The end of British rule in Palestine and its lasting consequences
In the final months of its 30 year rule in 1948 , Britain , the responsible power in Palestine, neglected to use its large army on the ground to stop the brutal mass expulsions of more than half of all Palestinian families (the Nakba) .
Before Britain had left, Zionist forces were well advanced in their ‘cleansing’ mission . They had driven out over 250,000 Palestinians and emptied of their Palestinian population major urban areas of Haifa, Jaffa , Safad , Tiberias, Acre and Western Jerusalem and over 200 villages (and bombed them to rubble) as the British army stood by.*
The Zionist forces continued the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians after Britain left to transform 78% of Palestine into Israel.In 1948/49 Israel took to itself all of the lands and properties of the refugees. From the day they left Israel has prevented them from returning by the threat of death to any family who tried to return to their homes.