you feel he is a few steps away and you can fire without him falling upon you, fire into the distance. Only if your life is in danger—fire. Guns used were the same as the locals', which included the 'jift', a single, or double-barrelled shotgun, the 'yunani' and 'osmanli' single-shot muskets, various rifles and Mauser pistols. Modern rifles, known as 'Abu-Hamsa' (father of five), were the most prestigious, and were prone to theft by the locals. The 'shibriyeh' (Arab dagger) and 'nabut' (club or mace) were carried by all. Ammunition was expensive and hard to come by, so primitive production centers were set up. By 1912, Hashomer was guarding fourteen Jewish settlements. In addition to guarding settlements, Hashomer secretly began developing offensive capabilities, seeing itself as the nucleus of a future Jewish army. It raided Arab villages to beat or kill residents who had harmed Jews. In June 1916, it assassinated Aref al-Arsan, a Bedouin policeman who had tortured Jewish prisoners. Hashomer was successful in providing defense for settlements throughout the country; though it sometimes aroused the ire of Arab watchmen, who lost their jobs, and of pilferers, and antagonized the Arab population by retaliatory raids. Some of the older settlers were also worried that Hashomer might upset the status-quo with the local population. During World War I many of its members were exiled to Anatolia by the Ottoman government because they were enemy (Russian) nationals. Several were hanged. When the Turks caught Yosef Lishanski of the Nili group, he told all he knew, implicating twelve members of Hashomer. The group nonetheless survived. In 1920 it was decided to organize the Haganah, a much broader-based group, to cope with new defense challenges and needs of the growing Jewish community in Palestine. Many members of Hashomer joined the Jewish Legion, while others joined the mounted police, and played a prominent part in the defense of Tel Hai and Jerusalem during the Arab riots in 1920 and 1921. In June 1920 HaShomer ceased to exist as a separate body. Its members, however, maintained contact and made an important contribution to the Yishuv's defense. The Haganah itself became the core of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). In addition to their role as watchmen of the Jewish settlements in the country, members of Hashomer established a number of settlements of their own, including Tel Adash, Tel Hai, and Kfar Giladi. During its ten years