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This week marks the 55th anniversary of two momentous historical events: the establishment of the state of Israel and the destruction of Palestinian society, together with the dispossession of the Palestinians.

On May 14, 1948 David Ben-Gurion, the leader of the pre-state Jewish community in Palestinian-controlled territories and later Israel’s first prime minister, declared Israel’s independence and thus fulfilled the Zionists’ dream of establishing a national Jewish “home” in Palestinian-controlled territories. That evening he noted in his diary, “In the country there is celebration and profound joy.”

On the following day, the armies of five Arab states, including Egypt, Syria and Jordan, launched a conventional war against the newly founded state, which lasted until 1949. The war resulted in Israeli victory. As a result, supporters of Israel refer to it as the “War of Independence.”

However, for Palestinians, the 1948 Arab-Israeli war is remembered somewhat differently. Deemed “al-Nakba” or “The Catastrophe” by Palestinians, the war resulted in the annihilation of Palestinian society and the forcible transfer of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes to refugee camps outside the borders of the Jewish state.

According to prominent Israeli historian Benny Morris, during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war “about 700,000 Arabs ... fled or were ejected from the areas that became the Jewish state.” At the war’s end, less than half of the Palestinians remained in their original homes, with fewer than 150,000 in Israel.

UCLA history Professor Gabriel Piterberg says “there’s no question that there was substantial expulsion in 1948. I call it ethnic cleansing, and I’m not the only Israeli to do so. People were removed from their homes, massacred, raped and lost their property on the basis of ethnic belonging – not because they were working-class or peasants or women – but because they were Palestinian-Arabs.”

Piterberg argues that “it’s immoral and scholarly incompetent to deny this,” adding that “there are many Israeli scholars, most of whom are good Zionists, who accept the Israeli expulsions. ... Denying it will not make the atrocities go away and will not absolve the crimes of the perpetrators.”

Morris contends that “the principal cause of mass flight ... was Jewish military attack or fears of such an attack,” and writes that “in no case did a population abandon its homes before an attack; in almost all cases it did so on the very day of an attack and in the days immediately following.”

On April 9, 1948, as many as 254 Palestinians were massacred in the village of Deir Yassin, and Morris writes “the fear that the same fate might befall them propelled other villagers to flight, and this ‘atrocity factor’ was reinforced periodically during the months of fighting by other Jewish massacres.”

Moreover, the military operation, “Plan D,” authorized commanders to clear the populace out of villages and certain urban districts, resulting in the expulsion of 60,000 Palestinians from the towns of Lydda and Ramle. Ben Gurion himself supported the notion of expulsion, stating in June 1938, “I support compulsory transfer. I do not see in it anything immoral.”

The Israeli historian Meron Benvenisti writes, “Although not as severe as in the case of Bosnia, atrocities that could be described as war crimes did occur. Not only was an undesirable population expelled from given territory due to religious or ethnic discrimination … but some of the Arabs were not expelled on military grounds but with the objective of taking over their homes and land expressly for the settlement of Jews.”

On June 16, 1948 the Israeli cabinet, without a formal vote, resolved to bar the return of Palestinian refugees, and the Israel Defense Force general staff ordered its units to stop would-be returnees with live fire. Benvenisti comments, “The return of the refugees conflicted with some of Israel’s most vital interests: securing an absolute Jewish majority, settling Jewish refugees on the abandoned land.” Yet the resolution contravened the terms of the Geneva Convention and meant that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were confined to refugee camps.

The family of Shawki El-Zatmah, a history graduate student at UCLA, was among those who were terrorized into leaving their homes during the 1948 war. Originally from Yibna in central Israel, his family now lives in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

Awad Awad, a Palestinian, who is due to begin a graduate course in Near Eastern languages and culture at UCLA this fall, stressed, “There are two sides to the story of 1948. Zionists sought to solve the problem of anti-Semitism in Europe and did what they thought was necessary to achieve it.”

But, as El-Zatma said, “Whilst they’re celebrating their Independence Day they should remember our story, how they victimized us and how their illegal occupation continues to victimize us. We can congratulate them for their independence but we want to emphasize our story as Palestinians that have been victimized by the state of Israel.”

Awad emphasized, “Everyone has a right to celebrate their independence. But we’re waiting to celebrate ours too. We are a people, not just Arabs, and we cannot and will not just assimilate ourselves into any Arab state. We want and need a state of our own. We want our right to self-determination to be recognized.”

Professor Piterberg believes “it is outrageous to take a jubilant, combative position” on campus toward the events of 1948, especially given the ethno-cultural diversity of the UCLA community, which includes many Arabs. The events organized this week by Bruins for Israel, among others, only present one side of the story and, as Piterberg stresses, “until it is recognized that 1948 is as much Nakba as it is independence, there will be no reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians.”

Perhaps a more balanced way of commemorating the 55th anniversary of the 1948 war could be found. On Tuesday, the borders of Bruin Walk and Meyerhoff Park were lined with placards showing the Israeli victims of Palestinian terror. A more even-handed representation would have shown the Palestinian victims of Israeli terror as well; namely, those Palestinians who were driven or terrorized from their homes in 1948, as well as those who continue to live and die under the brutal and illegal Israeli occupation. Remember this week that there are two sides to every story.

Rebecca Steinfeld is a third-year history student with specialization in the Arab-Israeli conflict. She is a former Daily Bruin news reporter.