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Palestine Betrayed

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Replete with references the Professor & Head of the Middle East and Mediterranean Studies Programme at Kings College, London has provided an excellent, detailed, objective analysis of both the origins as well as the history surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict.

In my own opinion this authoritative, timely and well written study is destined to become a classic in relation to this contentious subject. Those who have already embraced the revisionist history of the 'new historians' will probably want to give it a miss as the detail and depth of this work tends to blow their case completely out of the water.

Citing many documents which have been declassified over the past decade, both the Arab and Jewish perspectives of this conflict are addressed from the very start. The political/diplomatic manoeuvering of many prominent individuals on both sides and in the international arena are all given due reference.

Recent declassification of millions of documents from the era surrounding the British Mandate are shown to have been ignored or distorted by the 'new historians' in order to paint a picture that the author claims 'is completely at odds with the anti Israel caricature that is so often the order of the day'.

This compelling investigation makes it clear to the reader that Israel is being robbed of its political, historic and geographic legitimacy, whilst being made to appear to rob the Palestinians of the nation it never had.

At the outset the author draws attention to the differing positions of the then Jewish and Arab leadership leading up to the 1947 UN resolution calling for the partition of 'Palestine' into two independent states - Arab and Jewish - plus the internationalisation of Jerusalem.

From the easily readable text the reader can assess how the Jewish leadership openly accepted the detailed UN plans for parition while the Arab side utterly rejected any such plan and showed that compliance with any UN resolution was of no consequence as they declared all out war with the declared intention of eradicating the reborn Jewish state. Full quotes and detailed references from both sides are provided for the reader's attention.

The book reveals in no uncertain terms that if the Palestinian Arabs and the neighbouring Arab states had accepted the UN resolution there would have been no war and no dislocation of a single Arab refugee. The simple reason being that the Zionist movement was amenable to the co-existence with the Palestinian Arabs and a 2 state solution even at that time. The Arab world choosing to instead wage a war of annihilation.

Citing how such reality was to become erased form public memory by decades of relentless pro-Arab propaganda, the writer clarifies that it is to reclaim this and other historical truths that this book has been written.

A whole plethora of issues are addressed including those of a Zionist and Pan Arab perspective covering many decades prior to, and culminating in, the above. The role of the British and the Mandate is studied in some detail revealing much of the alleged British appeasement of the Arab world and it's 'White Paper' restricting Jewish immigration to Palestine while Jews were fleeing the persecution and slaughter within Europe during the rule of Hitler. References revealing how, while Jews were severely restricted and hampering from entering their ancient homeland, no such restrictions were placed upon Arabs entering/settling in 'Palestine' from their neighbouring Arab states.

Having studied the Balfour Declaration one aspect of alleged British appeasement of the Arab world that also receives attention is the British severing of a vast percentage of 'Palestine' east of the Jordan River from the prospective Jewish homeland to create the new Arab nation of Transjordan under the newly appointed Arab leadership of Emir Abdullah ibn Hussein.

Even what remained of 'Palestine' being targeted for division with the 'Palestinian' Arabs. Quotes and references showing that pan-Arabism viewed the 'Palestinians' not as a distinct people deserving statehood but as 'an integral part of a single Arab nation' which was bound by the common ties of language and religion etc.. The Jewish homeland eventually constituing less than 11 per cent of what was originally hoped for. The study's contents reiterating that even this was too much for the Arab world which rejected 'parition' and declared war to obtain it all.

Indeed from the historic details provided the reader is left with the unassailable deduction that the Arab grievance is not with the borders of Israel but with its very existence. Referring to the 'peace process' of the present day the book claims that, despite their vastly different personalities and political modus operandi, Yasser Arafat and his successor Mahmoud Abbas are "warp and woof of the same fabric". Both being shown from the text to be PLO veterans who have never "eschewed their commitment to Israel's destruction".

