Genocide, Variations on a Theme #I

Part Fourteen, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine #6

Genocide, Variations on a Theme #I

Part Fourteen, The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine #6

On the 24th of May Ben-Gurion noted in his diary: “We will establish a Christian state in Lebanon, the southern border of which will be the Litani River. We will break Transjordan, bomb Amman and destroy its army, and then Syria falls, and if Egypt will still continue to fight — we will bombard Port Said, Alexandria and Cairo.”

Of course, a few people in the UN did in fact have a backbone and at least a few moral principles. One of them was Folke Bernadotte, Count of Wisborg, who had succeeded in rescuing 1,615 Jews, at considerable danger to himself, from German concentration camps during the war.

UN Resolution 186 of May 1948 appointed Bernadotte to mediate. His first proposal, in June, which advocated “a union, comprising two members, one Arab and one Jewish”, an economic union, boundaries by negotiation, full protection of religious sites and minorities and a return of refugees, was met by an intensification of ethnic cleansing by the Zionists.

Given the reality on the ground he modified his plan and, in September, advocated measures to restore peace, the acknowledgement of Israel, agreement on boundaries, the right of return and a special status for Jerusalem.

He said: “It is ... undeniable that no settlement can be just and complete if recognition is not accorded to the right of the Arab refugee to return to the home from which he has been dislodged by the hazards and strategy of the armed conflict between Arabs and Jews in Palestine. The majority of these refugees have come from territory which ... was to be included in the Jewish State. The exodus of Palestinian Arabs resulted from panic created by fighting in their communities, by rumors concerning real or alleged acts of terrorism, or expulsion. It would be an offence against the principles of elemental justice if these innocent victims of the conflict were denied the right to return to their homes while Jewish immigrants flow into Palestine, and, indeed, at least offer the threat of permanent replacement of the Arab refugees who have been rooted in the land for centuries.”

The Zionist response was prompt: Bernadotte was murdered on Friday the 17th of September 1948.

General Åge Lundström stated: “In the Katamon quarter, we were held up by a Jewish Army type jeep placed in a road block and filled with men in Jewish Army uniforms. At the same moment, I saw an armed man coming from this jeep. I took little notice of this because I merely thought it was another checkpoint. However, he put a Tommy gun through the open window on my side of the car and fired point blank at Count Bernadotte and Colonel Serot. I also heard shots fired from other points, and there was considerable confusion ... Colonel Serot fell in the seat behind me, and I saw at once that he was dead. Count Bernadotte bent forward, and I thought at the time he was trying to get cover. I asked him: ‘Are you wounded?’ He nodded, and fell back ... When we arrived [at the Hadassah hospital] ... I carried the Count inside and laid him on the bed ... I took off the Count’s jacket and tore away his shirt and vest. I saw that he was wounded around the heart and that there was also a considerable quantity of blood on his clothes about it. When the doctor arrived, I asked if anything could be done, but he replied it was too late.”

Resolution 194 of December 1948 reflected Bernadotte’s ideas. It resolved “...that the refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbors should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or in equity, should be made good by the governments or authorities responsible”. It also instructed: “...the Conciliation Commission to facilitate the repatriation, resettlement and economic and social rehabilitation of the refugees and the payment of compensation, and to maintain close relations with the Director of the United Nations Relief for Palestine Refugees and, through him, with the appropriate organs and agencies of the United Nations.”

Resolution 194 has never been implemented.