Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Week 1

ORIGINS
Unraveling the Palestinian-Israel Con
fl
ict • Part 1

University Penn Harvard University U.C. Berkeley
Tulane University Warsaw Protest
Black Lives Matter Chicago

Questions
• Why did Oct 7 spark anti-Israel protests before Israel retaliated??
3

Questions
• Why did Oct 7 spark anti-Israel protests even before Israel’s retaliation?
• Why are the protests from top universities and minority communities?
4

Questions
• Why are the protests coming from the political left whom Jews a
ffi
liate?
5

Questions
• Why are the protests coming from the political left whom Jews a
ffi
liate?
• Why are so many emerging countries anti-Israel? Most have no Jews!
6

Unraveling Israeli-Palestinian Relations
Week 1 — The Origins: European Jews, Palestinian Arabs, Con
fl
icting Worldviews
Week 2 — The Peace Process
Week 3 — The Players: Heroes, Villains, & Victims
Week 4 — Unraveling of the Peace Process
7

Origins: Jews, Arabs, Conflicting Worldviews
1. What are the con
fl
icting worldviews and narratives?
2. What are the origins of European Jews?
3. What are the origins of Palestinian Arabs?
4. What are the origins of the Palestinian refugee crisis?
8

Worldview
Unconscious but coherent set of presuppositions and beliefs that every person has
which shape how we make sense of the world and everything in it. This in
fl
uences
how we see ourselves as individuals, how we interpret our role in society, how we deal
with social issues, and what we regard as truth.
Oxford Dictionary
https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803124830471

Historical Worldviews
• Pre-Modern (Antiquity to 17th Century)
12

• Pre-Modern
• Modernity (17th - 20th Century)
13

• Pre-Modern
• Modernity
• Post-Modernity (20th Century)
14

• Pre-Modern
• Modernity
• Post-Modernity
• Post-Colonialism (Late 20th Century to Present)
15

Post-Colonialism
The critical study of the cultural, political, and economic legacy
of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human
control and exploitation of colonized people and their lands.
17

Post-Colonialism
Sub-discipline of Critical Social Theory
Emerged in 1960s as former colonies created their own national identity
18

Post-Colonial Assumptions
• All societies have a dominant culture, group, or race
• All societies have subordinate cultures, groups, or races
21

Post-Colonial Assumptions
•Dominate groups exercise Power to control
•Subordinate groups lack Power and are controlled
22

Post-Colonial Worldviews
•Dominate groups Oppress
•Subordinate groups su
ff
er Oppression
23

Post-Colonial Worldviews resonate with
• Marginalized and oppressed minorities (Ex. BIPOC Americans)
• Post-Colonial countries (Ex. African, Latin American Nations)
• Academic communities (ex. Harvard, UC Berkeley, Penn)
24

What is a Post-Colonial Perspective
of the Israeli-Palestinian Con
fl
ict?
25

Post-Colonial View
Israelis are white colonizers
Palestinians are people of color
whose land was colonized
26

Post-Colonial View
Israelis are the Oppressors
Israel exploits the land
Palestinians are the Oppressed
Palestinians are exploited
27

Attacks on Israel
Resistance to Oppression
28

Retaliation by Israel
Oppression of Palestinians
29

Concessions by Israel
Oppressor using their Power to gain
advantage over the Oppressed.
30

Worldviews are described through
Metanarratives.
31

What are the Conflicting
Narratives?

What’s the Jewish Narrative?

What’s the Palestinian Narrative?

Palestinian Narrative
1. Election — God chose the children of Ishmael & gave them the land.
35

1. Election
2. Responsibility — Custodians of Jerusalem, the 3rd holiest site in Islam
36

1. Election
2. Responsibility
3. Indigeneity — Palestinians have lived in the land for centuries
37

1. Election
2. Responsibility
3. Indigeneity
4. Jews are white Europeans who were persecuted by Christians
38

1. Election
2. Responsibility
3. Indigeneity
4. Jews are white Europeans
5. Settlers — Europeans colonized Palestine by settling Jews in the land
a. To rid themselves of the Jews
b. For Geo-political power (Cold War)
c. For economic gain (Oil, natural resources)
39

1. Election
2. Responsibility
3. Indigeneity
4. Jews are white Europeans
5. Settlers
6. Theft — Jews stole the land, expelled Palestinians, erased the evidence.
40

This Con
fl
ict is part of a larger Western strategy to rid themselves
of the Jews and gain geo-political and economic resources by
settling Jews in Palestine at the expense of the indigenous
inhabitants.
41

Objections
Q: 70% of Israelis are Mizrahi (non-Ashkenazi)!
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-mazzig-mizrahi-jews-israel-20190520-story.html

Objections
Q: 70% of Israelis are Mizrahi.
Q: 700,000 Mizrahi Jews were expelled from Arab lands and
came to Israel. Don’t they count?

