Elad Ben-Dror

In December 1992, Israel deported hundreds of Hamas activists to Lebanon. The deportees ensconced themselves at a camp near the village of Marj al-Zuhur, close to the Israeli border. Their sojourn there bolstered Hamas and became a milestone in its development. This article shows how the deportees’ success in running the camp as an exemplary Islamic society turned the deportation into a foundational myth for the movement, one centered on nonviolent resistance in the spirit of Islamic values.

, the Government of Britain announced its decision to refer the problem of Palestine to the UN. This announcement can be considered a crucial turning point in the policy of Britain towards Palestine and it brought forth a new situation: the question of Palestine ceased being a British-only issue, and became an international one. On 28 April 1947 a Special Session of the General Assembly gathered, the aim of which was to discuss Britain's request. It was decided during the session to set up a special inquiry committee that would look into the situation in Palestine. Recommendations concerning the political future of Palestine would then be submitted to the General Assembly that was due to meet in September. This inquiry committee was known as the United Nations Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP). The committee had 11 members and it was active from 26 May until 31 August. The main part of its inquiry was conducted in Palestine (between 15 and 20 July) and the part dealing with its conclusions took place in Geneva. The British, Zionists and Arabs had different attitudes and approaches to the committee and its inquiry. The British related to the committee in a concrete way and preferred not impose any recommendations or solutions. The Zionists made every effort to influence the committee to support the principle of partition and the Arabs refrained from taking part and had a limited relationship with it: the Arab states gave testimonies to the committee only in its later working stages and the Palestinian Arabs boycotted the committee throughout the whole affair. On 1 September, UNSCOP submitted its recommendations to the UN. All members of the committee united around the idea that the British mandate should come to an end and that the citizens of Palestine were entitled to independence. However, beyond this basic accord, disagreement existed between the members: one member chose to abstain, three recommended the foundation of one federal state over the whole area and seven members recommended the foundation of two independent states, one Jewish and one Arab. 1 The Arabs overwhelmingly rejected UNSCOP's recommendations. The Arabs' list of arguments against the majority's conclusions was indeed a long one. A Palestinian historian summarized it by saying 'Everything about it was Zionist'. 2 When one takes into consideration the majority's recommendations and the enthusiasm with which these recommendations were accepted by the Zionist leadership, then one can indeed affirm that claim. UNSCOP recommended an independent Jewish state, although the Arabs firmly objected to the principle of independence for the Jews, and did so in a way very generous to the Jews. More than half of the area of Palestine (62 per cent) was