lay in the very natural results of the events of history.

With the approval in 1947 by the United Nations of the br

Partition Plan, creating separate Jewish and Arab states in br

“Palestine,” the Arabs, both within the land and without, pre- br

pared for what an Arab League official called “a momentous br

massacre which will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacres br

and Crusades.” With British troops leaving, the Arabs were confi- br

dent that they would decimate the Jews and establish Arab rule br

over the entire country. But while Allah proposed, the G-d of the br

Jews disposed, and the outcome of the fighting was quite different.

The Arab armies were thrown back, and not only did the br

State of Israel come into being, but an incredible panic swept br

the Arabs in the country, causing hundreds of thousands to flee. br

As the dust settled, entire formerly Arab villages and cities and br

regions stood empty of inhabitants and were now part of the new br

Jewish state. That which the Arabs could have had, were they br

prepared to accept the UN plan, was now lost to them. Instead br

of a tiny, grotesque Jewish state—in three sections, joined by br

two narrow checkpoints and with an Arab population constitut- br

ing 40 percent of its citizens—there was now a much larger and br

more stable Israel with only 150,000 shell-shocked Arabs as its br

citizens.

But it was not only the quantitative loss that was so brutal. br

It was more than just the shock of being transformed from a br

majority into a minority. The few Arabs of Israel who were left were br

now a people without leadership.

The panicky mass exodus had seen the disappearance of br

the higher social classes. To quote a report by Uri Standel, is- br

sued by the prime minister’s office: “The wealthy Arab land- br

lords and rich merchants, the religious dignitaries, lawyers, doc- br

tors, engineers, writers, and journalists were the first to take br

flight, depriving the population of all centers of initiative.”

The Arabs who were left were for the most part fellahin, br

feudal peasants, ignorant and illiterate. The last thing in the br

world they wanted was a political struggle. Knowing what they br

would have done to the Jews had the Arabs won the war (the br

rape of Jewish women and the severed sexual organs stuffed into br

murdered Jews’ mouths were not isolated incidents in the riots br

of the twenties and thirties), they huddled fearfully, hoping just br

to live.