A series where I use history to debunk common misconceptions about the Middle East conflict.
One of the most contentious issues of the Middle East conflict is the plight of the Arab refugees from Israel.
Opponents of Israel regularly claim that the Jews of what was then Palestine systematically expelled and ethnically cleansed approximately 700,000 Arabs there. But according to famous historian Benny Morris:
But this did not translate into an expulsion masterplan; there was no such plan or policy in 1948. Indeed, as late as March 24 1948, the high command of the Haganah had instructed all its units to recognise “the full rights, needs and freedom of the Arabs in the Jewish state without discrimination, and a striving for coexistence with freedom and respect”.
But this pre-1948 transfer thinking had been significant: it had readied hearts and minds in the Jewish community for the denouement of 1948. From April, most Jewish officers and officials had acted as if transfer was the state’s desire, if not policy.
No doubt, Arab fright and flight was leavened by reports of real and imagined Jewish atrocities – and there were many real ones, as the recently released documentation shows. Pillage was almost de rigueur, rape was not infrequent, the execution of prisoners of war was fairly routine during the months before May 1948 (the country was under British administration and the Haganah had no PoW camps), and small- and medium-scale massacres of Arabs occurred during April, May, July and October to November. Altogether, there were some two dozen cases.
Birth Revisited describes many more atrocities and expulsions than were recorded in the original version of the book. But, at the same time, a far greater proportion of the 700,000 Arab refugees were ordered or advised by their fellow Arabs to abandon their homes than I had previously registered. It is clear from the new documentation that the Palestinian leadership in principle opposed the Arab flight from December 1947 to April 1948, while at the same time encouraging or ordering a great many villages to send away their women, children and old folk, to be out of harm’s way. Whole villages, especially in the Jewish- dominated coastal plain, were also ordered to evacuate. There is no doubt that, throughout, the departure of dependents lowered the morale of the remaining males and paved the way for their eventual departure as well.
I have posted footage of one of these refugees admitting he fled due to the war, and not expulsion.
In a Dec 11, 1966 New York Times report on the refugees, we get some more insight into this question, as well as some other interesting facts.
Note in particular the following:
- The palestinian admission the Jews “remember Palestine for 2000 years” – this is amazing considering how nowadays, their leadership at least will not admit to our historical connection to the land
- The Arab goal of liberating “all of Palestine,” which prevailed at this time (and I would argue now as well) – less than a year before the Six Day War
- Mention of the refugees as having fled (even according to the Arabs themselves, although they rejected Israel’s claims it was due to instructions from the Arab radio broadcasts)
- How the adult refugees exaggerated their former land holdings in what became Israel
- The admission that they did not want resettlement or integration of the refugees in other Arab countries – which would have helped solve the issue – because ultimately what they wanted was Palestine
Note: I cannot provide a link to the full article since it is only available to those who have purchased a NY Times subscription. But I have provided screenshots below. As usual, click on the screenshots to enlarge.
