Confronting the past
The Guardian December 10, 2001
Confronting the past
A thesis which alleges that Jewish militias slaughtered unarmed Arab
fighters during the war of Independence is at the centre of a fierce
debate about Israel's approach to its history.
By Suzanne Goldenberg
He is a rather unlikely candidate for academic celebrity - or notoriety - depending on which way one looks at it.
But the debate over the MA thesis of Teddy Katz, a kibbutznik in his late 50s, has consumed Israeli academics for the best part of two years.
The saga of Mr Katz began unfolding in January last year when an Israeli newspaper published excerpts from a thesis submitted to Haifa University on the fate of the Palestinian village of Tantura, which was destroyed in the battle for Israel's independence in 1948.
In his research, Mr Katz collected testimony from Palestinians who alleged that Jewish pre-state militias slaughtered 200 Arab fighters who laid down their arms after the village surrendered in May 1948.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4317005,00.html
-clip