It’s also important to highlight that Palestinian Arabs weren’t passive bystanders in 1948. They actively fought against Palestinian Jews, both before and during the war. The Arab Liberation Army and local militias coordinated attacks on Jewish towns and settlements. Even before the war officially began, there was a civil conflict starting in November 1947. Palestinian Arab fighters imposed brutal sieges on Jewish cities, such as Jerusalem, cutting off food and supplies. Groups like the “Army of the Holy War” led heavy assaults and controlled critical routes, including the main road between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
But Arab hostility didn’t start 1947. Violence against Jews in Palestine has a long and bloody history. The infamous chant “Itbah Al Yahoo” (“Slaughter the Jews”) predates the establishment of Israel by centuries. Let’s not forget the 1517 massacres by the Ottoman Empire or the 1834 Safed pogrom, where hundreds of Jews were raped and murdered. The 20th century saw a string of atrocities, from the 1920 Nebi Musa riots to the 1929 Hebron massacre and the anti-Jewish violence of the 1936-1939 Arab Revolt.
O. Isaac, The Palestinian Lie: Shattering the Myths, pg.56
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