The Arab-Israeli Conflict Question 2: 10 marks THERE HAS BEEN A SIGNIFICANT PALESTINIAN REFUGEE PROBLEM FOR THE LAST FIFTY YEARS. DO THESE SOURCES ALLOW YOU TO COME TO A FIRM CONCLUSION ABOUT WHO OR WHAT IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PROBLEM?

A AUTHOR Who wrote/produced it? Where they an eyewitness? Might they have a reason to exaggerate? D DATE When was it written/produced? Is it primary or secondary? How might this effect it P PURPOSE Why was the source written/produced? Was it to persuade, entertain, educate? AUDIENCE Who was it written/produced for? Who was going to see it? How might this affect it? H HISTORICAL VALUE Considering all these things how valuable is it to us as historians? Is it biased? Reliable or unreliable – does that mean it’s not useful?

Questions you should ask of each source….. What is it telling me about the refugee problem? Who or what are they blaming? How reliable is it? Look at the author – are they in a position to know the truth? Might they give a biased opinion, and if so, why? What is the purpose of this source, who are the intended audience? What are the limitations of the source? Is it one sided? Are there any important facts it misses out? Is it therefore misleading? What else do you know about the refugee problem that isn’t mentioned in this source? Is it useful to us? What conclusions can we draw about the past?

Source A: A Palestinian view of the Arab Exodus from Palestine in 1948. “On 9th April 1948 the Zionists attacked the peaceful Palestinian village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem, and, in cold blood, murdered 154 men, women and children, mutilating many of their bodies. This Zionist force included elements from the Irgun led by Menachim Begin, the Stern Gang led by Yitzhek Shamir, and the ‘mainstream’ Haganah (the embryonic Israeli army). Their plan was to frighten the rest of the Palestinian population into leaving to avoid the same fate which they did in their thousands. Thousands of Palestinians who fled during the confusion and terror of the War of Independence were prevented from returning to their homes by Israel.” From ‘History of Palestine’ a pamphlet written by the Palestinian Liberation organisation in 1984.

Source B: An Israeli view of the same event. “On 14th may 1948 the British left the country, and the Arab armies invaded the newly created state of Israel. Already, by that time, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs had left their homes and had become refugees as a result of the fighting that had taken place in the country. When the regular Arab armies joined the fighting, there was a full scale war and the numbers of refugees swelled. The responsibility for the fact that the Arabs became refugees must lie with those who carried out the aggression against Israel. Large numbers of refugees left the country at the call of the Arab leaders, who told them to go so that the Arab armies could get in. Arab representatives have stressed the tragedy of Deir Yassin, where Arab civilians were murdered by some Jewish dissidents. It is historically incorrect to state that the exodus of the Arab refugees was due to this incident.” From a statement made to the United Nations in 1961 by Mrs Golda Meir, Israel’s foreign minister.

Source C: A journalist investigates the reasons for the Arab exodus. “I next decided to test the charge that the Arab evacuation orders were broadcast by Arab radio. This could be done thoroughly because the BBC monitored all Middle East broadcasts throughout 1948. The BBC records, and those of a US monitoring unit can be seen at the British Museum. There was not a single order, or appeal, or suggestion about the evacuation from Palestine from Arab radio station inside or outside Palestine in 1948. There are repeated appeals, and even directed orders, to the civilians of Palestine to stay put.” From an article by Erskine Childers, an Irish journalist, published in ‘The Spectator’, 12th May 1961.

Quoted in ‘The Arab Israeli Conflict’, Rea and Wright, 1997. Source D: An extract from comments made by Palestinian refugees on the work of the UN. “We continued to refuse houses and compensation offered by the UN to settle us in our host countries. We wanted nothing short of a return to our homeland.” Quoted in ‘The Arab Israeli Conflict’, Rea and Wright, 1997.

Source E: Abba Eban, speaking to the UN in 1958. “This refugee problem has been artificially maintained for political motives. Recent years have seen great expansion of Middle East economies, but the Arab governments have so far stopped the refugees from sharing this. The vast Arab world could not find homes for a million refugees.” Abba Eban was an Israeli ambassador to the UN. Quoted in ‘The Arab Israeli Conflict’, Rea and Wright, 1997.

Source F: Two photos showing a Palestinian demonstration

Source G: A BBC 2 documentary made in 2002 Source G: A BBC 2 documentary made in 2002. ‘Palestine is Still the issue’ A special report by John Pilger.

Source G: Palestine is Still the Issue part 1 part 2 part 3 part 4 part 5 part 6 part 7