DOCSLIB.ORG

The Case for Israel – Chapter3

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Case for Israel – Chapter3 3 The Arab Refugees (1) Why the Refugees fled in 1948 More than half a million Palestinian Arabs left Israel in 1948 during the Israeli War of Independence. Approximately one fifth of them found permanent homes, or resettled, in other Arab countries. The Arabs left Israel for a number of reasons. A major contributing factor was that a substantial proportion of the Palestinian Arab middle and professional classes emigrated voluntarily with much of their property as soon as it was proposed that a Jewish state should be established in the country. They found ample opportunities open to them in the rest of the Arab world. Many of the rank and file Arab peasants in towns and villages therefore fled because they had been deserted by their leaders and they believed propaganda from the radio stations of neighbouring Arab states. Another reason lay in the fact that Palestinian Arabs were traditionally accustomed to temporary flight as a means of avoiding involvement in any kind of warfare. When rival Arabs raided villages the weaker village residents usually fled, and returned after the raids to restore their homes and repair damage. Only a very small percentage of the overall Arab civilian population left directly as a result of the Israeli Army. This took place in Ramleh and Lydda where the Army was forced to bring about evacuation after the residents had continued indulging in acts of armed hostility after the capture of the towns. The overwhelming majority of Arabs fled because they were urged to do so by their leaders. There would have been no refugee problem if leaders of the Arab states had not 38 The Arab Refugees 39 declared war on Israel and urged their Palestinian kinsmen to evacuate Israel and return after the destruction of the Jewish state. It has become fashionable for pro-Arab apologists to claim that the refugee problem was brought about by the victorious Israelis either chasing the Arabs out or terrorising them by indulging in atrocities. The only atrocity that Arabs can refer to is the tragedy of Deir Yassin where 200 Arab villagers were killed in the course of a battle with Irgun forces. The Irgun were one of the minority anti-British underground movements that operated until the establishment of the Jewish state and the creation of a single Israeli army. The incident was unreservedly condemned by all Jewish authorities, despite the fact that the Irgun leaders maintained that the Arab deaths could not have been avoided. Menachem Begin, the Irgun leader, conceded that the Hagana had warned them against the attack. However, he claimed that the village was in a strategic position and that prior to the attack repeated loudspeaker warnings in Arabic had appealed to non-combatants to evacuate the village. Instead, the village became an armed fortification and directed effective fire against the Irgun troops. A prominent inhabitant of the village subsequently declared in the Jordanian newspaper Al Urdun (April 9, 1953): The Jews never intended to hurt the population of the village, but were forced to do so after they met enemy fire from the population, which killed the Irgun Commander. The Arab exodus from other villages was not caused by the actual battle, but by the exaggerated description spread by Arab leaders to incite them to fight the Jews. In view of oft-quoted Arab denials that they themselves urged the Palestinian refugees to leave, the following extensive documentation primarily from Arab sources refuting this is incorporated: Monsignor George Hakim, the Greek Catholic Archbishop of Galilee, informed the Lebanese newspaper, Sada al Janub (August 16,. 1948): The refugees had been confident that their absence from Palestine would not last long, that they would return within a few days, within a week or two. Their leaders had promised them that the Arab armies would crush the Zionist 'gangs' very quickly and that there was no need for panic or fear of a long exile. 