Abstract
When hostilities between Arabs and Jews in Palestine broke out in December 1947, there were 62,500-66,000 Arabs in Haifa; by May 1948, all but a few were gone, accounting for fully one-tenth of the total Palestinian dispersion. Drawing on newly declassified archival records, including invaluable contemporary Arab and Palestinian documents, relating to the 1948 war and the creation of the Palestinian refugee problem, this article describes the complex process of collapse and dispersion of the second largest Arab community in Mandatory Palestine. It shows that not only had half of this community fled the city before the final battle was joined in late April 1948, but another 5,000-15,000 left apparently voluntarily during the fighting while the rest, some 15,000-25,000, were ordered to leave against their wishes, almost certainly on the instructions of the Arab Higher Committee, the effective 'government' of the Palestinian Arabs. There was no Jewish grand design to force this departure, nor was there a psychological 'blitz'. To the contrary, both the Haifa Jewish leadership and the Hagana went to great lengths to convince the Arabs to stay.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 25 - 70 |
Number of pages | 46 |
Journal | MIDDLE EASTERN STUDIES |
Volume | 37 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 2001 |