Prior to 1948. however. the Palestinian Jew and the Palestinian Arab both claimed Palestine as their rightful homelandand theirs alone. In their frustration both struck at the authority close at hand. the English. In 1936. the Arabs concerned over the increasing influx of Jewish immigrants. broke out with a fullscale riot against the British. This was the formative period for the creation of the Mujahin. meaning "freedom fighters"-the forerunners of todays Fedayeen. Fedayeen is a general term for guerrilla and translated means "men of sacrifice." Of the two militant Jewish guerrilla groups which operated in the 1930s and 1940s. who when they were not striking at the Palestinian Arabs were harassing the English. one was the Irgun Zvai Leumi. popularly called IrgunNational Military Organizationwhich was led by Menachem Begin. "Our enemies call us terrorist. our friends patriots" once wrote Begin. a statement which today could as aptly be attributed to Yasser Arafat. leader of the Palestine Liberation OrganizationPLOand also of the Al Fatah. the leading Palestinian terrorist group.
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immigrants