Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
PROPOSALS FOR PARTITION
By this time, the British
w ere finding rule in
Palestine extremely uncom-
fortable. In 1937, following
the deliberations of the Peel
Commission, they pro-
posed ending the Mandate
and partitioning the coun-
try. The Jews accepted but
the Arabs refused, claiming
that the proposed Jewish
homeland occupied the
region's most fertile zones.
Elsewhere, the world was
much more concerned with
developments in Europe, where war
seemed inevitable. In a brazen attempt
to improve relations with its potential
allies, the Arabs, in 1939, on the eve
of war, Britain published a “White
Paper” drastically limiting Jewish
immigration to Palestine. However,
faced with the dangers of Nazism, tens
of thousands of Jews
continued to arrive,
often sneaking in clan-
destinely by sea. British
attempts to check the
immigration were, for
the most part, in vain.
One effect of this
new post-war situation
was to inspire extrem-
ists to attacks on the
British. On 22 July
1946 the Jewish mili-
tary organization Irgun - one of whose
leaders was the future prime minister
Menachem Begin - bombed British
headquarters at the King David Hotel
in Jerusalem, killing more than 80 and
wounding hundreds more.
Trapped in a no-win situation, the
British placed the “Palestine question”
before the newly-formed United
Allenby Street, in the rapidly expanding Jewish Tel Aviv of the 1930s
Nations. On 29 November 1947 the UN
voted for the partition of the Holy Land
into an Arab state and a Jewish state,
with Jerusalem under international
administration. Britain announced its
intention to pull out of Palestine on 15
May 1948 and leave the Arabs and
Jews to fight among themselves.
THE CREATION
OF ISRAEL
Skirmishing between
the Palestinians and
Jews escalated as both
sides manoeuvred to
control as much terri-
tory as possible before
the end of the Man-
date. Jewish extremists
attacked Palestinian
villages (most infa-
mously at Deir Yassin, on the road
between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem),
while armed Palestinians made simi-
lar raids against Jewish settlements.
As the British prepared to leave, the
Jews were ready to replace them. On
14 May 1948, the eve of departure,
David Ben Gurion declared the birth
of the State of Israel.
Ben Gurion witnessing the departure of
British troops from Haifa port in 1948
1934
Jews flee central
Europe and the threat
of Hitler's Germany
1936
Arab
Revolt in
Palestine
1939
Great Britain
publishes the
“White Paper”
1947
Discovery of
the Dead Sea Scrolls
at Qumran
1930
1935
1940
1950
1929
Arab attacks on
Jews in Jerusalem,
Hebron and Safed
14 May 1948
State of
Israel declared in Tel Aviv
A
1937
Peel
Commission
proposes
partition of
Palestine
One of the Dead
Sea Scrolls
