ABSTRACT
The Zionist movement showed the same zeal when it later on moved to ethnically cleanse Palestine of much of its native population, and attempted to make the desert bloom and turn it into a little Europe in the middle of the Arab world. Bedouin life and culture changed little between 1831 and 1948. In the nineteenth century their numbers had increased in Palestine once they had been permitted by the temporary Egyptian rulers of Palestine to frequent the country from bases in the Sinai peninsula, and they continued to make their presence felt, particularly after the restoration of Ottoman rule in the land. On 1 February 1947, the day that Britain announced its decision to leave the country, the Zionist presence in Palestine was still very limited, and even within the borders of the United Nations (UN)-proposed state the Jews owned only 11 per cent of the land, and were the minority in every district.
