What Happened?

24 December 1947: A local Palestinian, Atiya ‘Adel, was murdered by the Haganah. His death precipitated the evacuation of Arabs in the Romema neighbourhood to clear it for Zionist settlers. The village was subject to raids by Zionist paramilitaries (Haganah, Irgun, Lehi).

In addition to Romema, the villages of Lifta and Sheikh Badr were ethnically cleansed because of their proximity to the entrance of the city, as well as being on the main road to Tel Aviv.

Night raids and psychological warfare (telephone calls and threatening letters) were used to threaten the villagers into leaving – a practice continued to this day. Israel later passed its ‘Absentee Property Law’ to own the abandoned Palestinian homes and lands.

The complete casualty reports are still hidden behind IDF military clearance, and it is unknown when these documents will be available to the public.

References

Morris, Benny. “The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited”, Cambridge University Press, 2003.

Pictorial and Evidence

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