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Palestine,
Israel and the Arab-Israeli Conflict
A Primer
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The
Palestinian Arab Refugees
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Palestinian
refugee camp. |
As
a consequence of the fighting in Palestine/Israel between 1947 and
1949, over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs became refugees. The precise
number of refugees, and questions of responsibility for their exodus
are sharply disputed. Many Palestinians have claimed that most were
expelled in accordance with a Zionist plan to rid the country of
its non-Jewish inhabitants. The official Israeli position holds
that the refugees fled on orders from Arab political and military
leaders. One Israeli military intelligence document indicates that
at least 75 percent of the refugees left due to Zionist or Israeli
military actions, psychological campaigns aimed at frightening Arabs
into leaving, and direct expulsions. Only about 5 percent left on
orders from Arab authorities. There are several well-documented
cases of mass expulsions during and after the military operations
of 1948-49 and massacres and atrocities that led to large-scale
Arab flight. The best-known instance of mass expulsion is that of
the 50,000 Arabs of the towns of Lydda and Ramle. The most infamous
atrocity occurred at Deir Yasin, a village near Jerusalem, where
estimates of the number of Arab residents killed in cold blood by
Israeli fighters range from about 125 to over 250.
Palestinians
Today
this term refers to the Arabs -- Christian, Muslim and Druze --
whose historical roots can be traced to the territory of Palestine
as defined by the British mandate borders. About 3 million Palestinians
now live within this area, which is divided between the state of
Israel, and the West Bank and Gaza; these latter areas were captured
and occupied by Israel in 1967. Today, over 700,000 Palestinians
are citizens of Israel, living inside the country's 1949 armistice
borders. About 1.2 million live in the West Bank (including 200,000
in East Jerusalem) and about one million in the Gaza Strip. The
remainder of the Palestinian people, perhaps another 3 million,
lives in diaspora, outside the country they claim as their national
homeland.
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Girls
at school in a refugee camp. |
The
largest Palestinian diaspora community, approximately 1.3 million,
is in Jordan. Many of them still live in the refugee camps that
were established in 1949, although others live in cities and towns.
Lebanon and Syria also have large Palestinian populations, many
of whom still live in refugee camps. Many Palestinians have moved
to Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf countries to work, and some
have moved to other parts of the Middle East or other parts of the
world. Jordan is the only Arab state to grant citizenship to the
Palestinians who live there. Palestinians in Arab states generally
do not enjoy the same rights as the citizens of those states. The
situation of the refugees in Lebanon is especially dire; many Lebanese
blame Palestinians for the civil war that wracked that country from
1975-91, and demand that they be resettled elsewhere in order for
the Lebanese to maintain peace in their country. The Christian population
of Lebanon is particularly anxious to rid the country of the mainly
Muslim Palestinians because of a fear that they threaten the delicate
balance among the country's religious groups.
Although
many Palestinians still live in refugee camps and slums, others
have become economically successful. Palestinians now have the highest
per capita rate of university graduates in the Arab world. Their
diaspora experience has contributed to a high level of politicization
of all sectors of the Palestinian people.
The
Palestinian Arab Citizens of Israel
In
1948, only about 150,000 Palestinian Arabs remained in the area
that became the state of Israel. They were granted Israeli citizenship
and the right to vote. But in many respects they were and remain
second-class citizens, since Israel defines itself as the state
of the Jewish people and Palestinians are non-Jews. Until 1966 most
of them were subject to a military government that restricted their
movement and other rights (to speech, association and so on). Arabs
were not permitted to become full members of the Israeli trade union
federation, the Histadrut, until 1965. About 40 percent of their
lands were confiscated by the state and used for development projects
that benefited Jews primarily or exclusively. All of Israel's governments
have discriminated against the Arab population by allocating far
fewer resources for education, health care, public works, municipal
government and economic development to the Arab sector.
| Palestinian
Arab citizens of Israel have had a difficult struggle to maintain
their cultural and political identity in a state that officially
regards expression of Palestinian or Arab national sentiment
as subversive. |
Palestinian
Arab citizens of Israel have had a difficult struggle to maintain
their cultural and political identity in a state that officially
regards expression of Palestinian or Arab national sentiment as
subversive. Until 1967, they were entirely isolated from the Arab
world and were often regarded by other Arabs as traitors for living
in Israel. Since 1967, many have become more aware of their identity
as Palestinians. One important expression of this identity was the
organization of a general strike on March 30, 1976, designated as
Land Day, to protest the continuing confiscation of Arab lands.
The Israeli security forces killed six Arab citizens on that day.
All Palestinians now commemorate it as a national day.
Many
Palestinian Arabs have also come to understand that their political
status as Israeli citizens and their protracted contact with Israeli
society has differentiated them from other Palestinians. Although
most of them support the establishment of a Palestinian state in
the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, few would pursue the possibility
of relocating there if such a state comes into existence.
Page
6 | The June 1967 War
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