40 The Case for Israel Emile Ghoury, Secretary of the Palestinian Arab Higher Committee, in an interview with the Beirut Telegraph (September 6, 1948): The fact that there are these refugees is the direct consequence of the act of the Arab states in opposing partition and the Jewish state. The Arab states agreed upon this policy unanimously and they must share in the solution of the problem. The Economist (October 2, 1948) London: During subsequent days the Jewish authorities, who were now in complete control of Haifa (save for limited districts still held by the British troops), urged all Arabs to remain in Haifa and guaranteed them protection and security. As far as I know, most of the British civilian residents whose advice was asked by Arab friends told the latter that they would be wise to stay. However, of the 62,000 Arabs who formerly lived in Haifa, not more than 5,000 or 6,000 remained. Various factors influenced their decision to seek safety in flight. There is but little doubt that the most potent of these factors were the announcements made over the air by the Arab Higher Executive, urging all Arabs in Haifa to quit. It was clearly intimated that those Arabs who remained in Haifa and accepted Jewish protection would be regarded as renegades. The Jordanian daily newspaper, Falastin (February 19, 1949): The Arab states which had encouraged the Palestine Arabs to leave their homes temporarily in order to be out of the- way of the Arab invasion armies, have failed to keep their promise to help these refugees. Habib Issa, editor of Al Hoda, a New York Lebanese newspaper (June 8, 1951): The Secretary-General of the Arab League, Azzam Pasha,assured the Arab people that the occupation of Palestine and of Tel Aviv would be as simple as a military promenade . He pointed out that they were already on the frontiers and that all the millions the Jews had spent on land and economic development would be easy booty, for it would be a simple matter to throw the Jews into the Mediterranean . Brotherly advice was given to the Arabs of Palestine to leave their land, homes and property and to stay temporarily in neighbouring fraternal states, lest the guns of the invading Arab armies mow them down. Kul-Shay (Moslem weekly), Beirut (August 19, 1951): Who brought the Palestinians to Lebanon as refugees, suffering now from the malign attitude of newspapers and communal leaders, who have neither honour nor conscience? Who brought them over in dire straits and penniless, after they lost their honour? The Arab states, and Lebanon amongst them, did it. The Jordanian daily newspaper, Al Urdun (April 9, 1953): For the flight and fall of the other villages it is our leaders who are The Arab Refugees 41 responsible because of their dissemination of rumours exaggerating Jewish crimes and describing them as atrocities in order to inflame the Arabs . By spreading rumours of Jewish atrocities, killings of women and children, etc. they instilled fear and terror in the hearts of the Arabs in Palestine until they fled leaving their homes and property to the enemy. The Jordanian journal, Ad-Difaa (September 6, 1954): We were masters in our land, happy with out lot . but overnight everything changed. The Arab government told us "Get out so that we can get in" — so we got out but they (the Arab government) did not get in. Mahmoud Seif ed-Din Irani, With the People (Amman, Jordan 1956 ): All of a sudden, the people of Jaffa began to evacuate their town, abandoning it in the middle of a fight, even before its climax . I now see that we fought only half-heartedly . Our many quarrels kept us too busy. We left the country of our own free will believing we were going on a short visit, a trip and soon we would return as if nothing had happened and as if there had never been a war. Bulletin of the Research Group of European Migration Problems, January 1957 (The Hague), pp. 10-11. As early as the first months of 1948 the Arab League issued orders exhorting the people to seek temporary refuge in the neighbouring countries, later to return to their abodes in the wake of the victorious Arab armies and obtain their share of abandoned Jewish properties. The Secret Behind the Disaster, by Nimer Al-Hawari, former Commander of the para military Arab Youth Organization in Palestine: The Arabs' eyes were blinded and their brains clogged. They were confused by promises and deluded by their leaders. The Palestinian Arabs were ignorant and easily led astray. They were short-sighted and unthinking and subjected to a gangster leadership . which herded them like docile sheep . Many left temporarily, they thought, to await the passing of the storm . The leaders rattled their sabres, delivered fiery speeches and wrote stirring articles. Iraq's Prime Minister had thundered "We shall smash the country with our guns and destroy and obliterate every place the Jews will seek shelter in. The Arabs should conduct their wives and children to safe areas until the fighting