This week marks the 55th anniversary of two momentous historical
events: the establishment of the state of Israel and the
destruction of Palestinian society, together with the dispossession
of the Palestinians.
On May 14, 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the leader of the pre-state
Jewish community in Palestinian-controlled territories and later
Israel’s first prime minister, declared Israel’s
independence and thus fulfilled the Zionists’ dream of
establishing a national Jewish “home” in
Palestinian-controlled territories. That evening he noted in his
diary, “In the country there is celebration and profound
joy.”
On the following day, the armies of five Arab states, including
Egypt, Syria and Jordan, launched a conventional war against the
newly founded state, which lasted until 1949. The war resulted in
Israeli victory. As a result, supporters of Israel refer to it as
the “War of Independence.”
However, for Palestinians, the 1948 Arab-Israeli war is
remembered somewhat differently. Deemed “al-Nakba” or
“The Catastrophe” by Palestinians, the war resulted in
the annihilation of Palestinian society and the forcible transfer
of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes to
refugee camps outside the borders of the Jewish state.
According to prominent Israeli historian Benny Morris, during
the 1948 Arab-Israeli war “about 700,000 Arabs … fled or
were ejected from the areas that became the Jewish state.” At
the war’s end, less than half of the Palestinians remained in
their original homes, with fewer than 150,000 in Israel.
UCLA history Professor Gabriel Piterberg says
“there’s no question that there was substantial
expulsion in 1948. I call it ethnic cleansing, and I’m not
the only Israeli to do so. People were removed from their homes,
massacred, raped and lost their property on the basis of ethnic
belonging ““ not because they were working-class or peasants
or women ““ but because they were
Palestinian-Arabs.”
Piterberg argues that “it’s immoral and scholarly
incompetent to deny this,” adding that “there are many
Israeli scholars, most of whom are good Zionists, who accept the
Israeli expulsions. … Denying it will not make the atrocities go
away and will not absolve the crimes of the
perpetrators.”
Morris contends that “the principal cause of mass flight
… was Jewish military attack or fears of such an attack,”
and writes that “in no case did a population abandon its
homes before an attack; in almost all cases it did so on the very
day of an attack and in the days immediately following.”
On April 9, 1948, as many as 254 Palestinians were massacred in
the village of Deir Yassin, and Morris writes “the fear that
the same fate might befall them propelled other villagers to
flight, and this “˜atrocity factor’ was reinforced
periodically during the months of fighting by other Jewish
massacres.”
Moreover, the military operation, “Plan D,”
authorized commanders to clear the populace out of villages and
certain urban districts, resulting in the expulsion of 60,000
Palestinians from the towns of Lydda and Ramle. Ben Gurion himself
supported the notion of expulsion, stating in June 1938, “I
support compulsory transfer. I do not see in it anything
immoral.”
The Israeli historian Meron Benvenisti writes, “Although
not as severe as in the case of Bosnia, atrocities that could be
described as war crimes did occur. Not only was an undesirable
population expelled from given territory due to religious or ethnic
discrimination “¦ but some of the Arabs were not expelled on
military grounds but with the objective of taking over their homes
and land expressly for the settlement of Jews.”
On June 16, 1948 the Israeli cabinet, without a formal vote,
resolved to bar the return of Palestinian refugees, and the Israel
Defense Force general staff ordered its units to stop would-be
returnees with live fire. Benvenisti comments, “The return of
the refugees conflicted with some of Israel’s most vital
interests: securing an absolute Jewish majority, settling Jewish
refugees on the abandoned land.” Yet the resolution
contravened the terms of the Geneva Convention and meant that
hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were confined to refugee
camps.
The family of Shawki El-Zatmah, a history graduate student at
UCLA, was among those who were terrorized into leaving their homes
during the 1948 war. Originally from Yibna in central Israel, his
family now lives in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the Gaza
Strip.
Awad Awad, a Palestinian, who is due to begin a graduate course
in Near Eastern languages and culture at UCLA this fall, stressed,
“There are two sides to the story of 1948. Zionists sought to
solve the problem of anti-Semitism in Europe and did what they
thought was necessary to achieve it.”
But, as El-Zatma said, “Whilst they’re celebrating
their Independence Day they should remember our story, how they
victimized us and how their illegal occupation continues to
victimize us. We can congratulate them for their independence but
we want to emphasize our story as Palestinians that have been
victimized by the state of Israel.”
Awad emphasized, “Everyone has a right to celebrate their
independence. But we’re waiting to celebrate ours too. We are
a people, not just Arabs, and we cannot and will not just
assimilate ourselves into any Arab state. We want and need a state
of our own. We want our right to self-determination to be
recognized.”
Professor Piterberg believes “it is outrageous to take a
jubilant, combative position” on campus toward the events of
1948, especially given the ethno-cultural diversity of the UCLA
community, which includes many Arabs. The events organized this
week by Bruins for Israel, among others, only present one side of
the story and, as Piterberg stresses, “until it is recognized
that 1948 is as much Nakba as it is independence, there will be no
reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Perhaps a more balanced way of commemorating the 55th
anniversary of the 1948 war could be found. On Tuesday, the borders
of Bruin Walk and Meyerhoff Park were lined with placards showing
the Israeli victims of Palestinian terror. A more even-handed
representation would have shown the Palestinian victims of Israeli
terror as well; namely, those Palestinians who were driven or
terrorized from their homes in 1948, as well as those who continue
to live and die under the brutal and illegal Israeli occupation.
Remember this week that there are two sides to every story.
Rebecca Steinfeld is a third-year history student with
specialization in the Arab-Israeli conflict. She is a former Daily
Bruin news reporter.