1948 and after; Israel and the Palestinians
Encyclopedia
1948 and After: Israel and the Palestinians is a collection of essays by the Israeli historian Benny Morris
. The book was first published in hardcover in 1990. It was revised and expanded, (largely on the basis on newly available material) and published by Clarendon Press
, Oxford, in 1994, ISBN 0-19-827929-9.
The expanded 1994 edition contained a complete new chapter (ch. 5):Yosef Nahmani and the Arab Question in 1948. Chapters 1 (The new historiography: Israel and its past) and chapter 10 (The Transfer of Al Majdal's Remaining Arabs to Gaza, 1950) were substantially expanded.
´s single-cause ("Arab orders") explanation of the exodus up to 15 May, I pointed out that there is simply no evidence to support it, and that the single document Teveth is able to cite, the Haganah report of 24 April, refers explicitly to "rumours" and to an order to "several localities" (rather than a blanket order
to "the Arabs of Palestine"). Moreover, neither these "rumours" nor the purported order were referred to again in any subsequent Haganah intelligence report (which surely would have been the case had these "rumours" been confirmed and had an actual order been picked up). The fact is that the opposite occurred: Haganah intelligence and Western diplomatic missions in the Middle East at the time, around 5–6 May 1948, picked up, recorded and quoted from Arab orders and appeals (by King Abdullah I, Arab Liberation Army
Commander Fawzi Qawuqji
, and Damascus Radio) to the Arab
s of Palestine
to stay put in their homes or, if already in exile, to return to Palestine. Not evidence of "Arab orders" to flee but of orders to stay put during those crucial pre-invasion weeks. It flies in the face of the chronology, which there is no getting around. There was an almost universal one-to-one correspondence between Jewish attacks in specific localities and on specific towns and Arab flight from these localities and towns;
(p.32): "What this means is that Haganah
/ Irgun
/IDF
attack was usually the principal and final precipitant of Arab flight....[].. For if the Arab order/orders had been issued on 10 April, why did the inhabitants of Haifa wait a fortnight, and those of Safad or Eastern Galilee a month or more to depart? And it the order was issued, say, on 25 April, why did the inhabitants of Tiberias depart three days before; or those of Safad wait a further fortnight before leaving?"
and Mapai
in 1948. Of the minor parties only the Revisionists spoke with a clear voice. (p. 51:) On 13 May LHI
declared:
is that the party - according to the "paper trail" - hardly ever discussed it.
The first to break the silence was Golda Meir
, who, after a visit to the deserted Arab quarters of Haifa
argued on 11 May that the party now had to determine Israeli behaviour towards the Arabs that remained. Her calls for a full-scale party debate on the issue was not heeded. Morris writes (p. 55): "It was as if a large stone had been thrown into a pool - but had caused no ripple at all."
The only full-scale Mapai party debate in 1948 took place 24 July. Some quotes from that debate:
(p. 57) According to Ben-Gurion, two things had surprised him during the war: the Arab flight and Jewish looting. "it emerged that most of the Jews are thieves". Everyone stole and looted, including "the men of the [Jezreel] Valley, the cream of the pioneers, the parents of the Palmah [fighters]".
Shlomo Lavi
, a veteran kibbutz movement said: "the.. transfer out of the country in my eyes is one of the most just, moral and correct things that can be done. I have thought this... for many years."
(p 57-58:) Avraham Katznelson endorsed the view: there is nothing "more moral, from the viewpoint of universal human ethics, than the emptying of the Jewish State of the Arabs and their transfer elsewhere....This requires [the use of] force."
During that meeting Shertok
stated: "It is desirable for us that the Arabs do not return, if it is at all possible ...[This has] historical justification.´ It is best for Israel and the Arab states in the long run that Israel should not have internal problems stemming from the existence of a large Arab minority, he implied. Shertok said, however, that he did not think the hour was ripe for this position ´to be formulated outwardly [that is, publicly]´. (p. 58)
, leader of the Mapam's Arab department wrote a memorandum called: "Our Arab Policy in the Midst of the War", 10 May. In his notes for the memorandum, penned 6 May 1948, he wrote: "a deliberate eviction [of the Arabs] is taking place.... Others may rejoice -I, as a socialist, am ashamed and afraid .... To win the war and lose the peace....the state [of Israel], when it arises, will live on its sword." In the memorandum, he wrote: "..out of certain political goals and not only out of military necessity´ the Arabs were driven out. "In practice, a ...."transfer" of the Arabs out of the area of the Jewish state was being carried out´, and this would eventually redound against the Yishuv, both militarily (by increasing pan-Arab anger) and politically.
