​This poster was printed in 1945, immediately after the Holocaust, protesting the continued ban on immigration to the Land of Israel (then Palestine) that was enforced by the British authorities. The poster calls for a gathering of Tel Aviv residents to protest the immigration restrictions at the Kiryat Meir junction in Tel Aviv, where they might cause the most disruption to traffic.

Would You Like to Know More?

British Mandate in Palestine - In 1917, British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote a letter declaring the Britain "views with favour” the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. After the First World War and the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Britain received a mandate from the League of Nations to rule in Palestine. During the years of the British Mandate there was much tension and violence between the Jewish and Arab citizens of the country, and as a result, the British government issued a White Paper in 1939 that severely limited Jewish immigration.

Jewish Refugees during World War II - In the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust, Europe was awash with Jewish refugees: concentration camp survivors, those who had spent the war in hiding, and partisan fighters. These refugees who had no home to return to in Europe were now also denied entry to the Land of Israel. Illegal attempts were made to bring these Jews to Israel in what was called the Aliyah Bet. The most famous episode during this period was in 1947 when the British forced the ship Exodus, carrying 4,500 Holocaust survivors, to return to Germany. 

Many of the residents of Israel had surviving relatives in Europe who they were eager to bring to Israel. Protests against British strict immigration quotas became more common as time went on.