ABSTRACT
In this chapter the process of British withdrawal from Palestine as it sought an exit strategy from the conflict between the Jews and the Arabs will be examined within the framework of the wider international environment after the Second World War and the perpetration of the Holocaust. The focus, therefore, will be on issues of immigration, political development of opposing elements, the military campaign waged by the Zionists against the British and developments within the Zionist movement with respect to Jewish statehood. The UN Partition Plan will be examined along with Zionist acceptance and Arab rejection. The prelude to war – including the controversial Zionist massacres of 1947-48 – will be debated within the framework of contemporary analysis of ethnic cleansing, population transfer and other dimensions of ethnic and national politics. The issue of international intervention also needs to be explained in terms of the Second World War, the Holocaust and Western guilt and reparation issues to the Jewish people. The British decision to withdraw from Palestine and relinquish its mandate will be explored in terms of domestic and foreign factors.