(p. 66): Cohen had charged that "it had depended on us whether the Arabs stayed or fled... [They had fled] and this was [the implementation of] Ben-Gurion's line in which our comrades are [also] active""
(p.64): Ya'acov Hazan, a Kibbutz Artzi leader specifically denounced the way the Haganah had treated the Arabs which had stayed put. In Abu Shusha
, a village near his home kibbutz, the Haganah had completely bulldozed the village, instead of distinguishing between houses belonging to friends and houses belonging to foes of the Yishuv. He spoke of Haganah "killing, robbery, rape. I don't think our army should be like any army."
(p. 65): Mapam co-leader Ya'ari, 14 June: "In truth, thousands [of Palestinians] did flee, but not always of their own will. There were shameful episodes......There was no necessity for all the villages to be emptied..." "
, January 1986.
Much of this article deals with Morris' explication and interpretation of a document found in 1985 in the papers of Aharon Cohen
called "The Emigration of the Arabs of Palestine in the Period 1/12/1947/- 1/6/1948" that had been produced by Israeli Defence Forces Intelligence Service sometime during the first truce. .
The report is dated June 30, 1948 and consists of two parts: a 9 page text and a 15 page appendix. Morris explains that the details in the appendix serves as a basis for the statistical breakdown in the text.
The author is assumed to be Moshe Sasson, assistant to the director of the Arab Department in the Intelligence Service. (He was later Israel's ambassador to Italy
and Egypt
.)
, there were 219 Arab villages and four Arab, or partly Arab, towns in the areas earmarked earmarked by the Resolution to be part of the Jewish state, with a total Arab population of 342,000. By 1 June 1948, 180 of these villages and towns had been evacuated, with 239,000 Arabs fleeing the areas of the Jewish state.
In addition, 152,000 Arabs had fled from areas which had been designated for Palestinian Arab statehood by the Partition Plan. According to the report, the total number of refugees
was 391,000 by 1 June 1948, plus or minus 10-15%. Some 103,000 Arabs were said to have remained in the area designated for Jewish statehood.
The report identifies four stages in the exodus, of which stage four, in May 1948, was defined as the 'main and decisive stage in the emigration movement of the Arabs of Palestine. A psychosis of emigration began to develop, a crisis in confidence in Arab strength."
According to Morris, the report "outlines what IDF Intelligence Branch regards, in June 1948, as the factors which precipitated the exodus, citing them 'in order of importance'":
The report concludes: "It is possible to say that at least 55% of the total of the exodus was caused by our [Haganah / IDF] operations and by their influence". In addition, "the effects of the operations of dissident Jewish organizations 'directly [caused] some 15 percent...of the emigration'.
Morris notes that the report points out that where there was a "strong Arab military force" the villagers did not evacuate "readily." He notes that the report says that the "Arab institutions attempted to strugle against the phenomenon of flight and evacuation, and to curb the waves of emigration...Especially, they tried to prevent the exodus of youngsters of military age...But all these actions completely failed because no positive action was taken which could have curbed the factors pushing toward emigration."
Morris writes:
in 1986.
Yosef Weitz
was the director of Jewish National Fund
´s Land Department, who from the 1930s was responsible for land acquisition (mostly from Arabs) for the Yishuv
. He was instrumental in establishing the "Transfer Committees".
started to descend on Abu Ghosh in a series of more or less brutal search-and-expel operations, where they rounded up the most recent "infiltrators" and pushed them over the border into Jordan
. (p. 267-268): Following one such round-up, in early 1950, the inhabitants of Abu Gosh sent off an "open letter", to Knesset
members and journalists, writing that the Israel
is had repeatedly
, which physically controlled the area, was more potent of the two factors in precipitating the evacuation."
Between 1948 and 1964 the (by then former) inhabitants of Bayt Naqquba at first lived at Sataf, "under trees, because the Arabs had not allowed them to come over their lines, out of distrust and revenge" (quoted in Morris, p. 264). Afterwards they were allowed to stay temporarily in Abu Ghosh.
(p. 266): The reason given for why they were not allowed to return was given as "security" by the local kibbutz Kiryat Anavim. However, Kiryat Anavim´s opposition to the return of Beit Naqquba refugees to their village was only in part based on "security" considerations. The kibbutz also wanted Beit Naqquba's land. The problem was that the handful of Beit Naqquba refugees now living in Abu Gosh continued to cultivate their lands, "and it is to be assumed that they look forward to the day on which they will be able to return to their homes. It seems that as so long as the Beit Naqquba inhabitants remain near their abandoned village, they will continue to maintain contact with the village, and the members of Kiryat Anavim will not be able to take over and cultivate the village lands." Reporting this, (on 16. Mar. 1949), the Interior Ministry official responsible for the Jerusalem District recommended that the Beit Naqquba villagers residing in Abu Ghosh be moved "somewhere....far away".
Starting in 1964, the former Bayt Naqquba residents started moving to a new site, called "Ein Naqquba", located on some of their land south of the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway.
), Lavon Institute, Tel Aviv
(=LA).
