The War of Independence/Al-Nakba

The War of Independence/Al-Nakba

Guiding Questions for Documents

Document A: Dual Narratives on the 1948 War

1.  Give two specific examples of places in which the two narratives are very different.

2.  How could the same series of events be called both a “War for Independence” and a “Catastrophe?”

Document B: The Deir Yassin Massacre

1.  What effects did massacres like this one have on the Palestinian population?

2.  What effects did massacres like this one have on the success of the establishment of the state of Israel?

Document C: Israeli Declaration of Independence

1.  How do the authors of this document justify the establishment of a Jewish state? Find as many reasons as you can.

2.  How are Arabs portrayed in this document? Focus on the second-to-last paragraph.

3.  How does the Israeli state portray itself to the rest of the Jewish world? Make sure to use evidence from the document to back up your argument.

Document D: Palestinian Refugees

1.  Based on both the narratives and pictures, compare/contrast the land Palestinians lived on before 1948 to the land they moved to as refugees.

2.  Study the number of dots on the first map (representing Palestinian villages that were depopoulated) and number of arrows on the second map (representing movement of Palestinian refugees). What effects could all of this movement have on the Palestinian people?