November 3, 2006

100 Years Ago In the Forward

Despite hunger, exhaustion and beatings of employees at the hands of gangs hired by their bosses, the ongoing strike of the Union of Mineral Water Workers is holding fast and is as strong as iron. As of yet, not one worker has broken ranks with the strikers. The strike could be settled in a matter of days, if the bosses and shops would simply accept the union and allow their workers to join it. Until then, the Forward requests that its readers not drink any seltzer unless it has the union label on the bottle. Without the union label, you’ll be drinking bloody seltzer!

75 Years Ago In the Forward

Panic erupted on New York City’s Upper West Side on the corner of Amsterdam and 74th Street, as a hail of bullets was shot out of a window of one of the nearby buildings. The shooter’s target was 32-year-old Joseph Levy, a well-known bootlegger. He was wounded at the scene and died later at the hospital. Levy, who is known to run a number of speakeasies at which liquor and illegal drugs are sold, was most likely done in by a rival gang or by criminals involved in the narcotics trade. The police have no leads as to who the killer may be.

Jewish and Arab drivers in Palestine have announced a joint strike in protest of the British administration’s decision to raise the price to obtain a driver’s license, and also in protest of the high cost of gasoline. The British, who initiated an official commission to look into these issues, concluded that there was nothing they could do and that costs would remain the same. As a result, this strike has united the most disparate Jewish and Arab groups, even those who had forsworn any kind of Arab-Jewish cooperation.

50 Years Ago In the Forward

Following Egypt’s nationalizing of the Suez Canal and the country’s refusal to allow Israeli ships to pass through it and through the Straits of Tiran, Israel mounted a fierce attack against Egypt. In doing so, the Israeli army dealt the Egyptians a crippling blow: After losing 5,000 men, 100 tanks and much of their air force, many Egyptian soldiers simply turned and fled. In a short time, the Israeli army took over most of the Sinai Peninsula and all of Gaza. Additionally, France and Britain have joined the fray, bringing their warships into the Suez Canal.

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