🧵Today marks #Nakba74. 74 years since Israel's dispossession of the Palestinian people began. In @MiddleEastInst, I uncover bombshell documents from the US Consulate in Jerusalem showing the extent to which the US knew about the #Nakba as it unfolded. 1/ mei.edu/publications/f…
The US suspected that the Jewish State called for in the UN partition plan would not be content with those borders and would be expansionist in nature. 2/
The US knew that Palestinian refugee flows were the result of Zionist and Israeli massacres and atrocities. 3/
US diplomats catalogued in great detail Israel's extensive looting and demolition of Palestinian property and understood that these actions were meant to prevent Palestinian refugees from returning home. 4/
Even after Israeli military operations ended, US diplomats attested to the brutal treatment inflicted upon Palestinians coming under Israel's harsh rule. 5/
US diplomats understood the scope and gravity of the Palestinian refugee crisis, even terming it "catastrophic". 6/
President Truman was "disgusted" by Israel's failure to repatriate Palestinian refugees. His representative to the Palestine Conciliation Commission stated Israel "has particular responsibility for those who have been driven out by terrorism, repression and forcible ejection.” 7/
However, this indignation proved to be short-lived as Israeli intransigence and US unwillingness to sanction Israel led to the US dropping its support for the rights of Palestinian refugees. 8/
Not only did the US know the scope of the #Nakba as it occurred, it also bears moral responsibility today for arming and funding Israel as it continues to oppress Palestinians and dispossess them of their land and rights. 9/
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