Seminar Paper1

Arabic-Jewish Holocaust

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"We live in times in which historians, in part at least, do not think that in a specific location

there was one single truth, which someone could reveal and establish its singularity. . . ''. This

revelation brings to what transpired among the Tantoura people of Palestine during the 1948

massacre that led to the death of a once existing Palestine nation and birth to a Jewish State

(Israel). The Tantoura people were brutally killed, and the survivors were forced to flee to other

Arabic countries following an invasion of their land by Israel army. Word on the massacre has

been overshadowed for many years as Israel extended fights to Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, and Syria.

After the fall of Palestine, the issue on the holocaust was revived by Theodore Katz of Hausa

University who is currently facing condemnation by the Israeli nation in an Israel Court for

painting red on their nation. However, it is unfortunate that the case was never given the final

verdict. The reason being that the evidence put across by Katz after interrogating the remnants of

Tantoura village are not substantial since they were not documented, and the witnesses of the

massacre were old and thus did not have an acute memory of the massacre. Hence, the witnesses

were confused or did not witness the massacre while others had a "political" grudge with Israel.

These fallacies have been used to defend Israel as the purported murderers leaving questions. If

Israel was never involved, how did Tantoura people become refugees in a foreign land? Why did

Palestine fall? and ultimately How was Israel born? Consequently, this notion calls for a further

research and a prevailing justice to the Tantoura survivors once the truth is revealed.

Introduction

The Palestinians refugees yearn for the restoration of their dignity and freedom while

Israel yearns for a long-term security after what Palestinians fled from Tantoura village during

the 1948 massacre. None of them can achieve their demands unless the conflict is resolved

following that Israel will never admit being involved in the massacre. We are in a critical

position making an effort to not only manage the crisis but also make a genuine conflict

resolution between the two parties who are still in war as each holds to their claims. In 2017,

Israel celebrates 79 years which gives a reflection of what happened in the past; a memory to the

Tantoura people who are refugees in a foreign land and who have no peace because of Israel's

nature of court rulings based on evidence. Conversely, Israel is perceived to be technologically

superior, partake their memories on the ‘War of Independence' which was a vehicle to their

births. Amidst denial on the killings of the Tantoura, it is now the time the world knew the truth

by exploring the entire turnout of events before and after the 1948 massacre as well as the nature

of Israel law. This paper is divided into two chapters; Chapter one encompassing the clashes

between Israel and Palestine before, during and after 1948 while the Israelite law over the

presentation of court evidence will be discussed in chapter two. Additionally, Chapter 1 entails

the history of the Palestine, the birth of Israel and then the 1948 Holocaust. Chapter 2 resonates

around Israel's constitution; Act 36 Evidence Ordinance law on testimonial evidence in court

rulings which resulted in the dismissal of the case.

Chapter 1

The Palestine.

Palestine is a geographical region found in the Middle East and claims the West Bank area of

River Jordan and the Gaza Strip along the coast of Mediterranean Sea. The region is bounded to

the East by River Jordan, to the west by the Mediterranean Sea and on the south by the Negev.

It's designated capital city is East Jerusalem while the region is currently under control by Israel.

Besides, one could use the terms ‘Holy Land', the ‘Land of Israel' or ‘Zion' to refer to it since it is

the homeland for many Jews, Christians, and Muslims which are diverse religions. ‘Palestine' is

a derived word from the Greek name ‘Philistia' who had occupied the modern day Tel Aviv-

Yafo and Gaza regions during the 12th century BCE. The name would later be revived by

Romans during the 2nd century CE as ‘Syria Palestina' before eventually adopting the name

‘Palestine.'

