Summary
Israeli writer and Mapai Knesset member whose story Khirbet Khizeh, on the expulsion of a Palestinian village in 1948, is quoted at length in Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace as the sharpest literary protest against the creation of the refugee problem (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.92-96).
Details
- The book introduces the story as “one of the most powerful stories from the time of the War of Independence”, describing “the pangs of conscience of an Israeli soldier who was commanded to carry out an expulsion order” (Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, PDF p.92).
- The authors comment that Yizhar, a member of the Mapai faction in the Knesset, apparently forgot his story, since he did not express opposition to government bills whose practical significance was the denial of civil rights and land ownership to part of Israel’s Arab population and giving legal validity to actions like “Khirbet Khizeh” (PDF p.96).
Related pages
Peace, Peace, When There Is No Peace, Khirbet Khizeh, Dalet Plan