The Birth of the Palestinian Nation

This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice. In the pre-dawn hours of April 9, 1948, five weeks before the establishment of the State of Israel, members of the underground organizations Etzel and Lehi attacked the Arab village of Deir Yassin near Jerusalem. By the end of the battle, the myth of a massacre had taken root, becoming a catalyst for a previously undefined Palestinian national consciousness.

Historically, the Arabs of Palestine saw themselves as part of the broader Arab nation. Israeli military historian Dr. Uri Milstein identifies Deir Yassin as a turning point, when Palestinian Arabs began to develop a distinct national identity, driven in part by fear sparked by this narrative.

The Deir Yassin story also became a foundational myth for the Israeli left, as David Ben-Gurion’s leadership used accusations of a massacre in political struggles against right-wing figures like Menachem Begin and Yitzhak Shamir.

Drawing on archival materials and eyewitness accounts, Dr. Milstein examines what happened in Deir Yassin, alongside two documented massacres of the period: the killing of Jewish medical personnel in Jerusalem and the massacre of Arabs in Ein Zaytun in the Upper Galilee. He analyzes how the Deir Yassin narrative evolved and who benefited from its spread.

Dr. Milstein, an Israeli historian and former paratrooper, served as the official historian of the paratroops and taught military history at the IDF’s Command and Staff College.