While many believe that the reason for the continuous state of war between Israel and the Arabs is because Israel is allegedly 'occupying Arab land' the study shows how through endless repetition, the engraving upon people's minds of this line of political propaganda has deceived the populace from the fundamental truths behind this conflict. It clearly being shown that the Arabs were making war against Israel even when the Arabs held the land and that is how they came to lose it in the first place.

Individual readers must make up their own minds upon the many aspects of this investigation, some aspects of which may be seen as controversial by some. However, I have no hesitation to recommending this work to anyone remotely interested in the Middle East conflicts.

This book is scrupulously researched and elegantly written to a fault. Nobody can say Karsh doesn't have an axe to grind (the New Historians are certainly not among his favorite cohorts.) At the same time, no honest reader of the Middle East can claim that this book does not marshal a wealth of sources and archives that put the New Historians' "history driven by ideology" to shame. It is high time Middle East scholars recognized--as does Karsh--that the dispossession of the Palestinians was and remains a shared responsibility.

This book is packed with historical details suppported by numerous footnotes. It makes the case for the view that Israeli has scrupulously adhered to international legal norms and well established ethical principles in establishing herself as a nation and in subsequently defending herself. After reading this book it is hard for me to accept the notion that Israel is "occupying" Palestinian and/or Arab lands. It is also hard to accept the idea that Israel is responsible for the plight of the Palestinians. The Palestinians are in their present condition because the Arab governments have chosen to keep them there as a pretext for continuing to attack Israel.

Of course, I do not have the background or the time to dig into the details myself. I can marvel at the references but I have no way to get them all and read them for myself. So if someone else says this book is merely pro-Israeli propoganda, I have no foolproof way of showing that it is not. The case the book makes is generally consistent with what I have found myself in my limited readings. But, of course, those have been selective. All I can say is that the book's statement have the "ring of truth" to my ear. But it would be interesting to hear what specialists in this area might say. I am sure that some would disagree with many of his conclusions.

Karsh stands seemingly alone against the screaming crowds. What stands with him in his lonely battle against the rewriting of history is the truth. His broad knowledge of the irrefutable first hand sources lifts the veil of lies for anyone who cares enough to know the what really happened.

Those whose agenda precedes their interest in the truth will find a way to brush off Karsh's book(s) by engaging in derision & insults rather than factual debate.

But for those who are stymied by the onslaught of the populist press there is great comfort in being re-assured of the truth of justice of Israel's way.

This book presents the facts very straightforwardly about how and why Palestinians decided their own destiny and bear near-total responsibility for becoming refugees. Read Palestine Betrayed and you'll understand how revisionist propaganda is nothing more than varnished mis-truths not worthy of anyone's attention.

The conventional story about 1948 often tells us about heartless Zionists expelling defenseless Palestinians in a brutal fashion. It is said that when one repeat a lie often enough, people will start to believe it, hence why this book is so important to counteract such unfounded and demonizing claims.

This book has several strong points, but one thing i would like to highlight is that while Karsh is highly critical of the behaviour of Palestinian and Arab leaders for their intransigence, hypocricy, immorality and extremism, he doesnt fall in the trap of painting with to broad of a brush. We hear about scores of Arab villages who were not interested in their leaders foolish adventures and who simply desired to live a normal life in peace, even going as far as rejecting Arab forces entry to their villages and alerting Jewish kibbutzes of impending attacks.

And while critics may no doubt claim that figures such as Weiszmann and Ben-Gurion might have made improper comments at times, can they point to a single Arab leader at the times who showed even a minimum of moderation or willingness to compromise? Overall, the differences between the ideology and mindset of the two parties are startling and mindboggling.

I think its needless to say that this book should be required reading for any serious student of the Middle East

Never have I seen such a detailed analysis of the political situation of the British Mandate of Palestine, which shows the true record of how the Jews attempted every effort to avoid conflict, and the Arabs sought to further the conflict. Also, the inter-Arab politics are shocking, as this book gave the true picture of how the situation deteriorated to the point of other Arab countries intervening not to "save 'Palestine'," but to stop King Abdullah of Jordan. This book also doesn't sugarcoat the war-atrocities and mishaps of both sides, but rather, puts them into context. Another Karsh masterpiece, a must read!

