"Save Palestine Arab Lands" propaganda slogan cachet on pre 29 NOV 1947 mail: [unclear] 1947 cover on business stationary from EL REMTIIA (Ar Ramtha, Transjordan) to "The Eastern Gate HAIFA", franked 30m & tied by strike of scarce local postmark (Proud-D2 - 5+ years after his last known date of use) & backstamped 25 NO 47 AMMAN transit - key proving date for early/estimated use of bilingual Arab/English "Save Palestine Arab Lands" handstamp: it was long believed that this cachet was used as a result of the 29 November UN vote on the partition of Palestine, now seen here in use even before that event. Very rare - only 3 such covers known postmarked NOV. 1947 (others dated from December onwards).


Product Tags: Jordanian, Mandatory Palestinian Philately - Postal Covers, 1947-49 Arabian mail in War of Independence and Postal History from Jordan, Palestine Mandate and from 1947-49 Israel War of Independence, 20th Century, 1940s, 1945-1949 Postwar era, which are Philately - significant cachets & postal markings, Philately - Earliest/Latest, First/Last & Proving dates or places, Unique/Discovery Piece, Philately - Unusual Origin, Destination or Postal Link

2000-2001 2nd Intifada Israeli "no service" of Palestinian Authority outbound mail: 31-12-2000 new years eve registered airmail cover from TULKARM to QANTARA (Sinai, Egypt), franked 650 Fils & tied by 2 strikes of the local German-made metal postmark; here posted three months into the 2nd Intifada period: refused service by Israel, which handled PA mail abroad (as it is not a member of the Universal Postal Union, UPU), and which during the period of December 2000 and March 2001 refused postal service abroad to the PA - and returned it to sender; backstamped 10-01-2001 101 REGISTERED CENTRAL SORTING [RAMALLAH] transit where the cover was marked on the front with a special "protest" 5-lined boxed handstamp of the PA Ministry of Posts "We apologise for not being able to forward this post to Arab countries due to the Occupation Authority's refusal to allow it". As a matter of procedure in any case this cover would have been refused service by Israel as it bore 125 "Mils" denominated "eagle" definitives: PA stamps had to be denominated in Fils and not in Mandate-era Mils.


Product Tags: Palestinian Authoritian, Israeli, Egyptian, Philately - Postal Covers, Arab-Israeli mail suspensions 1974-2000s and Postal History from Palestinian Authority, Israel, Egypt, and from 2000-2005 Second Intifada, 21st Century, 2000s which are Philately - Suspended Service mail, Philately - Air Mail, Philately - significant cachets & postal markings, Philately - Unusual Origin, Destination or Postal Link, Philately - Significant franks on covers

1968 Mixed Currency mail affected by early Soviet Postkrieg: 26-10-1968 airmail stationary cover from JERUSALEM to OMSK (USSR) franked 40 Agorot per FA-18 period letter rate to Europe using mixed Pruta/Agora currency franking of old 50Pr 1956 New Years stamp (Ba 135; 11 years after last date of sale) + tabbed 0.35ag 1968 New Years stamp (Ba 408) - this latter which commemorates Unified Jerusalem, unofficially boycotted by the Soviet Union, which applied an early Postkrieg manuscript marking of an arrow-cross, obliterating the address and indicating the objectionable object with manuscript "Retour" (Return) instruction below - this scarce as replaced by an actual handstamp from November 1968; no local transit markings were applied & the Israeli post applied a boxed Hebrew instructional marking on the front reading "This mail article was returned from abroad without indication for the reason" - this scarce. Israeli "return to" arrow cachet on back. Opened gently at back.


