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ABC Middle East Brief facts prior current conflict "palestinians", History 'palestinians' in Israel, natives or ALIENS? Jerusalem, FACTS ISRAEL or "palestine" Which is it? History & Meaning palestine, "palestinians" Multimedia |
PART II "The Palestinian Arabs had to flee to avoid
being massacred as were the peaceful villagers in Deir Yassin." FACT The United Nations resolved
that Jerusalem would be an
international city apart from the Arab and Jewish states demarcated
in the partition resolution.
The 150,000 Jewish inhabitants were under constant military pressure;
the 2,500 Jews living in the Old City
were victims of an Arab blockade that lasted five months before they
were forced to surrender on May 29, 1948. Prior to the surrender, and
throughout the siege on Jerusalem, Jewish convoys tried to reach the
city to alleviate the food shortage, which, by April, had become critical. Meanwhile, the Arab forces, which had engaged in sporadic
and unorganized ambushes since December 1947, began to make an organized
attempt to cut off the highway linking Tel Aviv with Jerusalem
— the city's only supply route. The Arabs controlled several
strategic vantage points, which overlooked the highway and enabled them
to fire on the convoys trying to reach the beleaguered city with supplies.
Deir Yassin was situated on a hill, about 2,600 feet high, which commanded
a wide view of the vicinity and was located less than a mile from the
suburbs of Jerusalem. The
population was 750.32 On April 6, Operation
Nachshon was launched to open the road to Jerusalem.
The village of Deir Yassin was included on the list of Arab villages
to be occupied as part of the operation. The following day Haganah
commander David Shaltiel wrote to the leaders of the Lehi
and Irgun: I learn that you plan an attack on Deir Yassin. I
wish to point out that the capture of Deir Yassin and its holding
are one stage in our general plan. I have no objection to your carrying
out the operation provided you are able to hold the village. If you
are unable to do so I warn you against blowing up the village which
will result in its inhabitants abandoning it and its ruins and deserted
houses being occupied by foreign forces....Furthermore, if foreign
forces took over, this would upset our general plan for establishing
an airfield.33 The Irgun
decided to attack Deir Yassin on April 9, while the Haganah
was still engaged in the battle for Kastel. This was the first major
Irgun attack against the Arabs. Previously, the Irgun and Lehi
had concentrated their attacks against the British. According to Irgun
leader Menachem Begin, the assault
was carried out by 100 members of that organization; other authors say
it was as many as 132 men from both groups. Begin stated that a small
open truck fitted with a loudspeaker was driven to the entrance of the
village before the attack and broadcast a warning to civilians to evacuate
the area, which many did.34 Most writers
say the warning was never issued because the truck with the loudspeaker
rolled into a ditch before it could broadcast the warning.35
One of the fighters said, the ditch was filled in and the truck continued
on to the village. "One of us called out on the loudspeaker in
Arabic, telling the inhabitants to put down their weapons and flee.
I don't know if they heard, and I know these appeals had no effect."36 Contrary to revisionist histories that the town was
filled with peaceful innocents, residents and foreign troops opened
fire on the attackers. One fighter described his experience: My unit stormed and passed the first row of houses.
I was among the first to enter the village. There were a few other
guys with me, each encouraging the other to advance. At the top of
the street I saw a man in khaki clothing running ahead. I thought
he was one of ours. I ran after him and told him, "advance to
that house." Suddenly he turned around, aimed his rifle and shot.
He was an Iraqi soldier. I was hit in the foot.37 The battle was ferocious and took several hours. The
Irgun suffered 41 casualties, including four dead. Surprisingly, after the “massacre,” the Irgun
escorted a representative of the Red Cross through the town and held
a press conference. The New York Times' subsequent description
of the battle was essentially the same as Begin's. The Times
said more than 200 Arabs were killed, 40 captured and 70 women and children
were released. No hint of a massacre appeared in the report. “Paradoxically, the Jews say about 250 out of
400 village inhabitants [were killed], while Arab survivors say only
110 of 1,000.”38 A study by Bir Zeit
University, based on discussions with each family from the village,
arrived at a figure of 107 Arab civilians dead and 12 wounded, in addition
to 13 "fighters," evidence that the number of dead was smaller
than claimed and that the village did have troops based there.39
Other Arab sources have subsequently suggested the number may have been
even lower.40 In fact, the attackers left open an escape corridor
from the village and more than 200 residents left unharmed. For example,
at 9:30 A.M., about five hours after the fighting started, the Lehi
evacuated 40 old men, women and children on trucks and took them to
a base in Sheikh Bader. Later, the Arabs were taken to East Jerusalem.
