The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited

This book explores the realities behind the Palestinian exodus of 1948 during the Arab-Israeli war.

Benny Morris (Author)

9780521009676, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 11 December 2003

666 pages, 3 maps
22.6 x 15.2 x 3.8 cm, 0.98 kg

Review of the first edition 'Mr Morris … is a rare combination of journalist and painstaking research historian, whose thorough use of Israeli, British and American archives - many of the materials unavailable until now - has enabled him to present a definitive history of his subject.' The New York Times Book Review

Benny Morris' The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem was published in 1988. Its startling revelations about how and why 700,000 Palestinians left their homes and became refugees during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948 undermined traditional interpretations as to whether they left voluntarily or were expelled as part of a systematic plan. This book represents a revised edition of the earlier work, compiled on the basis of newly-opened Israeli military archives. While the focus remains the 1948 war and the analysis of the Palestinian exodus, the new material contains more information about what happened in Jerusalem, Jaffa and Haifa, and how events there led to the collapse of Palestinian urban society. It also sheds light on the battles and atrocities that resulted in the disintegration of rural communities. The story is a harrowing one. The refugees now number four million and their existence remains a major obstacle to peace.

Introduction
1. Background
2. 'Transfer': thinking in Zionism before 1948
3. The first stage of the exodus, November 1947–March 1948
4. The second stage of the exodus, April-June, 1948
5. The third stage of the exodus,'The Ten Days', July 1948
6. Deciding against a return of the refugees
7. Preventing a return
8. The fourth stage of the exodus, October- November 1948
9. Clearing the borders
10. Solving the refugee problem: the failure to reach agreement and a solution, 1949
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Refugees & political asylum [JFFD], First World War [HBWN], Asian history [HBJF]