Product Tags: Israeli, Soviet Philately - Postal Covers, Postkrieg mail and Postal History from Israel, Soviet Union and from 1960 Prutot-Agorot Currency Change, 20th Century, 1960s, Cold War, which are Philately - Suspended Service mail, Philately - Air Mail, Philately - unusual postal procedures/fines/taxes, Philately - Significant franks on covers, Philately - significant cachets & postal markings

1968 Soviet Postkrieg mail: 18-11-1968 airmail stationary cover from JERUSALEM to OMSK (USSR) franked 41 Agorot per the FA-18 period 40ag letter rate to Europe using 0.02ag 1965 Butterflies stamp (Ba 324) + 3x stamps of the 1968 New Years series (Ba 406/7) - these latter which commemorate Unified Jerusalem, unofficially boycotted by the Soviet Union, which applied a red Postkrieg handstamp "Retour" (Return) marking of an arrow-cross, obliterating the address and indicating the objectionable object + manuscript obliteration of the relevant stamps with ink-pen (this unusual & not performed even prior to the use of the handstamp marking, not recorded in Kibble); no local transit markings were applied & the cover was returned to sender; opened gently at back.


Product Tags: Israeli, Soviet Philately - Postal Covers, Postkrieg mail and Postal History from Israel, Soviet Union and from 20th Century, 1960s, Cold War which are Philately - Suspended Service mail, Philately - Air Mail, Philately - unusual postal procedures/fines/taxes, Philately - Significant franks on covers, Philately - significant cachets & postal markings

1968 Soviet Postkrieg mail: 2-12-1968 airmail stationary cover from REHOVOT (return addressed BEIT OVED - TEL AVIV POST, eg. the Moshav of Beit Oved) to MOSCOW (USSR) franked 1.30 Lira per the FA-18/19 period 40/50ag letter rate to Europe (here probably for extra weight) using 0.35 & 0.60 stamps of the 1968 New Years series (Ba 406/7), which commemorate Unified Jerusalem - unofficially boycotted by the Soviet Union, which applied a red Postkrieg handstamp "Retour" (Return) marking of an arrow-cross, obliterating the address and indicating the objectionable object & backstamped 10-12-68 MOSCOW transit; the cover was returned to sender; opened gently at back.


Product Tags: Israeli, Soviet Philately - Postal Covers, Postkrieg mail and Postal History from Israel, Soviet Union and from 20th Century, 1960s, Cold War which are Philately - Suspended Service mail, Philately - Air Mail, Philately - unusual postal procedures/fines/taxes, Philately - Significant franks on covers, Philately - Small Locales, Philately - significant cachets & postal markings, Philately - Unusual Origin, Destination or Postal Link, Philately - Significant Rates/Periods

1975 Bulgarian Postkrieg mail + circuituitous routing: 13-4-1975 registered airmail stationary cover from HERZLIYA (return addressed BERLIN) to SOFIA (Bulgaria), franked 2.30 Lira per the FA-24 period letter rate to Europe (1.10L letter + 1.20L registration) & tied by 2 strikes of the HERZLIYA-13 postmark on front + 1 on back, using mix of 0.05L 1972 Landscapes definitive stamp (Ba 541) + 1.70L 1975 Hapoel Games stamp (Ba 614) + 0.55L 1972 "Let My People Go" stamp (Ba 522; 3 years after last date of sale) - this last frank being objected to by much of the Communist Bloc as early as April 1972 (reference JTA 24-04-1972); here sanctioned by being obscured by a glued "Spravka" postal label (now partly removed but glue traces visible) & tied by heavy black RETOUR | INCONNU (Return/Unknown address) French-language instructional marking handstamp + address crossed off (probably the long gray pencil mark prior to the label) and backstamped 22-4-1975 SOFIA transit: it appears that the Bulgarian post simply returned the cover to Israel without checking the specific return address whereupon it was received in HERZLIYA-7(?) on 18-5-1975 (1 month return-transit) and initially marked for the DLO (Dead Letter Office / Teyvat Doar Ganuz) using manuscript markings on the front x1 and back (x2) + 3x strikes of the Hebrew "Return to" arrow instructional marking pointing to the initials; a subsequent review that the return address "DBR" indicated West Germany ("Deutsche Bundesrepublik") caused the local post office to rescind the original instruction, whereupon the DLO references where obliterated and red arrows added pointing to "DBR"; the cover was apparently re-directed to Germany (possibly referenced by the HERZLIYA-4 30-6-1975 backstamp) whereupon the original address was locally updated to the tiny locale of BARDENFLETH (Lower Saxony). Intriguing & well-travelled cover; slit open at top.


