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Jerusalem 1948: The Arab Neighbourhoods and Their Fate in the War

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Jerusalem 1948: The Arab Neighbourhoods And Their Fate In The War is a publication of the Institute of Jerusalem Studies and the Badil Resource Center, and offers the Palestinian perspective on the effects that founding the Jewish state of Israel had upon the indigenous Muslim population of Jerusalem. Occasionally illustrated with period photographs, Jerusalem 1948 is an informative, enlightening, candidly descriptive and analytical history that presents a side of Jerusalem's 20th Century history that is all too often overlooked by both academia and the general public. Jerusalem 1948 is a highly recommended, long needed addition to personal, school, and community library Mideast studies reference collections.

This dry, statistical account is very thorough in documenting the 'fate' of the Palestinian villages around Jerusalem. In all 37 villages are shown to have been evacuated, destroyed or converted during the war. Most infamous of these is Dayr Yassin. Attention is also paid to the religious institutions damaged in the fighting such as the mammoth Notre Dame complex that ended up on the Front line. In the Old CIty and on mt. Zion many Churchs were damaged.

COverage is given to the Christian, Armenain and Muslim communites. The 37 villages spoken of are as far away as 25km in some instances, but some are much closer such as Rahavia or Lifta.

Statistical breakdowns are given of businesses lost, property confiscated and land changing hands. Very detaile descriptions are amde of UN resolutions and attempts to settle financial disputes. Basically the city was divided in 1948 and the Jews of the Old city were depopulated from their quarter by the Jordanian army while many Arabs fled to east jerusalem. This was not exactly a population exchange since the number of Arabs fleeing was much higher then the Jews forced from the old city.

The book is biased. Most damage done to Churchs is always assumed to have been done by Israeli forces rather then jordanian, when the opposite is probably the case. It would be hard to understand how the destruction of Notre Dame or the Ethiopian CHurch in West Jerusalem could have been done by ISraeli artillary unless it was firing at its own positions.

It is also not easy to excuse the blatent fabrications concerning the destruction of the Jewish quarter of the old city. If this book perports to cover property damage from the war it is decidedly one sided as the title implies.

Nevertheless researchers on the war will find the information indespensible, the writing however is lacking in objectivity.

Seth J. Frantzman

According to the Ottomon censuses, Jews made up the majority of Jerusalem residents in the 18th and 19th centuries. My family was part of the Morrocan Jewish community of Jerusalem, which dates back to the middle ages. This community was afflicted with discrimination, poverty and disease, but, in spite of everything survived intact until 1948. After the Jordanian takeover in the Israeli War of Independance, this community was driven out. The ancient synagogues were looted and destroyed, or occupied by squatters, as were the houses of the Jewish refugees. Jewish graves on the Mount of Olives were destroyed, the tombstones used to build roads and houses.

Why is there no mention of of that important history in this book? Why is it invisible? Why do that disservice to a readership deserving of the whole story?

The author is profoundly and deeply ignorant. Jerusalem was a capital of the state of Israel in 1000 BC. Poor education in Middle East history is a typical problem with American academy controlled by Arab money.