Any analysis of the Israeli - Arab conflict (the conflict between Muslims and Jews pre-dates the creation and coalesence of a Palestinian identity) should be based upon hard facts, not unfounded charges or outright lies ( ranging from sinister to ridiculous, eg.the Jews caused 9/11, Zionists were behind the massacre of Coptic Christians in Alexandria, etc.). Karsh provides just that; facts. Relying on quotes from not only Zionist sources,but English, and Arab as well, he demonstrates that the six countries (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebannon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia) that invaded Palestine following the U.N. vote in favor of partition were devoid of any interest in the welfare of the local Arab population or the creation of a Palestinian state. Rather each had their own nationalistic or Pan Arab goal. Abdullah of Jordan, Lebannon, and Egypt wanted to tri-sect the country and annex it into their own.

Karsh estimates the number of Arab refugees from Palestina as approximately 600,000 and provides a breakdown on a village by village basis. He also documents that Zionist attempts to prevent Arab flight with the exception of Lydda and Ramle (pop. 50,000) where the inhabitants were driven out in order to secure a strategically important transit route from potential fifth columnist activities.

It is not surprising that some of the reader comments on this page object to the premise of this book. That is their right. However, to dismiss the book offhand as propaganda or worse without resorting to proof (via contrary primary sources or proof that Karsh's sources were misquoted or taken out of context) is worthless.

In summation, Palestine Betrayed is valuedPalestine Betrayed contribution to the literature on this bloody conflict.

From reviewing his past work, I knew that this author is an exceptionally insightful Middle East analyst, but this latest book exceeded my expectations. The author even had the courage to note the role of the Islamic faith in the conflict. How he got that by his publisher in this age of appeasement toward Islam is beyond me, but it is fortunate because, until a majority of the World's leaders realize that there can be no true end to the Conflict or peace until Islam's pervasive, malevolent influence in the region is broken, there is no chance and no hope of anything beyond skilled crisis management of the Conflict. With so much deception printed about the Arab-Israeli Conflict, this is an extremely important work. It tells the truth and debunks the nonsense printed about the conflict. The author supports his work with hundreds of footnotes. This is now the best book about the Arab-Israeli Conflict ever written and I highly recommend it. It is not only authoritative and well supported, but it is an interesting story. My only complaint is that I believe the author should have more clearly explained that it was Islamic doctrine that drove the Mufti's conduct and which allowed him enough support to succeed. In addition, the Mufti could not have caused such large violent uprisings but for the fact that his Jew hatred fell on fertile ground due to the actual doctrines of Islam. Had he tried such tactics on a non-Muslim group, he would have not been successful in destroying any chances for peace.

Other than in Barry Rubin's The Arab States and the Palestine Conflict I don't think I've read a better resource for understanding the transitional and conflicting allegiances within the Arab community of the Palestine Mandate in 1947/48. Karsh takes on a district by district tour that I found enlightening every step of the way.

On the Arab side Karsh selects a number organizational actors, not any one of which was primary representative of the population as a whole. In no particular order:

The Arab Higher Committee (AHC), formed in 1946 as a political instrument of the Grand Mufti Hajj Amin Al-Husseini, who's previous organization had received funding from the Nazis during WWII. Husseini, indicted as a war criminal in Yugoslavia, does not enter British held Palestine, but directs his efforts remotely from Cairo and through extended family (ie: Jamal Husseini). At best he has the allegiances of 25% of the urban Arab population (my estimate), but his leadership collapsed as events progress. In major urban centers the AHC formed National Committees (NCs) to co-ordinate local military activity, shore up morale and represent civilian interests.

Aside from the Mufti the religious leadership seemed to be more or less ambivalent. Arabs with money and close relatives outside the conflict zone left early and urged others to follow, hoping to return once the various Arab armies had.

