In the years leading up to 1948, when the state of Israel 'emerged', the British Army was still supposed to be policing Palestine. But the ever-growing Jewish community, led by David Ben-Gurion, was not happy with political developments at the time. It saw the British as hampering its designs for a Jewish state as they wanted it, even though it had British (and other) supporters in high office abroad. The Zionists were already illegally encroaching on Palestinian land, so there was sporadic conflict between Arabs and Jews. But there was also simmering conflict with the British Army. Bombings were taking place and soldiers were being killed, predominantly by three Jewish terror organisations: the Hagana, which was the largest, the Irgun, and the Stern gang. The Stern gang even managed to murder a British cabinet minister, Lord Moyne, whose plans for the region did not especially agree with theirs. Then in March, 1948, Ben-Gurion activated a plan which had been carefully constructed over a period of time. This was 'Plan Dalet', which called for a 'systematic and total expulsion' of the Palestinians. This plan was totally against UN Resolution 181, which called for the partition of Palestine into two separate states.

Part 3 next week.