Facts and fables : the Arab-Israeli conflict / Clifford A. Wright.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Facts and Fables{u2014}even though it is largely an update of a 1978 out-of-print work entitledCommentaries on Recurrent Themes of Zionist Propagandaon Palestine{u2014}is nevertheless a timely and useful book. Well researched and amply documented, it demolishes 17 of the most common myths still being used today to justify Israeli excesses and belittle Palestinian grievances. One of the myths that has gained wide acceptance is that the Palestinian exodus of 1948 was largely a result of radio broadcasts by Arab leaders urging Palestinians to evacuate their homes to "make room" for the Arab armies on their way to liberate Palestine. This particular myth has been laboriously propagated by Zionists precisely because if the Palestinians can be portrayed as having voluntarily left their land rather than having fled or been expelled, then it can be easier to argue that they have forfeited their rights to return. Conveniently overlooked are the facts. In 1961 the Irish journalist Erskine Childers conducted a thorough examination of American and British monitoring records of all Middle East radio broadcasts during the war period. He concluded that "There was not a single order or appeal, or suggestion about evacuation from any Arab radio station inside or outside Palestine." On the contrary, Childers found evidence of Arab broadcasts urging Palestinians to stay and defend their homeland against the Zionist invaders.