(p. 337-338): "At the beginning of September, Major V. H. Loriaux, a UN truce-observer and sometime acting chairman of the Israel-Egypt
MAC (=Mixed Armistice Commission), interviewed some of the evacuees shortly after they reached the Gaza strip. He was told the Majdal Arabs, soon after being warned that they would shortly have to leave the town, were charged ´1,650 Israeli pound[s] for drinking water (it was free of charge previously) ´. Loriaux was also told of ´delays´-before September- in the distribution of rations. The Arabs [..] had been penned in their ghetto, behind barbed wire and military checkpoints, and were rarely allowed out." (ISA-FM 2436/5bet.)
Loriaux [..] complained that there had been cases were Arabs who had refused to move to Gaza being jailed. Israel denied this. (ISA FM 2436/5bet.)
(p. 338): UNTSO chairman General William Riley wrote [..]:
"A. Since occupation of Majdal by Israel, Arabs are kept in special quarters. B. Shopkeepers are not allowed to renew stock. C. Proprietors are not allowed to enter their houses, lands or groves. D. Arab rations are inferior to Israeli rations. E. Rumours are spread among Arabs that Majdal will become military [i.e. war] zone. F. Many Arabs wished to stay, but found living conditions impossible through continuous vexations´ (see UN Archives, New York
), (DAG-1/2.2.5.2.0-1, 13 Sept. 1950)
(p. 441): UNTSO chief of Staff, Lieutenant- General William Riley, United States Marine Corps
, on 21 September issued an unusual public condemnation of the ongoing expulsion of Majdals Arabs and the simultaneous expulsion of members (4000 according to the UN) of the Azazme
beduin tribe from the Negev
into Sinai. Israel reacted by denying both counts.
On 17 November 1950 the Security Council condemned Israel on both counts (Resolution 89: The Palestine Question (17 Nov))
and on 30 May 1951 the MAC called on Israel to repatriate the 1950 Majdal transferees. Israel rejected the decision and denied the charge.
(p. 345) Morris concludes: "Majdal officially became Ashkelon
in 1956, after passing through some nominal stations -Migdal-Gad and Migdal-Ashkelon. The three-sided (Israel, Egypt and UN) debate over whether the Arab departure had been "voluntary" or "coerced" by then was something of an irrelevance. The UN calls for a return 1950 was never heeded and the Majdal transferees were fated to linger on, for decades, indefinitely, in Gaza's grim, grimy refugee camps.
What is clear is that after a year and a half of bureaucratic foot-dragging, the IDF in 1950 wanted this last concentration of Arabs in the southern coastal plain to leave, and engineered their departure.. The Majdal Arabs' own uneasiness at life as a ghettoized minority, under military rule, hemmed in by barbed wire and a pass system, dependent on Israeli handouts, largely unemployed and destitute, cut of from their relatives in Gaza and from the Arab world in general, served as a preparatory background. [..] When these [methods] proved insufficient with the remaining hard-core Histadrut- protected inhabitants, the army availed itself, in September and early October, of cruder methods -shooting in the night, threatening behaviour by the soldiery, unpleasant early-hour-of -the-morning visitations, frequent summons, and occasional arrests. The use of these methods was hidden from the Israeli public and, probably, lacked Cabinet authorization.
To sweeten the pill, the military government offered some fulsome carrots in the form of financial incentives [..]
Until Israel's Defence Ministry and Cabinet records are opened, the exact decision-making processes behind the Majdal transfer will remain unclear."
Benny Morris
Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Be'er Sheva, Israel...
. The book was first published in hardcover in 1990. It was revised and expanded, (largely on the basis on newly available material) and published by Clarendon Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, Oxford, in 1994, ISBN 0-19-827929-9.
The expanded 1994 edition contained a complete new chapter (ch. 5):Yosef Nahmani and the Arab Question in 1948. Chapters 1 (The new historiography: Israel and its past) and chapter 10 (The Transfer of Al Majdal's Remaining Arabs to Gaza, 1950) were substantially expanded.
The new historiography: Israel and its past
In the first chapter, Morris outlines his refutation of the single-cause thesis to the Palestinian exodus. On p. 31, he writes: "In refuting TevethShabtai Teveth
Shabtai Teveth , is an Israeli historian.Shabtai Teveth began working as a journalist for Haaretz newspaper in 1950, eventually becoming its political correspondent...
