User:Alphatrion
Posted this on Israel Wiki Talk Page IRT Ethnic cleansing by Israel in 1948
I did want to add this in. http://www.mideastweb.org/haifa1948.htm It's a copy of a 1948 British police report. Though the site appears unsympathetic to the "traditional Zionist POV", it does mention that the report suggests that in Hiafa at least, Arabs were asked to stay. I am not arguing that there were no instances of Palestinian evacuations, but a systematic, organized ethnic cleansing among "Zionist revolutionaries" throughout the entire mandate is historically inaccurate, though no doubt this intention existed in some areas. As for the historians cited, I would like to humbly suggest to Alberuni that there is a major difference between Benny Morris, and Benny Morris as cited by Noam Chomsky. Chomsky takes Morris' data to reach different conclusions than Morris himself does (I have no problem with this, though when Daniel Jonah Goldhagen did the same thing with Max Boramus' source material, Chomsky's bosom buddy Norman Finkelstein flew off the handle, but I digress). Morris' assertion was that historical evidence points to the likely possibility that, realizing the calls by Arabs for Palestinians to leave and the spread of stories of Israeli soldier triumphs instilled fear in the Palestinians, the Israelis played into it to exacerbate the exodus. This is Morris' theory, which is different from Chomsky's. Chomsky claims simply that the Israelis engaged in a concentrated and organized ethnic cleansing and that the Arab leaders did not tell the Palestinians to leave. While that might play on the University lecture circuit for the consumption of leftist rhetoric junkies, it is contradicted by Arab and British primary sources. Most left without seeing an Israeli soldier, I have not yet seen a historical model which can contradict this fact (though if you can point to one, I would be most appreciative). Since there is no historical consensus on the matter, may I suggest the entire section make mention of both accounts and attribute them to their respective political affiliation (someone I believe already suggested this)? Alphatrion 12:31, 18 Nov 2004
Before this degenerates into a useless flame war, may I suggest the following statement as NPOV? --During the period of the War of Independence, the ethnic Palestinian population transferred out of territory controlled by Israel, the reasons disputed by historians. Some historians and advocates claim that the majority of Palestinians were removed by a concerted effort on the part of the Zionist forces to change the population balance in the territories under their control, while others claim that there was a premeditated decision on the part of the Zionist to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian population. Other historians and advocates disagree with these assertions, claiming that the Palestinian population left at the behest of the Arab leaders to clear a path for their armies. Other historians claim that upon hearing of the Zionist victories, Palestinians became frightened, not wishing to engage the Israeli fighters. What is not in dispute is that after the war, the Arab population of Israel had reduced to 14-25% of its former size. Don’t know, but I thought we might at least start to get solution oriented….
Alphatrion 00:12, 18 Nov 2004 (UTC)
- I agree that the references to obscurities should be cut out. It looks as though I wrote it from "the talk page" point of view. But the problem still exists that the cause is debated by historians, and any concensus that has been reached has only been in certain localised areas. If one is going to make mention of "an Israeli attempt at ethnic cleansing", then one must also mention that no evidence of a systematic and focused attempt on ethnic cleansing (which is why it is a bone of contention among the parties).
Maybe this isn't a problem; I have noticed the page's neutrality is no longer disputed...
Alphatrion 01:04, 21 Nov 2004