Posted on 05/20/2008 9:07:13 AM PDT by knighthawk
PA daily: Arabs left homes on their own to facilitate destruction of Israel -- and thus became refugees
The Arabs who became refugees in 1948 were not expelled by Israel but left on their own to facilitate the destruction of Israel, according to a senior Palestinian journalist writing in a Palestinian daily. This plan to leave Israel was initiated by the Arab states fighting Israel, who promised the people they would be able to return to their homes in a few days once Israel was defeated. The article in Al-Ayyam concludes that these Arab states are responsible for the Arab refugee problem.
A backbone of Palestinian English-language propaganda is the myth that Israel expelled hundreds of thousands of Arabs from Israel and created Arab refugees. But in recent years, PMW has documented an increasing willingness among Palestinians to openly blame the Arab states and not Israel.
Following are five such statements of blame, starting with this most recent article and including testimony from refugees themselves and corroboration by Palestinian leaders. Clearly, there is a growing Palestinian willingness to blame the Arab leaders, which corroborates Israel's historical record.
1. Jawad Al Bashiti, Palestinian journalist in Jordan, writing in Al-Ayyam, May 13, 2008
"Remind me of one real cause from all the factors that have caused the "Palestinian Catastrophe" [the establishment of Israel and the creation of refugee problem], and I will remind you that it still exists... The reasons for the Palestinian Catastrophe are the same reasons that have produced and are still producing our Catastrophes today. During the Little Catastrophe, meaning the Palestinian Catastrophe the following happened: the first war between Arabs and Israel had started and the "Arab Salvation Army" came and told the Palestinians: 'We have come to you in order to liquidate the Zionists and their state. Leave your houses and villages, you will return to them in a few days safely. Leave them so we can fulfill our mission (destroy Israel) in the best way and so you won't be hurt.' It became clear already then, when it was too late, that the support of the Arab states (against Israel) was a big illusion. Arabs fought as if intending to cause the "Palestinian Catastrophe". [Al-Ayyam, May 13 2008]
2. Mahmoud Al-Habbash, Palestinian Journalist in PA official daily, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 13, 2006
"...The leaders and the elites promised us at the beginning of the "Catastrophe" in 1948, that the duration of the exile will not be long, and that it will not last more than a few days or months, and afterwards the refugees will return to their homes, which most of them did not leave only until they put their trust in those "Arkuvian" promises made by the leaders and the political elites. Afterwards, days passed, months, years and decades, and the promises were lost with the strain of the succession of events..." [Term "Arkuvian," is after Arkuv - a figure from Arab tradition - who was known for breaking his promises and for his lies."] " [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 13, 2006]
3. Asmaa Jabir Balasimah, Woman who fled Israel in 1948, Al-Ayyam, May 16, 2006
"We heard sounds of explosions and of gunfire at the beginning of the summer in the year of the "Catastrophe" [1948]. They told us: The Jews attacked our region and it is better to evacuate the village and return, after the battle is over. And indeed there were among us [who fled Israel] those who left a fire burning under the pot, those who left their flock [of sheep] and those who left their money and gold behind, based on the assumption that we would return after a few hours." [Al-Ayyam, May 16, 2006]
4. Son of man who fled in 1948, PA TV 1999
An Arab viewer called Palestinian Authority TV and quoted his father, saying that in 1948 the Arab District Officer ordered all Arabs to leave Palestine or be labeled traitors. In response, Arab MK Ibrahim Sarsur, then Head of the Islamic Movement in Israel, cursed those leaders, thus acknowledging Israel's historical record.
"Mr. Ibrahim [Sarsur]. I address you as a Muslim. My father and grandfather told me that during the "Catastrophe" [in 1948], our district officer issued an order that whoever stays in Palestine and in Majdel [near Ashkelon - Southern Israel] is a traitor, he is a traitor."
Response from Ibrahim Sarsur, now MK, then Head of the Islamic Movement in Israel: "The one who gave the order forbidding them to stay there bears guilt for this, in this life and the Afterlife throughout history until Resurrection Day." [PA TV April 30, 1999]
5. Fuad Abu Higla, senior Palestinian, Al-Hayat Al-Jadidah, March 19, 2001
Fuad Abu Higla, then a regular columnist in the official PA daily Al Hayat Al Jadida, wrote an article before an Arab Summit, which criticized the Arab leaders. One of the failures he cited, in the name of a prisoner, was that an earlier generation of Arab leaders "forced" them to leave Israel in 1948, again placing the blame for the flight on the Arab leaders.
"I have received a letter from a prisoner in Acre prison, to the Arab summit: To the [Arab and Muslim] Kings and Presidents, poverty is killing us, the symptoms are exhausting us and the souls are leaving our body, yet you are still searching for the way to provide aid, like one who is looking for a needle in a haystack or like the armies of your predecessors in the year of 1948, who forced us to leave [Israel], on the pretext of clearing the battlefields of civilians... So what will your summit do now?" [Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, March 19, 2001]
Conclusion It is clear from these statements that there is general acknowledgement among Palestinians that Arab leaders bear responsibility for the mass flight of Arabs from Israel in 1948, and were the cause of the "refugee" problem. Furthermore, the fact that this information has been validated by public figures and refugees in the Palestinian Authority media itself confirms that this responsibility is well-known - even though for propaganda purposes its leaders continue to blame Israel publicly for "the expulsion."