´s single-cause ("Arab orders") explanation of the exodus up to 15 May, I pointed out that there is simply no evidence to support it, and that the single document Teveth is able to cite, the Haganah report of 24 April, refers explicitly to "rumours" and to an order to "several localities" (rather than a blanket order
Blanket order
A blanket order is defined as an order the customer makes with its supplier which contains multiple delivery dates scheduled over a period of time, sometimes at predetermined prices. It is normally used when there is a recurring need for expendable goods. Hence, items are purchased under a single...
to "the Arabs of Palestine"). Moreover, neither these "rumours" nor the purported order were referred to again in any subsequent Haganah intelligence report (which surely would have been the case had these "rumours" been confirmed and had an actual order been picked up). The fact is that the opposite occurred: Haganah intelligence and Western diplomatic missions in the Middle East at the time, around 5–6 May 1948, picked up, recorded and quoted from Arab orders and appeals (by King Abdullah I, Arab Liberation Army
Arab Liberation Army
The Arab Liberation Army , also translated as Arab Salvation Army, was an army of volunteers from Arab countries led by Fawzi al-Qawuqji...
Commander Fawzi Qawuqji
Fawzi Al-Qawuqji
Fawzi al-Qawuqji was the field commander of the Arab Liberation Army during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War in Palestine, and a rival of the principal Palestinian Arab leader, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini.-Biography:...
, and Damascus Radio) to the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s of Palestine
Palestine
Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....
to stay put in their homes or, if already in exile, to return to Palestine. Not evidence of "Arab orders" to flee but of orders to stay put during those crucial pre-invasion weeks. It flies in the face of the chronology, which there is no getting around. There was an almost universal one-to-one correspondence between Jewish attacks in specific localities and on specific towns and Arab flight from these localities and towns;
- Tiberias was attacked by the Golani BrigadeGolani BrigadeThe Golani Brigade is an Israeli infantry brigade that is subordinated to the 36th Division and traditionally associated with the Northern Command. Its symbol is a green tree on a yellow background, and its soldiers wear a brown beret. It is one of the most highly decorated infantry units in the...
on 17 April; its Arab population evacuated on 18 April. - Arab HaifaHaifaHaifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
was attacked and defeated on 21–22 April; most of its 70,000 Arab inhabitants, evacuated the city over 22 April -1 May. - JaffaJaffaJaffa is an ancient port city believed to be one of the oldest in the world. Jaffa was incorporated with Tel Aviv creating the city of Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical story of the prophet Jonah.-Etymology:...
was assaulted by the Irgun Zva´i LeumiIrgunThe Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
on 25–27 April; the bulk of its 70,000-80,000 population fled the city between 25 April and 13 May. - Safad was attacked and conquered by the PalmahPalmachThe Palmach was the elite fighting force of the Haganah, the underground army of the Yishuv during the period of the British Mandate of Palestine. The Palmach was established on May 15, 1941...
on 9–10 May; its Arab population of 10,000 fled the city on 10 May. - Eastern GalileeGalileeGalilee , is a large region in northern Israel which overlaps with much of the administrative North District of the country. Traditionally divided into Upper Galilee , Lower Galilee , and Western Galilee , extending from Dan to the north, at the base of Mount Hermon, along Mount Lebanon to the...
was conquered by Palmah units between 2 May and 25 May; the villages in the area decamped during that period. And so on."
(p.32): "What this means is that 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 :...
/ Irgun
Irgun
The Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
/IDF
Israel Defense Forces
The Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
attack was usually the principal and final precipitant of Arab flight....[].. For if the Arab order/orders had been issued on 10 April, why did the inhabitants of Haifa wait a fortnight, and those of Safad or Eastern Galilee a month or more to depart? And it the order was issued, say, on 25 April, why did the inhabitants of Tiberias depart three days before; or those of Safad wait a further fortnight before leaving?"
Mapai, Mapam, and the Arab problem in 1948
Here Morris examines the evolving attitudes to "the Arab problem" as it appeared in the two dominant parties, MapamMapam
Mapam was a political party in Israel and is one of the ancestors of the modern-day Meretz party.-History:Mapam was formed by a January 1948 merger of the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party and Ahdut HaAvoda Poale Zion Movement. The party was originally Marxist-Zionist in its outlook and represented...
and Mapai
Mapai
Mapai was a left-wing political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968...
in 1948. Of the minor parties only the Revisionists spoke with a clear voice. (p. 51:) On 13 May LHI
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...
declared:
A strong attack on the centres of the Arab population will intensify the movement of refugees and all the roads in the direction of Transjordan and the neighbouring countries will be filled with panic-stricken masses and [this] will hamper the [enemy´s] military movement, as happened during the collapse of France [in World War II] ... A great opportunity has been given us ....The whole of this land is ours....
(p. 53:) Mapai
Morris examines the "paper trail" on the "Arab question", and writes that the most striking thing about MapaiMapai
Mapai was a left-wing political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in 1968...
is that the party - according to the "paper trail" - hardly ever discussed it.
