in the Ayalon Valley overlooking the road to Jerusalem. It is located 15 kilometers west of Jerusalem and 14 kilometers southeast of Ramla.

1 History
2 1948 Arab-Israeli War
3 Today
4 Landmarks
5 Neve Shalom
6 References
7 Further reading
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Biblical era

In the Bible, the Ayalon Valley was the site of a battle in which Joshua defeated the Amorites. Judah Maccabee also apparently established the Jews' military camp there in the beginning of the Maccabean revolt, in preparation for battle with the Greeks camped at Emmaus. As described in the Book of Maccabees, the Greeks found the Jewish camp empty, and were then surprised by an attack by Judah's forces appearing suddenly in the Ayalon Valley. The ensuing battle provided the Jewish forces with the first major victory in the long revolt, ultimately leading to more than a century of Jewish independence under the rule of the Hasmonean dynasty.

[edit] Crusader era

Latrun was also the scene of many attacks during the Crusades. A Crusader stronghold there, "Le toron des chevaliers" (Tower of the Knights), may be the origin of the name "Latrun". Another theory is that the name originates from the name the Christian pilgrims gave to the town "Castellum bonu Latronis" (The Fortress of the Good Thief). Little remains of the castle, which was held by the Templars by 1187. The main tower was later surrounded with a rectangular enclosure with vaulted chambers. This in turn was enclosed by an outer court, of which one tower survives.

[edit] Ottoman era

In 1890, a monastery was established at Latrun by French monks of the Trappist order. The monks established a vineyard and today produce a variety of wines. During World War I, the monks were expelled by the Turks and the monastery was destroyed. The monks returned in 1927 and built the current building. The clock tower of the church dates from 1954.^[1]

Walid Khalidi describes the small village of al-Latrun established in the late 19th century by villagers from nearby Emmaus. The inhabitants were evacuated to Emmaus in 1949 as a result of the war and Latrun's location at the 1949 armistice line.^[2]

[edit] 1948 Arab-Israeli War

The Tegart police fort

Following the 1936-1939 Arab revolt in Palestine, the British authorities built a number of police forts of similar design (named Tegart forts after their designer^[3]) in various locations; Latrun was chosen as such a site due to its strategic significance, particularly its dominant position above the Tel-Aviv-Jerusalem road passing immediately below the hill-line. The police fort played an important role in the outcome of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

The road from the coastal plain to Jerusalem was blocked at the beginning of the war when the British handed the fort over to the Arab Legion. The Legionnaires used the fort to shell Israeli vehicles on the road below, effectively imposing a siege on Jerusalem. ^[4]

Ten days after the declaration of Israel, on May 24, 1948, the fort was assaulted by combined forces of Israel's newly-created 7th Brigade, and a battalion of the Alexandroni Brigade (where Ariel Sharon served as a platoon commander; he was wounded with most of his platoon and later recalled the decision to retreat to a nearby vale as the most crucial tactical decision of his life). The attack (codenamed "Bin-Nun A") failed, with heavy casualties. A week later, on June 1st, the fort withstood yet another attack ("Bin-Nun B"), even though its outer defences were breached. A IDF Officer at Latrun Battles was Captain Wolfgang Lotz.

Many of the Israeli conscripts were recent survivors of the Holocaust and new immigrants who had not undergone rigorous military training. ^[5]The results of the battle were mixed. The official combined number of casualties for both the battles was 139 (an extremely high figure for an assault conducted mainly by two battalions). As records are carefully kept for each fallen soldier, this figure seems exact.^[who?] While the Tel-Aviv Jerusalem highway was not secured, the two Battles of Latrun can be seen as of little strategic value. The relief of Jerusalem was achieved not by military might but by ingenuity when David Daniel Marcus (aka Michael Stone but better known as Mickey Marcus), an American immigrant soldier, blasted links through a network of footpaths which added up to a makeshift and well-camouflaged road through the seemingly impassable mountains towards Jerusalem (today it is a hiking trail with makers and plaques) this bypassed the main routes overlooked by Latrun. It was named the Burma Road after its emergency supply-line namesake between Kumming (China) and Lashio (Burma), improvised by the Allies in World War Two. By June 9th, 1948, the first furtive supplies got through to Jerusalem, effectively putting an end to the less than one-month old Arab blockade. After Operation Dani the Israeli forces anticipated a Jordanian counterattack^[6] possibly from Latrun but King Abdullah remained within the bounds of the tacit agreement made with the Jewish Agency and kept his troops at Latrun.^[7]

Aluf Mickey Marcus was killed June 22, 1948 at Latrun. The events at Latrun were depicted in the 1966 film Cast a Giant Shadow.

Tanks on display at a memorial to the Israeli Armored Corps located at Latrun.

In the 1949 cease-fire agreement, the fort remained a salient under Jordanian control, which was in turn surrounded by a perimeter of no man's land. Under the cease-fire agreement, Jordan was not to disrupt Israeli travelers using this road; in practice, constant sniper attacks led Israel to build a bypass road around the bulge.

[edit] Today

In 1967's Six-Day War, Latrun was captured by Israeli forces, and the main-road to Jerusalem was reopened. Israel razed the villages of Imwas, Yalu, and Beit Nuba and the Jewish National Fund planted trees over the ruins. Canada Park was established on this land. ^[8]

The Tegart fort became a museum and a memorial site known as Yad La-Shiryon, which includes a display of over 110 tanks and other armored fighting vehicles (including the Merkava and T-72 tanks), an amphitheatre, an auditorium, a synagogue and a war memorial for fallen soldiers of Israeli Armored Corps.^[9]