has died down." The Cairo daily - Akhbar el Yom (October 12, 1963): The 15th May 1948 arrived . On that very day the Mufti of Jerusalem appealed to the Arabs of Palestine to leave the country, because the Arab armies were about to enter and fight in their stead. In the light of this, the contrasting appeals of the Jews who urged the Arabs to remain should be noted: 42 The Case for Israel The Assembly of Palestinian Jewry (Vaad Leumi) (October 2, 1947): The Jewish people extends the hand of sincere friendship and brotherhood to the Arab peoples and calls them to co-operate as free and equal allies for the sake of peace and progress, for the benefit of their respective countries.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Big Sandbox,” However It May Be Interpreted, Brought with It Extraordinary Enchantment
    eScholarship California Italian Studies Title The Embarrassment of Libya. History, Memory, and Politics in Contemporary Italy Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/9z63v86n Journal California Italian Studies, 1(1) Author Labanca, Nicola Publication Date 2010 DOI 10.5070/C311008847 Peer reviewed eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California The Embarrassment of Libya: History, Memory, and Politics in Contemporary Italy Nicola Labanca The past weighs on the present. This same past can, however, also constitute an opportunity for the future. If adequately acknowledged, the past can inspire positive action. This seems to be the maxim that we can draw from the history of Italy in the Mediterranean and, in particular, the history of Italy's relationship with Libya. Even the most recent “friendship and cooperation agreement” between Italy and Libya, signed August 30, 2008 by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and Libyan leader Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, affirms this. Italy’s colonial past in Libya has been a source of political tensions between the two nations for the past forty years. Now, the question emerges: will the acknowledgement of this past finally help to reconcile the two countries? The history of Italy’s presence in Libya (1912-1942) is rather different from the more general history of the European colonial expansion. The Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (referred to by the single name “Libya” in the literary and rhetorical culture of liberal Italy) were among the few African territories that remained outside of the European dominion, together with Ethiopia (which defeated Italy at Adwa in 1896) and rubber-rich Liberia.
    [Show full text]
  • The Externalisation of Migration Control a Comparative Study on the Impact of Bilateral Migration Agreements on Migrant Rights
    Master Thesis Out of sight, out of mind: The externalisation of migration control A comparative study on the impact of bilateral migration agreements on migrant rights Name: Joscha van Tol Student Number: s2305836 E-mail: [email protected] Master Programme: European Union Studies Date: 10-8-2019 Supervisor: Mr. drs. G. G. Lodder Abstract Irregular migration to the European Union is not a new phenomenon. For decades, migrants have crossed the external borders of the Union illegally, hoping to find a better life. With the abolishment of internal border controls in the European Union, the necessity for increased protection of the external borders arose. This became especially clear when after the Arab Spring uprisings an unprecedented amount of people made their way to Europe, culminating in the 2015 European migration crisis. The response of the EU and its Member States entailed policies of deterrence and entry-prevention. Furthermore, agreements were made with third countries in order to stem the migration flows. These agreements effectively externalised migration control beyond the borders of Europe. In this comparative case study, the bilateral migration control agreements between Italy and Libya, and between Spain and Morocco are analysed, with the aim of assessing the impact of these agreements on the human rights of migrants residing in North Africa. The study suggests that through the bilateral agreements, externalisation of migration control is facilitated, which in turn has resulted in a crackdown on irregular migration, with severe consequences for the perception and treatment of irregular migrants in North Africa. Key words: externalisation of migration control, irregular migration, bilateral agreements, Libya, Morocco, human rights, European migration crisis.
