Encountering the Nakba

1. Encountering the Nakba The nakba in history Index: what is the Nakba / The Nakba in Numbers / What was Palesine like before the Nakba? / When did it happen? / How did it happen? / Preventing return/ sources

2. What is the Nakba? Noga Kadman, Bayt Mahsir J. Madvo, :UNRWARL/Nahr el-Bared/1 “Nakba” is a word in Arabic that means “catastrophe” (نكبة). It refers to the destruction of the Palestinian villages and cities that existed in the area that became the state of Israel, and the expulsion of most of their Palestinian residents, in 1948. Makbula Nassar, Haifa Zochrot, al-Lajjun

3. The Nakba in Numbers 1,100,000 1,000,000 900,000 800,000 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 Palestinians Jews Population of Israel/Palestine in 1947 900,000 600,000 These figures refer to the area on which the state of Israel was founded Source:Abu Sitta, 2004.

4. The Nakba in Numbers 1,000,000 900,000 800,000 700,000 600,000 500,000 400,000 300,000 200,000 100,000 Population of Israel/Palestine in 1949 1,100,000 1,000,000 150,000 Palestinians Jews

5. The Nakba in Numbers 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 Number of localities in Israel/Palestine in 1947 700 350 Palestinians Jews

6. The Nakba in Numbers 900 800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100 Number of localities in Israel/Palestine in 1949 400 170 Palestinians Jews

7. The Nakba in Numbers • In other words, from 1947 – 1949: • 530 Palestinian localities were destroyed • 800,000 residents were expelled and not allowed to return

8. What was Palestine like before the Nakba? What was Palestine like before the Nakba? Towns There were twenty-nine towns in 1946. The large, mixed (Arab-Jewish) towns were Jerusalem, Haifa and Jaffa. The large Arab towns were Nazareth, Nablus, Hebron, Ramle, Lydda and Gaza. Tel Aviv was the large Jewish town. In 1947, one-third of Palestine’s Arabs lived in towns. ילדי בית הספר האורתודוכסי ביאפא, 1938

9. What was Palestine like before the Nakba? Towns : Jaffa Jaffa was one of the country’s most important towns. It was an economic, cultural, and political center, with a vibrant cultural and political life, and many leisure activities.

10. What was Palestine like before the Nakba? Towns : Jaffa Palestinians: 70,000 Jews: 30,000 Schools: 19 Pupils: 11,500 Mosques: 12 Churches: 10 Hospitals: 4 Daily newspapers: 7 Data from a 1946 survey for the UN; cf. www.palestineremembered.com

11. What was Palestine like before the Nakba? Villages Almost two-thirds of the Arab population was rural. The main source of income was agriculture. The village was led by the Mukhtar, who was usually a representative of its most important family. Most villages were independent social, political, and economic units. חטין, 1934. צלם לא ידוע

12. What was Palestine like before the Nakba? Villages: Hittin The village of Hittin lies nine kilometers west of Tiberias, on the slopes of Mt. Hittin. Its location made it important strategically and commercially.

13. What was Palestine like before the Nakba? Villages: Hittin Click on the small picture in order to hear the testimony of Siham Falah Shbaita, a refugee from Hittin.

14. Ceremony inaugurating a Jewish-Arab clinic in Kibbutz Amir, 1945. The sign reads, “Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them, and I will reveal to them a greeting of peace and truth.” (Jeremiah 33:6) – In Hebrew. What was Palestine like before the Nakba? Palestinians and Jews Kibbutz Amirarchive

15. What was Palestine like before the Nakba? Palestinians and Jews קלוגר זולטן, לשכת העיתונות הממשלתית Though neighborly relations and cooperation developed in many places in the country, the growing strength of the two national movements (particularly Zionism), and competition for resources led to tensions, suspicion and violence. Palestinian farmers and their Jewish neighbors in the Hula Valley, 1946.

16. What was Palestine like before the Nakba? Palestinians and Jews קלוגר זולטן, לשכת העיתונות הממשלתית Until the 1948 war, possibilities still existed, encouraging hopes of cooperation between Palestinians and Jews. Palestinian farmers and their Jewish neighbors in the Hula Valley, 1946.

17. When did it happen? The Nakba occurred primarily during 1948. In November 1947, the UN proposed a partition plan which split the land almost equally between the Jewish and Arab sides. At this time, Jews comprised 1/3 of the local population and owned about 5% of the land.

18. When did it happen? When the partition plan was passed, and until March 1948, there was an escalation in violence between the two sides, such as firing on transportation routes and retaliations. However, at this time, the violence was not expressed as wholesale expulsion or clearing of Palestinian localities.

19. “In the conquest of villages in your area, you will determine – whether to cleanse or destroy them – in consultation with your Arab affairs advisers and … You are permitted to restrict – insofar as you are able – cleansing, conquest and destruction operations of enemy villages in your area.” [From the text of Plan D] How did it happen? This situation changed in March 1948, when the Haganah embarked on “Plan D.” The purpose of this plan was to create territorial continuity for the Jewish side by controlling the largest possible territory with the smallest possible Arab population. To accomplish this task, Jewish military forces began a campaign to expel and destroy Arab villages. This was the beginning of the Nakba. Two months later, on 16 May 1948, the war between Israel and the Arab states began.

