March 27, 1839 — Iranian Jews Are Forcibly Converted
A plaque outside Jerusalem’s Haji Adoniyah Synagogue, created by Jadid al-Islam (“new to Islam”) from Mashhad in 1902, reads, “The synagogue of Haji Adoniayahu, son of Aharon HaCohen of the Crypto-Jews of Mashhad, dedicated by the Aharon Cohen family in 1902.” By Tamar Hayardeni, CC BY-SA 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons.
A Shiite mob attacks the Jewish district of Mashhad, Iran, after alleged misconduct by a Jewish woman. The rioters kill 30 to 40 Jews, burn the synagogue, loot homes and abduct children. The entire Jewish community of nearly 2,400 is forced to convert to Islam in an event known as the Allahdad. Some Jews flee to Herat, Afghanistan, or elsewhere. Attacks in 1891 and 1902 lead to further Jewish emigration.
March 28, 1932 — 1st Maccabiah Games Open
A ceremony opens the first Maccabiah Games in Tel Aviv on March 28, 1932.
The first Maccabiah Games open with athletes from 18 countries (some sources say 14 or 21) in Tel Aviv. Mayor Meir Dizengoff rides through the streets on a white horse, and 120 carrier pigeons are released to carry the news of the opening. The Maccabi World Organization, which has about 40,000 athletes in 24 nations by 1930, grows out of an international federation of Zionist sports clubs established in 1903.
March 29, 1967 — Sholem Aleichem’s Son-in-Law, Translator Dies
Yitzhak Dov Berkowitz, shown in 1936, was a published author and literary editor by age 19. By Zoltan Kluger, National Photo Collection of Israel.
Writer and translator Yitzhak Dov Berkowitz dies at 82. Born near Minsk, Berkowitz began to publish Hebrew stories in his late teens and became the literary editor of HaZeman in Vilna at 19. He married Sholem Aleichem’s eldest daughter and translated all of Aleichem’s Yiddish writing into Hebrew. In his own writing, he mixed tradition and modernity and helped bring realism to Hebrew literature.
March 30, 1976 — 6 Israeli Arabs Are Killed in Land Protests
Police officers arrest a young rioter in an Arab village in the Galilee on March 30, 1976. Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Protests over the planned government seizure of about 1,500 acres of Arab land in the Galilee turn into riots in which six Israeli Arabs are killed and soldiers, police and Arab civilians are injured. What becomes known as Land Day represents the first widespread protests by Israeli Arabs and is commemorated annually with mostly peaceful demonstrations against the state’s land-use policies.
March 31, 2002 — Sharon Condemns Arafat After Bombings
A Hamas lunchtime bombing at Haifa’s Matza restaurant killed 16 Israelis on March 31, 2002. CAMERA.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declares Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat “the enemy of Israel and the enemy of the free world” after two Second Intifada suicide bombings in one day: a Hamas attack that kills 16 Israelis at Haifa’s Matza restaurant and an Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade attack that injures four at a medical station in Efrat. Arafat, surrounded in Ramallah, calls himself a martyr.
April 1, 1997 — Knesset Enhances Environmental Protection
Future Environment Minister Raphael Eitan plants a tree on Tu B’Shevat in 1995. By Avi Ohayon, Israeli Government Press Office, CC BY-SA 3.0.
The Knesset passes the Environmental Enforcement Law to improve protection for the environment. Environment Minister Raphael Eitan says the goal is to “make the polluter pay” with fines of 300,000 shekels (more than $95,000) for violations of limits on air, noise or odor pollution and 600,000 shekels (more than $190,000) for improper disposal of hazardous waste. The law ends years of lax environmental oversight and low fines.
April 2, 2011 — Mosquito-Killing Biologist Margalith Dies
Yoel Margalith, shown in 2003, saved the eyesight and the lives of millions of people by discovering a natural way to control mosquitoes. By Ben-Gurion University, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Yoel Margalith, a biologist whose discovery of a bacterium toxic to mosquitoes and black flies has saved millions of lives, dies at 78. A native of Yugoslavia who survived two Nazi concentration camps as a boy, he immigrated to Israel in 1948. He discovered a bacterium known as Bti and its value as a cheap, environmentally friendly pesticide in 1976. He received the prestigious Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement in 2003.
Items are provided by the Center for Israel Education (israeled.org), where you can find more details.