The birth of a Jewish State

Palestine is one of the earliest places in the world to be inhabited by mankind who were

civilized and dwelled mainly on agricultural activities. Both its geographic area and its political

status had changed over the millennia since the beginning of the 20th century and especially after

the World War I when a Jewish state was born. Events began with the conquest of Israel during

the first century by Romans. The Jews who lived in the land were persecuted and dispersed to

other parts of the world and especially to Europe where they lived. During Adolf Hitler's Nazism

regime in Germany, a lot of Jews living in Germany were persecuted in what seemed like a

bloody massacre in the aftermath of World War II. Propelled by some intellectuals such as

Moses Hess and Leo Pinsker, the survivors of the Nazi holocaust formed the First World Zionist

Congress movement who main ideology was creating a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Hess and

Pinsker had been inspired by the reunification of Italy in 1857, and from this, he believed that

once the Jews were nationalized, this would resolve their problems of social, political and

economic exclusions in a non-Semitic land which they always faced and even avoid another

indefinite persecution. Therefore, Zionism was an ideology which would see them secure a home

away from persecutions, pogroms, and being culturally isolated in a world of diverse non-

Semitic communities and Gentiles at large.

Once United Nations had been founded on 24 October 1945, Zionists took to present

their case to the world leaders and recruit support from them. We could assume that it was out of

pity for the Jews that Lord Balfour who was by then the British Foreign Secretary issued the

Balfour Declaration in 1917 to the Zionists without consulting the inhabitants; a venture that

would vastly influence and shape the Middle East and the future of Jews

. The Balfour

Declaration was given to Lord Rothschild who was in charge of the settlement of Zionists in

Palestine. In the declaration, a national home in Palestine would be created for the Jewish people

on condition that the Jews upheld the civil and religious rights of the indigenous Palestinian

Arabs and lastly, British form Great Britain and Northern Ireland had been entrusted by the

League of Nations to be in charge of the issue. The first attempt was to capture Jerusalem in

1922 whereby the British remained in control till 1948.

Thousands of Jews began arriving in Palestine which drew up a revolt by the indigenous

people in 1936-1939. They revolted against both the British colonial rule and immigration into

their land by enforcing a national strike and refusing to pay tax. In 1937 the United Nations came

Arabs Babak Mayamey, Zionism: A Critical Account 1897-1948.

"The Development of Israel and the

Exodus of Palestine from a New Historian" Perspective.

up with the Peel Commission to oversee the settlement in which they gave a report outlining the

impossibility of Arabs and Jews living together. Therefore, UN came up with a Partition Plan

under Resolution 181(II) for the Palestine land whereby the West Bank of Jordan River would

serve as the Arab State while the Jewish people would reside on the Gaza Strip. Secondly,

Palestine was to be divided into eight parts; three parts allotted to the Arab State, three to the

Jewish state, Jaffa town forming an Arabic enclave and an international Jerusalem regime. The

eight regions being administered by United Nations Trusteeship Council.

Each State was to be declared independent once it created its constitution. More so, each

state was required to follow the guarantees declared by UN and maintain a collaborative

environment between the states or sign certain treaties on the creation of the Economic Union of

Palestine. The commission also recommended for a voluntary transfer of Arabs living in the

Gaza region to their land, but this was never to happen as the Jews were difficult and are still

even in the acceptance of participating in the massacre.

Attempts by Arabs to stop partitioning to defend their land proved futile since the Jews

went against the Partition Plan and took West Bank which was two-thirds of the land meant to

belong to Palestinians. On 14 May 1948, the Jews full of ego due to UN's support declared their

independence as the State of Israel, which thus ruptured Palestinians collective life as over

750,000 Palestinians were displaced, several killed, and property destroyed.

1948 Holocaust (Al Nakba)

On 14 May 1948, hostility broke up between the Arabs and the Jews after Israel had

declared its independence. On the following day, the arrival of regular troops from the

neighboring Arabic states who had come to rescue Palestine transpired. It is unfortunate for the

Arabs who lacked a political cohesion and any genuine leadership organization in contrast to

Jews who were well equipped and had garnered support from the British. Probably, this

disorganized structure could explain why UN opted for Palestine and not any other Arabic state

for the settlement of displaced people since Palestine could not defend them. During this time of

hostility towards each other, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)

initialized a truce whereby the two communities were placed under keen watching by

international military observers.