Of the local Arab element there was an equally large base that favored Jordanian monarch King Abdullah, who was interested in ruling a Greater Syria, having previously proposed to encorporate the Jewish Yishuv as an autonomous internal republic to serve as his primary economic engine. (pp202-204) This group included a large contingent of educated and modernized Arab "notables" such as Mayor Yusuf Heikal and lawyer Muhammad Hawari, founder of the Najada militia/police which stressed co-existence and in 1947 had patrolled streets preventing attacks on Jews. This group tended to ignore the Arab League's call boycott of Jewish businesses.

Representing the Egyptians and the Arab League, Abdel Rahman Azzam Pasha (pp191) lamented that the Mufti "had learned very little" during his years of exile and that his extremism was "at least, if not more, harmful to the Arabs as to the Jews". but he "had captured the imagination of the Arab Masses and the League could not, therefore drop him But when the UN asked for a truce in March 1948, it was Azzam who essentially demanded a Jewish surrender, saying that he would only acquiesce if this included a cessation of Jewish immigration, the disbanding of the Haganah, the annulment of Partition and the establishment of a Palestinian Arab State, to which the AHC added the expulsion of all "terrorist Jews" and the repatriation (expulsion) of all Jews "smuggled into Palestine".

In contrast to Azzam, Ismail Sidqui who had been Egyptian Prime Minister a year earlier noted that the Egyptian army was unready for war. This didn't stop Egypt from launching its aerial attack against the Tel Aviv Central Bus station the day after Israel announced it's independence.

The presence Iraqi soldiers under the command of Iraqi General Ismail Safwat, head of the polynational Arab Liberation Army (ALA) is interesting. re, in the Galilee and in the West Bank. In Feb '48 Jaffa's Iraqi command said "I do not mind destruction of Jaff if we secure destruction of Tel Aviv.", and ALA troops used Arab Jaffa as a base to pummel nearby Tel Aviv, Holon and Bat Yam. In Jaffa as discipline broke down they were responsible for puncturing the car tires of every Jaffa dignitary (to prevent them from fleeing? - April 1948, pp155) and went on a looting spree.

As to the general Arab population the mood swung not so much out of conviction but out of opportunism. Individual truces were signed and honoured with the various Arab villages and side by side Jewish communities but were broken when Arab forces approached and seemed to have the ascendancy. One notable example (pp213-219) Tel Aviv Karsh discusses is the famous "gesture" by Ben Gurion to Yigal Allon and Yitzchak Rabin that signaled the only significant forced expulsion of urban Arabs during the war. The Etzel (IDF) forces had achieved the surrender of Lydda (Lod) and Ramle in a brutal battle to secure the road between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, however as Arab Legion forces approached they reneged on the agreement and started fighting again. From the POV of the Yishuv it was essential to clear the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem corridor of enemy forces as the 100,000 Jews of Jerusalem were close to starvation and surrender. A second example (Ch 8) would be between Jewish and Arab communities in the environs of Jerusalem.

There are also the British, officially neutral but in action biased towards the Arabs, blockading the Yishuv until the end of the Mandate and supplying the Arabs directly and indirectly on the outside. The most successful actions against the nascent Jewish State came from the Jordanian Legion, commanded by British officer John Glubb Pasha.

And so it goes...

On the downside Karsh does not offer the same level of detail to the relationships within the Jewish leadership. Some readers may be disappointed that the degree of focus on the Irgun and even tinier Lehi is proportional to the size of the mainstream Haganah which was 20x larger. IMHO their significance is often overdone.

It's a well researched and well written book making good use of British, Arab and Israeli archives. The footnotes at the back were a great enhancement the narrative of the text. There are three additional appendices - a well organized "Dramatis Personae" organized by nationality, a table of abbreviations used and list of Arab villages along with estimates of when and ranges of how many fled during the war leading up to an estimate of 583-609,000 Palestinian refugees.

The book delivers all sorts of fascinating details and linkages, much more than I've touched on here. Highly recommended for both personal and library purchases and well suited for those interested in the key events of the 1948 War of Independence.