The Looting of Arab Property during the War of Independence, a new book by Akevot Institute researcher Adam Raz, was published last month by Carmel Publishing House in collaboration with Akevot Institute. Raz’s book is based on a trove of archival materials kept in various Israeli archives and addresses the mass looting of objects left behind in the homes, shops, workshops and farms the country’s Palestinian residents fled during the war. The book has drawn quite a bit of attention in Israel and abroad and saw Haaretz newspaper devote a supplement to it, including an interview with the author.
Akevot Institute is launching a special website with readily accessible information about the looting, which the Custodian of Abandoned Property described at the time as “one of the largest, most complicated affairs in the Liberation War.” The website allows users to trace the mass theft city by city, access the archival documents we discovered and read hundreds of testimonies about what turned out to be mass pillage carried by multitudes of Israelis, soldiers and civilians, individuals and groups.