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By the late summer of 1949, the frozen battle lines between the Arab and Israeli armies led to the realization that Palestinian refugees would not soon be returning to their former homes. This episode charts the fascinating and tragic story of the international response to the refugee crisis from 1949 to the mid-50s, including the creation of UNRWA in Dec. 1949. In particular, it shows how UN thinkers approached the issue from an economic standpoint, believing that a massive program of economic development could integrate the refugees into neighboring communities and provide a permanent solution for their well-being. As the episode shows, however, these efforts failed because they did not take into account the refugee's psychological needs, including their strong desire to eventually return home. In the end Palestinians were not prepared to accept permanent exile in exchange for economic mobility.

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In 1948 the Nakbah resulted in the flight and expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians. This episode chronicles their experiences, focusing on the way the refugee crisis unfolded in three geographical contexts: Gaza, Jordan and Lebanon. Among other things, it highlights some of the initial challenges and reactions encountered in trying provide humanitarian assistance to them, the effects the refugees had on the local communities and the ways in which the refugee experience evolved over the course of time. Our next episode will discuss the international community's reactions to the refugee situation in greater detail.

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In 1948, Palestinians suffered both dispossession and expulsion as a result of losing the civil war. But what became of the idea of the Palestinian nation? This episode explores the political and cultural fate of Palestinian nationalism in the 1950s, highlighting how and why in the postwar period Arab-controlled territory did not become an independent Palestinian state. At the same time, it also explores the ways in which the Nakbah paved the way for new expressions of Palestinian identity, helping to cement this sense of national belonging despite living in the Diaspora. The episode then ends with the death of the Jordanian king Abdullah I, whose efforts to subsume Palestinians into his Hashemite state became a pyrrhic victory.

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For more information on History Off the Page, check out our website www.historyoffthepage.com! Or you can support the show via Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/historyoffthepage?fan_landing=true.