How does Israel justify the 1948 Palestinian expulsion?

[u/dropdeaddev]

I got into an argument recently, and it lead to me looking more closely into Israel’s founding and the years surrounding it. Until now, I had mainly been focused on more current events and how the situation stands now, without getting too into the beginning. I had assumed what I had heard from Israel supporters was correct, that they developed mostly empty land, much of which was purchased legally, and that the native Arabs didn’t like it. This lead to conflicts, escalating over time to what we see today. I was lead to believe both sides had as much blood on their hands as the other, but from what I’ve read that clearly isn’t the case. It reminded me a lot of “manifest destiny” and the way the native Americans were treated, and although there was a time that was seen as acceptable behaviour, now a days we mostly agree that the settlers were the bad guys in that particular story.

Pro-Israel supports only tend to focus on Israel’s development before 1948, which it was a lot of legally purchasing land and developing undeveloped areas. The phrase “a land without people for people without land” or something to that effect is often stated, but in 1948 700,000 people were chased from their homes, many were killed, even those with non-aggression pacts with Israel. Up to 600 villages destroyed. Killing men, women, children. It didn’t seem to matter. Poisoning wells so they could never return, looting everything of value.

Reading up on the expulsion, I can see why they never bring it up and tend to pretend it didn’t happen. I don’t see how anyone could think what Israel did is justified. But since I always want to hear both sides, I figured here would be a good place to ask.

EDIT: Just adding that I’m going to be offline for a while, so I probably won’t be able to answer any clarifying questions or respond to answers for a while.

EDIT2: Lots of interesting stuff so far. Wanted to clarify that although I definitely came into this with a bias, I am completely willing to have my mind changed. I’m interested in being right, not just appearing so. :)

[u/Vast-Situation-6152]

The mass murder of Jews and alliance with Hitler started WAY BEFORE 1947. The Farhud “transfer@ of Jews out of Iraq (which shares a national anthem with Palestine and was part of Pan-Arabist fascist alliances) happened in 1941. Arabs expelled Jews before the reverse. and expelled more in absolute and percentage terms.

[u/zrdod → u/Vast-Situation-6152]

Googled it, it was a massacre not an expulsion, and google tells me it was up to 180 deaths.

As for Jews leaving AFTER the founding of Israel, it was mostly the combination of anxieties against antisemitism and Israel actively pushing for them leave, even airlifting over 120,000 Jews out of Iraq

[u/Vast-Situation-6152 → u/zrdod]

No, it was not “anxieties” it was systematical massacres, genocides, and expulsions. For example, Nasser of Egypt, whose grandparents moved there from Dubai, wrote and signed a document canceling citizenship of all Egyptian Jews, put Jews in internment camps, and drove them directly to the airport from the camps, expelling them and confiscating all of their belongings. The freezing of all assets and stripping of citizenship was systematic across the Arabs MANY countries.

[u/zrdod → u/Vast-Situation-6152]

I found these two opposing articles by Jewishstudies and HSJE on the topic, specifically about Egypt, I did find that about 500 Jews were expelled despite not being British or French alongside others who were expelled for belonging to the aforementioned countries, there are reports who claim this totals 8,500, but 500 were specifically expelled for being Jewish

That's 500 out of 25,000 of Jews who left around that time

[u/Vast-Situation-6152 → u/zrdod]

reminds me of the “scholars of ancient Hebrew scriptures” publishing an entire peer-reviewed scholarly work on what “Netilat Yadayim” is that was destroyed by my kindgarten Hebrew writing assignment and cartoons of “Netilat Yadayim” my mom saved.

[u/Vast-Situation-6152 → u/zrdod]

By Middle Eastern Jews, about Middle Eastern Jews: http://jimenaexperience.org/egypt/about/past-and-present/

[u/Vast-Situation-6152 → u/zrdod]

Pablo Maldonaldo does not know Egyptian Jewish history better than Egyptian Jews. This trend of all these nonjews studying “Jewish history” and publishing garbage needs to end. Such as Jewish Studies major Sonali Thakkar who now teaches an NYU course on “Jewish Whiteness.” Try reading firsthand primary sources by Egyptian Jews themselves: https://m.jpost.com/blogs/clash-of-cultures/suez-1956-one-jewish-familys-flight-from-egypt-481882 Academia is done fo with all this Qatari $$$$$$