Objections
Q: 70% of Israelis are Mizrahi
Q: 700,000 Mizrahi Jews were expelled.
Q: All Jews came to Palestine as refugees needing homeland.

Objections
Q: 700,000 Mizrahi Jews were expelled
Q: All these Jews came for a homeland
A: No, Modern Israel was established by Europeans.

Objections
Q: 700,000 Mizrahi Jews were expelled
Q: All these Jews came for a homeland
A: No, Modern Israel was established by Europeans.
A: No, Israel’s existential nature and purpose was to exploit the
indigenous inhabitants for colonial gain.

Objections
Israel, from its origins and design cannot be redeemed
regardless of its modern demographic composition or
how Jews came to the land.

What are the origins of
European Jewry?

How do you know Ashkenazi Jews
have a historical connection to the Land?
49

Evidence of the Jews
1. Archaeological
50
Remains of ancient synagogues

1. Archaeological
2. Literary evidence
51

1. Archaeological
52

1. Archaeological
3. Biological evidence

1. Archaeological
3. Biological evidence
4. Jews in Palestine for 2,000 years
Jews in Sefad in 15th Century

14th Century 3,000 1800 7,000
1533 - 1539 5,000 1890 43,000
1553 - 1554 7,000 1914 94,000
1690 - 1691 2,000 1922 84,000
Sergio DellaPergola, “Demography in Israel-Palestine” American Jewish year Book 2020. https://www-jstor-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/stable/23605541
Jewish Population in Palestine from 14th Century to 1922

Origins of European Jewry
• European Jews came from Israel
• Jews lived Israel since 70 CE
• Jews arriving in mid-19th century increased existing settlements.
58

What are the Origins of the
Palestinian People?

Ottoman Boundaries
Levant under Ottoman Rule
61
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/origin-of-quot-palestine-quot

Where did the Arab inhabitants come from?

63
Population
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
Years
14th 15th 1550 1700 1800 1900 1914 1922 1931 1947
100
145 180
219 246
432
525
589
760
1,181
Arab Population of Palestine in 1000’s

Population
0
400
800
1200
1600
2000
Years
14th 15th 1550 1700 1800 1900 1914 1922 1931 1947
Arab Population of Palestine in 1000’s
64
100
145 180
219 246
432
525
589
760
1,324
Pre-Ottoman Early Ottoman Ottoman - British
Jewish Emigrations

19th Century
Local Arabs — lived in region since Byzantine era
Egyptians — arrived in Palestine settling in Ja
ff
a, Gaza, Haifa
Berbers — exiled from Damascus settled in Sefad
Albanian, Bosnian, and European Muslims — emigrated to Caesarea & Haifa.
Grossman, David (2017). Distribution and Population Density During the Late Ottoman and Early Mandate Periods (9781315128825 ed.). New York: Routledge. pp. 44–52
Darryl Li and Nina Seferovic, the Herzegovinian Muslim Colony. Journal of Palestinian Studies. 45 (1) (Fall, 2015): 69-92.
Where did they come from?

IN 19th Century, Arab inhabitants in Palestine increased as the
region became developed, and as geo-political situation forced
Muslims out of other lands
66

Col. T. E. Lawrence
• British O
ffi
cer
• Assisted Arab Revolt in 1916
• Against the Ottoman Empire
67

1916
Sykes-Picot Agreement
France & Britain Divided up the land
68

1916
British Mandate
Drew today’s boundaries
69

1936 - 1939
Arab Revolt
Against Israeli Settlers
Against British rule
70

1936 - 1939
Beginnings of Palestinian Identity
But word Palestinian was only used
as a regional distinction.
71

1936 - 1939
Grand Mufti conspired with Hitler
Against Britain and Zionists
72

1945
After the Holocaust
Refugee crisis of displaced Jews
Forcing Allies to decision
73

1947
UN Resolution 181
Created separate
Arab & Jewish States
74

1947 Population
Jews 630,000
Arabs 1,324,000
75

Palestinian Arabs
First time Palestinian
Described an ethnic-national group
Not a regional distinction.
76

77
Leena Dallasheh, Humboldt University in CA
Itamar Rabinovich, President of Israel Institute

It’s the UN mandate that created a political entity called Palestine. Before
that, it was a geographic term…In 1920, Jews and Arabs were Palestinians.
In 1947, the Arabs became Palestinians, and the Jews became Israelis.
Itamar Rabinovich, President of the Israel Institute
Emily Bazelon, “The Road to 1948”, New York Time Magazine, (Feb 1, 2024). https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/02/01/magazine/israel-founding-palestinian-con
fl
ict.html

