BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee
BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee
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Both The Guardian <strong>and</strong> The<br />
London Times reported that<br />
“Israeli aircraft frequently strafed<br />
the refugees on the road from<br />
Jerusalem to Jericho, destroying<br />
<strong>and</strong> burning.” 85 <strong>Refugee</strong> camps in<br />
Jericho, <strong>for</strong> example, were bombed<br />
by the Israeli air <strong>for</strong>ce, leading to<br />
an exodus of tens of thous<strong>and</strong>s of<br />
refugees. Israeli <strong>for</strong>ces destroyed<br />
Nuweimeh <strong>and</strong> al Ajajra refugee<br />
camps in Jericho in 1967 <strong>and</strong> the<br />
camp at Karameh on the Jordanian<br />
side of the border in 1968. Most of<br />
the refugees living in Ein as-Sultan<br />
<strong>and</strong> Aqbat Jabr camps in Jericho<br />
were also displaced to Jordan. 86<br />
<strong>Palestinian</strong>s were also driven from<br />
their homes by Israeli military<br />
<strong>for</strong>ces. 87 Others were transferred out<br />
of the West Bank on buses <strong>and</strong> trucks<br />
provided by the military. 88 In some<br />
cases, young <strong>Palestinian</strong> men were<br />
<strong>for</strong>ced to sign documents stating that<br />
they were leaving voluntarily. “When<br />
someone refused to give me his h<strong>and</strong><br />
[<strong>for</strong> finger-printing] they came <strong>and</strong><br />
beat him badly,” said one Israeli<br />
officer. “Then I was <strong>for</strong>cibly taking<br />
his thumb, <strong>and</strong> immersing it in ink<br />
<strong>and</strong> finger-printing him.… I have no<br />
doubt that tens of thous<strong>and</strong>s of men<br />
were removed against their will.” 89<br />
From the Nakba to the Present Day – Ongoing Displacement<br />
1967 <strong>Palestinian</strong> refugees. © UNRWA Archives.<br />
Israel completely destroyed several <strong>Palestinian</strong> villages, including Imwas, Yalu <strong>and</strong> Beit Nuba in the Latrun salient<br />
northwest of Jerusalem. 90 The entire Moroccan quarter in the Old City of Jerusalem, adjacent to the Western<br />
Wall, was razed to make way <strong>for</strong> a large plaza <strong>for</strong> Jewish religious <strong>and</strong> national events. In the West Bank town<br />
of Qalqilya, Israeli military <strong>for</strong>ces destroyed half of the town’s 2,000 homes. The <strong>Palestinian</strong> villages of Beit<br />
Marsam, Beit Awa, Jiftlik <strong>and</strong> al-Burj were also razed.<br />
By the time the 1967 war came to an end, 430,000 <strong>Palestinian</strong>s had been displaced, among them some 193,500<br />
refugees displaced <strong>for</strong> a second time, <strong>and</strong> 240,000 residents displaced from the West Bank <strong>and</strong> Gaza Strip <strong>for</strong><br />
the first time. 91 Up to 95% of these displaced persons went to Jordan, while some found refuge in Syria <strong>and</strong><br />
Egypt. The areas of the occupied West Bank most affected included the Jordan Rift, Hebron, <strong>and</strong> the frontier<br />
areas of the Ramallah district. Israel expropriated more than 400 km 2 of l<strong>and</strong> owned by <strong>Palestinian</strong>s who had<br />
been displaced from the West Bank <strong>and</strong> Gaza Strip during the war. 92<br />
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