For the Jewish community, this was the long-awaited recognition of their right to national self-determination. For the Arab world, however, it was seen as an existential threat. Even before the resolution passed, Arab leaders issued chilling warnings.
Dr. Muhammad Hussein Heykal Pasha, head of the Egyptian delegation, told the UN that partition would endanger “the lives of one million Jews in Muslim countries.” He predicted riots, massacres, and war. Jamal al-Husseini, representing the Palestine Arab Higher Committee, echoed these threats, saying Jews across the Arab world would be placed in a precarious position.
These were not empty words. From the moment the UN vote passed, Jews across the Middle East and North Africa faced intensifying hostility, incitement, and violence. Arab leaders not only rejected the establishment of a Jewish state but also pressured their own Jewish populations, despite the fact that many had lived in those lands for centuries.
Israel Declares Independence
On May 14, 1948, David Ben-Gurion proclaimed the independence of the State of Israel in Tel Aviv. Just two days later, the New York Times published a grim headline:
“Jews in Grave Danger in All Moslem Lands: Nine Hundred Thousand in Africa and Asia Face Wrath of Their Foes.”
Arab hostility to Zionism quickly turned into open hostility to Israel and its people. On May 16, the armies of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Transjordan invaded the new state. The first Arab-Israeli war had begun.
Refugees on Both Sides
The war created two massive refugee crises.
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725,000 Palestinian Arabs fled or were displaced from their homes in 1948.
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850,000 Jews were forced to leave Arab and Muslim lands in the years that followed.
The outcomes for these two populations, however, could not have been more different. Palestinian refugees were granted a unique international status and remain so until today, with millions of descendants still classified as refugees. By contrast, Jewish refugees from Arab lands received no international recognition. Instead, most found a new home in Israel, where the young state absorbed 580,000 Jews from Muslim countries alongside more than 100,000 Holocaust survivors from Europe.
Despite war, poverty, and enormous financial strain, Israel gave them shelter, food, and work. They arrived with nothing, but Israel offered them a future.
A Turning Point in Jewish History
The Jews of Arab lands faced a stark choice in 1948. They could remain in places where hatred and violence threatened their survival, or they could journey, often at great risk, to the new Jewish homeland. They chose Israel.
The establishment of the State of Israel was not only a political event. It was a turning point in Jewish history, marking both the rebirth of Jewish sovereignty and the tragic end of centuries-old Jewish communities across the Arab world.
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