Despite the efforts by UN to mediate, no agreements could be reached, and a fight finally

broke out on 8th July 1948. Jewish forces deployed a Plan Delat military strategy to destruct

Arab villages in the regions that UN had awarded as Israel State while in return, Arabs deployed

guerrillas warfare. One may tend to think that Palestine was never pre-prepared for the war, but

several war signs including a forceful declaration of independence were enough to notify

Palestine that all was not well. Before the war, volunteers from the Arabic States such as Syria,

Lebanon, Iraq, and Yugoslavia had arrived and settled in Damascus before the end of December

in 1947. General Taha Hashimi, a former prime minister of Iraq, was appointed as the Inspector

General of the military committee where he was in charge of the Arabic military organization,

recruitment, and mobilization of noble fighters. A military training center had been established

near Damascus in wait for the war. However, in a report written to the Chairman of the Palestine

Committee, Jews were in possessions of modern rifles, machine guns, mortars, armored cars,

aircraft, and tanks among other inexhaustible ammunition supplies from Britain or American. On

the contrary, the Palestine possessed little ammunition which was unfit for the modern warfare

with neither armored vehicles nor tanks

Consequently, this weakness is another reason why it was easy to destroy Palestine.

Hundreds of Palestinians villages and homes were destroyed in the Holocaust, and more refugees

from Arabian countries went on immigrating to Palestine. Most refugees fled to West Bank,

Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and even further. Over 5000 lives were lost, villages were looted without

the exception of Tantoura, and all the others were captured including the Palestinians.

What followed was a transfer of Palestinian government from Gaza Strip to Cairo but later

dissolved by the Egyptian president Nasser in 1959. Gaza then fell under the administration of

Egyptian military. Afterwards, the Palestinian national movement regrouped in their refugee

camps to form Palestine Liberation Movement (PLO). In June 1967, Israel began the Six Day

War whereby they seized East Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza and began establishing the

Israelites in these territories despite UN calling it illegal. Hence, the war further displaced over

750,000 Palestine refugees for the second time.

Conclusively, the struggles between Palestine Arabs and Jews account for the

displacement of Jews from Israel by the Romans in the first century. This skirmishes later came

in the early 1900s whereby if reviewed, two nations suffered the torture of being dispersed from

their homelands. These are the Jews who were first dispersed followed by the Palestinians whom

Jews came to disperse. However, even though it appears to be a tit for tat game, we blame it on

United Nations who never reconsidered the indigenous Palestine who was never involved in the

Walid Khalidi, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 27, No. 3 (Spring, 1998),65-67

making of the Zionist plans. Secondly, Jews never followed the Partition plan order as it utilized

the opportunity for own selfish gains. This evidence supports the hypothesis that Israel murdered

Palestine when it deployed the plan Delat military strategy which dispersed Palestine off their

villages. For Palestinians, since Israel has failed to acknowledge the 1948 massacre, the hostility

is still underpinned which has led to the ongoing tit- for- tat battles. 1948 is the point of reference

for other hostile events that are in the past and will be in the future since Israel judicial system

dismissed the case on evidence claims which could probably lead to the conflict resolution.

Chapter 2

Israelite Judicial System

After the declaration of Israel's independence on May 14, 1948, the nation had no formal

written constitution but just a draft. This aspect resulted after most Israelite groups could not

agree on the purpose of the state and its long term vision since it still had skirmishes over what

Palestine claimed as their region. In 1958, it enacted several basic laws of Israel which dealt with

government arrangements and human rights. Unfortunately, these laws were biased with a deep

reveal of discrimination against Palestinians. In a statement issued by a former Supreme Court

President, Aaron Barak, "Israel is different from other countries. It is not only democratic but

also a Jewish State”

This sentiment exposes the hatred and racism towards non-Jewish citizens and likely directed

towards Palestinians and enough proof that the libel case was dismissed on basis of racist laws.

Memory Evidence Theory in the Judicial System

". Ben White, "In Israel, Racism is the law,"www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/02/israel-racism-

law-160224111623370.html (February 25, 2016).

