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The '''Lydda Death March''' took place during [[Operation Danny]] in the [[1948 Arab-Israeli war]]. After Israeli forces took control of the cities of [[Lydda]] and [[Ramla|Al-Ramla]], beginning on 12 July 1948, between 50,000 and 70,000 [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] were expelled following orders issued by [[Yitzhak Rabin]].<ref name=Holmesp64>Holmes et al., 2001, p. 64.</ref><ref name=Priorp205>Prior, 1999, p. 205.</ref><ref name=Kidronp90/><ref name=Morrisp176>[[Benny Morris]], ''The Road to Jerusalem: Glubb Pasha, Palestine and the Jews'', Tauris 2003, pp.176-177</ref> The inhabitant of Ramala were bussed or trucked to Al Qubab, and made their way on foot from there to the Arab legion lines in [[Salbit]] and [[Latrun]]. The inhabitants of Lydda walked to [[Beit Nabala]] and Barfiliya.<ref>The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949, p. 209, Morris, Cambridge University Press 1989</ref> From there, some continued on foot for three days towards [[Ramallah]] some {{km to mi|50}} distant. The number of deaths has been estimated at between a "handful" and as many as 350, primarily from exhaustion and dehydration.<ref name=Morriscontradictions>In ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949'' (1989), [[Benny Morris]] writes that "Quite a few" had died, while attributing a figure of 335 to Nimr al Khatib. In his later work, ''The Road to Jerusalem: Glubb Pasha, Palestine and the Jews'' (2003), he states that only a handful of people died.</ref><ref name=Finkelsteinp55>Finkelstein, 2003, p. 55. Finkelstein writes that perhaps as many as 350 died.</ref><ref name=Masalhap44>{{cite web|title=Towards the Palestinian Refugees|author=[[Nur Masalha]]|url=http://www.robat.scl.net/content/NAD/pdfs/refugees_7full.pdf|accessdate=2009-04-29}}Masalha writes that 350 died.</ref>
The '''Lydda Death March''' took place during [[Operation Danny]] in the [[1948 Arab-Israeli war]]. After Israeli forces took control of the cities of [[Lydda]] and [[Ramla|Al-Ramla]], beginning on 12 July 1948, between 50,000 and 70,000 [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] were expelled following orders issued by [[Yitzhak Rabin]].<ref name=Holmesp64>Holmes et al., 2001, p. 64.</ref><ref name=Priorp205>Prior, 1999, p. 205.</ref><ref name=Kidronp90/><ref name=Morrisp176>[[Benny Morris]], ''The Road to Jerusalem: Glubb Pasha, Palestine and the Jews'', Tauris 2003, pp.176-177</ref> The inhabitants of Ramala were bussed or trucked to Al Qubab, and made their way on foot from there to the Arab legion lines in [[Salbit]] and [[Latrun]]. The inhabitants of Lydda walked to [[Beit Nabala]] and Barfiliya.<ref>The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949, p. 209, Morris, Cambridge University Press 1989</ref> From there, some continued on foot for three days towards [[Ramallah]] some {{km to mi|50}} distant. The number of deaths has been estimated at between a "handful" and as many as 350, primarily from exhaustion and dehydration.<ref name=Morriscontradictions>In ''The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949'' (1989), [[Benny Morris]] writes that "Quite a few" had died, while attributing a figure of 335 to Nimr al Khatib. In his later work, ''The Road to Jerusalem: Glubb Pasha, Palestine and the Jews'' (2003), he states that only a handful of people died.</ref><ref name=Finkelsteinp55>Finkelstein, 2003, p. 55. Finkelstein writes that perhaps as many as 350 died.</ref><ref name=Masalhap44>{{cite web|title=Towards the Palestinian Refugees|author=[[Nur Masalha]]|url=http://www.robat.scl.net/content/NAD/pdfs/refugees_7full.pdf|accessdate=2009-04-29}}Masalha writes that 350 died.</ref>


