Arab Literary Travels

Michael's Project Proposal

My project will cover the forced evacuation of the Palestinians from the town of Lydda by Israel during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. The march, sometimes called the Lydda death march, was made by tens of thousands of Palestinians forced out of their own city by the Zionist forces and is one of the most infamous episodes of the war. 

The 1948 Arab-Israeli War was the very first in what is now a long history of Arab-Israeli wars, and in many ways it is the most significant conflict in the history. It was in 1947 and 1948 that the Palestinian refugee problem was created by Israel's operations to expel Arabs from their homes and prevent their return, and understanding this fact is central to understanding the underlying causes of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The march from Lydda to Jordanian-controlled territory is an important episode because of its sheer scale, involving tens of thousands of people, and its capacity to educate on the brutality of the war. The march is relevant precisely because it actually happened; in a class about Arab literature, certainly non-fictional literature by and about Arabs is important. 

Understanding the history behind the march from Lydda is critical to understanding the nature of the war of 1948. If one understands the story of the march from Lydda, then they will have a good impression on how the war was prosecuted by Israel, and why the Palestinians were so unprepared to defend their cities.

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