BASED On Declassified Israeli Documents & Personal Diaries
Palestinian are being ethnically cleansed out of al-Ramla & al-Lydd in July 1948 by Zionists Jewish forces as you see based on direct orders from Ben-Gurion, and executed by Yitzhak Rabin
Upon
Lydda's and
Ramla's occupation
on July 11-12, 1948, the Israelis were surprised to find that over 60,000
Palestinian civilians didn't flee their homes. Subsequently, Ben-Gurion ordered
the wholesale expulsion of all civilians (including man women,
children, and old people), in the middle of the hot Mediterranean summer. The orders to ethnically
cleanse both cities were signed by the future Prime Minister of Israel, by Yitzhak Rabin. Many of the
refugees died (400+ according to the Palestinian historian 'Aref al-'Aref) from
thirst, hunger, and heat exhaustion after being stripped of their
valuables on their way out by the Israeli soldiers.
From the quotes below, it shall be conclusively proven that the Palestinian
version of the events (especially in the cases of Lydda
and Ramla) is the true version. It should be noted the Zionist account of this war crime was intentionally suppressed
until Yitzhak Rabin reported it in his biography and in a New York Times
interview (which was censored in Israel at the time), however, it was later confirmed
in the declassified Israeli and Zionist archives.
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Famous Quotes
Yitzhak Rabin wrote in his diary soon after Lydda's and Ramla's
occupation on 10th-11th of July 1948:
Palestinian are being ethnically cleansed out of al-Ramla & al-Lydd in July 1948 by Zionists Jewish forces on direct orders from Ben-Gurion, and executed by Yitzhak Rabin
"After attacking Lydda [later called
Lod] and then Ramla, .... What would
they do with the 50,000 civilians living in the two cities ..... Not even
Ben-Gurion could offer a solution .... and during the discussion at operation headquarters,
he [Ben-Gurion] remained silent, as was his habit in such situations. Clearly,
we could not leave [Lydda's] hostile and
armed populace in our rear, where it could endangered the supply route [to the
troops who were] advancing eastward.
Ben-Gurion would repeat the question: What is to be done with the population?,
waving his hand in a gesture which said: Drive
them out! [garush otam in Hebrew]. 'Driving out' is a term with a harsh ring, .... Psychologically, this was on
of the most difficult actions we undertook". (Soldier
Of Peace, p. 140-1 & Benny
Morris, p. 207) .
Later, Rabin underlined the cruelty of the operation as mirrored in the
reaction of the soldiers, he stated during an interview (which was censored in
Israeli publications) with David Shipler from the New York Times on October 22,
1979:
"Great Suffering was inflicted upon the men taking part in the
eviction action. [They] included youth-movement graduates who had been
inculcated with values such as international brotherhood and humaneness. The
eviction action went beyond the concepts they were used to. There were some
fellows who refused to take part. . . Prolonged propaganda activities were
required after the action . . . to explain why we were obliged to undertake such
a harsh and cruel action." (Simha
Flapan, p. 101)
Nazis vs. Zionists: Two sides of the same coin
PLEASE NOTE how Mr. Rabin documented two significant crimes here. The first one is, of course, against Palestinian civilians. But the other crime was against Israeli Jews who were forced to execute his orders. What was very revealing is how Zionists often "cure" the inconvenient truth with massive doses of brainwashing and gaslighting, which is what Israelis refer to by Hasbarah. Literally, as if Rabin was copying from Joseph Goebbels' propaganda playbook. Birds of a feather flock together!
It should be noted that just before the outbreak of the war in 1948, the residents of the two cities, Lydda
and Ramla, constituted close to 20% of the
total urban population in central Palestine, including Jewish Tel-Aviv.
Currently, these people and their descendants number nearly half a million, and
they
mostly live in deplorable refugee camps around Amman (Jordan) and Ramallah
(West Bank). Based on Rabin's personal account of events, the decision to
ethnically cleanse the two cities
was not an easy one, however, that did not stop him from giving a similar
order, 19 years later, to ethnically cleanse and destroy the villages of 'Imwas,
Yalu, and Bayt Nuba.
The exodus from these cities
was portrayed firsthand by Ismail
Shammout, the renowned Palestinian artist from Lydda, click
here to view his exodus gallery. Similarly, Mr. Youssif Munayyer have a
written on this subject part of the 64 anniversary of Nakba in an OP-ED article
to the NY Time, click here for
details
JTA Sept. 3rd, 1933 Quoting Nahum Sokolow: "Hitlerism enables us to convert all Jews to Zionism."
On July 24, 1948 the Mapai Center held a full-scale debate regarding the
Palestinian Arab question against the background of the ethnic cleansing of
Ramla and Lydda. The majority apparently backed Ben-Gurion's policies of
population transfer or ethnic cleansing. Shlomo Lavi, one of the influential leaders of the Mapai
party, said that:
"the ... transfer of the [Palestinian] Arabs out of the country in
my eyes is one of the most just, moral, and correct that can be done. I have
thought of this for many years." (Expulsion Of The Palestinians, p.
192)
When the First Truce ended, Operation Dani headquarters (near Ramle
and Lydda) informed the Israeli
General Staff on July 10 1948:
"a general and considerable [civilian] flight from Ramle.