    [Show full text]
  • Identity Crisis in Italy This Page Intentionally Left Blank IDENTITY CRISIS in ITALY
    168 25 168 Spurred by ongoing conflicts between city-states and the nobility, unification for Italy was a gradual and difficult process. While such divisions shortly subsided to allow the peninsula to become unified, Italy has always been troubled by the difficulties of cultivating a national identity. Identity Crisis Throughout the past and in the present, Italy has been a nation of division. But recently this division has become deeper because of the growing differences between the various parts of the country caused by ITALY IN DENTITY CRISIS unresolved political, institutional, economic and secu- rity problems. The need for academic discourse on the in Italy division encouraged scholars to cooperate and identify the most important causes and elements of the Ital- ian identity crisis such as the political crisis caused by feelings of lack, instability or injustice, the economic 238 and financial crises leading to the erosion of social cohesion and the insecurity linked to immigration. This book presents the result of this dialogue. Fanni Tanács-Mandák (ed.): I (ed.): Tanács-Mandák Fanni The work was created in commission of the National University of Public Service under the priority project PACSDOP-2.1.2- CCHOP-15-2016-00001 entitled “Public Service Development Establishing Good Governance.” Edited by: FANNI TANÁCS-MANDÁK European Social Fund INVESTING IN YOUR FUTURE Identity Crisis in Italy This page intentionally left blank IDENTITY CRISIS IN ITALY Edited by Fanni Tanács-Mandák Dialóg Campus Budapest, 2019 The work was created in commission of the National University of Public Service under the priority project PACSDOP-2.1.2- CCHOP-15-2016-00001 entitled “Public Service Development Establishing Good Governance”.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mnemonic Battles of the 2011 Arab Uprisings
    University of Pennsylvania ScholarlyCommons Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations 2016 Communicating History: The Mnemonic Battles of the 2011 Arab Uprisings Omar Al-Ghazzi University of Pennsylvania, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations Part of the Communication Commons, Near Eastern Languages and Societies Commons, and the Other International and Area Studies Commons Recommended Citation Al-Ghazzi, Omar, "Communicating History: The Mnemonic Battles of the 2011 Arab Uprisings" (2016). Publicly Accessible Penn Dissertations. 1584. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1584 This paper is posted at ScholarlyCommons. https://repository.upenn.edu/edissertations/1584 For more information, please contact [email protected]. Communicating History: The Mnemonic Battles of the 2011 Arab Uprisings Abstract This dissertation explores how history has been communicated during the 2011 Arab uprisings and their aftermath (2011-2015). It is a study about the struggle for finding a historically-grounded revolutionary narrative for an assumed Arab body politic that is torn apart by multiple political forces. I analyze popular communicative practices that invoke history and argue that they have played a crucial role in propagating a narrative that portrayed the uprisings as a collective Arab revolution and awakening. The strategic claim that protestors were making history, I suggest, paved the way for expressing hopes about the future through invoking past history. From 2011 to 2015 in the Arab world, contentious debates about politics were often expressed through a language and a symbolism about history. These controversies were projected towards specific symbols and tropes, which evoked condensed cultural meanings, and which became subsequently used to communicate political aspirations and to assert power in the present and onto the future.
    [Show full text]
  • Libya Before and After Gaddafi: an International Law Analysis
