In order to set the material presented in this book in perspective, it is necessary to say a word or two about the conflict of 1948 and the ways it has been interpreted. What follows is a thumb-nail sketch, and not a full scholarly account. Still, some understanding of the nature of the conflict and its outcome will be helpful in interpreting the narratives I examine below.

On the eve of 1948 the population of Palestine numbered roughly 1.3 million Arabs and 630,000 Jews. Despite being a minority, the Jews of Palestine managed, during the 1948 war, to establish an independent state. In short order this war was named by the Israelis as alternately the War of Liberation (shihrur), Rebirth (komemiyut), and Independence (‘atzma'ut). For Palestine's Arabs, the war of 1948 was a catastrophe. Its disastrous consequences continued long after the war ended, and do to a degree continue to this day – deprived of a homeland, forced into a prolonged exile, occupying a subordinate status as refugees, and ongoing secondary forced migrations. The war came to be known as al-Nakba, meaning the catastrophe, the disaster. Between 700,000 and 780,000 of Mandate Palestine's Arabs were turned into refugees, and roughly 400 villages and towns were obliterated.

To understand the outcome of the 1948 war, one should consider the differences between the Arab and Jewish communities in Mandate Palestine. Generally speaking, Palestinian Arab society lacked patterns of collective action at the national level.