British policymakers and administrators failed to use Britain's large army in Palestine to prevent the brutal mass expulsions (Al Nakba) of Palestinian families by the Zionist forces from the intended Jewish state.
'43% of localities and their refugees with known depopulation dates were run over by the Zionists (not yet Israelis) while Palestine was under the protection of the British Mandate Government. It is significant to note that each phase of the Zionist assaults was opened by a massacre, followed by others during the same phase. During operation Dalet whilst Palestine was under British protection , the Dayr Yassin massacres was committed followed by 16 others. The " success" achieved by driving the citizens out of their homes was not lost on the Zionist leaders , especially in the absence of any British action to stop the massacres or protect the population"."Dr Salman Abu Sitta author of the Palestinian Nakba 1948: 'The register of depopulated localities in Palestine' .
"Britain allowed the cleansing to take place , in front of the eyes of its soldiers and officials . It even prevented an organised UN outfit from being present on the ground which might have saved a number of Palestinians. Instead of preventing the expulsions it declared in April 1948 that it was no longer responsible for law and order. Indeed the British had avoided any serious intervention though they still had 75,000 troops there. These were dedicated solely to safeguard British soldiers, officers and officials." Ilan Pappé is an Israeli historian and professor of History at the University of Exeter . He is author of 'The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine'
"The British sometimes assisted in other more direct ways in the ethnic cleansing by providing the Zionist leadership with ownership deeds and other vital data which they had photocopied before destroying them as was quite common in their decolonization process. . Military force and a brutal one at that is the first requirement for expulsion and occupation but bureaucracy is no less important for efficiently carrying out a huge cleansing operation that entails not only dispossession of the people but also the possession of the spoils ." Ilan Pappé
The British on several occassions defended Jewish settlements and neighbourhoods . They did not , however,attempt to prevent the advance of the Haganah or the flight or expulsions of the Arabs Tom Segev
A haunted , persecuted people sought to find a shelter and state for itself and did so at a horrible price to another people. During the war of 1948 , more than half the population at that time were driven off their homeland by the Israeli army. Israel refused to allow the refugees to return , as a UN resolution demanded shortly after the war.Thus the Israeli land was obtained through ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian inhabitants. Tanya Reinhart
:“Above all, let me reiterate, the refugee problem was caused by attacks by Jewish forces on Arab villages and towns and by the inhabitants’ fear of such attacks, compounded by expulsions, atrocities, and rumors of atrocities — and by the crucial Israeli Cabinet decision in June 1948 to bar a refugee return.” Benny Morris is professor of History in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel and is author of 'The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited 2005'.
Summer 1948, we finished our studies. Jerusalem was under siege since winter. Many of us had by then experienced the first of many deeply disturbing shocks ; the massacre at Deir Yassin. Early one morning in April 1948 , a friend burst into my room with tears streaming down her face. " they are butchering everyone in Deir Yassin" she cried. Deir Yassin was a small peaceful village. Some of their fellaheen (farmers) would come regulary to sell us their deliciously fresh produce. The senseless brutality of such slaughter was incomprehensible. Even more despicable was the parading of some of the male villagers in an open van through the streets of Jerusalem prior to being shot.
Hanna Braun , author "Weeds dont perish" fled Germany aged 10 with her family in 1937 to live in Palestine. During her school years she became increasingly involved with the Zionist movement and the Socialist one and later the Haganah (Zionist army). Later she became disillusioned with Zionism. She came to England in 1958. and was an Hanna was an inspiring activist in the justice for Palestinian movement till her death in 2011 sadly soon after herlaunching of her memoirs 'Weeds dont Perish'.
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