In 1994, the Israeli Gaza Strip barrier and, in 2001, the Israeli West Bank barrier were erected to try and divide Israeli and Arab settlements. Israel believes that this wall keeps its civilians safe from terrorism, whilst Palestine believes it to be an attempt to restrict Palestinian refugees’ access and liberty.
Sources A and B both give different accounts of the Arab exodus from their homes. Both sources are secondary and show some bias towards their enemies. Source A is from an Arab perspective and says that they believe that the Deir Yassin massacre caused the evacuation of the homes. Source B is from an Israeli point of view and states the order to leave their homes was given by Arab leaders to make way for the army. The sources are useful as they show what each party wanted the public to think. Emotive language is used in both sources to try and gain sympathy from the reader with source A saying that the civilians were killed in “cold blood” and source B saying that the Arab perspective is “historically incorrect”
As both sources are biased against each other, and they do not agree with one another, these sources are not reliable and so cannot be used to make a conclusion on the cause of the refugee problems.
Source C is an article by an Irish journalist written in 1961 about whether, as source B claims, the Arabs were ordered to leave their homes. The journalist, Erskine Childers, says that all radio broadcasts were recorded in 1948 and so checks the BBC and US radio monitors to see if such an appeal was made. Mr Childers reports that no orders were given to the Arabs to evacuate, however multiple orders were given to the citizens asking them to “stay put”.
This source is unlikely to be biased as it was not written by one of the parties involved, but a journalist. The source is also most likely reliable as Childers has not reported solely on opinion but has used evidence, in the form of recorded broadcasts, to check what people have said. The source is useful as it discounts a previous source, which was known to be probably biased.
Source D is an extract from some Palestinian refugees about the United Nation’s work. The refugee states that, although the UN made houses and compensation available for the Palestinians in the countries where they had fled, they refused them as they only wanted to go back to their homeland.
This is probably a primary source, though we have no proof as a date is not given. It is likely to be biased towards the Arab point of view, though it does stay relatively neutral by admitting the UN tried to help them. This would make it quite reliable. The source has use as it allows historians to see another view of why the Palestinians stayed as refugees. This reason is that the majority of them refused to go into houses provided for them, thereby making them refugees by their own choice. The source was created from an interview with refugees so it is unlikely to have a hidden agenda, though it may do as the comments are made by Palestinians.
Source E is a primary source and is a record of a speech given to the UN by the Israeli ambassador, Abba Eban, in 1958. Mr Eban says that the Arabs are only refugees because other Arab countries had had an economy boom and did not want to share their wealth with the refugees. He finishes by saying that although there is room in the Arab world for the refugees no one wants them, not because there is not room.
This source is biased from an Israeli point of view as it is a primary source, meaning that the situation has only just begun. Therefore, it is not extremely reliable, though it should have a degree of reliability as the speech is being given to the United Nations. This source is useful as it tells us of the economic boom in Middle East and gives another perspective of who could be to blame for the refugee crisis – other Arab countries. The source was created for a speech but as it was given to the UN, it is likely that there could be a hidden agenda in the speech to try and gain support from other countries.
Source F is two photos showing the same two women, holding the same two signs in 1973 and 1993. One woman is holding a sign saying that although she was born in Jerusalem and Palestine is her homeland, she cannot return there. The other woman’s sign is saying that she is an American Jew and was born in the USA, however Israel is not her homeland yet she can live there.
This source should not have a great bias as both the women, from each side of the conflict, are agreeing with each other. It is useful as it shows people that the crisis is still continuing 20 years after the original photograph. The sign the American Jew says that she can “return” to Jerusalem, the use of the word “return” in inverted commas, implies that a lot of Jews believe that they have taken their homeland, and what is rightfully theirs, even though they had never lived there.
Source G is a BBC documentary presented by Nick Ross, recorded in 1991, as part of a documentary series. Although the source is secondary, it uses primary information to give its case. The series uses analysis from two citizens of Israel and Palestine. The Israeli citizen, Dr Yuli Tamir, claims that the Arabs left due to their own propaganda and then stayed in the camps as a “weapon against Israel”. However, the Palestinian citizen, Dr Hannan Shashmari, claims that the Arabs were expelled from their homes. At the end of the documentary, the two citizens sum up what they believe will happen in the future. The Israeli claims that whilst Palestinians have “legitimate rights” Israel cannot withdraw else the state would no longer exist. The Palestinian however believes that eventually Palestinians will get a homeland, the only question is whether they will gain it by “conflict or by peace”.
This source is reliable as it is made by the impartial BBC, but it does show the biased views of the citizens. The purpose of the source was to educate people about the history of the ongoing conflict. This source is useful as it shows both sides of the crisis talking about the same thing and so people can compare the different views. The documentary however does have a limit – that the impartiality means that no firm conclusion is given on who started the refugee problem.
In conclusion, although a variety of sources have been presented for evaluation, it is hard to make a clear decision on who is to blame for the crisis. The only sources that can be considered are sources C and G, as biased sources cannot be used in making a fair judgement. However, the fact that source G does not reach a conclusion means it cannot be used. Therefore, only source C can be used to answer the question. This means a firm conclusion cannot be made as information from more than one source is needed. Although the Jews could be blamed, as they forced the Arabs out of their homeland, so too could the Palestinians who refused to settle in other lands or other Arab countries who may have refused them houses. Another problem on deciding who to blame for the crisis is the amount of bias in the sources. As the conflict has been going on for so long, the majority of the sources cannot be fully believed as the writers will have had interest and feelings about the conflict.
As the crisis continues even to this day, it is likely that a mixture of causes (both long and short term) made the Palestinians evacuate their homeland, and so no one factor can be completely blamed for it.
