1948 Arab Refugees

Mahmud al-Habbash, a regular writer in the official Palestinian authorities newspaper, al-Hayat al-jadida, indicated in his column: “the pulse of life” that the Arabs left Israel in 1948 only after political Arab leaders persuaded them to do so, by promising the Arabs a speedy return to their homes in Palestine:

“…the leaders and the elites promised us at the beginning of the ‘catastrophe’ (e.g. Nagba) [the establishment of Israel and the creation of refugee problem] in 1948, that the duration of exile will not be long, and that it will not last more than a few days or months, and afterwards the refugees will return to their homes which most of them did not leave until they put their trust in those ‘arkuvian’ promises made by the leaders and the political elites. Afterwards, days passed, months, years and decades, and the promises were lost with the strain of succession of events… [Term “arkuvian,” is after arkuv – a figure from Arab tradition – who was known for breaking his promises and for his lies.]”

Source: Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, December 13, 2006