Lord, how are they increased that trouble me I many are they that rise, up against me. Many there be which say of my soul, there is no help for him in God. Se‑lah. But thou – O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory and the lifter up of mine head. I cried unto the Lora with my voice, and he heard me out of his holy hill. Se‑lah. I laid me down and slept. I awaked; for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thou‑sands of people that have set themselves against me round about. Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God' for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone' thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongeth unto the Lord: thy blessing is upon thy people. Selah. Introduction With this dignified prayer, in which the grief of the persecuted mingles with faith and hope, opened the Jewish military unit, captured by the enemy after a night of fighting its trial before a so-called British "military court" in Jerusalem. Theirs was an unperfected trial, but one that created a precedent. This time there did not appear before the British officers appointed to pass judgment of Jewish youths persons accused of carrying arms, or in some manner or other. Before the court appeared a Jewish military unit. Inspired by a collective fighting spirit even after they had become prisoners of war, even while they were standing in the shadow of the gallows… This spirit found its expression in many forms, one of which was their external appearance: military uniforms of simple grey without badges of rank or any other emblems except one – the emblem of the Jewish people, in whose name and for whose cause they had joined the fight, for whose cause they were imprisoned and on whose behalf they faced as prosecutors and accusers those who wanted to take their lives. Another expression of their spirit was revealed in the "stormy incident" – as other writers put it – when all the thirty accused men rose to their feet like one man protecting like a live wall the eldest among them from the brutal hands of the British police constables. The courtroom was filled with British soldiers and policemen, who did not hesitate, of course, to aim their guns at the dock of the prisoners in an unambiguous threat… The youths, however, who had faced death often enough, sat down only when told to do so by their comrade in defense of whose honour they had risen. However, over and above all these scenes, external as wall as incidental, there was one scene in the proceedings which was so impressive that it did not only penetrate into the hearts of the disinterested observers – foreign correspondents and representatives of foreign broadcasting services, but even into the brains of the British "prosecutor" who of course, was far from disinterested… All the speeches and all the behaviour of these youths expressed their soldierly feeling, the feeling that there is a Jewish army in the Jewish homeland; that this army – like every other national army – fights for and defends its people; that this army is aware of its mission and aim; that this army knows the rules of warfare and to the same extent as it is ready to follow them it is ready to force the enemy no to violate them or, in the case they are violated – to apply the usual law of retaliation. Hence the self-explanatory statement that British officers, belonging to the occupation army, are not entitled to "judge" captured Jewish soldiers; hence the self-explanatory demand that the soldiers of the military unit should be considered as prisoners of war. It was this display of the feeling of Jewish sovereignty that compelled the prosecutor, for the first time in the history of trials in this country – to adduce arguments against the claims of the accused in order to prove that the British military court did possess the competence of jurisdiction over the 31 accused men. The prosecutor reminded them that the same military court had tried also Polish, Greek, British, Arab soldiers, etc. As for the demand to accord the Jewish soldiers the status of prisoners of war, the prosecutor did not refute it as such but argued that the court was not competent to make a decision of that effect. The trial had attracted the attention of all the world. Millions of Americans followed the proceedings as reported of 218 radio stations; scores of millions read about them in their newspapers. For, indeed, this was an unusual trial even in our unusual days. Actually it was not even a trial at all, but a minor battle – a battle between the fighters for freedom and the representatives of oppression, between the clear understanding of a mission and the dull-wittedness, between readiness to bring the supreme sacrifice and the hatred of despots and murderers – a battle – or, more precisely, the continuation of a battle, which had been interrupted on an ill-starred day somewhere on the shore of our sea. From the development of this peculiar "battle" the other peoples came to know the character of the new Jewish generation brought up on the soil of the homeland, and they paid tribute, some in sincere sympathy and others while grinding their teeth, to the invincible spirit of the people of the Lord. Blessed be the youths who had good fortune to stand up for the glory of their people: happy the nation that can call its own such sons and soldiers. The Lehi built up the great tradition of the Court Room.   The trials of its members before the British military courts were converted into far-echoing sounding boards for the exposure of the British and the teachings of Jewish independence.   These speeches, widely disseminated, had their powerful influence on the imagination of the youth.   They served as the pattern for the battles of the Court Room which later became an integral part of the struggle of the Irgun as well.