ABSTRACT
A conflict is born 'Some years', J. K. Galbraith once wrote,'like some poets and politicians and some lovely women, are singled out for fame far beyond the common lot'.1 For the Middle East in general, and for the people of Palestine in particular, 1948 was clearly such a year. It was the year in which the British Mandate for Palestine terminated, a Jewish state called Israel was established, thousands of Arab Palestinians became refugees, and regular armed forces of Transjordan, Egypt, Syria and other Arab countries entered Palestine-Israel and clashed with Israeli forces. Thus begun the first all-out Arab-Israeli war which — like the civil war which preceded it — revolved around land.2
