The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited

by Benny Morris

• ISBN13: 9780521009676
• ISBN10: 0521009677
• eBook ISBN(s): 9780511162657
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-01-05
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• More Book Details

Summary

Benny Morris' The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem was published in 1988. Its startling revelations about how and why 700,000 Palestinians left their homes and became refugees during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948 undermined traditional interpretations as to whether they left voluntarily or were expelled as part of a systematic plan. This book represents a revised edition of the earlier work, compiled on the basis of newly-opened Israeli military archives. While the focus remains the 1948 war and the analysis of the Palestinian exodus, the new material contains more information about what happened in Jerusalem, Jaffa and Haifa, and how events there led to the collapse of Palestinian urban society. It also sheds light on the battles and atrocities that resulted in the disintegration of rural communities. The story is a harrowing one. The refugees now number four million and their existence remains a major obstacle to peace.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Background

2. 'Transfer': thinking in Zionism before 1948

3. The first stage of the exodus, November 1947-March 1948

4. The second stage of the exodus, April-June, 1948

5. The third stage of the exodus,'The Ten Days', July 1948

6. Deciding against a return of the refugees

7. Preventing a return

8. The fourth stage of the exodus, October- November 1948

9. Clearing the borders

10. Solving the refugee problem: the failure to reach agreement and a solution, 1949

Conclusion