The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949 (Cambridge Middle East Library) - Softcover

Morris, Benny

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521338891 ISBN 13: 9780521338899

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1989

Synopsis

This book is the first full-length study of the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem. Based on recently declassified Israeli, British and American state and party political papers and on hitherto untapped private papers, it traces the stages of the 1947-9 exodus against the backdrop of the first Arab-Israeli war and analyses the varied causes of the flight. The Jewish and Arab decision-making involved, on national and local levels, military and political, is described and explained, as is the crystallisation of Israel's decision to bar a refugee repatriation. The subsequent fate of the abandoned Arab villages, lands and urban neighbourhoods is examined. The study looks at the international context of the war and the exodus, and describes the political battle over the refugees' fate, which effectively ended with the deadlock at Lausanne in summer 1949. Throughout the book attempts to describe what happened rather than what successive generations of Israeli and Arab propagandists have said happened, and to explain the motives of the protagonists.

About this title

Book Description:

This book is the first full-length study of the birth of the Palestinian refugee problem. Based on recently declassified Israeli, British and American state and party political papers and on hitherto untapped private papers, it traces the stages of the 1947-9 exodus against the backdrop of the first Arab-Israeli war and analyses the varied causes of the flight.

Review:

'This excellent myth-debunking book ... deserves a wide readership among those who want to understand what has happened in Israel over the last 40 years rather than repeat discredited propaganda which serves only to prolong the war.' The Spectator

'This latest addition to the Cambridge Middle East Library is a book of exceptional importance. It will be required reading for anyone who professes a serious interest in the Arab-Israeli conflict over Palestine. Its conclusions, which invalidate many of the assumptions commonly made about the origins of the conflict, need to be taken into account in any attempt to devise a solution to it.' Arab Affairs

'... the most comprehensive and detailed study yet published on the Palestinian refugees.' The Economist

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0521338891
• ISBN 13: 9780521338899
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400