One of these laws is the Article 36 Ordinance Evidence of 1971 which addresses the

Admissibility of an Institutional Record basing on oral evidence and the competency of

witnesses. The form of oral evidence as recovered memory evidence intertwines with Israel's

accusation of the 1948 Palestine Holocaust. The evidence of the massacre presented by the

survivors of Tantoura village was dismissed on the grounds of being ‘political,' having not been

recorded since the testimonies were orally presented, the witnesses were old and thus had no

clear memory of the massacre. The issue on the capability of witnesses to accurately recollect the

order of events has largely been discussed for many years. It is debated that there is a likelihood

of memory failure when memory serves as court evidence among other limitations.

Firstly, what is encoded by the memory is determined by what a person attends to, have

stored in the memory, their expectations and the state of their emotions. When this information is

decoded, there is a likelihood of having been influenced by the factors mentioned above. This

notion explains why evidence presented through a recollection of a certain memory can be biased

and therefore, Katz evidence through oral history could have been triggered to give false

evidence. Secondly, with memory evidence, there is a likelihood of omission of relevant and

original information and a creation of illusions. These memory illusions will emerge

spontaneously after being triggered by unnecessary thoughts, things, trauma or people.

Eventually, the court evidence will end up being distorted.

The third reason is based on a report presented by the British Psychological Society on

the human memory. According to the report, memories of experienced events will always be

incomplete because they are time-compressed

. Any memory account will always have gaps or

forgotten details which are an indicator of memory inaccuracy. In addition, the memory content

will arise from a comprehension of either a conscious or unconscious mind and this content can

be altered in a recall. An advantage of memory based evidence is that it is applicable in

incidences where written or material evidence can never be traced from the history. After the

massacre, Israel conquered all the territories and established the Jews in the land. All the

evidence of the attack was destroyed making it impossible to trace future evidence.

However, the shortcomings of memory based evidence can be addressed by the

presentation of written court documents as evidence except for a place where witnesses cannot

read or write. For Palestine's case, Katz used orally recorded evidence because the Tantoura

witnesses could only speak Arabic which could never be heard in a Jewish ruling court but the

case was still dismissed due to Jewish hatred for the Arabs which runs up-to date. Secondly, in

the replacement of recollected memory with written documents, the Jews destroyed all

Palestinian archives and had restricted access to the existing ones

. It also prompted the closure

of several Palestinian universities in the region which could be the source of the evidence. With

the absence of Palestinian documentary records, oral history and interviews remain as the only

source of the evidence for the 1948 massacre but which has been forged by Israel court to hold

on its denial of ever participating in the massacre.

Prof. M. Goldsmith, "Sexual Assault Trials Handbook: Guidelines on Memory and the Law".(6 Feb 2006)

https://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/publications/benchbks/sexual_assult/British-

guidelines_on_memory_and_the_law.html

Samera Esmeir "History, Memory and Law", 35.s

In conclusion, the issue of forging laws to hinder prevail of justice to other nations is a

point of questioning on the legal, judicial systems. While the world will always seek for peace

around the world, it seems that other countries such as Israel are not contented considering the

dismissal of evidence related to the crime they committed and making everyone believe the

reasons behind the dismissal. Until Israel can change the racism mentality on Palestine, peace

between the Jews and Arabs will never be known as acceptance of crime is the stepping stone to

the healing of nations. However, Israel has proved difficult to acknowledge their crime, but at

least it is known how the state was founded, how and why Palestine fell and this is why the

Supreme Court has to forge the Article 36 of the Evidence Ordinance (1971) to dismiss the case.

Bibliography

Babak Mayamey, Zionism: A Critical Account 1897-1948. The Development of Israel and the

Exodus of Palestine from A "New Historian" Perspective. (POLIS Journal Vol.4, winter

2010), 5

Ben White, "In Israel, Racism is the law,"www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/02/israel-

racism-law-160224111623370.html (February 25, 2016).

Prof. M. Goldsmith, “Sexual Assault Trials Handbook: Guidelines on Memory and the Law". (6

Feb 2006) https://www.judcom.nsw.gov.au/publications/benchbks/sexual_assult/British-

guidelines_on_memory_and_the_law.html

Samera Esmeir "History, Memory and Law", 35.s

Walid Khalidi, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 27, No. 3 (spring, 1998), 65-67

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