20. How did it happen?

21. How did it happen? The causes which determined the destruction of the 530 villages and cities were: 51% Military assault by Jewish forces – 270 localities 23% Expulsion by Jewish forces – 122 localities 9% Fall of a neighboring town – 49 localities 9% Psychological warfare and fear of attack – 50 localities 1% Orders of Arab leaders – 5 localities 6% No information – 34 localities (Salman Abu Sitta, 2004; Benny Morris, 1991)

22. How did it happen? The causes which determined the destruction of the 530 villages and cities were: 51% Military assault by Jewish forces – 270 localities 23% Expulsion by Jewish forces – 122 localities 9% Fall of a neighboring town – 49 localities 9% Psychological warfare and fear of attack – 50 localities 1% Orders of Arab leaders – 5 localities 6% No information – 34 localities In most localities (83%), the population exodus was directly caused by Israeli military action. As Israeli historian Benny Morris claims, the assertion that the Palestinian refugees left their villages because they were instructed to do so by their leaders is a myth.

23. How did it happen? The caused which determined the destruction of the 530 villages and cities were: 51% Military assault by Jewish forces – 270 localities 23% Expulsion by Jewish forces – 122 localities 9% Fall of a neighboring town – 49 localities 9% Psychological warfare and fear of attack – 50 localities 1% Orders of Arab leaders – 5 localities 6% No information – 34 localities Click the buttons to learn more.

25. Preventing Return makbula nassar Above: A fence erected by the JNF, preventing people from entering the area of the mosque in the village of Hittin. Below: Demolition of the home of the Baidas family, one of the last remnants of the village of Shaykh Muwannis (Ramat Aviv), in order to erect high-rise apartments. Zochrot

26. “[Should the Jews] make an effort to bring the Arabs back to Haifa, or not [?] Meanwhile, so long as it is not decided differently, we have decided on a number of rules, and these include: We won’t go to Acre or Nazareth to bring back the Arabs. But, at the same time, our behavior should be such that if, because of it, they come back – [then] let them come back. We shouldn’t behave badly with the Arabs [who remained] so that others [who fled] won’t return.” Golda Meir, from Protocol of meeting of JAE, 6 May 1948 (In: Morris, 2004). Preventing Return During the war, the question of whether Palestinians should be allowed to return was an open one. 1973, רון פרנקל, לשכת העיתונות הממשלתית

27. “(1) Destruction of villages as much as possible during military operations. (2) Prevention of any cultivation of land by them…(3) Settlement of Jews in a number of villages and towns so that no ‘vacuum’ is created. (4) Enacting legislation (5) Propaganda” From a memorandum by Yosef Weitz to Ben-Gurion, “Retroactive Transfer, A Scheme for the Solution of the Arab Question in the State of Israel” (June 5, 1948) (in: Morris, 2004, p.313). Preventing Return During the war, the question of whether Palestinians should be allowed to return was an open one. However, as the war progressed, the Israeli side came to adopt a strict policy of preventing return. 1938, רודי ויסנשטיין, ארכיון קק"ל

28. (1) The surrender of A’jjur village in 1/10/1948. Preventing Return (2) A JNF sign in the village, part of which was turned into “British Park.” Methods to Prevent their Return included destroying villages, settling Jews in areas formerly populated by Arabs, enacting legislation, and transforming village sites for other uses such as parks or ‘closed military zones’. Many times the Israeli Army shot Palestinians refugees while trying to return to their villages. (3) A eucalyptus grove planted over the village today.

29. Sources Abu Sitta, Salman H. (2004). Atlas of Palestine 1948. London: Palestine Land Society. Khalidi, Walid. (1992). All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948. Washington D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies. Sanbar, Elias. (2004). Les Palestiniens: La photographie d'une terre et de son people de 1839 a nos jours. Lucon: Hazan. Morris, B. (2004). The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Rvisited, Cambridge:University Press. אופיר, עדי. (1999). "שנת האפס", בתוך: 50 ל-48, תיאוריה וביקורת 12-13, מכון ון ליר. מאגנס, יהודה לייב. (1949). לקט רעיונות ואמרות. ירושלים: האוניברסיטה העברית. מוריס, בני. (2000). תיקון טעות: יהודים וערבים בארץ-ישראל, 1936-1956. תל-אביב: עם עובד. עמותת "זוכרות". (2003). זוכרות את עין ע'זאל [חוברת]. תל-אביב. עמותת "זוכרות". (2003). סיור ושילוט בלוד. ב: www.zochrot.org/index.php?id=54 שי, אהרון. (2002). "גורל הכפרים הערביים הנטושים במדינת ישראל ערב מלחמת ששת הימים ואחריה". קתדרה, 105, עמ' 151-170. אתר אינטרנט: www.palestineremembered.com מפת החלוקה 1947, מתוך הערך "תכנית החלוקה" באתר ויקיפדיה: http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki Preparing presentation: Talia Fried Filming & Editing movies: Raneen Jeries

