blay in the very natural results of the events of history.
bWith the approval in 1947 by the United Nations of the
bPartition Plan, creating separate Jewish and Arab states in
b“Palestine,” the Arabs, both within the land and without, pre-
bpared for what an Arab League official called “a momentous
bmassacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres
band Crusades.” With British troops leaving, the Arabs were confi-
bdent that they would decimate the Jews and establish Arab rule
bover the entire country. But while Allah proposed, the G-d of the
bJews disposed, and the outcome of the fighting was quite different.
bThe Arab armies were thrown back, and not only did the
bState of Israel come into being, but an incredible panic swept
bthe Arabs in the country, causing hundreds of thousands to flee.
bAs the dust settled, entire formerly Arab villages and cities and
bregions stood empty of inhabitants and were now part of the new
bJewish state. That which the Arabs could have had, were they
bprepared to accept the UN plan, was now lost to them. Instead
bof a tiny, grotesque Jewish state—in three sections, joined by
btwo narrow checkpoints and with an Arab population constitut-
bing 40 percent of its citizens—there was now a much larger and
bmore stable Israel with only 150,000 shell-shocked Arabs as its
bcitizens.
bBut it was not only the quantitative loss that was so brutal.
bIt was more than just the shock of being transformed from a
bmajority into a minority. The few Arabs of Israel who were left were
bnow a people without leadership.
bThe panicky mass exodus had seen the disappearance of
bthe higher social classes. To quote a report by Uri Standel, is-
bsued by the prime minister’s office: “The wealthy Arab land-
blords and rich merchants, the religious dignitaries, lawyers, doc-
btors, engineers, writers, and journalists were the first to take
bflight, depriving the population of all centers of initiative.”
bThe Arabs who were left were for the most part fellahin,
bfeudal peasants, ignorant and illiterate. The last thing in the
bworld they wanted was a political struggle. Knowing what they
bwould have done to the Jews had the Arabs won the war (the
brape of Jewish women and the severed sexual organs stuffed into
bmurdered Jews’ mouths were not isolated incidents in the riots
bof the twenties and thirties), they huddled fearfully, hoping just
bto live.