Israel’s Ben-Gurion Ordered ‘Pestering’ of Palestinians to Force them to Move Eastward

Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.
Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.
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Israel’s Ben-Gurion Ordered ‘Pestering’ of Palestinians to Force them to Move Eastward

Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.
Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion.

The Institute for Palestinian Israeli Conflict Research (Akevot) published new pages from the diaries of Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, dating between 1948 and 1953.

Ben-Gurion’s journals expose many secrets, such as having Mizrahi Jews surveilled, trying to get Palestinian refugees to leave and detailing rapes committed by soldiers.

In one entry, Ben-Gurion explained how he gave orders to army forces to pester Palestinian refugees to force them to move eastward so that they would not return to their homes and territories in the area that Israel occupied in 1948.

In some cases, refugees from al-Ramla and Lod cities fled to Gaza through Ramallah because they thought it will be easier for them to return to their homes from there, Ben-Gurion wrote.

To avoid their return, the government ensured they were given a hard time to move east (to Jordan) because they will not head to the sea and Egypt will not receive them, he added.

On September 26, 1948, Ben-Gurion wondered who would prevent refugee attempts to return to their homes and cities that had come under Israeli occupation. Yosef Weitz, director of the Land and Afforestation Department of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), suggested the first Director of the Mossad, Reuven Shiloah, with the help of Weitz’s Transfer Committee.

The committee was founded during the Palestine War in 1948 in order to implement the Israeli government’s policies related to Arab refugees, especially means of encouraging them to leave the country.

On April 2, 1950, Ben-Gurion wrote that the situation in the Negev desert was “not good.”

He wrote details about the Israeli soldiers’ killing and raping of Arab women, and the Egyptian army’s response.

“They once again arrested our soldiers, who killed and raped two Arab girls. In response, the Egyptians planted a landmine, ambushed and killed five people: three soldiers and two civilians.”

Akevot said parts of the revealed entries were previously redacted and have now been released for public access. The newly unredacted segments were uploaded at its request.

It explained that the former PM wrote a detailed diary until he died, a practice he said he picked up at age 14.

“His diaries have been preserved and are now accessible to the public at the Ben-Gurion Archive. Still, many decades after they were written, numerous segments remain redacted and classified.”

The Institute stressed it will continue to fight for the release of archival materials that have been restricted for public access for no genuine reason, in keeping with the Archive Law and Access Regulations.



Arab League Urges UN Security Council to Stop Israeli Assault against Palestinian People

A man prepares meals to be distributed to displaced Palestinians in front of a leveled building in Gaza City on November 2, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A man prepares meals to be distributed to displaced Palestinians in front of a leveled building in Gaza City on November 2, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Arab League Urges UN Security Council to Stop Israeli Assault against Palestinian People

A man prepares meals to be distributed to displaced Palestinians in front of a leveled building in Gaza City on November 2, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A man prepares meals to be distributed to displaced Palestinians in front of a leveled building in Gaza City on November 2, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

The Arab League urged on Saturday the UN Security Council and the international community to assume their responsibilities and exert pressure on Israel to stop its assaut against the Palestinian people and to ensure that it provides all humanitarian assistance needed by the people in Gaza Strip.

In a statement marking the 107th anniversary of the Balfour Declaration, the Arab League urged Britain and all the other countries that did not recognize the Palestinian state to take this step in support of peace in line with the two-state solution.

It emphasized that the only way to achieve just, comprehensive and lasting peace is to end the Israeli occupation of all Palestinian and Arab territories occupied since 1967, and to establish an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital according to international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.

"The Balfour Declaration continues to be a profound wound in the human conscience due to the Nakba that the Palestinian people have experienced and the ongoing deprivation of their legitimate and inalienable rights to freedom and independence. This refers to the Israeli occupation's violations and practices, settlement and Judaization, annexation and siege, the destruction of the Palestinian people's livelihoods, and the desecration of their religious shrines," the Arab League statement said.

It stressed that Israel's continued crimes and violations are a reflection of the international community's inability to fulfil its obligations and assume its responsibilities in resisting aggression and occupation, protecting the Palestinian people.

It must ask Israel to comply with the principles of international law and relevant resolutions in a manner that ends the occupation and allows the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination in an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Arab League stressed that Israel continues to insist on expanding the area of its hostilities to include Lebanon and the occupied Syrian Golan Heights despite the imminent danger of a regional war.

Moreover, the Israeli Knesset's decision to ban UNRWA's work in the occupied Palestinian territories is an additional flagrant violation of the UN Charter, of the international will, and of all human values.

The aim of this step is to destroy generations of Palestinians for whom the UN agency represents a lifeline in catastrophic humanitarian conditions. It is imperative that Israel stop these crimes and protect the agency's work in accordance with its UN mandate.