What do Theodor Herzl, David Ben-Gurion and Chaim Weizmann, all outstanding Zionist leaders, have in common with such diverse personalities as U.S. Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Herbert Hoover and British anti-Zionist Harry St. John Philby. All these statesmen - and many others - have advanced proposals for the transfer of Arabs from Palestine. These proposals are the subject of this book.
One is sure to ask, how and when did I become interested in such a subject? It was during the 1970s when I was Director of Jewish Studies at a Jewish High School in the North of England. This was the period when Arab students at the various British Universities began to utilise the campuses to propagate anti-Israel propaganda. The Jewish students at the Universities were the first line of Israel's defense, but at the time they had not been briefed on how to answer the Arab students. I therefore brought out a booklet entitled "How to Answer Anti-Israel Propaganda" and this booklet was used with some success on the campuses.
Whilst researching this booklet, I came across an anti-Zionist book which devoted a couple of pages to show that there had been various proposals in the past to transfer Arabs from Palestine. I must admit, that at the time, this came as quite a surprise to me, and I decided that when I had some time available I would look more deeply into the question. I assumed that there were just a few stray statements on this subject and that after I had researched them, I would publish an article on the topic.
However, after I began research in 1984, I soon discovered that it was not just "a few stray statements" but that the transfer of Arabs from Palestine was definite policy not only of the Zionist leaders, but also of many leading individual non-Jews (including some who were pro-Arab!), non-Jewish organisations and even some Arabs.
The material I uncovered during my research was sufficient for a book and in 1988 my book "International Proposals to Transfer Arabs from Palestine, 1895-1947, A Historical Survey" was published.
There is no end to research! I therefore continued to research this subject and discovered additional information. This was then especially so in the case of Edward Norman's transfer plan, and therefore at the beginning of 1991, I published an expanded version of this section of my book under the title "Edward Norman's Plan to Transfer Arabs from Palestine to Iraq." Further research merited the bringing out a supplement to my book (of 1988) and this was published in January 1993.
In May 1994, I combined and integrated all the material appearing in my various books on this subject, and together with the latest material which I had researched until that time, brought out a book which I called "HERZL T O EDEN".
In September 1997 I brought out ''Supplement Number 1" to "Herzl to Eden".
I integrated this supplement into my book and I then put it onto the INTERNET. As I uncover further new material, I add it in at the appropriate place in the book.
This study examines the transfer proposals put forward from 1895 to 1947. Chronologically the earliest proposal appearing in my book was made by Theodor Herzl and the latest by Anthony Eden - hence the title "HERZL TO EDEN" which was used in an earlier edition of this book.
Contemporary arguments both for and against the various plans are discussed, and historical background material is included, with brief biographies of prominent personalities.
The study is based almost entirely on primary sources, including hitherto unpublished documents obtained from archives in Israel, the United States, Great Britain and Australia. Diaries, memoirs, historical works, and newspaper files complement the archival material.
The issue of population transfer is a very delicate subject. For this reason, many proposers confined the exposition of their ideas to diaries, private correspondence and closed meetings. In public they either ignored the subject of transfer or spoke against it. Even those who did propose various schemes were often reluctant to specifically suggest compulsory transfer. They relied on various euphemistic expressions to convey their intentions regarding compulsion.
I have therefore made it an important aim of this work to ascertain the private views of the proposers on this subject. The wording of their proposals has also been carefully analysed to determine whether the transfer of the Arabs from Palestine was intended to be compulsory or voluntary.
One of the striking things to come to light during this research is the attempt to rewrite history and pretend that the Zionist leaders were completely opposed to the transfer of Arabs, even to the extent of censoring portions of official minutes and amending of documents! This rewriting is reminiscent of the Russian Encyclopaedia. After Beria's execution, the publishers of this encyclopaedia wrote to its subscribers, suggesting they cut out the pages dealing with "Beria" and in their place insert the enclosed pages on the "Bering straits" - which had the same alphabetical sequence! - (BERIa, BERIng).
The reader of this book will notice that its format is closer to that of an encyclopaedia than a work set in an integrated historical framework. When I wrote my first book on this subject, I carefully weighed up these two alternative formats, and came to the conclusion that to keep the various transfer plans distinct, the encyclopaedic format was preferable. My continued research on this subject has in fact reinforced my opinion on this point. However, there are in fact link ups between some of the proposals which were made and these are pointed out in the text.
by fax: 02-9961252 (within Israel), 972 2 9961252 (from outside Israel)
by e-mail: [email protected]
A work of this nature can only be achieved with the co-operation and assistance of librarians and archivists. They were almost invariably found to be most co-operative and helpful.
Acknowledgments are due to the staff of the:
Adler, Gerald, Brighton
American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati, Ohio
American Jewish Historical Society, Waltham, Massachusetts
Ben-Gurion Archives, Sede Boker
Bet Lehi Archives, Tel-Aviv
Bnei Brith, Washington D.C.
Braham, Mark (Private papers), Rose Bay, New South Wales
British Council Library, Jerusalem and Tel-Aviv
British Labour Party Archives, Manchester
British Library of Political and Economic Science, London
British Newspaper Library, London
Central Zionist Archives and Library, Jerusalem
Churchill Archives Centre, Cambridge
Columbia University, New York
Franklin D. Roosevelt Library, New York
Haifa Municipal Archives
Hebrew University Library, Mount Scopus, Jerusalem
Herbert Hoover Library, Iowa
Institute for Researching the Labour Movement Library, Tel-Aviv
Israel State Archives, Jerusalem
Jabotinsky Archives, Tel-Aviv
Jewish National and University Library, Jerusalem
Kibbutz ha-Me'uhad Archives, Yad Tabenkin, Efal
Kiryat Arba Municipal Library
Kiryat Arba Religious School Library
Labour Party, London
Labour Party (Mapai) Archives, Bet Berl, Kfar Saba
Lehi Archives, Tel-Aviv
Library of Congress, Washington D.C.
Liverpool Trades Council Archives
Marks and Spencer Archives, London
National Archives, Washington D.C.
Nuffield College, Oxford
Princeton University Library, New Jersey
Public Record Office, London
Sydney University Library
Tel-Aviv University Library
Temple, Cleveland, Ohio
University of Sussex
Weizmann Archives, Rehovot
Zionist Archives, New York