785,000, then under 100,000One dispatch, eight headlines · October 1949
One wire story, eight papers
785,000, then under 100,000
In October 1949 the Associated Press filed a story with two numbers in it. The Arab population of what was now Israel had been about 785,000 before the fighting. It was now under 100,000. Eight papers here ran that story. These are their headlines.
- Arab Population Of Israel Is Less Than 100,000Appalachian News Express · CP-1949-007
- 100,000 Arabs Left In IsraelThe Morning Union · CP-1949-012
- Jews Accused Of Reducing Arab PopulaceThe Arizona Republic · CP-1949-008
- Claim Jews Are Forcing Arabs to Quit IsraelStar Herald · CP-1949-011
- Arabs Complain Israel Making New RefugeesEvansville Courier & Press · CP-1949-010
- Arabs Complain Israel Ejecting Their NationalsIntelligencer Journal · CP-1949-020
- Israel Arabs Say They Are Being BannedPress of Atlantic City · CP-1949-019
- Jordan Liaison Officer Says Arab Population in Israel DwindlingThe Billings Gazette · CP-1949-009
Two of the eight put the number in the headline. Five turn it into something Arabs say: accused, claim, complain, complain, say.
The Morning Union’s is the one to sit with. 100,000 Arabs Left In Israel. Read it one way and a hundred thousand people are still there. Read it the other and they have gone.