Social Cohesion and Community Displacement in Armed Conflict

Summary

Mass killing in wartime generates civilian displacement, refugee flows, and humanitarian crises. Civilians in war zones such as Ethiopia, Myanmar, Syria, Yemen, and Ukraine face the dilemma of whether to flee imminent military violence or remain. Understanding the decision to stay or go is critical to confronting current and future civilian crises. Analysis of the previously restricted Zionist “Village Files,” a survey of Arab Palestinian communities conducted in the 1940s, shows that the key reason why communities flee is social cohesion.