mhgaffney
02-06-2009, 11:57 PM
Some days ago Cutthemdown and I had a vigorous debate about the role of Jordan's Arab Legion in the 1948 war between Israel and the surrounding Arab states.
Cut argued that the Arab Legion was just another of the foreign armies that invaded Israel with an eye to destroying the just-declared Jewish state. My position was that Israel's leader David ben Gurion had worked out a secret agreement with Jordan's Kng Abdallah to keep Jordan out of the war. Ben Gurion's goal -- I argued -- was to reduce the number of fronts in the war from three to two -- and thus increase the Haganah's chances for victory. The Haganah was the Zionist army, the forerunner of the IDF.
In recent days I've been reviewing the history of the war. I'm back to report that my original position was essentially correct, although it is also true -- as Cut argued -- that the Arab Legion did fight in the war.
Here is what happened:
There was secret diplomacy between the Zionists and King Abdallah. Ben Gurion sent his emissary Golda Meir to Amman to negotiate with Abdallah -- on two occasions. Meir dressed like an Arab to avoid detection. King Abdallah was not a supporter of the Paletsinian national cause. He simply wanted to annex the West Bank, which the 1947 UN partition plan assigned to the Palestinians. The W Bank and other parts of Palestine (part of the Negev in the south and the Galilee in the north) were to become the future Palestinian state. But Abdallah and the Zionists had other plans.
The Zionists decided it was in their short term interest to ally with Jordan and allow Aballah to expand his kingdom west of the Jordan River. Of course, some Zionists were not happy with this strategy, because the long term Zionist plan was to sieze all of Palestine -- eastward to the Jordan River (and even beyond).
There are many biblical sites in the W Bank. It is the nucleus of the ancient kingdom of David and Solomon. Naturally, the Zionists wanted to sieze the W Bank for this reason. But ben Gurion was a pragmatist and he persuaded the rest that an alliance with Abdallah was essential in the short term. Ben Gurion knew his military forces could easily defeat the combined armies of Syria, Iraq and Egypt. But Jordan had the best army in the Arab world - the British armed and trained Arab Legion -- and it was essential to keep this effective fighting force out of the war.
This was the Zionist plan -- and there is no doubt Abdallah intended to keep his part of the bargain. It was in his self interest to do so.
However, events took a somewhat different turn. Within weeks of passage of the November 1947 UN Partition Plan, the Zionists launched their master plan (plan "D") to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from numerous villages and cities in Palestine. The ethnic cleansing started in December 1947 and continued without relent for many months. This is the crucial part of the history that has generally been left out of the "official" accounts.
Remember, the Arab states did not attack Israel until after the British completed their pullout on May 15, 1948. This was the day the British mandate officially ended -- and within hours of this the Arab armies attacked. However, it is of crucial importance that the Zionists proceeded with their cleansing operations all during the intervening 5 months from the passage of the partition plan in Nov 1947 until the Briish mandate ended in May. During this period they drove an estimated 250,000 Palestinians from their homes into exile.
The Arab Legion entered the W Bank with the intention of simply occupying it -- with no plans to attack the Zionist army. However, the Zionists were not satisfied with their part of the partition, and in the interim also began cleansing Arab neighborhoods in West Jerusalem, which, recall, was slated to become an open international city under the UN partition plan.
Indeed, the Zionist attacks in Jersalem prove that Israel had no intention of abiding by the UN plan. Word of what was happening quickly reached Abdallah. The Arabs in Jerusalem -- under attack -- called for him to come to their assistance, and this is what happened. The Arab Legion was drawn into the fighting in Jerusalem -- and prevented the Zionists from siezing the entire city. The Legion also engaged the Zionists along the approaches to Jerusalem, as ben Gurion attempted to send supplies and reinforcements to the city.
Yet, it is a fact that during the war the Arab Legion never moved outside the part of Palestine which had been designated for the Palestinian state. It never engaged the Zionists in the coastal zone -- which was the Jewish portion of Palestine. There was no attempt to drive the Jews into the sea. Abdallah clear;y iunderstood that the Zionists were too strong to defeat -- and he was prepared to live and let live. If there had been no ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem the Arab Legion woud simply have occupied the W Bank. So that's the history.