30. Psychological warfare and fear of attack “We, therefore, looked for a means that would not oblige us to use force to drive out the tens of thousands of hostile Arabs left in the Galilee and who, in the event of an invasion, could strike at us from behind. We tried to utilize a stratagem that exploited the [Arabs] defeat in Safad and in the area cleared by [Operation] Broom - a stratagem that worked wonderfully. I gathered the Jewish mukhtars,, who had ties with the different Arab villages, and I asked them to whisper in the ears of several Arabs that a giant Jewish reinforcement had reached the Galilee and were about to clean out the villages of the Hula, [and] to advise them, as friends, to flee while they could. And rumor spread throughout the Hula that the time had come to flee. The flight encompassed tens of thousands. The stratagem fully achieved its objective . . . and we were able to deploy ourselves in face of the [prospective] invaders along the borders, without fear for our rear." Yigal Allon, Book of the Palmah, in Morris, 2004, p. 251 1949, טדי בראונר, לשכת העיתונות הממשלתית The Haganah and the IDF incited fear to cause Palestinian residents to leave.

31. They abandon the villages of their birth and that of their ancestors and go into exile… Women, children, babies, donkeys – everything moves, in silence and grief, northwards, without looking to right or left. Wife does not find her husband and child does not find his father… no one knows the goal of his trek. Many possessions are scattered by the paths; the more the refugees walk, the more tired they grow – and they throw away what they had tried to save on their way into exile. Suddenly, every object seems to them petty, superfluous, unimportant as against the chasing fear and the urge to save life and limb. -- Moshe Carmel, Commander of the Carmeli Brigade , Northern Battles, 1949 (in Morris, 2004, p.482). Expulsion A pattern of expulsion was repeated in numerous locations: After residents of the village surrendered, the village was surrounded from three sides, and the fourth was left open so that residents would leave in the direction of the neighboring Arab state. Men were separated into one group, and women, children, and the elderly in another. The latter were expelled by threats and shooting over their heads, and sometimes their valuables were also taken.

32. Expulsion A pattern of expulsion was repeated in numerous locations: After residents of the village surrendered, the village was surrounded from three sides, and the fourth was left open so that residents would leave in the direction of the neighboring Arab state. Men were separated into one group, and women, children, and the elderly in another. The latter were expelled by threats and shooting over their heads, and sometimes their valuables were also taken. Some of the men were killed in order to scare the others, and many were taken prisoners to war camps. At the left is a military order setting out such an instruction for the village of Hunin.

33. Expulsion There were also a number of areas where the population was expelled by trucks (Ramleh, Baysan, Majdal, and others).

34. Expulsion Click on the picture in order to watch the testimony of Marta Sosan Mahul, a refugee from Bir’em

35. Fall of a neighboring town Many localities were abandoned following the fall of a neighboring village or city, as residents feared they would be defenseless against a coming attack. The fall of cities and large towns had a particularly strong effect, as the surrounding economic and social network broke down.

36. During the morning [the Jews] were continually shooting down on all Arabs who moved both in Wadi Nisnas and the Old City. This included completely indiscriminate and revolting machinegun fire, mortar fire and sniping on women and children sheltering in churches and attempting to get out… through the gates into the docks… The 40 [Royal Marine Commando] who control the docks… sent the Arabs through in batches but there was considerable congestion outside the East Gate of hysterical and terrified Arab women and children and old people on whom the Jews opened up mercilessly with fire. A British intelligence officer, cited in Morris, 2004, p. 191. Military assault In most cases, Jewish forces bombed the village, sometimes from the air, so that the population would flee.

37. They shelled the village center of Ayn Ghazzal, which had several stores and a cafe. At night the young people would take weapons and go on patrol. It was Ramadan. Every afternoon they started bombing us, when people wanted to eat. And what weapons did we have? Junk. Shoots maybe six meters high. How many rifles were there here for defense? Maybe 25 rifles. They made no preparation for the war. A few tough guys came from Ijzim and from Haifa and said “let’s fight,” but what did they have? Nothing. There was a tank at the entrance to the village. Our people ensnared them. They went down and around and shot at the wheels of the tank and it became stuck. They dragged the tank up with mules and horses. They killed the three Jews and took the tank…  (from: remembering Ayn Ghazzal, Zochrot, 2003) Military assault In most cases, Jewish forces bombed the village, sometimes from the air, so that the population would flee. Less frequently, there was Arab and Palestinian military resistance, but the balance of power typically favored the Jewish side. Ali Hamoudi, who was displaced from Ayn Ghazzal, describes the situation in his village.

38. Military assault Hani Munib Zeid, displaced from Ayn al-Mansi Ghosta Daqwar, Tarshicha In some cases, after the village surrendered, war crimes were committed such as massacres and rape. Click on the pictures at left to hear accounts by Palestinian residents, and by a Jewish soldier of two different military assaults. Micky Cohen, former soldier who participated in the assault on Beersheba