Those expelled were evicted at gunpoint by Israeli forces who repeatedly shot over their heads along the way to keep them moving, and accounts from survivors also describe a few incidents in which people were shot and killed, or became casualties as a result of the general panic.<ref name=Kidronp90/><ref name=Benvenistip101>Benvenisti et al., 2007, p. 101.</ref><ref name=Tolan>{{cite web|title=Focus: 60 Years of Division: The Nakba in al-Ramla|publisher=[[Al Jazeera English]]|author=Sandy Tolan|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/60yearsofdivision/2008/07/20087199114777437.html|date=21 July 2008|accessdate=2009-04-29}}</ref> In addition to losing their residential properties, many were also stripped of their portable possessions by Israeli soldiers.<ref name=Ronp145>Ron, 2003, p. 145.</ref>
Those expelled were evicted at gunpoint by Israeli forces who repeatedly shot over their heads along the way to keep them moving, and accounts from survivors also describe a few incidents in which people were shot and killed, or became casualties as a result of the general panic.<ref name=Kidronp90/><ref name=Benvenistip101>Benvenisti et al., 2007, p. 101.</ref><ref name=Tolan>{{cite web|title=Focus: 60 Years of Division: The Nakba in al-Ramla|publisher=[[Al Jazeera English]]|author=Sandy Tolan|url=http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/60yearsofdivision/2008/07/20087199114777437.html|date=21 July 2008|accessdate=2009-04-29}}</ref> In addition to losing their residential properties, many were also stripped of their portable possessions by Israeli soldiers.<ref name=Ronp145>Ron, 2003, p. 145.</ref>

Revision as of 20:44, 1 May 2009

The Lydda Death March took place during Operation Danny in the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. After Israeli forces took control of the cities of Lydda and Al-Ramla, beginning on 12 July 1948, between 50,000 and 70,000 Palestinian were expelled following orders issued by Yitzhak Rabin.[1][2][3][4] The inhabitants of Ramala were bussed or trucked to Al Qubab, and made their way on foot from there to the Arab legion lines in Salbit and Latrun. The inhabitants of Lydda walked to Beit Nabala and Barfiliya.[5] From there, some continued on foot for three days towards Ramallah some Template:Km to mi distant. The number of deaths has been estimated at between a "handful" and as many as 350, primarily from exhaustion and dehydration.[6][7][8]

Those expelled were evicted at gunpoint by Israeli forces who repeatedly shot over their heads along the way to keep them moving, and accounts from survivors also describe a few incidents in which people were shot and killed, or became casualties as a result of the general panic.[3][9][10] In addition to losing their residential properties, many were also stripped of their portable possessions by Israeli soldiers.[11]

Brief background

After World War I and until the outbreak of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, Lydda and Al-Ramla were towns in the District of Ramla in British Mandate Palestine. Before the 1948 war, both Lydda and Al-Ramla were exclusively Palestinian towns and according to the 1947 United Nations Partition Plan which proposed dividing Palestine into two states (one Jewish and one Arab) both were to form part of the proposed Arab state.[12] [13]

Expulsion orders

Yitzhak Rabin was the Head of Operations for Israeli forces in the area in July 1948 and he sent the order for the expulsion of the inhabitants of Lydda which read: "1. The inhabitants of Lydda must be expelled quickly without attention to age ... Yiftah (Brigade HQ) must determine the method....2. Implement immediately."[2][14]A similar expulsion order was issued for the city of Ramla.[2][15] Israeli historians between the 1950s and 1970s insisted that the inhabitants of Al-Ramla had violated the terms of surrender, and Benny Morris writes that they "were happy at the possibility given them of evacuating."[16][17] However, Rabin himself admitted that "expulsions" had taken place in both Ramla and Lydda, and though this admission was excised from his text on the subject by Israeli censors, it was printed in the New York Times on 23 October 1979.[16]

It was Peretz Kidron, an Israeli journalist who translated Rabin's memoirs from Hebrew into English who discovered Rabin's admission of the expulsions that took place in Lydda and Al-Ramla, and who passed the excerpt censored during its publication in Israel on to the New York Times.[3] Kidron writes that it was success in the first phase of Operation Larlar that led Israeli forces to occupy Lydda and Al-Ramla.[3] In Rabin's memoirs, it is recorded that, "while the fighting was still in progress, they could not leave the hostile and armed populace in our rear, where it could endanger the supply route to Yiftach, which was advancing eastwards."[3] Rabin says that it was Yigal Allon who asked David Ben-Gurion what was to be done with the population of Lydda, and that Ben-Gurion