The first to break the silence was Golda Meir
Golda Meir
Golda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
, who, after a visit to the deserted Arab quarters of Haifa
Haifa
Haifa is the largest city in northern Israel, and the third-largest city in the country, with a population of over 268,000. Another 300,000 people live in towns directly adjacent to the city including the cities of the Krayot, as well as, Tirat Carmel, Daliyat al-Karmel and Nesher...
argued on 11 May that the party now had to determine Israeli behaviour towards the Arabs that remained. Her calls for a full-scale party debate on the issue was not heeded. Morris writes (p. 55): "It was as if a large stone had been thrown into a pool - but had caused no ripple at all."
The only full-scale Mapai party debate in 1948 took place 24 July. Some quotes from that debate:
(p. 57) According to Ben-Gurion, two things had surprised him during the war: the Arab flight and Jewish looting. "it emerged that most of the Jews are thieves". Everyone stole and looted, including "the men of the [Jezreel] Valley, the cream of the pioneers, the parents of the Palmah [fighters]".
Shlomo Lavi
Shlomo Lavi
-Biography:Born in Płońsk in the Russian Empire , Lavi received a religious education. In 1905 he made aliyah to Ottoman-controlled Palestine. In the same year he attended the founding convention of Hapoel Hatzair. He was later involved in the establishment of Hashomer, the Jewish defence...
, a veteran kibbutz movement said: "the.. transfer out of the country in my eyes is one of the most just, moral and correct things that can be done. I have thought this... for many years."
(p 57-58:) Avraham Katznelson endorsed the view: there is nothing "more moral, from the viewpoint of universal human ethics, than the emptying of the Jewish State of the Arabs and their transfer elsewhere....This requires [the use of] force."
During that meeting Shertok
Moshe Sharett
Moshe Sharett on 15 October 1894, died 7 July 1965) was the second Prime Minister of Israel , serving for a little under two years between David Ben-Gurion's two terms.-Early life:...
stated: "It is desirable for us that the Arabs do not return, if it is at all possible ...[This has] historical justification.´ It is best for Israel and the Arab states in the long run that Israel should not have internal problems stemming from the existence of a large Arab minority, he implied. Shertok said, however, that he did not think the hour was ripe for this position ´to be formulated outwardly [that is, publicly]´. (p. 58)
(p. 58): Mapam
(p. 59-61): Aharon CohenAharon Cohen
Aharon Cohen was a senior member of Mapam, a pro-USSR Israeli political party which existed during the first two decades of statehood.Born, 1910, in Britchany, Bessarabia in what was the Tsarist empire, now Romania. He came to Palestine in 1929 where he joined kibbutz Sha'ar Ha'amakin, near Haifa....
, leader of the Mapam's Arab department wrote a memorandum called: "Our Arab Policy in the Midst of the War", 10 May. In his notes for the memorandum, penned 6 May 1948, he wrote: "a deliberate eviction [of the Arabs] is taking place.... Others may rejoice -I, as a socialist, am ashamed and afraid .... To win the war and lose the peace....the state [of Israel], when it arises, will live on its sword." In the memorandum, he wrote: "..out of certain political goals and not only out of military necessity´ the Arabs were driven out. "In practice, a ...."transfer" of the Arabs out of the area of the Jewish state was being carried out´, and this would eventually redound against the Yishuv, both militarily (by increasing pan-Arab anger) and politically.
(p. 66): Cohen had charged that "it had depended on us whether the Arabs stayed or fled... [They had fled] and this was [the implementation of] Ben-Gurion's line in which our comrades are [also] active""
(p.64): Ya'acov Hazan, a Kibbutz Artzi leader specifically denounced the way the Haganah had treated the Arabs which had stayed put. In Abu Shusha
Abu Shusha
Abu Shusha was an Arab village in Palestine, 8 km southeast of Ramle which was depopulated in 1948.Abu Shusha was located on the slope of Tel Jazar, which is commonly identified with the ancient city of Gezer....
, a village near his home kibbutz, the Haganah had completely bulldozed the village, instead of distinguishing between houses belonging to friends and houses belonging to foes of the Yishuv. He spoke of Haganah "killing, robbery, rape. I don't think our army should be like any army."
(p. 65): Mapam co-leader Ya'ari, 14 June: "In truth, thousands [of Palestinians] did flee, but not always of their own will. There were shameful episodes......There was no necessity for all the villages to be emptied..." "
The Causes and Character of the Arab Exodus from Palestine: The Israel Defence Forces Intelligence Service Analysis of June 1948
This article was first published in Middle Eastern StudiesMiddle Eastern studies
Middle Eastern studies is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is generally interpreted to cover a range of nations extending from North Africa in the west to the Chinese...
, January 1986.
Much of this article deals with Morris' explication and interpretation of a document found in 1985 in the papers of Aharon Cohen
Aharon Cohen
Aharon Cohen was a senior member of Mapam, a pro-USSR Israeli political party which existed during the first two decades of statehood.Born, 1910, in Britchany, Bessarabia in what was the Tsarist empire, now Romania. He came to Palestine in 1929 where he joined kibbutz Sha'ar Ha'amakin, near Haifa....
called "The Emigration of the Arabs of Palestine in the Period 1/12/1947/- 1/6/1948" that had been produced by Israeli Defence Forces Intelligence Service sometime during the first truce. .
