As with most of Morris’s other claims, the pretension to be the first and only Israeli who dealt with the ethnic cleansing of the Arabs reflected a partial reality. His book indeed touched a very central and painful nerve of the Israeli-Jewish current past, the uprooting of about 700,000 Arab Palestinians from the territories that would become the Jewish state, the refusal to allow them back to homes after the war, and the formation of the refugee problem during the period of the 1948 war and after. He also surveyed some atrocities committed by Jews during the inter-communal war that played some role in the “voluntary” flight of the Arabs from their villages and neighborhoods. Weirdly enough, Morris devoted a very salient and extensive discussion to the centrality of idea of “transfer” (i.e., ethnic cleansing) in Zionist thought, but concluded that the Palestinians had not been expelled by the Israelis in compliance with a master plan or following a consequential policy. This was not precise.
Reading this excerpt, I’m struck by how it handles a complex and painful part of history without offering easy answers. The text highlights the scale of displacement, around 700,000 Arab Palestinians leaving the territories that became Israel, and how this shaped the refugee issue after 1948. It also points out that there were atrocities committed on both sides that influenced these movements, as well as discussions within Israeli thought about the idea of “transfer.” What I find interesting is how the author examines these events and debates, showing both the historical actions and the interpretations of those actions, without claiming absolute certainty or assigning overarching intent. It emphasizes to me that historical narratives are complicated, shaped by both facts and interpretation, and that understanding the past often requires looking at multiple perspectives and nuances rather than simple conclusions.