Product Tags: Israeli, Bulgarian, German, Philately - Postal Covers, Postkrieg mail and Postal History from Israel, Bulgaria, Germany, and from 20th Century, 1970s, Cold War which are Philately - Suspended Service mail, Philately - Air Mail, Philately - unusual postal procedures/fines/taxes, Philately - Significant franks on covers, Philately - Small Locales, Philately - significant cachets & postal markings, Philately - Unusual Origin, Destination or Postal Link, Philately - Significant Route, Philately - Significant Rates/Periods, Object Related Specifically to a Personality or Key Event,

Soviet subtle 'postkrieg' against Israel: 20-1-1988 registered airmail cover with Advice of Receipt service from REHOVOT (return addressed JERUSALEM) to Jewish/Israeli institution in USSR (per Russian address), tied by local red circular "pre-paid" postmark (Nacht 518/24) in center & registry label at top right + AR postcard on back; in the period atmosphere of Soviet harassment of Jews and Zionists the local post office circled the Registry label as if a problematic frank and applied a 2-line text instructional marking (unlisted in the 2011 7th edition "Postkrieg" catalogue) "RETOUR | L'ARTICLE… 1979", apparently referencing a decision of the 1979 UPU congress - the closest possibility is Resolution C 5/1979 regarding Illegal issue of postage stamps (by Turkish occupied North Cyprus); if the issue was simply overlooking the pre-paid postmark and treating the letter as unfranked, it could have been taxed and the reason for the service-refusal could have been less legalistic. The cover was returned to sender with the local post office attempting delivery on 13 March and again on 31 March (manuscript on front, postmark of REHOVOT 7 on back).

As a 10 Feb. 1986 Jewish Telegraphic Agency report notes, about the Soviet Union's refusal to accept mail franked with the 1986 Herzl stand-by definitives, the Soviet post office didn't resort to dramatic postal markings and simply marked the refused mail with standard "addressee unknown" handstamps. As here, postkrieg through subtle bureaucratic procedures (though accentuated by the senders' use of postal services to track shipment and confirm delivery to known addresses) - all undocumented in the Postkrieg catalogue.


Product Tags: Israeli, Soviet Philately - Postal Covers, Postkrieg mail and Postal History from Israel, Soviet Union and from 20th Century, 1980s, Cold War which are Philately - Suspended Service mail, Philately - Air Mail, Unique/Discovery Piece, Philately - unusual postal procedures/fines/taxes, Philately - significant cachets & postal markings

Soviet subtle 'postkrieg' against Israel: 28-2-1988 registered airmail cover from RISHON LE ZION to MOSCOW (USSR) for "personal delivery", franked 2.40NIS per FA-38 period rate & franked with 1.40nis 'Medical Engineering' + 1nis 'Archeology in Jerusalem' - the latter being boycotted by the Soviet authorities for promoting Israeli sovereignty in united Jerusalem: the cover was backstamped 15-5-88 (long 2 month transit time for airmail - deliberately handled slowly) MOSCOW transit, with the address albeit being translated to Russian - but then being cross out and cover tied by French language "Return | Refused" instructional marking handstamp. With such a long and precise address it's clear that the senders knew the letter's delivery may encounter difficulty and that the official reason given for mail's return was an excuse.

Undocumented case in Postkrieg research: in the 1970's and 80's the USSR took many active postkrieg measures against Jewish and Zionist targets - many of which remain undocumented in Postkrieg literature, and as a 10 Feb. 1986 Jewish Telegraphic Agency report notes, about the Soviet Union's refusal to accept mail franked with the 1986 Herzl stand-by definitives, the Soviet post office didn't resort to dramatic postal markings and simply marked the refused mail with standard "addressee unknown" handstamps. Here too, although not a documented example with the Archeology stamps but confirmed by numerous similar covers studied, the USSR used subtle bureaucratic procedures to deny postal service (though it's accentuated by the senders' use of postal services to track shipment and confirm delivery to known addresses) - all undocumented in the Postkrieg catalogue.