I disagree! Research shows that there is a clear expression of Palestinian
identity already by World War I and clear expressions of Palestinian
nationalism by the 1920s.
Leena Dallasheh, Columbia University
fl
ict.html

Palestinian & Israeli Scholars Agree
Palestinian Ethno-national identity emerged between 1920 - 1948. It
emerged as a response to British rule and to Jewish settlement in the land.
The term Palestinian as a descriptor indigenous Arabs 1st used in 1948.
fl
ict.html

De
fi
nition of Palestinian
Those Arabs who were living normally in Palestine in 1947, whether they
remained or were expelled. Every child who was born to a Palestinian
parent after this date, whether in Palestine or outside, is a Palestinian.
1964 Palestinian Charter, Article 6
https://www.pac-usa.org/the_palestinian_charter.htm

28 May 1964
Palestinian National Council
convened in Jerusalem founding the
Palestinian Liberation Organization
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/history-and-overview-plo

Reflection
1. Is a Palestinian ethno-national identity legitimate (i.e. is there such thing as
Palestinian)?
84

Ethnogenesis
The process by which a distinct ethnic or group identity emerges out of
other, potentially diverse, identities.
Oxford Dictionary of Social Sciences
https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803095759593

Legitimacy of ethnic identities
• Are new ethno-national groups like Palestinians legitimate?
86

Legitimacy of ethnic identity
• Are new ethno-national groups like Palestinians legitimate?
• Can you think of one ethno-religious group in America who emerged in
the early 1970s and continue to struggle for legitimacy?
87

Reflection
1. Is a Palestinian ethno-national identity legitimate?
2. Did Western governments settle Jews in Palestine over regret for the
Holocaust or as a Geo-political strategy to exploit the region?
88

No because
• Herzl failed to win political support for Zionism.
• British & American Jews independently funded Jewish settlement, not governments.
• Jewish refugees
fl
eeing Russia began arriving in mid-19th Century
• After Balfour Declaration, Britain obstructed Jews and sometimes helped Arabs
• UN Partition was a close vote, with many Western Countries rejecting the plan
89

No because
•Jewish Settlers were not Western Plan to exploit Arab lands
90

Reflection
2. Did Western Powers settle Jews in Palestine because (a) regret over Holocaust, (b)
Geo-political power, (c ) to colonize the region?
3. How and why did Jewish-Arab con
fl
icts even begin?
91

Reflection
2. Did Western Powers settle Jews in Palestine because (a) regret over Holocaust, (b)
Geo-political power, (c ) to colonize the region?
3. How and why did Jewish-Arab con
fl
icts even begin?
4. Is the origin of the con
fl
ict rooted in Islamic extremism?
92

What is are the origins of the
Refugee Crisis?

1948
• Israel Declared Statehood
• Arab League invaded Israel
• Vowed to drive the Jews into the Sea
• Told Arab inhabitants to
fl
ee
• Israel promised citizenship to Arabs stayed

Palestinians Stayed
150,000 Stayed
1.957 Million Arab-Israeli Citizens (25%)
[1] https://www.cbs.gov.il/en/mediarelease/Pages/2020/Population-of-Israel-on-the-Eve-of-2021.aspx

Palestinians Left
700,000 left
15 Million in the world
5.3 Million outside of the land
7.5 Million in West Bank & Gaza
Palestinians living outside the land of Israel
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/palestinian-population-statistics

• 1948 Arab League Invaded Israel
• Tried to defend Palestinians
• Israel expelled Palestinians
• Israel erased all evidence
• Palestinians are refugees
99

1920 - 1936
Zionist settlers came from Europe
Financed by Western Govements
Bought or stole land from local Arabs
100

1936 - 1947
Palestinians resisted
No match for Settlers
101

1947
UN led by Western Powers
Devised a scheme to partition land
Partition not demographically equitable.
102

1948
Nakhba — Catastrophe
Zionists expelled Palestinians
Arab league intervened on their behalf
West forced a cease
fi
re on the Arab League.
103

1948 - Present
Refugees
Arabs expelled became refugees
104

1967
Occupation
Israel launched new attack
Captured Westbank & Gaza
Expelled Jordanian & Egyptian Army
105

1967 - Today
Occupation
Israel continues to occupy territories
106

1967 - Today
Refugees — Palestinians outside the land
Occupied — Palestinians inside the land
107

Benny Morris
Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem
Revisited, Cambridge (2004)
109

What historically happened?
1. Early Zionists were aware creation of a Jewish State would lead displacement of
Arab inhabitants (p 588).
• They knew that there were more Arab inhabitants than Jews
• They knew that a Jewish democratic State needs to be Jewish majority
• But they did not have solution, nor was there ever a scheme to expel.
Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, (Cambridge: 2004): 588-601.

