To Expel or Not to Expel the Arabs? David Ben-Gurion’s Attitude Towards the Arabs in Palestine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7251/FLZB2324091ZKeywords:
David Ben-Gurion, Palestine, Israel, Jews, ArabsAbstract
The turbulent relationship between Jews and Arabs in the territory of Palestine over the last hundred years, aside from monitoring his torical, sociological, political, and cultural processes, can also be observed through the prism of the actions of the most prominent politicians. The “Father of the Nation,” David Ben-Gurion, is one of the most controversial and influential politicians, whose activities are woven into the core of the formation of the modern national Jewish state on the territory of Palestine, from which close interactions with the Arabs arise. This paper is based on a comparative analysis of literature produced by Ben-Gurion himself, as well as biographical and original materials, which speak about his attitude towards the Arab question during various phases of his political activity. The manipulations of Ben-Gurion’s famous handwritten letter to his son Amos, dated October 5, 1937, are also analyzed. In this letter, he discusses the recommendations of the Peel Commission from July 1937, which envisaged the division of Mandatory Palestine into Israeli and Palestinian states, entailing the relocation of a large number of the Arab population from the territories intended for the formation of the Jewish state. Various authors interpret Ben-Gurion’s attitude towards the Arabs as ranging from very anti-Arab to conciliatory. Ben-Gurion’s writ ings themselves also offer the possibility of different interpretations, and in this sense, the aim of the work is to shed light on the thoughts and actions of this politician towards the Arab population to the greatest extent possible.
References
CIA-RDP78-01617A003000180001-8, CIA Report on the Consequences of Partition (November 28, 1947)
„Farewell to the IDF“, The IDF & and Defense Establishment Archive
UNISPAL, Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: 1917–1947 (Part I)
Ben-Gurion, David. Rebirth and Destiny of Israel. Ured. i preveo Mordekhai Nurock. New York: Philosophical Library, 1954.
Ben-Gurion, David. Memoirs. Compiled by Thomas R. Bransten. New York; Cleveland: World Publishing Company, 1970.
Ben-Gurion, David. My Talks With Arab Leaders. Translated From The Hebrew By Aryeh Rubinstein And Misha Louvish. New York: Okpaku Communications Corp, 1973.
Lie, Trygve. In the Cause of the Peace, Seven Years with the United Nations. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1954.
Meir, Golda. Moj Izrael. Prevod Ivo Horvat. Zagreb: Naprijed, 1987.
Bickerton, Ian J. The Arab-Israeli Conflict. London: Reaktion Books, 2009.
Brecher, Michael. Political Leadership and Charisma Nehru, Ben-Gurion, and Other 20th Century Political Leaders: Intellectual Odyssey I. Montreal: Palgrave Macmillan Cham, 2016.
Chomsky, Noam. Kobno Trojstvo: Sjedinjene Države, Izrael i Palestinci. Zagreb: Profil, 2004.
Garaudy, Roger. Slučaj Izrael. Prevod Azra Saračević. Zenica: Bemust, 1998.
Голдберг, Дејвид Џ., Рејнер, Џон Д. Јевреји историја и религија. Београд: Клио, 2003.
Havel, Boris. Arapsko-izraelski Sukob: Religija, Politika i Povijest Svete Zemlje. Zagreb: Naklada Ljevak, 2013.
Hoffman, Bruce. Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917–1947. New York: Knopf, 2015.
John, Robert St. Ben-Gurion: Builder of Israel. Washington: London Pub Co, 1998.
Keren, Michael. “Biography and Historiography: The Case of David Ben Gurion.” In Biography 23, no. 2. Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2000.
Kramer, Gudrun. A History of Palestine: From the Ottoman Conquest to the Founding of the State of Israel. New Jersey: Princeton University Press, 2008.
Morris, Benny. The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947–1949. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1989.
Pappe, Ilan. A History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples. 2nd Edition. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006.
Pape, Ilan. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. Oxford: Oneworld, 2006.
Povijest 19 Suvremeno Doba (1985.-2007.) i Kronologija. Zagreb: Europapress Holding, 2008.
Segev, Tom. A State at Any Cost: The Life of David Ben-Gurion. Translated by Haim Watzman. US: Farrar Strauss & Giroux, 2019.
Silverstein, Herma. David Ben-Gurion. New York: Franklin Watts, 1988.
Shapira, Anita. Ben-Gurion: Father of Modern Israel. New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2014.
Shlaim, Avi. Collusion Across the Jordan: King Abdullah, the Zionist Movement, and the Partition of Palestine. New York: Columbia Univ Press, 1988.
Swedenburg, Ted. Memories of Revolt: The 1936–1939 Rebellion and the Palestinian National Past. Minneapolis: University of Arkansas Press, 1995.
Teveth, Shabtai. Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Arabs: From Peace to War. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1985.
Teveth, Shabtai. Ben-Gurion: The Burning Ground 1886–1948. Boston: Houghton Mifflin School, 1987.
Vail, John J. David Ben-Gurion. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
Yahya, Harun. Palestine. New Delhi: Islamic Book Service, 2003.
“Ben-Gurion Asks U.N. Committee for Jewish State, Hits Bi-Nationalism, Hints at Partition.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, October 8, 1947. https://www.jta.org/archive/ ben-gurion-asks-u-n-committee-for-jewish-state-hits-bi-nationalism-hints-at-partition.
