The Final years of the British mandate in Palestine 1945-8 / Chapter 2

1.Terrorism and the end of British rule in Palestine 1945-8

• In 1937, the Jewish Agency had agreed to the British plan to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states
• Then in 1939, the British decided not to partition Palestine. Zionists began to campaign against the British policy. However, in the Second World War, most Jews decided to support Britain in the fight against the Nazis. They organised the Jewish Brigade who fought Nazis and then it helped to create Israel in 1948
• During the war, the official Jewish policy was to support the British war effort while continuing to campaign against the White Paper policy
• In 1945, the British announced that there would be no change in their policy in Palestine ( no separate Jewish state and no immigration)
• In August 1945, the Zionist conference decided on a policy of active opposition to British rule in Palestine. Their leaders ordered the Haganah to cooperate with Irgun and the Stern Gang. British military bases became the target

US support for a Jewish state

• The Zionists had the support of the Jewish population in the USA who could put pressure on the US government. There were 4.5mil in the US and 2mil in NYC alone
• May 1942 - the American Zionist conference had declared their support for a Jewish commonwealth in all of Palestine (the Biltmore Declaration)
• After the war, American Zionists launched a propaganda offensive in order to win support.
• In April 1946, the US president called on the British government to allow the immediate entry of 100,000 refugees to Palestine

Jewish terrorism

• The British authorities stopped boatloads of illegal Jewish immigrants from landing. This was the main reason for terrorism. Also, White Papers
• The Palestinian Arabs opposed the idea of a Jewish state in Palestine. They felt that the West, where the Holocaust was, should take responsibility for the victims of the Holocaust
• Jewish attacks on British forces now increased.
• In April 1946, six British soldiers were…