Israel's Ethnic Cleansing of the Palestinians, 1949-1959, a brief history 🧵
Most people know about the Nakba: from Nov. 1947 - Dec. 1948, Zionist militias/Israeli military expelled 750,000 Palestinians from what became Israel. But most people do not know the Nakba continued long after 1948. It was not a historical event, it was an ongoing process. ⤵️
In Feb-Mar 1949, after the Egypt-Israel armistice agreement was signed, Israeli forces expelled 3,100 Palestinians in Faluja & Iraq al-Manshiyya from their homes. The Israeli town Kiryat Gat was built on their ruins. This is Benny Morris's (The Birth, ch.9) description:
On Jan. 14 1950, Israel decided to expel 2,600 Palestinians living in Majdal (Ashkelon). For 6 months, it loaded up trucks of these surplus humans (i.e. Palestinians) & sent them off. Whoever refused was coerced to leave. This is Benny Morris's (The Birth, ch.9) description: x.com
On 27 June 1949, Israel expelled of 1,200–1,500 Palestinian refugees living in and around Baqa al Gharbiya. To use Moshe Sharett’s words, they were "forcefully and brutally" pushed across the border. This is Benny Morris's (The Birth, ch.9) description: x.com
In August 1949, Israel compelled at least 200 Palestinians in the village of Ar'ara to sell their land & leave the country. This is how Tom Segev (The First Israelis, 1949, p.63), describes it: x.com
Between 1949-1953, Israel expelled ~17,000 Bedouins from the Southern Desert into either the West Bank (occupied by Jordan) or into the Sinai, controlled by Egypt. This is Benny Morris's (Border Wars, p.157) description: x.com
On 31 May 1950, the IDF forced 120 Palestinians in southern Israel (the 'Arava) onto 2 crowded trucks to a point near the border, at 'Ein Husb (Hatzeva), and ordered them to cross to Jordan, firing bursts over their heads to urge them forward. A few dozen reportedly "perished from thirst and starvation" during the expulsion. Source: Benny Morris, Border Wars, p.157-8.
In 1959, Israeli forces expelled 400-450 Bedouin into the Sinai, forcibly resettled in Qusseima, while another 200-250 Bedouin from the Ibn Said tribe were pushed into Jordan; ~700-750 Bedouin were transferred by the IDF from Jabal al-Naqab out of the country as well.
Israel pursued less violent strategies to push Palestinians out. The Higher Council for Arab Affairs (a coordinating body of state control–surveillance agencies, established in July 1952) estimated the aggressive stick-and-carrot policy intended to elicit massive Palestinian migration had led, by 1965, to the exodus of some 3,000 Palestinians. Source: routledge.com
Altogether, b/w 1950-1959, Israel expelled 30,000-40,000 more Palestinians out of a population of ~150,000 at the end of 1948. This was a time when Israel was still just "Israel proper", before the occupation of Gaza & the West Bank began in 1967.
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