Synopses & Reviews
In this first full-length study of the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem, the author traces the stages of the 1947-9 exodus against the backdrop of the first Arab-Israeli war and analyzes the varied causes of the flight. The Jewish and Arab decision-making involved, on national and local levels, military and political, is described and explained, as is the crystallization of Israel's decision to bar a refugee repatriation. Morris examines the subsequent fate of the abandoned Arab villages, lands, and urban neighborhoods, and looks at the international context of the war and the exodus.\[P\] \[I\]Benny Morris\[/I\] was born and educated in Israel and received his doctorate from the University of Cambridge. He is diplomatic correspondent for \[I\]The Jerusalem Post.\[/I\]
Review
"The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, a book of extraordinary power and integrity written by a young Israeli scholar and journalist, Benny Morris, takes that great tale of flight and conquest and tells it as it has never been told before: with precision and moral economy, with awesome detail and honesty..." Fouad Ajami, The Washington Post Book World"The Palestinian refugee problem was born of war, not by design, Jewish or Arab. It was largely a by-product of Arab and Jewish fears and of the protracted, bitter fighting that characterised the first Arab-Israeli war; in smaller part, it was the deliberate creation of Jewish and Arab military commanders and politicians.' So runs the conclusion--deliberately careful, elaborately neutral--of Benny Morris' book, the most comprehensive and detailed study yet published on the Palestinian refugees. These are words that should be read on the West Bank and in Gaza, were it not already too noisy and too late." The Economist
Synopsis
'This book is the first full-length study of the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem.'
Synopsis
This book is the first full-length study of the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem. Based on recently declassified Israeli, British and American state and party political papers and on hitherto untapped private papers, it traces the stages of the 1947-9 exodus against the backdrop of the first Arab-Israeli war and analyses the varied causes of the flight. The Jewish and Arab decision-making involved is described and explained, as is the crystallisation of Israel's decision to bar a refugee repatriation. Throughout the book attempts to describe what happened rather than what successive generations of Israeli and Arab propagandists have said happened, and to explain the motives of the protagonists.
Table of Contents
List of maps; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations; Maps; Introduction; 1. Background; 2. The first wave: the Arab exodus, December 1947-March 1948; 3. The second wave: the mass exodus, April-June 1948; 4. Deciding against a return of the refugees, April-December 1948; 5. Blocking a return; 6. The third wave: the ten days (9-18 July 1948) and the Second Truce (18 July-15 October); 7. The fourth wave: the battles and exodus of October-November 1948; 8. Clearing the borders: expulsions and population transfers, November 1948-July 1949; 9. Solving the refugee problem, December 1948-September 1949; Conclusion; Appendix I: The number of Palestinian refugees; Appendix II: Biographical notes; Notes; Bibliography; Index.