Lebanon. and Iraq. aided by contingents from Saudi Arabia and Yemen. attacked Israel. The secretary general of the Arab League. as spokesman for the Governments of these Arab States. described. this action as follows: This will be a war of extermination. It will be a momentous massacre to be spoken of like the Mongolian massacre and the Crusades. Urged to leave by their leaders. and excited by the dazzling promise that they would return to claim victors spoils when Israel was destroyed. hundreds of thousands of Arabs fled their homes to seek a temporary refuge in neighboring countries. Briefly. this is the origin of the Arab refugee problem as described in reliable official documents. Among these are the Bulletin of the Research Group for European Migration Problems. the statements of contemporary Arab leaders. and various agencies of the United Nations. including the United Nations Palestine Commission of 1948. There is no authoritative version which to my knowledge presents contrary facts.
Keywords matched
refugee Mongolian