"waved his hand in gesture which said: Drive them out! Alon and I held a consultation. I agreed it was essential to drive the inhabitants out. We took them on foot to the Bet Horon road, assuming that the Legion would be obliged to look after them, thereby shouldering logistic difficulties which would burden its fighting capacity, making things easier for us."[3]

Rabin also writes that "The population of Lod (Lydda) did not leave willingly. There was no way of avoiding the use of force and warning shots in order to make the inhabitants march the 10-15 miles to the point where they met up with the Legion." Of the population of Al-Ramla, Rabin writes:

"The inhabitants of Ramleh watched, and learned the lesson: their leaders agreed to be evacuated by the Legion. Great suffering was inflicted upon the men taking part in the eviction action. Soldiers of the Yiftach brigade included youth movement graduates, who had been inculcated with values such as international fraternity and humaneness. The eviction action went beyond the concepts they were used to. There were some fellows who refused to take part in the expulsion action. Prolonged propaganda activities were required after the action, to remove the bitterness of these youth movement groups, and explain why we were obliged to undertake such harsh and cruel action.[3]

Reflecting on these actions, Rabin concluded:

"To day, in hindsight, I think the action was essential. The removal of those fifty thousand Arabs was an important contribution to Israel's security, in one of the most sensitive regions, linking the coastal plain with Jerusalem. After the War of Independence, some of the inhabitants were permitted to return to their home towns."[3][17]

Eyewitness accounts

A Palestinian refugee camp in 1948. While the location is not indicated, the tent structures are typical of the type of temporary housing that was available to Palestinian refugees, like those from Lydda and Al-Ramla, in the immediate wake of their displacement during the 1948 war.

An account of the events in The Economist of London stated that, "The Arab refugees were systematically stripped of all their belongings before they were sent on their trek to the frontier. Household belongings, stores, clothing, all had to be left behind."[18] Spiro Munayar remembers how:

The occupying soldiers had set up roadblocks on all the road leading east and were searching the refugees, particularly the women, stealing their gold jewelry from their necks, wrist and fingers and whatever was hidden in their clothes, as well as money and everything else that was precious and light enough to carry.[19]

Father Oudeh Rantisi, another survivor of the death march who has documented his experiences, recalls some the deaths he witnessed along the way, such as a baby falling from his mother's arms and accidentally being crushed by a cart as a result of the general crowding and anxiety of those trying to enter a farm to get food and water. He also recounts having witnessed the shooting and killing of a few people by Israeli soldiers:

When we entered this gate, we saw Jewish soldiers spreading sheets on the ground and each who passed there had to place whatever they had on the ground or be killed. I remember that there was a man I knew from the Hanhan family from Lod who had just been married barely six weeks and there was with him a basket which contained money. When they asked him to place the basket on the sheet he refused - so they shot him dead before my eyes. Others were killed in front of me too, but I remember this person well because I use to know him.[20][9]

The looting conducted by Israeli soldiers is also mentioned by Ilan Pappé and Benny Morris who writes that many were "stripped of their possessions."[11][19] Another refugee in the march, Raja e-Basailah, describes how after making it to the Arab village of Ni'ilin, he pushed himself through the crowds to procure some water to take back to his mother and a close friend. He hid the water from others who were begging for it and describes being haunted for years afterward by his "hard-hearted" denial of their needs. Because he was blind, Basailah did not see those who perished on the way, but he recalls hearing the exclamations of others describing "[...] that some of those who lay dead had their tongues sticking out covered with dust and down," and how someone recounted to him, "[...] having seen a baby still alive on the bosom of a dead woman, apparently the mother ..."[12] Rantisi also describes some the effects sustained by the lack of adequate provisions among the refugees:

[...] the things I saw on the third day had a big effect on my life. Hundreds lost their lives due to fatigue and thirst. It was very hot during the day and there was no water. I remember that when we reached an abandoned house, they tied a rope around my cousin's child and sent him down into the water. They were so thirsty they started to suck the water from his clothes ... The road to Ramallah had become an open cemetery.[21][22]

