Reference no: EM133770735
Problem: The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem
Your essay need not answer every single sub-question. Instead, you should use the questions as a guide to structure your response. Ideally, your paper should have an argument -- a claim with evidence -- in framing a response to the problem.
In 1987, Benny Morris shocked the Israeli public with the publication of The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem with its graphic admission of Israeli atrocities during the 1947-49 war. Our reading from Morris is an updated summary of conclusions from the book. The debate that emerges from Morris' work is whether the Palestinian refugee problem was "born of war," or premeditated by design. Morris himself emphasizes in our reading that from 1937 onward, the Zionist movement openly begins to advocate for the eviction and removal - the "transfer"-- of the Palestinian population from Palestine. Without this dramatic step, they argue, a Jewish State is not possible in Palestine. Morris, however, argues, that no plan for eviction is to be found among military commanders or the Zionist leadership.
What does Morris actually argue (pp. 37-38) about the causes of Palestinian flight from Palestine? What does he suggest to us about the relationship between transfer "thinking" and the actual outcome of transfer? In effect, what is the relationship between thought and action? Isn't it true that normally if we think about doing something, and then we do it, we are responsible for our action? Can we concede that the Palestinian refugee problem is a result of the so-called "fog of war?" At the same time, should the Zionist movement, with its long history of evictions going back to the early period of colonization; with its idea of creating a Jewish State in Palestine; and with its explicit embrace of transferring the population after 1937 be held accountable for its actions in 1947-49? Is it possible that this longstanding practice and discourse of getting rid of Palestinians conditioned Zionist actors on the ground during the war to evict the population? Do we need an actual written plan or explicit order to evict for premeditation? What kind of critique does Ilan Pappe level against the argument of Benny Morris?