A series where I use history to debunk common misconceptions about the Middle East conflict.

In my last history post, I looked at a New York Times article from 1966, which, among other things, mentioned palestinian Arab refugees as having fled (as opposed to the claims of haters that we expelled them). It also mentioned the Jewish claims that they had fled due to orders by their Arab leaders.

Thanks to commenter Curt, I have located a Time Magazine article from May 3rd, 1948 – right during Israel’s War of Independence, and less than 2 weeks before the critical phase of it when five regular Arab armies from neighboring countries launched a simultaneous, coordinated assault on the new state of Israel, with overwhelming land and air superiority.







The article is stunning, not only in its description of the Jewish takeover of Haifa, but what it says about the refugees. It says it in black and white – the Arabs there fled “partly by fear, partly by orders of the Arab leaders.” A confirmation of the Jewish narrative, at least when it came to the Arabs of Haifa. Note also the description of a Jewish army celebrating Passover in the fields for the first time in 1800 years.

Note: I cannot provide a link to the full article since it is only available to those who have purchased a Time Magazine subscription. But I have provided screenshots below. As usual, click on the screenshots to enlarge.