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country would have to be divided in order to satisfy the needs and demands of both Jews and Palestinian Arabs. At the end of 1946, 1,269,000 Arabs and 608,000 Jews resided within the borders of Mandate Palestine. Jews had acquired by purchase six to eight per cent of the total land area of Palestine, amounting to about 20 per cent of the arable land. On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to par- tition Palestine into two states, one Jewish and the other Arab. The UN partition plan divided the country in such a way that each state would have a majority of its own population, although some Jewish settlements would fall within the proposed Palestinian state and many Palestinians would become part of the proposed Jewish state. The territory designated to the Jewish state would be slightly larger than the Palestinian state (56 per cent and 43 per cent of Palestine, respectively) on the assumption that increasing numbers of Jews would immigrate there. According to the UN partition plan, the area of Jerusalem and Bethlehem was to become an international eae ay wane nr ee demands of both Jews and Pales As a consequence of the fighting in Palestine/Israel between At the end of 1946, 1,269,000 Arabs and 608,000 Jews resided 1947 and 1949, over 700,000 Palestinian Arabs became refugees. within the borders of Mandate Palestine. Jews had acquired by The precise number of refugees and questions of responsibility for purchase six to eight per cent of the total land area of Palestine, their exodus are sharply disputed. Many Palestinians have claimed amounting to about 20 per cent of the arable land. that most were expelled in accordance with a Zionist plan to rid the On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to par- country of its non-Jewish inhabitants. tition Palestine into two states, one Jewish and the other Arab. The The official Israeli position holds that the refugees fled on orders UN partition plan divided the country in such a way that each state from Arab political and military leaders. One Israeli military would have a majority of its own population, although some Jewish intelligence document indicates that at least 75 per cent of the settlements would fall within the proposed Palestinian state and _ refugees left due to Zionist or Israeli military actions, psychological many Palestinians would become part of the proposed Jewish state. campaigns aimed at frightening Arabs into leaving, and direct The territory designated to the Jewish state would be slightly larger expulsions. Only about five per cent left on orders from Arab than the Palestinian state (56 per cent and 43 per cent of Palestine, authorities. respectively) on the assumption that increasing numbers of Jews There are several well-documented cases of mass expulsions dur- would immigrate there. According to the UN partition plan, the ing and after the military operations of 1948-49 and the massacres area of Jerusalem and Bethlehem was to become an international and atrocities that led to large-scale Arab flight. The best-known zone. instance of mass expulsion is that of the 50,000 Arabs of the towns Publicly, the Zionist leadership accepted the UN partition plan, of Lydda and Ramle. The most infamous atrocity occurred at Deir although they hoped somehow to expand the borders allotted to the Yasin, a village near Jerusalem, where estimates of the number of Jewish state. Arab residents killed in cold blood by Israeli The Palestinian Arabs and the sur- fighters range from about 125 to over 250. rounding Arab states rejected the UN plan and regarded the General THE PALESTINIANS Assembly vote as an international On November 29, 1947, roday, the term “Palestinians” refers 0 etrayal. Some argued that the the Arabs—Christian, Muslim an plan allotted too much territory to the the UN General Assembly Druze—whose historical roots can be Jews. voted to partition Palestine traced to the territory of Palestine as Most Arabs regarded the proposed . . h defined by the British mandate borders. Jewish state as a settler colony and Into two states, one Jewis About three million Palestinians now argued that it was only because the and the other Arab. live within this area, which is divided between the state of Israel and the West Bank and Gaza (these latter areas were captured and occupied by Israel in 1967). the question of Jewish statehood was Today, over 700,000 Palestinians are citi- on the international agenda at all. zens of Israel, living inside the country's Fighting began between the Arab and Jewish residents of 1949 armistice borders. About 1.2 million live in the West Bank Palestine days after the adoption of the UN partition plan. The (including 200,000 in East Jerusalem) and about one million in the Arab military forces were poorly organised, trained and armed. In Gaza Strip. The remainder of the Palestinian people, perhaps contrast, Zionist military forces, although numerically smaller, another three million, lives in diaspora, outside the country they were well organised, trained and armed. By the spring of 1948, the claim as their national homeland. Zionist forces had secured control over most of the territory allotted The largest Palestinian diaspora community, approximately 1.3 to the Jewish state in the UN plan. million, is in Jordan. Many of them still live in the refugee camps On May 15, 1948, the British evacuated Palestine, and Zionist that were established in 1949, although others live in cities and leaders proclaimed the State of Israel. Neighbouring Arab states towns. Lebanon and Syria also have large Palestinian populations, (Egypt, Syria, Jordan and Iraq) then invaded Israel, claiming that many of whom still live in refugee camps. Many Palestinians have they sought to "save" Palestine from the Zionists. In fact, the Arab moved to Saudi Arabia and other Arab Gulf countries to work, and rulers had territorial designs on Palestine and were no more anxious some have moved to other parts of the Middle East or other parts of to see a Palestinian Arab state emerge than were the Zionists. the world. Jordan is the only Arab state to grant citizenship to the During May and June 1948, when the fighting was most intense, Palestinians who live there. Palestinians in Arab states generally the outcome of this first Arab-Israeli war was in doubt. But after do not enjoy the same rights as the citizens of those states. British had permitted extensive Zionist settlement in Palestine against the wishes of the Arab majority that arms shipments from Czechoslovakia reached Israel, Israel's armed The situation of the refugees in Lebanon is especially dire; many forces established superiority and conquered territories beyond the Lebanese blame Palestinians for the civil war that wracked that UN partition plan borders of the Jewish state. country from 1975-91, and demand that they be resettled elsewhere In 1949, the war between Israel and the Arab states ended with in order for the Lebanese to maintain peace in their country. The the signing of armistice agreements. The country once known as Christian population of Lebanon is particularly anxious to rid the Palestine was now divided into three parts, each under separate country of the mainly Muslim Palestinians because of a fear that political control. The State of Israel encompassed over 77 per cent they threaten the delicate balance among the country's religious of the territory. Jordan occupied East Jerusalem and the hill coun- groups. Although many Palestinians still live in refugee camps and try of central Palestine (the West Bank). Egypt took control of the slums, others have become economically successful. Palestinians coastal plain around the city of Gaza (the Gaza Strip). The now have the highest per capita rate of university graduates in the Palestinian Arab state envisioned by the UN partition plan was Arab world. Their diaspora experience has contributed to a high never established. level of politicisation of all sectors of the Palestinian people. On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into two states, one Jewish and the other Arab. 22 ¢ NEXUS JUNE - JULY 2002 THE PALESTINIAN ARAB REFUGEES www.nexusmagazine.com