Susan

Submitted by Moderate Muslim (United States), Feb 28, 2007 at 20:34

I do not hate the Jews, I don't hate the Israelis. I hate the RADICAL zionists who killed muslims when they moved into their houses. I absolutely do not hate Jews. I think Israel should stay there. I think the Palestinians should stop bombing sbarro's. I think that the Israeli's should remove their illegal settlements and work with the Palestinians once the Palestinians stop attacking them. I have Jewish friends.

I know that the Arabs were unfairly expelled,

Third stage of the flight, July-October 1948

The largest single expulsion of the war began in Lydda and Ramla July 14. 60,000 inhabitants of the two cities were forcibly expelled on the orders of Ben-Gurion and Yitzhak Rabin. Rabin wrote in his memoirs:

What would they do with the 50,000 civilians in the two cities ... Not even Ben-Gurion could offer a solution, and during the discussion at operation headquarters, he remained silent, as was his habit in such situations. Clearly, we could not leave [Lydda's] hostile and armed populace in our rear, where it could endanger the supply route [to the troops who were] advancing eastward. ... Allon repeated the question: What is to be done with the population? Ben-Gurion waved his hand in a gesture that said: Drive them out! ... 'Driving out' is a term with a harsh ring ... Psychologically, this was one of the most difficult actions we undertook. The population of [Lydda] did not leave willingly. There was no way of avoiding the use of force and warning shots in order to make the inhabitants march the 10 to 15 miles to the point where they met up with the legion. (Soldier of Peace, p. 140-141)

Additionally, widespread looting and several cases of rape ([6]) took place during the evacuation. In total, about 100,000 Palestinians became refugees in this stage according to Morris (2003, p. 448).

[edit] Fourth stage of the flight, October 1948 - November 1948

This period of the exodus was characterized by Israeli military accomplishments, which were met with resistance from the Palestinian Arabs who were to become refugees. The Israeli military activities were confined to the Galilee and the sparsely populated Negev desert. It was clear to the villages in the Galilee, that if they left, return was far from imminent. Therefore far fewer villages were spontaneously depopulated than previously. Most of it was due to a clear, direct cause: expulsion and deliberate harassment, as Morris writes 'commanders were clearly bent on driving out the population in the area they were conquering' (2003, p. 490).

Operation Hiram, which was the Israeli military operation that conquered the upper Galilee, is one of the examples in which a direct expulsion order was given to the commanders: 'Do all you can to immediately and quickly purge the conquered territories of all hostile elements in accordance with the orders issued. The residents should be helped to leave the areas that have been conquered.' (October 31, 1948, Moshe Carmel)

Altogether 200,000 to 230,000 Palestinians left in this stage, according to Morris (Ibid, p. 492).

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