There is great value in continuing the bombing." During the afternoon,
the headquarters asked the General Staff for renewed bombing, and informed one
of the brigades: "Flight from the town of Ramle
of women, the old, and children is to be facilitated. The [military age] males
are to be detained." (Benny
Morris, p. 204)
Soon after the Lydda massacre was carried out by the Israeli Army Yiftah
Brigade on
July 10, 1948, Mula Cohen (the brigade's
commander) wrote of his experience when expelling the 50,000-60,000
Palestinians who inhabited Ramle and Lydda:
Palestinian are being ethnically cleansed out of al-Ramla & al-Lydd in July 1948 by Zionists Jewish forces on direct orders from Ben-Gurion, and executed by Yitzhak Rabin
"There is no doubt the Lydda-Ramle
affair and the flight of the inhabitants, the uprising and the expulsion [geirush
in Hebrew] that followed cut deep grooves in all who underwent [these
experiences]." (Benny
Morris, p. 206)
Yitzhak Rabbin, the commander of Operation Dani in Ramle
area, communicated the following explicit orders at 1:30 PM on July 12,
1948 to Yiftah Brigade (see above quote):
"1. The inhabitants of Lydda must be
expelled quickly without attention to age. They should be directed towards Beit
Nabala. Yiftah [Brigade headquarters] must determine the method and inform
[Operation] Dani HQ and the 8th Brigade.
2. Implement immediately." The order was signed "Yitzhak R[abin]."
A similar order, concerning Ramle, was
apparently communicated to Kiryati Brigade headquarters at the same time. (Benny
Morris, p. 207)
On July 16 1948 Aharon Cizling,
the 1st Israeli Agriculture Minister, cautioned the Israeli cabinet (a few weeks after the ethnic cleansing of 60,000 people
from Lydda and Ramla):
June 17, 1967. Note the Israeli officer to the left directing Palestinians out of their village 'Imwas
"We are embarking on a course that will most greatly endanger any hope
of peaceful alliance with forces who could be our allies in the Middle East ....
Hundreds of thousands of [Palestinian] Arabs who will be evicted from Palestine,
even if they are to blame, and left hanging in the midair, will grow to hate us.
If you do things in the heat of the war, in the midst of the battle, it's
one thing. But if after a month, you do it in cold blood, for political reason,
in public, that is something altogether different." (Expulsion Of The Palestinians, p.
191)
And on the same subject, Cizling
also said during a Cabinet meeting:
"I have to say that this phrase [regarding the treatment of Ramla's
inhabitants] is a subtle order to expel the [Palestinian] Arabs from Ramla. If I'd receive such an order this is how
I would interpret it. An order given during the conquest which states that the
door is open and that all [Palestinian] Arabs may leave, regardless of age,
and sex, or they may stay, however, the army will not be responsible for
providing food. When such things are said during actual conquest, at the
moment of conquest, and after all that has already happened in Jaffa
and other places. . . . I would interpret it as a warning: save yourself
while you can get out." (1949,
The First Israelis, p. 27)
Palestinian are being ethnically cleansed out of al-Ramla & al-Lydd in July 1948 by Zionists Jewish forces on direct orders from Ben-Gurion, and executed by Yitzhak Rabin
And also went on to describe his dismay at the looting
of the Palestinian Ramla City (but not at the raping of Palestinian women),
Cizling
stated:
". ..It's been said that . 'there were cases of rape in Ramla.
I can forgive rape, but I will not forgive other acts which seem to me much
worse. When they enter a town and forcibly remove rings from the fingers and
jewelry from someone's neck, that's a very grave matter. ... Many are guilty
of it." (1949,
The First Israelis, p. 71-72)
All the Israelis who witnessed the events agreed that the expulsion of the
inhabitants of Lydda and Ramle,
under the hot July sun, was an extended episode of suffering for the Palestinian
refugees, especially those from Lydda. Some were
stripped by Israeli soldiers of their valuables as they left the town or at
checkpoints along the way. An Israeli archeologist, known by Guttman, subsequently
described the trek of the Palestinian refugees out of Lydda:
"A multitude of inhabitants walked one after another. Women walked
burdened with packages and sacks
on their heads. Mothers dragged children after them . . . Occasionally, warning
shots were heard . . . Occasionally, you encountered a piercing look from one of
the youngsters . . . in the column, and the look said: We
have not yet surrendered. We shall return to fight you." For
Guttman, an Israeli archeologist, the spectacle conjured up "the memory of the
exile of Israel [a the end of the Second Commonwealth, at Roman hands.]" (Benny
Morris, p. 207)
Residence of al-Ramla being ethnically cleansed based on the orders from Rabin; July 1948
A Palmach (the Israeli strike force) report, probably written by Yigal
Allon soon after Operation Dani, stated that the expulsion of the Lydda and
Ramla Palestinian inhabitants, besides
relieving Tel Aviv of a potential, long-term threat, had:
"clogged the routes of the advance of the [Transjordan Arab] Legion and
had foisted upon the Arab economy the problem of "maintaining another
45,000 souls . . . Moreover, the phenomenon of the flight of tens of thousands
will no doubt cause demoralisation in every Arab area [the refugees] reach
. . . This victory will yet have great effect on other sectors." (Benny
Morris, p. 211 & Israel:
A History, p. 218)
And in response to report above, the Israeli MAPAM party co-leader, Meir
Ya'ari, criticized Allon's
use of tens of thousands of Palestinian refugees to achieve a military strategic
goal, he stated:
"Many of us are LOSING their [human] image . . How easily they
speak of how it is possible and permissible to take women, children, and old
men and to fill the road with them because such is the imperative of strategy.
And this we say, the members of Hashomer Hatzair, who remember who used this
means against our people during the Second World] war. . . . I am
appalled." (Benny
Morris, p. 211)
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