Quotation from Moshe Smilansky “It is very simple. We'll harass them until they get out” — 1891

Member of the first wave of colonization in Palestine, reporting a dialogue between two settlers of the "Lovers of Zion" (Hovevie Tzion) in 1891.

Author : Thematics :
" "We should go east, into Transjordan. That would be a test for our movement."
"Nonsense ... isn't there enough land in Judea and Galilee?"
"The land in Judea and Galilee is occupied by the Ar­abs."
"Well, we'll take it from them." "How?" (Silence.)
"A revolutionary doesn't ask naive questions."
"Well then, Revolutionary,' tell us how."
"It is very simple. We'll harass them until they get out... Let them go to Transjordan."
"And are we going to abandon all of Transjordan?" asks an anxious voice.
"As soon as we have a big settlement here we'll seize the land, we'll become strong, and then we'll take care of the Left Bank [of the Jordan River]. We'll expel them from there, too. Let them go back to the Arab countries. » "

In the steppe , Works, Vol. 1, 1891-1893 (Tel Aviv, undated), p. 206. Quoted by Nur Masalha, Expulsion of the Palestinians , Institute for Palestine Studies, 1992, p. 9.

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