The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

Chapter 9 turns to the ways the Palestinians continued to suffer under occupation once Israel had completed its ethnic cleansing operations. Israel’s offenses included “Inhuman Imprisonment” (the first section of Chapter 9), in which search-and-arrest operations led to the imprisonment of many male villagers. Palestinian men were initially held in pens and later moved to centralized prison camps. During the occupation, Israeli intelligence was careful to capture “returnees” but also “suspicious Arabs.” Roadblocks and new ID card requirements were also introduced. Five new prison camps were built to hold the many Palestinians detained by the Israeli government, the largest in Jalil and Atlit. Pappé describes how prisoners were “hounded” by guards who were often ex-Irgun and Sterm Gang. Even worse were the conditions of the labor camps built in Sarafand, Tel-Litwinski, and Umm Khalid. The Red Cross, though aware of the inhumane conditions at the prison and labor camps, limited their criticism because they did not wish to speak too harshly of the Jewish state so soon after the Holocaust.

The second section, “Abuses Under Occupation,” addresses the human rights violations perpetrated against the Palestinians under occupation, the worst of which occurred at Jaffa. These violations included looting of private homes as well as religious and educational places, beatings, and torture.