The report is dated June 30, 1948 and consists of two parts: a 9 page text and a 15 page appendix. Morris explains that the details in the appendix serves as a basis for the statistical breakdown in the text.
The author is assumed to be Moshe Sasson, assistant to the director of the Arab Department in the Intelligence Service. (He was later Israel's ambassador to Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
.)
Content
According to the report, Morris tells us, on the eve of the UN Partition Plan Resolution of 29 November 19471947 UN Partition Plan
The United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine was created by the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine in 1947 to replace the British Mandate for Palestine with "Independent Arab and Jewish States" and a "Special International Regime for the City of Jerusalem" administered by the United...
, there were 219 Arab villages and four Arab, or partly Arab, towns in the areas earmarked earmarked by the Resolution to be part of the Jewish state, with a total Arab population of 342,000. By 1 June 1948, 180 of these villages and towns had been evacuated, with 239,000 Arabs fleeing the areas of the Jewish state.
In addition, 152,000 Arabs had fled from areas which had been designated for Palestinian Arab statehood by the Partition Plan. According to the report, the total number of refugees
Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugees or Palestine refugees are the people and their descendants, predominantly Palestinian Arabic-speakers, who fled or were expelled from their homes during and after the 1948 Palestine War, within that part of the British Mandate of Palestine, that after that war became the...
was 391,000 by 1 June 1948, plus or minus 10-15%. Some 103,000 Arabs were said to have remained in the area designated for Jewish statehood.
The report identifies four stages in the exodus, of which stage four, in May 1948, was defined as the 'main and decisive stage in the emigration movement of the Arabs of Palestine. A psychosis of emigration began to develop, a crisis in confidence in Arab strength."
According to Morris, the report "outlines what IDF Intelligence Branch regards, in June 1948, as the factors which precipitated the exodus, citing them 'in order of importance'":
- Direct, hostile Jewish [ HaganahHaganahHaganah 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 :...
/IDFIsrael Defense ForcesThe Israel Defense Forces , commonly known in Israel by the Hebrew acronym Tzahal , are the military forces of the State of Israel. They consist of the ground forces, air force and navy. It is the sole military wing of the Israeli security forces, and has no civilian jurisdiction within Israel...
] operations against Arab settlements. - The effect of our [Haganah/IDF] hostile operations against nearby [Arab] settlements...... (... especially -the fall of large neighbouring centers).
- Operation of [Jewish] dissidents [ Irgun Zwaí LeumiIrgunThe Irgun , or Irgun Zevai Leumi to give it its full title , was a Zionist paramilitary group that operated in Mandate Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of the earlier and larger Jewish paramilitary organization haHaganah...
and Lohamei Herut YisraelLehi (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...
] - Orders and decrees by Arab institutions and gangs [irregulars].
- Jewish whispering operations [psychological warfare], aimed at frightening away Arab inhabitants.
- Ultimative expulsion orders [by Jewish forces]
- Fear of Jewish [retaliatory] response [following] major Arab attack on Jews.
- The appearance of gangs [irregular Arab forces] and non-local fighters in the vicinity of a village.
- Fear of Arab invasion and its consequences [mainly near the borders].
- Isolated Arab villages in purely [predominantly] Jewish areas.
- Various local factors and general fear of the future.
The report concludes: "It is possible to say that at least 55% of the total of the exodus was caused by our [Haganah / IDF] operations and by their influence". In addition, "the effects of the operations of dissident Jewish organizations 'directly [caused] some 15 percent...of the emigration'.
Morris notes that the report points out that where there was a "strong Arab military force" the villagers did not evacuate "readily." He notes that the report says that the "Arab institutions attempted to strugle against the phenomenon of flight and evacuation, and to curb the waves of emigration...Especially, they tried to prevent the exodus of youngsters of military age...But all these actions completely failed because no positive action was taken which could have curbed the factors pushing toward emigration."
Morris writes:
Yosef Weitz and the Transfer Committees, 1948-1949
This article was first published in Middle Eastern StudiesMiddle Eastern studies
Middle Eastern studies is a name given to a number of academic programs associated with the study of the history, culture, politics, economies, and geography of the Middle East, an area that is generally interpreted to cover a range of nations extending from North Africa in the west to the Chinese...
in 1986.
Yosef Weitz
Yosef Weitz
Yosef Weitz was the director of the Land and Afforestation Department of the Jewish National Fund. From the 1930s, Weitz played a major role in acquiring land for the Yishuv, the pre-state Jewish community in Palestine.-Biography:...
was the director of Jewish National Fund
Jewish National Fund
The Jewish National Fund was founded in 1901 to buy and develop land in Ottoman Palestine for Jewish settlement. The JNF is a quasi-governmental, non-profit organisation...
