Benny Morris over de Palestijnse vluchtelingen (video)

 

Deze video geeft een goed overzicht van het aantal Palestijnse vluchtelingen en de redenen waarom ze vluchtten. Morris onderscheidt vier fases, en vooral in de tweede fase (100.000 vluchtelingen, zomer 1948) zijn veel vluchtelingen verdreven zonder direct militair doel, met name uit Lod en Ramle. In de andere fases ging het vooral om Palestijnen die voor het oorlogsgeweld vluchtten, tijdens gevechten of vantevoren uit angst. Belangrijk was dat juist in de eerste fase, voordat Israel/de Haganah het initiatief naar zich toetrok, veel notabelen en beter gesitueerde Palestijnen vluchtten, waardoor de dorpelingen zonder lokale leiders achterbleven. Dat heeft hun moraal sterk beinvloed. 

 

RP

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Excerpts of a talk by Prof. of history Benny Morris, about the actual number of Arabs expled from Palestine during the 47-48 war. The Israeli policies and actions that lead to the Palestinian refugee problem.
To see the lecture in its entirety, with supplements and Q&A (about 10 videos) click here to start: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNjK2HUUBEs
For links to related information go to the end of the description, after the "enclosed texts" part.

***The four stages of the creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem***

** Stage #1 **
Started: November 1947 (after the announcement of the Partition Plan for Palestine after which the Arabs started the civil war against Jews in Palestine).
Ended: March 1948.
Population: Mainly middle and upper class.
Reason: Moved to be out of harm's way (not expelled!).
Number: ~75,000
Actually expelled by Jewish forces: None.

** Stage #2 **
Started: April 1948 (Roughly coincides with the creation of Israel and the invasion of neighboring Arab countries)
Ended: June 1948 (Beginning of first truce)
Population: Lower middle class town and village inhabitants.
Reason: Fled due to fear and lack of leadership.
Number: ~300,000
Actually expelled by Jewish forces: Almost none.

** Stage #3 **
Started: July 1948 (After the end of the first truce during the most intense fighting)
Population: Lower class.
Reason: Expulsion and mass flight.
Number: ~100,000
Actually expelled by Jewish forces: ~50,000 mainly from Lod and Ramle.

** Stage #4 **
Started: October 1947 (During another escalation in fights as Israel goes into the offensive)
Population: Mainly northern inhabitants.
Reason: Mainly mass flight with some expulsions
Number: ~200,000

*** Were There Israeli Expulsion Policies? ***
- When looking at Israeli internal documents we clearly find that (In accordance with original Zionistic principals) there was NO Jewish institutional policy of expelling the Arabs.
- In a military directive from March 1948, there was a specific order that commanders should treat the Arab population with dignity and NOT expel inhabitants, except for military objectives.
- At the point in April 1948, when it seemed to Jewish leadership that an existential threat hangs over the Jewish "yeshuv" there was a change in atmosphere, nevertheless no specific expulsion policy was adopted and no directive given.
How do we know there was no Israeli expulsion policy?
- About 50% of Arabs stayed in Israel, which is the reason why Israel till today consists of 20% Arab citizens.
- No Israeli officer at the course of the 48 war was put to trial for expelling, or not expelling Arabs.
- According to documents we see an inconsistency in expulsions. In some cases there were expulsions and some there weren't.
NOTE: When the civil war escalated to the point that Arab armies invaded Israel, more field commanders took action in actually clearing Arab settlements to prevent attacks from both sides (i.e. entering Arab armies in the front and Arab inhabitants at the back).
The Reason: Left wingers in the army, civil population and leadership.

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More information:

Benny Morris - The 1948 War:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2042542522701200384#

Einstein Zionism 1940-1949:
http://dancutlermedicalart.com/AlbertEinstein%27sZionism/07Einstein%27sZionism1940-1949.htm

United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Partition_Plan_for_Palestine

1948 war:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_war

Timeline (Chronology): Israel War of Independence:
http://www.zionism-israel.com/his/Israel_war_independence_1948_timeline.htm