Thomas Campbell Wasson was an American diplomat who was assassinated

Assassination

To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...

 while serving as the Consul General for the United States in Jerusalem, Palestine. Wasson was also a member of United Nations Truce Commission.

Career

Wasson was born 1896 in Essex, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

. From 1926 to 1929, he served as the United States Vice Consul in Melbourne, Australia. In 1932, he was Vice Consul in Puerto Cortes

Puerto Cortés

-Geography:It is on the Caribbean Sea coast, north of San Pedro Sula and east of Omoa, at 15.85° N, 87.94° W. It has a natural bay.It is Honduras's main sea port and it is considered the most important seaport in Central America...

, Honduras

Honduras

Honduras is a republic in Central America. It was previously known as Spanish Honduras to differentiate it from British Honduras, which became the modern-day state of Belize...

 and in 1938, he became the Consul in Lagos, Nigeria. In April 1948, Wasson was appointed as the Consul General for the US in Jerusalem, Palestine.

Assassination

Just after 2.00pm May 22 1948, Wasson was shot. He had been returning to the US Consulate from a meeting of the UN Truce Commission at the French Consulate in Jerusalem. While crossing Wauchope Street (now Abraham Lincoln/Hess) to enter the alley leading to the Consulate, he was shot by a .30 caliber rifle. The bullet entered his chest via his right upper arm and left level to his second costal cartilage. Wasson died on May 23 1948.

An article in The Scotsman

The Scotsman

The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....

 newspaper on May 25 quoted an Israeli Government statement that Wasson "was killed by Arab bullets". The Military Governor of Jerusalem, Dov Joseph, wrote "Unfortunately Mr. Wesson (sic) was shot on May 22 by an Arab sniper." The New York Post stated that Abdullah I of Jordan

Abdullah I of Jordan

Abdullah I bin al-Hussein, King of Jordan [‘Abd Allāh ibn al-Husayn] عبد الله الأول بن الحسين born in Mecca, Second Saudi State, was the second of three sons of Sherif Hussein bin Ali, Sharif and Emir of Mecca and his first wife Abdiyya bint Abdullah...

 claimed Wasson was shot by an Israeli assassin, however the New York Times reported that Wasson "on his death bed stated that Arabs had shot him." This story was later retracted.

Bertha Spafford Vester in the first edition of her history of the American Colony, "Our Jerusalem", quotes the entry for her diary dated 23 May 1948 : "Our American Consul, Mr. Robert Wasson was shot by Jews on Friday and died today."

Quotes

Quotes from Wasson's reports to the United States State Department around the time of his death include:

On April 15 1948, in a report concerning the Hadassah Hospital Convoy Massacre, Wasson wrote, "American correspondent eye witnessed removal from trucks large quantities arms and ammunition and speculated whether for escort or other purpose."

On April 17 1948, he wrote " . . . queried as to whether convoy included armoured cars, Haganah guards, arms and ammunition in addition to doctors, nurses and patients, Kohn [of the Jewish Agency] replied in affirmative saying it was necessary to protect convoy."

On May 18 1948, Wasson wrote "Looting in the captured Arab areas has now been so widespread and has been regarded with such indifference by the authorities that it is difficult not to think it is officially tolerated."

One of his reports records the British Consul having a 'narrow escape' and he also attempted to stop the Arab Legion

Arab Legion

The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...

 shelling of the Hadassah Hospital and Hebrew University on Mount Scopus

Mount Scopus

Mount Scopus , جبل المشهد , جبل الصوانة) is a mountain in northeast Jerusalem. In the wake of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, Mount Scopus became a UN protected Jewish exclave within Jordanian-occupied territory until the Six-Day War in 1967...

.

Harry Levin's Jerusalem Embattled (1950) and Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre's O Jerusalem! (1972) which recount the fighting around Jerusalem from Israeli perspectives do not mention Wasson's death.

He was replaced by the Vice-Consul, Mr William Burdette.

Other diplomats killed in Jerusalem in 1948

Count Folke Bernadotte - United Nations Mediator to Palestine. He was assassinated in Jerusalem in 1948 by the militant Zionist group Lehi

Lehi (group)

Lehi , commonly referred to in English as the Stern Group or Stern Gang, was a militant Zionist group founded by Avraham Stern in the British Mandate of Palestine...

, while pursuing his official duties.

Manuel Allende Salazar - Spanish Consul killed when the Haganah

Haganah

Haganah was a Jewish paramilitary organization in what was then the British Mandate of Palestine from 1920 to 1948, which later became the core of the Israel Defense Forces.- Origins :...

 blew up the Semiramis Hotel.