My sources are 1948: The FIRST ARAB-ISRAELI WAR (2007) by Benny Morris and THE ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINE (2006) by Ilan Pappe.
Both authors are Israeli historians. Both are excellent sources. Morris must be taken with a grain of caution because even though he admits the atrocities and cleansing operations by Israel he still tries to portray Israel in the best possible light. Pappe's account is a brave attempt to tell the truthful and painful story of how Israel doive nearly 800,000 Palestinians from their homes in 1947-48. Pappe had to leave Israel for his own safety after the book was released.
His book is a must read for anyone who wants to know the true history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Here is some info about it:
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)
by Ilan Pappe (Author)
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oneworld Publications (September 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1851685553
• ISBN-13: 978-1851685554
Reviews
"Ground breaking research into a well kept Israeli secret. A classic of historical scholarship on a taboo subject by one of Israel's foremost New Historians." -- Ghada Karmi - Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, England, UK
"Ilan Pappe is Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian." -- John Pilger - author, journalist, and filmmaker
"Leading Israeli historian Ilan Pappe delves into his country's bloodied past in search of answers in the present." -- Morning Star, 25 April, 2008
"If not the last word, this is a major intervention in an argument that will, and must, continue. There's no hope of lasting Middle East peace while the ghosts of 1948 still walk." - The Independent "Ilan Pappe is Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian." - John Pilger "Ground breaking research into a well kept Israeli secret. A classic of historical scholarship on a taboo subject by one of Israel's foremost New Historians." - Ghada Karmi, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, England
Ground breaking research into a well kept Israeli secret. A classic of historical scholarship on a taboo subject by one of Israel's foremost New Historians. -- Ghada Karmi - Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies,
Pappe has opened up an important new line of inquiry into the vast and fateful subject of the Palestinian refugees. His book is rewarding in other ways. It has at times an elegiac, even sentimental, character, recalling the lost, obliterated life of the Palestinian Arabs and imagining or regretting what Pappe believes could have been a better land of Palestine. -- Times Literary Supplement, 04/26/2007
Cut argued that the Arab Legion was just another of the foreign armies that invaded Israel with an eye to destroying the just-declared Jewish state. My position was that Israel's leader David ben Gurion had worked out a secret agreement with Jordan's Kng Abdallah to keep Jordan out of the war. Ben Gurion's goal -- I argued -- was to reduce the number of fronts in the war from three to two -- and thus increase the Haganah's chances for victory. The Haganah was the Zionist army, the forerunner of the IDF.
In recent days I've been reviewing the history of the war. I'm back to report that my original position was essentially correct, although it is also true -- as Cut argued -- that the Arab Legion did fight in the war.
Here is what happened:
There was secret diplomacy between the Zionists and King Abdallah. Ben Gurion sent his emissary Golda Meir to Amman to negotiate with Abdallah -- on two occasions. Meir dressed like an Arab to avoid detection. King Abdallah was not a supporter of the Paletsinian national cause. He simply wanted to annex the West Bank, which the 1947 UN partition plan assigned to the Palestinians. The W Bank and other parts of Palestine (part of the Negev in the south and the Galilee in the north) were to become the future Palestinian state. But Abdallah and the Zionists had other plans.
The Zionists decided it was in their short term interest to ally with Jordan and allow Aballah to expand his kingdom west of the Jordan River. Of course, some Zionists were not happy with this strategy, because the long term Zionist plan was to sieze all of Palestine -- eastward to the Jordan River (and even beyond).
There are many biblical sites in the W Bank. It is the nucleus of the ancient kingdom of David and Solomon. Naturally, the Zionists wanted to sieze the W Bank for this reason. But ben Gurion was a pragmatist and he persuaded the rest that an alliance with Abdallah was essential in the short term. Ben Gurion knew his military forces could easily defeat the combined armies of Syria, Iraq and Egypt. But Jordan had the best army in the Arab world - the British armed and trained Arab Legion -- and it was essential to keep this effective fighting force out of the war.
This was the Zionist plan -- and there is no doubt Abdallah intended to keep his part of the bargain. It was in his self interest to do so.