Ping
read
Given that these folks are Palis, why should we believe them?
ML/NJ
Our courts call statements such as these admissions against interests.
ML/NJ
All the Palis should be removed to Egypt and Jordan proper.
On second thought, all the “Palis” should be evacuated to SA.
Interesting article.Refreshing to read an article that doesn’t blame Israel for the plight of the pali’s.I must admit that my knowledge of history in that part of the world during that time is limited.Anecdote:while i was in college,i met and talked with palistinian immigrants in the US.Two individuals i talked with had family,homes,and businesses in Jordan.Both(including family members)were uncerimoniously kicked out of Jordan.The gov confiscated everything and sent them off to “refugee camps”.All they could take were the clothes on their backs.
Are we witnessing the corruption of a word for use when describing this event? (catastrophe)
As in: this will now be referred to as the ‘Palestinian Catastrophe’
Not that I disagree, I just distinctly remember when the word ‘holocaust’ was suddenly usurped to describe what the Nazi’s did to the Jews.
Suddenly the meaning of the word holocaust was changed from referring to some bad event as ‘a holocaust’ to ‘The Holocaust’ (capital letters) meaning only the murder of Jewish people.
Once again- not that I DISAGREE (some people are SO TOUCHY!) I am just commenting on an observation I made on the changing use of a word in the english language.
Is it just me? or did anyone else notice this? (like about 30 years ago)
"Mr. Ibrahim [Sarsur]. I address you as a Muslim. My father and grandfather told me that during the "Catastrophe" [in 1948], our district officer issued an order that whoever stays in Palestine and in Majdel [near Ashkelon - Southern Israel] is a traitor, he is a traitor."
Another version, from Wikipedia's article "Ashkelon":
Soon after the declaration of the state of Israel, the Egyptian army occupied a large part of the area around Gaza including Majdal. During the next few months, the town was subject to repeated Israeli attacks including air-raids and shelling. All but about 1,000 of the town's residents had fled by the time it was captured by Israeli forces in Operation Yoav on November 4, 1948. General Yigal Allon ordered the expulsion of the remaining Arabs but the local commanders did not do so and the Arab population soon recovered to more than 2,000 due mostly to refugees returning to their homes. During the next year or so, the Arabs were held in a confined area while a secret debate took place about their fate. Some, such as General Moshe Dayan and Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion wanted them expelled, while others, such as the left-wing minority party Mapam and the Israeli labor union Histadrut, wanted them to remain. The government decided that the Arabs should leave, but only consensually, which the government might have conceded because of growing international pressure. A carrot and stick campaign was carried out. Positive inducements included favorable currency exchange, and negative inducements included black propaganda and harassment such as night-time raids. On 17 August 1950, the town's inhabitants were served with an expulsion order and the first group of them were taken on trucks to the Gaza Strip where they joined their fellows in the refugee camps there. By October 1950, only 20 Arab families remained, most of whom later moved to Lydda or Gaza.
Footnotes attribute the information to S. Jiryis, The Arabs in Israel (1968), p.57, and B. Morris, "The transfer of Al Majdal's remaining Arabs to Gaza, 1950," in 1948 and After; Israel and the Palestinians. I can't say if that's the real story TV talk show.
"I can't tell if that's the real story, but it does go deeper into details than some anonymous caller to a TV talk show."
LOL!
I thought I saw that too.
Actually, it's a statement. If you have a question for me, I will try to address it.
ML/NJ
During the 6 day war when the Israeli military obliterated the Epgytian air force planes while they all sat on the ground and blitzed right through the Sinai defenses getting within miles of Cairo, the arab countries leaders were soo embarrassed, they ordered the military to take over all radio stations, and they started broadcast reports that the arab armies were beating the israelis and were already pushing into Israel. Arabs all over the middle east start throwing celebrations and were partying in the streets. When within a few days, it became apparant the oppposite was true, the CIA intercepted phone communications from Nassar to the King of Jordan where they were planning to report that the reason they lost the war was that american troops were on the ground and fighting with the Israelis. That it had been the american airforce that had done the bombing. They couldn't admit the Israeli military had beat them after all the years of promises that Israel was going to be destroyed.
Another amazing story was during the Yom Kippur War when the Israeli artillery was able to shell within a few miles of Damascus after completely owning the Syrian military, the russians flew a squadron of MIGS and bombers to Romania, and painted them with Syrian airforce symbols. They were going to attack Israel, but try to make it look like the Syrian airforce was the ones doing the fighting so the arabs could claim some kind of victory.
High volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel, WOT
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I already answered this; because it is an admission against interests. If a guy says, "I'd lie to you, just as soon as look at you," you believe him because he has nothing to gain by making such a statement.
ML/NJ
Ya’ll should read Knighthawk’s bio - it’s pretty amazing. Welcome, Knighthawk! Are you a citizen yet?
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