1. Early Zionists were aware creation of a Jewish State would lead displacement of
Arab inhabitants (p 588).
2. Zionists were refugees. No scheme to expel Arabs as they had been (ibid).
Benny Morris, The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited, (Cambridge: 2004): 588-601.

In the War of Independence between 1947 - March 1948 there was
no scheme to expel Arabs and level villages (p. 588).
112

1. Early Zionists were aware creation of a Jewish State would lead displacement
2. Zionists were refugees. No scheme to expel Arabs
3. There was no Broadcast by the Arab League for inhabitants to
fl
ee
113

1. Early Zionists were aware creation of a Jewish State would lead displacement
2. Zionists were refugees. No scheme to expel Arabs
3. There was no Broadcast by the Arab League for inhabitants to
fl
ee.
4. As villages joined forces with Arab League, local o
ffi
cers found themselves
fi
ghting villages leading to expulsions (p. 589).
114

How did expulsion unfold?
STAGE 1 — Upper & Middle Class Arabs
fl
ed Haifa, Gaza, & Ja
ff
a (Dec 1947 - Mar 1948)
115

fl
ff
a (Dec 1947 - Mar 1948)
Anarchy unfolded as working class Arabs began following.
116

fl
ff
a (Dec 1947 - Mar 1948)
Anarchy unfolded as working class Arabs began following.
Arab neighborhoods in the urban cities emptied as panic unfolded.
117

STAGE 1 — Upper & Middle Class Arabs (Dec 1947 - Mar 1948)
STAGE 2 — Arab defeats by the Haganah led to widespread panic (Apr - June, 1948)
Farmers, villages, and working class feared Jewish retaliation
Began abandoning homes and towns.
118

Arab morale racked giving way to general blind panic or a ‘psychosis of
fl
ight”
as one IDF intelligence eye-witness report said. With each military victory a
corresponding number of inhabitants
fl
ed smaller towns (p. 591).
119

STAGE 3 — Plan D, Haganah expulsion orders (June, 1948)
Haganah ordered the creation of a bu
ff
er zone in the East,
Secure lines of communication by expelling belligerent villages in south
120

Haganah ordered the creation of a bu
ff
er zone in the East,
Secure lines of communication by expelling belligerent villages in south
Demolish empty village so refugees could not return
Fear that belligerent village would become a “
fi
fth column” (p. 592).
121

Ben Gurion ordered Haganah to destroy empty villages so that
They could not return, and with the hope that it would prevent Arab majority
122

In early March, Haggadah created Plan D to completely clear vital areas of Arab
Populations where the village had served as bases for Arab militias that assisted in
attacks on Israelis (p. 592)
123

STAGE 4 — Haganah in the South began large scale expulsions (July - Nov, 1948)
124

There was no explicit “expulsion policy”, but the July o
ff
ensives were
characterized by many more explosions than the
fi
rst half of the war. Ben-
Gurion approved the largest expulsion of the war from Lydda and Ramle, but
left Christian communities in tact. (p. 597).
125

Cabinet approved a bu
ff
er zone of 5-15 KM, clearing villages.
126

Deir Yassin — Arab Village overlooking road to Jerusalem prevented IDF from liberating the
Jewish quarter which was besieged. Irgun Forces and Stern Gang in house-to-house battle
killed 100 villagers (April, 1948).
127

Deir Yassin — Arab Village overlooking road to Jerusalem
Arab radio broadcaster said that soldiers raped & killed women, children
Further led to widespread Arab Panic in smaller villages
128

Deir Yassin
The Masacre That Never Was
(Eliezer Tauber, 2021)
• Carefully identi
fi
ed each victim
• Interviewed Arab survivors
• 101 were killed
• 700
fl
ed as eyewitnesses
• They were killed in battle
• 84 were Arab militants
• No accounts of rape
Elizer Tauber, The Masacre that Never Was, (2021),

Deir Yassin
Husayn al-Khalidid, secretary of
Arab High Command Arab told
Journalist Hazzim Nusayba to
optimize this for propaganda
purposes

“We must make the most of this,” Khalidi told Arab journalist Hazzim Nusayba. “I think
we should give this the utmost propaganda possible because the Arab countries
apparently are not interested in assisting us.” According to Khalidi, the Arab authorities
were therefore “forced to give a picture—not what is actually happening—but we had
to exaggerate a little bit so that maybe the Arab countries would become enthusiastic
to come and assist us.”
Eliezer Tauber

The conclusion of the war
1. In the 1949 Arab Truce, Ben Gurion o
ff
ered 100,000 Palestinian Arabs to
return and be citizens in exchange for permanent peace treaty.
133

1. In the 1949 Arab Truce, Ben Gurion o
ff
ered to allow 100,000 Palestinian
Arabs to return and be citizens
2. The Arab League refused the o
ff
er
134

Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Week 1

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