“Ben-Gurion Broadcast to the Nation after the Arab Invasion, May 1948.” Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/ben gurion-broadcast-to-the-nation-after-the-arab-invasion-may-1948.
“Ben-Gurion Demands Jewish State, Warns Terrorism May Plunge Palestine into Civil War.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 29, 1947. https://www.jta.org/archive/ ben-gurion-demands-jewish-state-warns-terrorism-may-plunge-palestine-into-civil-war.
“Ben-Gurion Laments Rejection of 1937 Peel Commission.” Shapell Manuscript Foundation. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://www.shapell.org/manuscript/ben-gurion laments-rejection-of-1937-peel-commission/.
“Ben-Gurion’s Archives Give a Full Picture of Israel’s Founding Father.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, June 13, 1999. https://www.jta.org/1999/06/13/lifestyle/ben gurions-archives-give-a-full-picture-of-israels-founding-father.
“Ben-Gurion: Epilogue.” Vimeo. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://vimeo.com/ ondemand/bengurionepilogue.
“Comes to Think: Ben-Gurion, A Timeless Prime Minister.” The Jerusalem Post, May 25, 2017. https://www.jpost.com/Blogs/Think-With-Me/Comes-to-Think Ben-Gurion-A-Timeless-Prime-Minister-513977.
“David Ben-Gurion and the Arabs.” Jewish Currents. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://jewishcurrents.org/david-ben-gurion-and-the-arabs.
“David Ben-Gurion and the IDF: Farewell to the IDF.” Israel Ministry of Defense Archives. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://archives.mod.gov.il/sites/English/ Exhibitions/David_Ben_Gurion_and_the_IDF/Pages/Farewell-to-the-IDF.aspx.
“Der Alte und sein Staat.” Jüdische Allgemeine. Accessed July 5, 2024. https:// www.juedische-allgemeine.de/kultur/der-alte-und-sein-staat/.
“Jewish Agency is Definitely Against Partition of Palestine, Wants Commonwealth.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, September 16, 1937. https://www.jta.org/ archive/jewish-agency-is-definitely-against-partition-of-palestine-wants-commonwealth.
“Jewish Telegraphic Agency Archive.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://www.jta.org/archive/en.
“Jews Aim to Be Masters of Destiny Arabs Hear at Commission Probe.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 12, 1937. https://www.jta.org/archive/jews-aim-to-be masters-of-destiny-arabs-hear-at-commission-probe.
“Mass Transfer of Jews from Europe to Palestine After War Demanded by Ben Gurion.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, May 12, 1942. https://www.jta.org/archive/mass transfer-of-jews-from-europe-to-palestine-after-war-demanded-by-ben-gurion.
“Origins and Evolution of the Palestine Problem: 1917-1947.” United Nations. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://www.un.org/unispal/history2/origins-and-evolution-of the-palestine-problem/part-i-1917-1947/.
“Palestine Post.” National Library of Israel, December 7, 1934. https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/jewishweeklynews/1934/12/07/01/article/.
“Palestine Post.” National Library of Israel, July 20, 1934. https://www.nli.org.il/en/newspapers/pls/1934/07/20/01/article/30/.
“Poll: 82% of Israelis Proud of the Country, Half Fear War Is Near.” The Jerusalem Post, April 17, 2018. https://www.jpost.com/israels-70th-anniversary/poll-82 percent-of-israelis-proud-of-the-country-half-fear-war-is-near-551239.
Shatz, Adam. “We Are Conquerors.” London Review of Books 41, no. 20 (October 24, 2019). https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v41/n20/adam-shatz/we-are-conquerors.
“Sharon’s Fate Sealed by Ariel’s Settlers.” The Guardian, October 3, 2002. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/oct/03/israel1.
“How Israel Became a Pro-American Democracy.” Jewish Tribune. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://jstribune.com/how-israel-became-a-pro-american-democracy/.
“JTA Archive.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://www. jta.org/archive/en.
“Arab-Jewish Round Table Conference and Equal Arab and Jewish Participation in Palestine Government Mooted.” Jewish Telegraphic Agency, June 23, 1936. https:// www.jta.org/archive/arab-jewish-round-table-conference-and-equal-arab-and-jewish participation-in-palestine-government.
“Palestine Post.” National Library of Israel, January 15, 1937. https://www.nli. org.il/en/newspapers/chroniclerspokesman/1937/01/15/01/article/9/.
Keinon, Herb. “Poll: 82% of Israelis Proud of the Country, Half Fear War Is Near.” T he Jerusalem Post, April 17, 2018. https://www.jpost.com/israels-70th-anniversary/ poll-82-percent-of-israelis-proud-of-the-country-half-fear-war-is-near-551239.
Masalha, Nur. “Ben-Gurion and the Palestinian Refugees: A Zionist Leader’s Perspective.” Journal of Palestine Studies 32, no. 1 (Autumn 2002): 26-46. https://www.palestine-studies.org/sites/default/files/attachments/jps-articles/JPS_Responds_to_ CAMERA%27s_Call_for_Accuracy_Ben-Gurion_and_the_Arab_Transfer.pdf.
Morris, Benny. “The Lemon Tree: An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East.” Middle East Forum. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/2769/benny morris-1948-islamic-holy-war.
“CIA FOIA (foia.cia.gov) Electronic Reading Room.” Central Intelligence Agency. Accessed July 5, 2024. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP78 01617A003000180001-8.pdf.
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Dimitrije Živanović, Slavojka Beštić-Bronza
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