However, events took a somewhat different turn. Within weeks of passage of the November 1947 UN Partition Plan, the Zionists launched their master plan (plan "D") to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians from numerous villages and cities in Palestine. The ethnic cleansing started in December 1947 and continued without relent for many months. This is the crucial part of the history that has generally been left out of the "official" accounts.
Remember, the Arab states did not attack Israel until after the British completed their pullout on May 15, 1948. This was the day the British mandate officially ended -- and within hours of this the Arab armies attacked. However, it is of crucial importance that the Zionists proceeded with their cleansing operations all during the intervening 5 months from the passage of the partition plan in Nov 1947 until the Briish mandate ended in May. During this period they drove an estimated 250,000 Palestinians from their homes into exile.
The Arab Legion entered the W Bank with the intention of simply occupying it -- with no plans to attack the Zionist army. However, the Zionists were not satisfied with their part of the partition, and in the interim also began cleansing Arab neighborhoods in West Jerusalem, which, recall, was slated to become an open international city under the UN partition plan.
Indeed, the Zionist attacks in Jersalem prove that Israel had no intention of abiding by the UN plan. Word of what was happening quickly reached Abdallah. The Arabs in Jerusalem -- under attack -- called for him to come to their assistance, and this is what happened. The Arab Legion was drawn into the fighting in Jerusalem -- and prevented the Zionists from siezing the entire city. The Legion also engaged the Zionists along the approaches to Jerusalem, as ben Gurion attempted to send supplies and reinforcements to the city.
Yet, it is a fact that during the war the Arab Legion never moved outside the part of Palestine which had been designated for the Palestinian state. It never engaged the Zionists in the coastal zone -- which was the Jewish portion of Palestine. There was no attempt to drive the Jews into the sea. Abdallah clear;y iunderstood that the Zionists were too strong to defeat -- and he was prepared to live and let live. If there had been no ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem the Arab Legion woud simply have occupied the W Bank. So that's the history.
My sources are 1948: The FIRST ARAB-ISRAELI WAR (2007) by Benny Morris and THE ETHNIC CLEANSING OF PALESTINE (2006) by Ilan Pappe.
Both authors are Israeli historians. Both are excellent sources. Morris must be taken with a grain of caution because even though he admits the atrocities and cleansing operations by Israel he still tries to portray Israel in the best possible light. Pappe's account is a brave attempt to tell the truthful and painful story of how Israel doive nearly 800,000 Palestinians from their homes in 1947-48. Pappe had to leave Israel for his own safety after the book was released.
His book is a must read for anyone who wants to know the true history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Here is some info about it:
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)
by Ilan Pappe (Author)
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Oneworld Publications (September 25, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1851685553
• ISBN-13: 978-1851685554
Reviews
"Ground breaking research into a well kept Israeli secret. A classic of historical scholarship on a taboo subject by one of Israel's foremost New Historians." -- Ghada Karmi - Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, England, UK
"Ilan Pappe is Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian." -- John Pilger - author, journalist, and filmmaker
"Leading Israeli historian Ilan Pappe delves into his country's bloodied past in search of answers in the present." -- Morning Star, 25 April, 2008
"If not the last word, this is a major intervention in an argument that will, and must, continue. There's no hope of lasting Middle East peace while the ghosts of 1948 still walk." - The Independent "Ilan Pappe is Israel's bravest, most principled, most incisive historian." - John Pilger "Ground breaking research into a well kept Israeli secret. A classic of historical scholarship on a taboo subject by one of Israel's foremost New Historians." - Ghada Karmi, Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies, University of Exeter, England
Ground breaking research into a well kept Israeli secret. A classic of historical scholarship on a taboo subject by one of Israel's foremost New Historians. -- Ghada Karmi - Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies,
Pappe has opened up an important new line of inquiry into the vast and fateful subject of the Palestinian refugees. His book is rewarding in other ways. It has at times an elegiac, even sentimental, character, recalling the lost, obliterated life of the Palestinian Arabs and imagining or regretting what Pappe believes could have been a better land of Palestine. -- Times Literary Supplement, 04/26/2007