    Corso di Laurea magistrale (ordinamento ex D.M. 270/2004) in Relazioni Internazionali Comparate Tesi di Laurea Libya Before and After Gaddafi: An International Law Analysis. Relatore Ch. Prof. Fabrizio Marrella Correlatore Ch. Prof. Antonio Trampus Correlatrice Ch.ma Prof.ssa Sara De Vido Laureando Enrica Oliveri Matricola 817727 Anno Accademico 2011 / 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS “RINGRAZIAMENTI”...................................................................................................I ABSTRACT.........…………………………………………...………...……….……….II INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................VI FIRST PART. LIBYA BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS AND INTERNATIONAL SANCTIONS. CHAPTER 1. The Birth of the Independent Libya, 1969 Gaddafi’s Revolution and his Political Ideology. 1.1. An Overlook on the Libyan Situation prior to Gaddafi’s Dictatorship……………..2 1.2. Gaddafi’s Education and the 1969 Great Revolution……………………………….5 1.3. Gaddafi’s Ideology, his Affinities with Nasser and the Green Book……………….8 1.4. The Constitutional, Institutional and Administrative Changes of the Seventies…..14 CHAPTER 2. The 1986 US Benghazi Bombing, the 1988 Lockerbie Attack and the Consequent International Sanctions. 2.1. An Overview on the Second Period of Gaddafi’s Dictatorship……………………21 2.2. USA and Libya: the 1986 American Benghazi and Tripoli Bombings……………25 2.3. The International Sanctions: the Lockerbie Attack and the Consequent United Nations Security Council Resolutions………………………………………………….29
    [Show full text]
  • The Survivors of the Holocaust in Occupied Germany
    This page intentionally left blank Life between Memory and Hope The Survivors of the Holocaust in Occupied Germany Zeev W. Mankowitz tells the remarkable story of the 250,000 survivors of the Holocaust who converged on the American Zone of Occupied Germany from 1945 to 1948. They envisaged themselves as the living bridge between destruction and rebirth, the last remnants of a world destroyed and the active agents of its return to life. Much of what has been written to date looks at the Surviving Remnant through the eyes of others and thus has often failed to disclose the tragic complexity of their lives together with their remarkable political and social achievements. Despite the fact that they had lost everyone and everything, they got on with their lives, they married, had children and worked for a bet- ter future. They did not surrender to the deformities of suffering and managed to preserve their humanity intact. Using largely inaccessible archival material, Mankowitz gives a moving and sensitive account of this neglected area in the immediate aftermath of the Holocaust. . is a senior lecturer at the Melton Centre for Jewish Education, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare General Editor Jay Winter Yale University Advisory Editors Omer Bartov Brown University Carol Gluck Columbia University David M. Kennedy Stanford University Paul Kennedy Yale University Antoine Prost Universit´e de Paris-Sorbonne Emmanuel Sivan Hebrew University of Jerusalem Robert Wohl University of California, Los Angeles In recent years the field of modern history has been enriched by the exploration of two parallel histories.
    [Show full text]
  • The Embarrassment of Libya: History, Memory, and Politics in Contemporary Italy
    The Embarrassment of Libya: History, Memory, and Politics in Contemporary Italy Nicola Labanca The past weighs on the present. This same past can, however, also constitute an opportunity for the future. If adequately acknowledged, the past can inspire positive action. This seems to be the maxim that we can draw from the history of Italy in the Mediterranean and, in particular, the history of Italy's relationship with Libya. Even the most recent “friendship and cooperation agreement” between Italy and Libya, signed August 30, 2008 by Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi and Libyan leader Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, affirms this. Italy’s colonial past in Libya has been a source of political tensions between the two nations for the past forty years. Now, the question emerges: will the acknowledgement of this past finally help to reconcile the two countries? The history of Italy’s presence in Libya (1912-1942) is rather different from the more general history of the European colonial expansion. The Ottoman provinces of Tripolitania and Cyrenaica (referred to by the single name “Libya” in the literary and rhetorical culture of liberal Italy) were among the few African territories that remained outside of the European dominion, together with Ethiopia (which defeated Italy at Adwa in 1896) and rubber-rich Liberia. This did not come about because of the combative traditions of Libyans, nor as a result of the economic power of Libya (which did not yet exist), but because of European imperialist rivalries and the Old Continent’s fear of suddenly aggravating the health of the declining Ottoman Empire (“sick man of the East,”) and above all, the weaknesses of the only European power that could aspire to its control: liberal Italy.