´s Land Department, who from the 1930s was responsible for land acquisition (mostly from Arabs) for the Yishuv
Yishuv
The Yishuv or Ha-Yishuv is the term referring to the body of Jewish residents in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel...
. He was instrumental in establishing the "Transfer Committees".
Haifa's Arabs: Displacement and Concentration, July 1948
This article was first published in The Middle East Journal in 1988.The Harvest of 1948 and the creation of the Palestinian Refugee problem
This article was first published in The Middle East Journal in 1986.The Case of Abu Ghosh and Beit Naqquba, Al Fureidis and Jisr Zarka in 1948 -or Why Four Villages Remained
Abu Ghosh
The villagers of Abu Ghosh had first been expelled in 1948, but the bulk of the inhabitants "infiltrated" back home in the following months and years. In the second half of 1949, the IDF and policeIsrael Police
The Israel Police is the civilian police force of Israel. As with most other police forces in the world, its duties include crime fighting, traffic control, maintaining public safety, and counter-terrorism...
started to descend on Abu Ghosh in a series of more or less brutal search-and-expel operations, where they rounded up the most recent "infiltrators" and pushed them over the border into Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...
. (p. 267-268): Following one such round-up, in early 1950, the inhabitants of Abu Gosh sent off an "open letter", to Knesset
Knesset
The Knesset is the unicameral legislature of Israel, located in Givat Ram, Jerusalem.-Role in Israeli Government :The legislative branch of the Israeli government, the Knesset passes all laws, elects the President and Prime Minister , approves the cabinet, and supervises the work of the government...
members and journalists, writing that the Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
is had repeatedly
So far, the inhabitants had held their peace."surrounded our village, and taken our women, children and old folk, and thrown them over the border and into the NegevNegevThe Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
Desert, and many of them died in consequence, when they were shot [trying to make their way back across] the borders".
Partly due to public outcry, most of the inhabitants were allowed home. Morris writes (p. 269): In the end only several dozen Abu Gosh families remained in exile, as refugees, in the Ramallah area in the West Bank."But we cannot remain silent in face of the latest incident last Friday, when we woke up to the shouts blaring over the loudspeaker announcing that the village was surrounded and anyone trying to get out would be shot....The police and military forces then began to enter the houses and conduct meticulous searches, but no contraband was found. In the end, using force and blows, they gathered up our women, and old folk and children, the sick and the blind and pregnant women. These shouted for help but there was no saviour. And we looked on and were powerless to do anything save beg for mercy. Alas, our pleas were of no avail... They then took the prisoners, who were weeping and screaming, to an unknown place, and we still do not know what befell
them."
Beit Naqquba
About Beit Naqquba, Morris writes (p. 263): "It is possible that the inhabitants of Beit Naqquba had received both an order to evacuate from Arab military commanders in Ein Karim and "strong advice" to the same effect from Lisser and Navon. But it is likely that the "advice" given in the name of the Harel BrigadeHarel Brigade
Harel Brigade is a reserve brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, today part of the Northern Command. It played a critical role in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.- War of Independence :...
, which physically controlled the area, was more potent of the two factors in precipitating the evacuation."
Between 1948 and 1964 the (by then former) inhabitants of Bayt Naqquba at first lived at Sataf, "under trees, because the Arabs had not allowed them to come over their lines, out of distrust and revenge" (quoted in Morris, p. 264). Afterwards they were allowed to stay temporarily in Abu Ghosh.
(p. 266): The reason given for why they were not allowed to return was given as "security" by the local kibbutz Kiryat Anavim. However, Kiryat Anavim´s opposition to the return of Beit Naqquba refugees to their village was only in part based on "security" considerations. The kibbutz also wanted Beit Naqquba's land. The problem was that the handful of Beit Naqquba refugees now living in Abu Gosh continued to cultivate their lands, "and it is to be assumed that they look forward to the day on which they will be able to return to their homes. It seems that as so long as the Beit Naqquba inhabitants remain near their abandoned village, they will continue to maintain contact with the village, and the members of Kiryat Anavim will not be able to take over and cultivate the village lands." Reporting this, (on 16. Mar. 1949), the Interior Ministry official responsible for the Jerusalem District recommended that the Beit Naqquba villagers residing in Abu Ghosh be moved "somewhere....far away".
Starting in 1964, the former Bayt Naqquba residents started moving to a new site, called "Ein Naqquba", located on some of their land south of the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway.
