KADDISHEL
A Life Reborn
It later came to light that the British officer had made an agreement with Arab leader Mohammed Neggar to look the other way during the ambush, as long as the Arabs did not fire on British patrols. 5 In April and May of 1948 there was another mass exodus of wealthy and middle class Arabs, especially officials, mayors, judg - es, doctors, businessmen, and other community leaders. The most dramatic flight occurred in Haifa, where seventy thousand Arabs lived. A steady stream had been deserting the city since the day of the UN Partition Plan vote. By the end of March, the flight of twenty-five thousand had already weakened the city considerably and left it bereft of moderate leaders. For several weeks, rumors circulated that the Arab nations’ air forces were going to destroy the Jews on Mount Carmel and Hai- fa; Arab religious leaders instructed their followers to vacate their homes temporarily so that the Arab forces could work freely; they would return soon to claim not only their old homes, but the homes and settlements of the soon-to-be massacred Jews. Twenty thou- sand more Arabs left Haifa, thinking they would soon return, but on April 23, the city was captured by the Haganah. Leading the action was Yagur member Moshe Carmel, the commander of the northern area. Jewish leaders held impassioned meetings with their Arab coun- terparts, pleading with them to remain in the city, encourage their constituents to stay as well, and help establish peaceful relations. 6 Within thirty-six hours, however, most of the city’s remaining thir- ty thousand Arabs fled, with Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq as their main destinations. Fewer than five thousand stayed to rebuild the coun - try. The New York Times reported that “tens of thousands of Arab men, women and children fled toward the eastern outskirts of the city in cars, trucks, carts, and afoot in a desperate attempt to reach Arab territory, until the Jews captured the Rushmiya Bridge to- ward Samaria and Northern Palestine and cut them off. Thousands rushed every available craft, even rowboats, along the waterfront, to escape by sea toward Acre (Akko).” Time magazine reported on
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