    [Show full text]
  • Arab-Israeli Conflict
    A GUIDE TO THE Arab-Israeli Conflict By Mitchell G. Bard American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) 2810 Blaine Dr. Chevy Chase, MD 20815 http://www.JewishVirtualLibrary.org Copyright © American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) Inc., 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form with out the written per mission of AICE, Inc. ISBN 0-9712945-4-2 Printed in the United States of America American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) 2810 Blaine Dr. Chevy Chase, MD 20815 Tel. 301-565-3918 Fax. 301-587-9056 Email. [email protected] http://www.JewishVirtualLibrary.org Other studies available from AICE (all are now available on our web site): ■ Partners for Change: How U.S.-Israel Cooperation Can Benefi t America ■ Learning Together: Israeli Innovations In Education That Could Benefi t Amer icans ■ Breakthrough Dividend: Israeli Innovations In Bio technology That Could Ben efi t Americans ■ Experience Counts: Innovative Programs For The Elderly In Israel That Can Benefi t Americans ■ Building Bridges: Lessons For America From Novel Israeli Approaches To Promote Coexistence ■ Good Medicine: Israeli Innovations In Health Care That Could Benefi t Amer icans ■ Rewriting History in Textbooks ■ On One Foot: A Middle East guide for the perplexed or How to respond on your way to class, when your best friend joins an anti-Israel protest ■ TENURED OR TENUOUS: Defi ning the Role of Faculty in Supporting Israel on Campus Production, new cover art and maps by North Market Street Graphics Original Book Logo Design, Cover concept, Typography, Map Illustration: Danakama / Nick Moscovitz / NYC Table of Contents Preface ....................................................................................................................................................v 1.
    [Show full text]
  • The Ottoman Home Front During World War I: Everyday Politics, Society, and Culture
    The Ottoman Home Front during World War I: Everyday Politics, Society, and Culture Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Yiğit Akın Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2011 Dissertation Committee: Carter V. Findley, Advisor Jane Hathaway David L. Hoffman Copyright by Yiğit Akın 2011 ABSTRACT This dissertation aims to examine the socio-economic and cultural dimensions of the home-front experience of the Ottoman people during World War I. It explores the new realities that the war created in the form of mass conscription, a state-controlled economy, government requisitioning of grain and possessions, widespread shortages, forcible deportations and voluntary displacements, death, and grief. Using archival and non-archival sources, it also focuses on how Ottomans wrestled with these wartime realities. World War I required the most comprehensive mobilization of men and resources in the history of the Ottoman Empire. In order to wage a war of unprecedented scope effectively, the Ottoman government assumed new powers, undertook new responsibilities, and expanded its authority in many areas. Civilian and military authorities constantly experimented with new policies in order to meet the endless needs of the war and extended the state’s capacity to intervene in the distant corners of the empire to extract people and resources to a degree not seen before. Victory in the war became increasingly dependent on the successful integration of the armies in the field and the home-front population, a process that inescapably led to the erosion of the distinction between the military and civilian realms.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter E - Jewish Resistance 7
    HOLOCAUST BOOK TWO Prepared By Ner Le'Elef HOLOCAUST BOOK TWO Prepared by Ner Le’Elef Publication date 27 January 2013 Permission is granted to reproduce in part or in whole. Profits may not be gained from any such reproductions. This book is updated with each edition and is produced several times a year. Other Ner Le’Elef Booklets currently available: AMERICAN SOCIETY BOOK OF QUOTATIONS EVOLUTION HILCHOS MASHPIAH JEWISH MEDICAL ETHICS JEWISH RESOURCES LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT ORAL LAW PROOFS QUESTION & ANSWERS SCIENCE AND JUDAISM SOURCES SUFFERING THE CHOSEN PEOPLE THIS WORLD & THE NEXT WOMEN'S ISSUES (Book One) WOMEN'S ISSUES (Book Two) For information on how to order additional booklets, please contact: Ner Le’Elef P.O. Box 14503 Jewish Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem 91145 E-mail: [email protected] Fax #: 972-02-653-6229 Tel #: 972-02-651-0825 Page 2 HOLOCAUST BOOK TWO CHAPTER E - JEWISH RESISTANCE 7 a. Those Not Interned........................................................................................................7 b. Those Interned...............................................................................................................9 What should the Jewish Response Have Been 14 c. World Jewry................................................................................................................15 Did They Go like Sheep to the Slaughter? 15 Kiddush Hashem – The Mitzvah & Its Application to the Hol 24 Kiddush Hashem – In Death 33 Chagim 39 Shabbat 45 Prayer, Study, Mitzvos 52 Resistance 59 Kapos, Judenraats, Secularists 65 J Rescue Efforts 68 J Orthodox Rescue Efforts 68 American Jewry 68 American Jewry 79 Page 3 CHAPTER F-JEWISH RESPONSES AFTER THE HOLOCAUST 85 What Faith Was Lost? 85 Can it be Regained? 87 What is the Appropriate Response to the Holocaust? 89 What was learned from the Holocaust? 91 Responses 99 Rebuilding 102 Teaching Our Children 103 Building Memorials; Holocaust Studies 110 i - Yom Hashoa 114 Holocaust Judaism 115 Can we forgive the Germans? 118 Holocaust Claims 119 APPENDIX C: 119 i - Reading List 119 d.
