Yosef Klir's 1952 chronicle reports that more than 500 יהודים YEHUDIM he called “refugees” from the יפו YAFO boundary areas had reached תל אביב TEL AVIV by the previous evening. The entry is dated 4 December 1947 and refers to arrivals by the evening before it; it does not identify an expelling authority or a formal order.1

The source supports a report of יהודים YEHUDIM moving from exposed areas toward תל אביב TEL AVIV during the יפו YAFO–תל אביב TEL AVIV fighting. The word “refugees” is Klir's wording. The surviving passage does not establish whether every person fled independently, was formally evacuated, was expelled, or was later denied return. TJD therefore describes reported displacement and preserves each of those questions separately.

How is this dated?

Klir's entry is labeled 4 December 1947 but places the arrivals by the preceding evening. “Evening” does not settle whether the movement was before or after local sunset, so the event is assigned only to Kislev 5708, not to 20 or 21 Kislev. The civil date of the entry is a report date, not a precise date for every departure or arrival.2

Guided reflections

  • What records could show whether the reported arrivals followed individual flight, an evacuation order, forced expulsion, or a later denial of return?
  • Why should a source's use of “refugees” be preserved without treating it as a settled legal classification?

Footnotes

  1. https://benyehuda.org/read/23753 Klir, entry labeled 4 December 1947; Hebrew online transcription of the 1952 chronicle. ↩
  2. https://benyehuda.org/read/23753; https://www.hebcal.com/converter?cfg=json&g2h=1&gd=3&gm=12&gy=1947; https://www.hebcal.com/converter?cfg=json&g2h=1&gd=4&gm=12&gy=1947 ↩