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Originally Posted by donsutherland1  There was an ongoing low-level ethnic conflict between the area's Jewish and Arab peoples. I have mentioned this on numerous occasions. More importantly, UNSCOP also recognized this reality. In part, that conflict made partition necessary. |
Ethnic cleansing or 'transfer' is a bit more than low level conflict.
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There was no ethnic cleansing. The term "ethnic cleansing" first gained international usage during the Balkans civil war (Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia) during the early 1990s. Andrew Bell-Fialkoff, formerly a Research Fellow at the Center for the Study of Small States, has extensively studied historic events that might fit the definition of ethnic cleansing. He provided the following definition:
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Ethnic cleansing, the term, is modern parlance. That doesnt mean it cant be used to refer to conflicts predating its invention. I doubt anyone would have a problem with the term being used to describe events in 19th Century Africa.
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At the most general level...ethnic cleansing can be understood as the expulsion of an "undesirable" population from a given territory due to religious or ethnic discrimination, political, strategic or ideological considerations, or a combination of these.
Israel has not engaged in the expulsion of Arabs from its boundaries. It is not engaging in such practices. Most of Israel's non-Jewish population (now 1.5 million) is comprised of Arabs. Israel's Arab population enjoys the rights of Israeli citizens including but not limited to educational opportunities, employment, and political participation.
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Im aware of this mans work. Mr Bell-Fialkoff's definitions are and can be used to describe the events of 1947/48 quite well.