Hello hillel
I couldn't find any "authoritative independent historical" study, and
to be honest I don't think you are likely to find one, but here are
some links that might help you.
"BENNY MORRIS, HISTORIAN: Until the 1980s, Israelis believed that the
Palestinians, the 700,000 who became refugees in '48, left
voluntarily. It was a very mixed bag in what happened in '48. Some
were expelled, some were, in fact, advised by their leaders to leave;
but by and large people left because of the war. There was a war,
people were shelled, there was shooting, there were massacres, and
people fled."
http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0102/01/tod.10.html
"Israeli partisans often assert that the Arab Palestinian refugees
left because Arab radio broadcasts and Arab leaders told them to leave
and make way for invading Arab armies, promising them a quick and easy
return. Palestinian partisans claim this is not so, and that the
Palestinians were forcibly expelled. In fact, there is evidence of
expulsion, of fear of expulsion and of encouragement by Arab leaders
to leave. Perhaps the most potent factor was that in many towns the
leaders of the Arab communities had already left, as pointed out by
Benny Morris and others"
http://www.mideastweb.org/refugees1.htm
"Why did Palestinians become refugees in 1948?
The Israeli government claim is that Palestinians chose to leave
Palestine voluntarily, instructed to do so via radio broadcasts from
Arab leaders who wanted to clear a path for their armies. But radio
broadcasts from the area were monitored by the British and American
governments and no evidence of general orders to flee has ever been
found. On the contrary, there are numerous instances of Arab leaders
telling Palestinians to stay put, to keep their claim to the
territory.9 People flee during wartime for a variety of reasons and
that was certainly the case here. Some left because war zones are
dangerous environments. Some because of Zionist atrocities -- most
dramatically at Deir Yassin where in April 1948 254 defenseless
civilians were slaughtered. Some left in panic, aided by Zionist
psychological warfare which warned that Deir Yassin's fate awaited
others. And some were driven out at gunpoint, with killings to speed
them on their way, as in the towns of Ramle and Lydda.10"
http://www.al-bushra.org/israel/Shalom.html
Survey:
"With regard to the cause of expulsion, the largest single category
(31%) went to those Israeli Jews who said that Jewish forces expelled
Palestinian refugees, 29.9% said that the refugees left voluntarily,
and 17.3% said they left because Arab leaders told them to leave.
Around one-quarter, 23.3%, did not know."
http://www.jmcc.org/polls/1999/no34.htm
"only about 5 percent of the Arabs fled because their leaders told them to."
http://home.mindspring.com/~fontenelles/archive/2002_03_01_archive.html
"It's true that Morris also finds documentation in Israeli archives of
Arab orders to evacuate women and children, and at times men, from
some villages, offering some support for the long-held Israeli
position that the Palestinians simply left because Arab leaders told
them to before the fighting began, promising that they would soon
return after a great Arab victory. But if the book places some blame
for the flight of the refugees on the Arab leadership, that blame is
far outweighed by that born by the Israelis"
http://www.salon.com/books/int/2004/01/23/morris/index_np.html
Best regards
THX1138 |