    [Show full text]
  • Conformity and Dissent in Israeli Soldiers' Letters from the Suez Crisis, 1953–1957
    ―ARAB MOTHERS ALSO CRY‖: CONFORMITY AND DISSENT IN ISRAELI SOLDIERS' LETTERS FROM THE SUEZ CRISIS, 1953–1957 Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Georgetown University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Arab Studies By Shay Hazkani, B.A. Washington, DC April 28, 2010 Copyright © 2010 by Shay Hazkani All Rights Reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS At Georgetown University, I had the pleasure of working with a group of intellectually engaging mentors. I thank Dr. Osama Abi-Mershed for his continuing advice on this project. He assisted me in making sense of hundreds of disparate and often contradicting letters. Dr. Rochelle Davis read through my first few attempts at historicizing memories and provided much needed direction. I also would like to thank Dr. Judith E. Tucker, who encouraged me to pursue an academic track. At Tel-Aviv University, I thank Dr. Yoav Alon from the Department of Middle Eastern and African History for his continuing support for my project and academic course. A Student Grant for Research from the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies at Georgetown University facilitated the archival research. I also want to thank the staff at the IDF Archive for their work at locating and declassifying the sources at my request. I am also grateful to Daniella Jaeger and Alexander Blake Ewing for their close copy- editing throughout my academic endeavor in the United States. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 Part I: The ―Conventional Wisdom‖, or the Doxa, of the Army Field ......................................... 13 Chapter 1: The Sabra Elite and its Discourse ..........................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • The Life Cycle of the Libyan Coastal Highway: Italian Colonialism, Coloniality, and the Future of Reparative Justice in the Mediterranean
    A Radical Journal of Geography The Life Cycle of the Libyan Coastal Highway: Italian Colonialism, Coloniality, and the Future of Reparative Justice in the Mediterranean Emilio Distretti Urban Studies, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland; [email protected] Abstract: This paper explores the role of the Libyan Coastal Highway across history: originally built by fascist Italy during colonisation, in the postcolonial era Libya demanded Italy commit to the construction of a new motorway as part of the repara- tion process for its crimes. Only in 2008 was an agreement reached. Through it, Italy used the promise to build a new road as a bargaining-chip to secure Qaddafi’s coopera- tion in containing migrant mobility across the Mediterranean. This paper explores the different ways in which the Libyan road has endured as a space and a tool of power by tracing historical and political continuities across time, from colonisation to demands for postcolonial reparations and migration governance. Drawing inspiration from the notion of “coloniality”, the paper investigates the colonial continuum expressed by the Italian/ Libyan reparation process, and seeks to posit alternative pathways towards the unre- solved question of postcolonial justice around the Mediterranean. Keywords: Italian colonialism, Libya, migration, coloniality, infrastructure, reparations The Strada Litoranea Libica (Libyan Coastal Highway) is a motorway originally built by fascist Italy in the late 1930s in occupied Libya. Inaugurated in 1937, the motorway’s significance has resonated through decades of colonial and postcolo- nial Libya. This article explores the different ways in which the Libyan road has endured as a space and a tool of power by tracing historical and political continu- ities between the past and the present, from colonisation to demands for post- colonial reparations.
    [Show full text]