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The NakbaNakba Full Description: Arabic for “The Catastrophe.” It refers to the mass expulsion and flight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes during the conflict. It is not merely a historical event but describes the ongoing condition of statelessness and dispossession faced by Palestinian refugees. The Nakba marks the foundational trauma of Palestinian identity. During the fighting that established the State of Israel, a vast majority of the Arab population in the territory either fled out of fear or were forcibly expelled by militias and the new army. Their villages were subsequently destroyed or repopulated to prevent their return.…
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The question of Palestine had become increasingly unmanageable for Britain by 1947. After World War II the Mandatory government faced relentless Jewish immigration (legal and clandestine), guerrilla attacks by Zionist militias (including the 1946 King David Hotel bombing), and widespread Arab resistance. British leaders lamented that both communities showed “no inclination to live together under the same governmental umbrella,” and that Palestine had become a drain on British resources with no strategic payoff . Faced with mounting violence and international pressure, Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin announced on 14 February 1947 that Britain would refer the Palestine problem to the newly…