United Nations official Count Bernadotte who visited the refugee camp in Ramallah which housed the majority of the survivors in July 1948 said: "I have made the acquaintance of a great many refugee camps in my life but never have I seen a more ghastly site."[23]

Aftermath

After the war's end, Lydda and Al-Ramla became predominantly Jewish mixed towns and were renamed Lod and Ramla respectively.[13] Residual Palestinian populations that had managed to remain in both towns were concentrated in bounded compounds and were vastly outnumbered by the influx of Jewish immigrants that followed.[13] The residential property rights of the former Palestinian communities of Lydda and Al-Ramla were officially transferred to the Israel's Custodian of Absentee Properties in March 1950.[13]

One of the survivors of the Lydda Death March was George Habash. A Palestinian Christian who was 21 years old at the time, he later went on to found the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), serving as its Secretary-General until 2000.

Artistic representations

The Palestinian artist Ismail Shammout was 19 years old when he left Lydda in the exodus. Shammout portrayed his experience and that of other Palestinian refugees in the piece Whereto? (1953). The oil painting on canvas is considered his best known work and enjoys iconic status among Palestinians. In the foreground, it depicts a life-size image of an elderly man dressed in rags carrying a walking stick in his left hand while his right hand grasps the wrist of a crying child. A sleeping toddler on his shoulder is resting his cheek upon the old man's head. Just behind them is a third child crying and walking alone. In the background there is a skyline of an Arab town with a minaret, while in the middle ground there is a withered tree. A visual of the painting and a discussion of its symbolic dimensions and iconic status are included in In Israeli art historian Gannit Ankori's work Palestinian Art (2006).[24]

See also

References

  1. ^ Holmes et al., 2001, p. 64.
  2. ^ a b c Prior, 1999, p. 205.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Peretz Kidron: Truth Whereby Nations Live. In Said and Hitchens, 1998, pp. 90-93.
  4. ^ Benny Morris, The Road to Jerusalem: Glubb Pasha, Palestine and the Jews, Tauris 2003, pp.176-177
  5. ^ The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949, p. 209, Morris, Cambridge University Press 1989
  6. ^ In The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem, 1947-1949 (1989), Benny Morris writes that "Quite a few" had died, while attributing a figure of 335 to Nimr al Khatib. In his later work, The Road to Jerusalem: Glubb Pasha, Palestine and the Jews (2003), he states that only a handful of people died.
  7. ^ Finkelstein, 2003, p. 55. Finkelstein writes that perhaps as many as 350 died.
  8. ^ Nur Masalha. "Towards the Palestinian Refugees" (PDF). Retrieved 2009-04-29.Masalha writes that 350 died.
  9. ^ a b Benvenisti et al., 2007, p. 101.
  10. ^ Sandy Tolan (21 July 2008). "Focus: 60 Years of Division: The Nakba in al-Ramla". Al Jazeera English. Retrieved 2009-04-29.
  11. ^ a b Ron, 2003, p. 145.
  12. ^ a b Sa'di and Abu-Lughod, 2007, pp. 91-92.
  13. ^ a b c d Monterescu and Rabinowitz, 2007, pp. 16-17.
  14. ^ The IDF Archives holds two nearly similar copies of the expulsion order. Allon later denied that there had been such an order. Rather, he said the order to evacuate the civilian population of Lydda and Ramle came from the Arab Legion (see Al Hamishmar, 25 Oct. 1979), according to Morris (2004), p 429, 454.
  15. ^ Morris (2004), p 429
  16. ^ a b Prior, 1999, p. 206.
  17. ^ a b Benny Morris does not deny that there was a forced exodus in the case of Lydda in which hundreds died. He writes that, "All the Israelis who witnessed the events agreed that the [Lydda] exodus, under a hot July sun, was an extended episode of suffering for the refugees..." (Ron, 2003, p. 145.) Cite error: The named reference "Note" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  18. ^ Pappé (2006), p. 168
  19. ^ a b Pappé (2006), p. 168
  20. ^ Rantisi (1990), p.24
  21. ^ Rantisi (1990), p.25
  22. ^ Benvenisti et al., 2007, p. 102.
  23. ^ Thomas, 1999, p. 288.
  24. ^ Ankori, 2006, pp. 48-50.

Bibliography

External links

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