Seeing the Arabs in the hands of Jews also helped raise the morale of
the people of Jerusalem who
were despondent from the setbacks in the fighting to that point.41
Another source says 70 women and children were taken away and turned
over to the British.42 If the intent was
to massacre the inhabitants, no one would have been evacuated. After the remaining Arabs feigned surrender and then
fired on the Jewish troops, some Jews killed Arab soldiers and civilians
indiscriminately. None of the sources specify how many women and children
were killed (the Times report said it was about half the victims;
their original casualty figure came from the Irgun source), but there
were some among the casualties. At least some of the women who were killed became targets
because of men who tried to disguise themselves as women. The Irgun
commander reported, for example, that the attackers "found men
dressed as women and therefore they began to shoot at women who did
not hasten to go down to the place designated for gathering the prisoners."43
Another story was told by a member of the Haganah who overheard a group
of Arabs from Deir Yassin who said "the Jews found out that Arab
warriors had disguised themselves as women. The Jews searched the women
too. One of the people being checked realized he had been caught, took
out a pistol and shot the Jewish commander. His friends, crazed with
anger, shot in all directions and killed the Arabs in the area."44 Contrary to claims from Arab propagandists at the time
and some since, no evidence has ever been produced that any women were
raped. On the contrary, every villager ever interviewed has denied these
allegations. Like many of the claims, this was a deliberate propaganda
ploy, but one that backfired. Hazam Nusseibi, who worked for the Palestine
Broadcasting Service in 1948, admitted being told by Hussein Khalidi,
a Palestinian Arab leader, to fabricate the atrocity claims. Abu Mahmud,
a Deir Yassin resident in 1948 told Khalidi "there was no rape,"
but Khalidi replied, "We have to say this, so the Arab armies will
come to liberate Palestine from the Jews." Nusseibeh told the BBC
50 years later, "This was our biggest mistake. We did not realize
how our people would react. As soon as they heard that women had been
raped at Deir Yassin, Palestinians fled in terror."45 The Jewish Agency, upon learning of the attack, immediately
expressed its “horror and disgust.” It also sent a letter
expressing the Agency's shock and disapproval to Transjordan's King
Abdullah. The Arab Higher Committee hoped exaggerated reports
about a “massacre” at Deir Yassin would shock the population
of the Arab countries into bringing pressure on their governments to
intervene in Palestine. Instead, the immediate impact was to stimulate
a new Palestinian exodus. Just four days after the reports from Deir Yassin were
published, an Arab force ambushed a Jewish convoy on the way to Hadassah
Hospital, killing 77 Jews, including doctors, nurses, patients, and
the director of the hospital. Another 23 people were injured. This massacre
attracted little attention and is never mentioned by those who are quick
to bring up Deir Yassin. Moreover, despite attacks such as this against
the Jewish community in Palestine, in which more than 500 Jews were
killed in the first four months after the partition decision alone,
Jews did not flee. The Palestinians knew, despite their rhetoric to the
contrary, the Jews were not trying to annihilate them; otherwise, they
would not have been allowed to evacuate Tiberias,
Haifa or any
of the other towns captured by the Jews. Moreover, the Palestinians
could find sanctuary in nearby states. The Jews, however, had no place
to run had they wanted to. They were willing to fight to the death for
their country. It came to that for many, because the Arabs were
interested in annihilating the Jews, as Secretary-General of the Arab
League Azzam Pasha made clear in an interview with the BBC on the eve
of the war (May 15, 1948): “The Arabs intend to conduct a war of
extermination and momentous massacre which will be spoken of like the
Mongolian massacres and the Crusades.” References to Deir Yassin have remained a staple of
anti-Israel propaganda for decades because the incident was unique. |
