Much of the criticism of Zionism rests with a perception that during the 1948 war, they defeated a broad-based Palestinian national movement.
asserted
they → rest → movement
The 2025 documentary, 1936, claimed that the three-year revolt that began then crystallized these aspirations.
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that → claim → aspirations
The documentary totally misrepresents the uprising.
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documentary → misrepresent → uprising
It leaves out its leader, the grand mufti, who, after his exile in 1937, goes to Iraq to foment pogroms as he had in Palestine in 1921 and 1929.
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he → leave → 1921
The grand mufti then fled to Germany and became a trusted collaborator, broadcasting Nazi propaganda to the Arab world, enlisting Bosnian Muslims to fight with the Third Reich.
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mufti → flee → Reich
The documentary also spends little time on the British Peel Commission recommendation for a two-state partition.
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documentary → spend → partition
It allocated only 12% to the Zionist state.
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It → allocate → state
For the mufti, however, any Jewish state was too much and brutalized his opposition.
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state → brutalize → opposition
When he learned that one of the notables planned to testify, he wrote: “Those who go to meet the partition commission should take their shrouds with them.”
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go → learn → them
Indeed, mufti supporters killed as many as a thousand Arabs to quell opposition to his political positions.
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supporters → kill → positions
Most importantly, the revolt had little to do with national aspirations as the rejection of the Peel Commission’s recommendation attests to.
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rejection → have → recommendation
Instead, it sought to eliminate further Jewish migration and any Jewish state.
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it → seek → migration
His brutal treatment of those who disagreed with him led many leading Arabs in Mandate Palestine to reject his leadership.
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who → disagree → leadership
Despite this local resistance, the grand mufti was appointed leader of the Palestinian delegation to the Arab League, reflecting the prestige he had obtained throughout the Arab world for his refurbishing of the Al Aqsa Mosque and implicit support for his Nazi war efforts.
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he → appoint → efforts
Understandably, many of the mufti’s opponents sought to find accommodations with the Zionists so there was no unified Arab support for the 1948 war effort.
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many → seek → effort
The opposition was further alienated when the Arab League selected Fawzi al-Qawuqji to lead the newly-constituted Arab Liberation Army (ALA) to fight against the Zionists before the foreign armies invaded.
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armies → alienate → Zionists
Qawyqji was a Lebanese pan-Arabist who led foreign volunteers during the 1936–1939 revolt and later served in Nazi fighting units.
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who → lead → units
As a result, few local Arabs were willing to fight.
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Arabs → fight → result
According to the anti-Zionist historian Ilan Pappé, 90% of the 3,000-manned ALA was comprised of foreign volunteers.
uncertain
% → accord → volunteers
Due to the unwillingness of many Arab villages to support its efforts, the ALA had inadequate supply lines, making extended military campaigns impossible.
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campaigns → support → lines
The grand mufti formed his own Holy War Army, but it attracted less than 1,000 volunteers.
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it → form → volunteers
While other locals would join village self-defense forces, it meant few were willing to fight in armed units against Zionist forces.
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few → join → forces
Well-to-do Arabs and Arab professionals fled to Lebanon and Jordan even before significant warfare unfolded.
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warfare → flee → Lebanon
It is one of the reasons that, after the war, there were no Arab newspapers, political parties, or social institutions to guide Arab citizens.
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It → be → citizens
In addition, many Muslims living in the coastal areas were recent migrants from the West Bank.
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Muslims → live → Bank
They married women from their home villages and often helped at harvest time.
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They → marry → time
Many fled to the West Bank to avoid the ravages of war.
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Many → flee → war
The arrival of foreign armies could not overcome the lack of local support.
uncertain
arrival → overcome → support
Because its Christians had friendly relations with their Jewish neighbors, Lebanon refused to send troops.
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Lebanon → have → troops
The Iraqi contingent was small and, after an initial defeat, sat out the war in the West Bank.
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contingent → sit → Bank
Syria sent only a few thousand troops.
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Syria → send → troops
A Syrian Druze contingent also fought with the ALA.
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contingent → fight → ALA
After ALA defeats, most defected, with some joining Israeli Druze in the Jewish army.
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some → defect → army
The 5,000-strong British-trained Jordanian Arab Legion was an efficient fighting force.
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Legion → train → ?
However, King Abdullah was a fierce critic of the grand mufti and uninterested in aiding his war efforts.
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Abdullah → aid → efforts
Instead, the king only used his troops in areas assigned to the Palestinians by the UN partition, areas he hoped to annex.
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he → use → partition
As a result, it was the Egyptian army, remnants of the ALA, and the Syrian army that were the only real opposition the Zionists faced.
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Zionists → face → ALA
Due to the almost total lack of local Arab involvement, disconnected foreign troops were outnumbered by Zionist forces who were better organized and better armed.
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who → outnumber → forces
Thus, it is not surprising that the Zionists had a decisive victory.
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Zionists → have → victory
This essay has documented that the grand mufti had no interest in an independent Palestinian state if it allowed there to be a Jewish state, however small.
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it → document → state
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