The Initial Absorption of the Palestinian Refugees in the Arab Host Countries, 1948-1949
The Transfer of Al Majdal's Remaining Arabs to Gaza, 1950
Morris examined previously unpublished reports and memorandums pertaining to the transfer of Majdals Arabs to Gaza in 1950. The reports/memorandums were mostly in the Israel State Archive, Foreign Ministry (=ISA, FM) and the Labour Archives (HistadrutHistadrut
HaHistadrut HaKlalit shel HaOvdim B'Eretz Yisrael , known as the Histadrut, is Israel's organization of trade unions. Established in December 1920 during the British Mandate for Palestine, it became one of the most powerful institutions of the State of Israel.-History:The Histadrut was founded in...
), Lavon Institute, Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
(=LA).
(p. 337-338): "At the beginning of September, Major V. H. Loriaux, a UN truce-observer and sometime acting chairman of the Israel-Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
MAC (=Mixed Armistice Commission), interviewed some of the evacuees shortly after they reached the Gaza strip. He was told the Majdal Arabs, soon after being warned that they would shortly have to leave the town, were charged ´1,650 Israeli pound[s] for drinking water (it was free of charge previously) ´. Loriaux was also told of ´delays´-before September- in the distribution of rations. The Arabs [..] had been penned in their ghetto, behind barbed wire and military checkpoints, and were rarely allowed out." (ISA-FM 2436/5bet.)
Loriaux [..] complained that there had been cases were Arabs who had refused to move to Gaza being jailed. Israel denied this. (ISA FM 2436/5bet.)
(p. 338): UNTSO chairman General William Riley wrote [..]:
"A. Since occupation of Majdal by Israel, Arabs are kept in special quarters. B. Shopkeepers are not allowed to renew stock. C. Proprietors are not allowed to enter their houses, lands or groves. D. Arab rations are inferior to Israeli rations. E. Rumours are spread among Arabs that Majdal will become military [i.e. war] zone. F. Many Arabs wished to stay, but found living conditions impossible through continuous vexations´ (see UN Archives, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
), (DAG-1/2.2.5.2.0-1, 13 Sept. 1950)
(p. 441): UNTSO chief of Staff, Lieutenant- General William Riley, United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
, on 21 September issued an unusual public condemnation of the ongoing expulsion of Majdals Arabs and the simultaneous expulsion of members (4000 according to the UN) of the Azazme
'Azazme
A Bedouin tribe whose grazing territory used to be the desert around the wells at El Auja and Bir Ain on the border between Israel and Egypt.In 1948 the 'Azazme numbered around 3,500. During 1950 the entire tribe was driven from the area around El Auja. In a series of raids the IDF burnt tents and...
beduin tribe from the Negev
Negev
The Negev is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The Arabs, including the native Bedouin population of the region, refer to the desert as al-Naqab. The origin of the word Neghebh is from the Hebrew root denoting 'dry'...
into Sinai. Israel reacted by denying both counts.
On 17 November 1950 the Security Council condemned Israel on both counts (Resolution 89: The Palestine Question (17 Nov))
and on 30 May 1951 the MAC called on Israel to repatriate the 1950 Majdal transferees. Israel rejected the decision and denied the charge.
(p. 345) Morris concludes: "Majdal officially became Ashkelon
Ashkelon
Ashkelon is a coastal city in the South District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The ancient seaport of Ashkelon dates back to the Neolithic Age...
in 1956, after passing through some nominal stations -Migdal-Gad and Migdal-Ashkelon. The three-sided (Israel, Egypt and UN) debate over whether the Arab departure had been "voluntary" or "coerced" by then was something of an irrelevance. The UN calls for a return 1950 was never heeded and the Majdal transferees were fated to linger on, for decades, indefinitely, in Gaza's grim, grimy refugee camps.
What is clear is that after a year and a half of bureaucratic foot-dragging, the IDF in 1950 wanted this last concentration of Arabs in the southern coastal plain to leave, and engineered their departure.. The Majdal Arabs' own uneasiness at life as a ghettoized minority, under military rule, hemmed in by barbed wire and a pass system, dependent on Israeli handouts, largely unemployed and destitute, cut of from their relatives in Gaza and from the Arab world in general, served as a preparatory background. [..] When these [methods] proved insufficient with the remaining hard-core Histadrut- protected inhabitants, the army availed itself, in September and early October, of cruder methods -shooting in the night, threatening behaviour by the soldiery, unpleasant early-hour-of -the-morning visitations, frequent summons, and occasional arrests. The use of these methods was hidden from the Israeli public and, probably, lacked Cabinet authorization.
To sweeten the pill, the military government offered some fulsome carrots in the form of financial incentives [..]
Until Israel's Defence Ministry and Cabinet records are opened, the exact decision-making processes behind the Majdal transfer will remain unclear."
See also
- Causes of the 1948 Palestinian exodusCauses of the 1948 Palestinian exodusThe causes and explanations of the exodus of Palestinian Arabs that arose during the 1947-1948 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War are a matter of great controversy between historians and journalists, and of the Arab-Israeli conflict....