Product Tags: Israeli, Soviet Philately - Postal Covers, Postkrieg mail and Postal History from Israel, Soviet Union and from 20th Century, 1980s, Cold War which are Philately - Suspended Service mail, Philately - Air Mail, Unique/Discovery Piece, Philately - unusual postal procedures/fines/taxes, Philately - Significant franks on covers

Soviet subtle 'postkrieg' against Israel: 19-5-1988 'avis de reception' registered airmail cover from HAIFA (return-addressed JERUSALEM) to MOSCOW (USSR), franked 3.60NIS per FA-38 period rate & franked with 3nis 'Archeology in Jerusalem' + 60ag 'Anne Frank' stamps - the former being boycotted by the Soviet authorities for promoting Israeli sovereignty in united Jerusalem: the cover and AR card were backstamped 18-7-88 (long 2 month transit time for airmail - deliberately handled slowly) MOSCOW transit, with the address being cross out and cover tied by French language "Return | Unknown" instructional handstamp + "Spravka" label (mostly removed) ostensibly giving a reason for the returned mail and pasted close/over the offending stamp, and returned to sender. Cut open on both sides. As AR mail the senders clearly knew they needed confirmation of the cover's delivery, and so the official reason given for the cover's return was a hollow excuse.

Undocumented case in Postkrieg research: in the 1970's and 80's the USSR took many active postkrieg measures against Jewish and Zionist targets - many of which remain undocumented in Postkrieg literature, and as a 10 Feb. 1986 Jewish Telegraphic Agency report notes, about the Soviet Union's refusal to accept mail franked with the 1986 Herzl stand-by definitives, the Soviet post office didn't resort to dramatic postal markings and simply marked the refused mail with standard "addressee unknown" handstamps. Here too, although not a documented example with the Archeology stamps but confirmed by numerous similar covers studied, the USSR used subtle bureaucratic procedures to deny postal service (though it's accentuated by the senders' use of postal services to track shipment and confirm delivery to known addresses) - all undocumented in the Postkrieg catalogue.


Product Tags: Israeli, Soviet Philately - Postal Covers, Postkrieg mail and Postal History from Israel, Soviet Union and from 20th Century, 1980s, Cold War which are Philately - Suspended Service mail, Philately - Air Mail, Unique/Discovery Piece, Philately - unusual postal procedures/fines/taxes, Philately - Significant franks on covers

Soviet overt 'postkrieg' against Israel: 1-02-1981 airmail cover from Ashdod (return-addressed new immigrants absorption center PLADOT) to USSR (interestingly no addressee name) franked 2.80IS per period rate & tied by 'LIBI Fund' machine slogan cancel; backstamped 10-02-81 MOSCOW transit where refused further service: address crossed out with manuscript "arrow-cross", pointing to the problematic cachet + cover stamped "retour"; on return Israeli post office applied 3-lined instructional marking handstamp "Regretfully this postal object was returned from the USSR because of a postmark which has since been removed from service". The USSR objected to the "Defense Fund for Israel" display and refused to give the letter further postal service. Opened roughly at back but complete, vertical fold.


Product Tags: Israeli, Soviet Philately - Postal Covers, Postkrieg mail and Postal History from Israel, Soviet Union and from 20th Century, 1980s, Cold War which are Philately - Suspended Service mail, Philately - Air Mail, Philately - unusual postal procedures/fines/taxes, Philately - Small Locales, Philately - significant cachets & postal markings

Pro-Palestinian franks on mail: lot 3x covers from KUWAIT bearing pro-Palestinian franks, 1) [14 MAR 71] addressed (mailed?) cover bearing 1970 "Palestinian Commandos" cinderella stamp series (SC# 492-494) tied by 2 strikes of dateless 1st Day Cover postmark, unsealed, damaged tip to 45F frank; 2) 16 DE 69 unaddressed airmail stationary cover bearing "Palestinian Refugees Universal Week" stamps (SC# 488-489) tied by 2 strikes of 1st Day Cover postmark; 3) 15 MY 68 unaddressed cover with name "Elsayed Sameeh Khalf Allah" in manuscript bearing "Palestine Day" stamps (SC# 398-400) tied by 4 strikes of 1st Day Cover postmark.


Product Tags: Kuwaiti, Palestinian Philately - Postal Covers, Postkrieg mail and Postal History from Kuwait, Palestine and from 20th Century, 1960s, 1970s which are Philately - Cinderella franked mail