THE PARTITION OF PALESTIN

Question 1

What event in 1945 increased Jewish refugees seeking refuge in Palestine?

Answer 1

The end of the Holocaust, with 6 million Jews killed, left survivors in DP camps seeking refuge.

Question 2

What did the 1939 White Paper stipulate regarding Jewish immigration?

Answer 2

It imposed strict limits on Jewish immigration to Palestine and detained illegal immigrants.

Question 3

What monthly Jewish immigration limit did Britain set post-World War II?

Answer 3

Britain allowed 1,500 Jewish immigrants per month.

Question 4

Which British Prime Minister’s government set the post-war immigration policy for Palestine in 1945?

Answer 4

Clement Attlee’s Labour government.

Question 5

Which US President publicly supported the creation of a Jewish state after WWII?

Answer 5

President Harry S. Truman.

Question 6

When was the Jewish Resistance Movement formed?

Answer 6

October 1945.

Question 7

Which groups formed the Jewish Resistance Movement in 1945?

Answer 7

Haganah, Irgun, and Lehi.

Question 8

What was Operation Agatha, also known as Black Sabbath?

Answer 8

A British crackdown on Jewish militancy on 29 June 1946, resulting in mass arrests.

Question 9

Approximately how many Jewish activists were arrested during Operation Agatha?

Answer 9

About 2,700 activists were arrested.

Question 10

What bombing in 1946 killed 91 people at a British administrative headquarters?

Answer 10

The King David Hotel bombing on 22 July 1946 by Irgun and Lehi.

Question 11

Which Zionist paramilitary group carried out the King David Hotel bombing?

Answer 11

Irgun, with support from Lehi.

Question 12

When did Britain refer the Palestine question to the United Nations?

Answer 12

14 February 1947.

Question 13

What committee did the UN form to investigate Palestine in May 1947?

Answer 13

UN Special Committee on Palestine (UNSCOP).

Question 14

What was UNSCOP’s main recommendation for Palestine’s future?

Answer 14

Partition into separate Jewish and Arab states with international Jerusalem.

Question 15

On what date did the UN vote on the Partition Plan (Resolution 181)?

Answer 15

29 November 1947.

Question 16

What land allocation did UN Resolution 181 propose?

Answer 16

55% for a Jewish state and 45% for an Arab state.

Question 17

Who accepted the UN Partition Plan of 1947?

Answer 17

The Jewish Agency for Palestine.

Question 18

Who rejected the UN Partition Plan of 1947?

Answer 18

Palestinian Arabs and the Arab League.

Question 19

What event in July 1947 intensified British resolve to leave Palestine?

Answer 19

The hanging of British sergeants Paice and Martin by Irgun on 29 July 1947.

Question 20

When did civil war formally begin in Mandate Palestine?

Answer 20

Early December 1947, following the UN Partition vote.

Question 21

Which massacre on 9 April 1948 terrorized Palestinian villages?

Answer 21

The Deir Yassin massacre, where 126 Arab civilians were killed.

Question 22

Which ambush on 13 April 1948 targeted a medical convoy?

Answer 22

The Hadassah convoy ambush, killing 79 Jews.

Question 23

On what date did Israel declare independence?

Answer 23

14 May 1948.

Question 24

Which Arab states invaded Israel immediately after its declaration of independence?

Answer 24

Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon.

Question 25

When did the First Arab–Israeli War begin?

Answer 25

15 May 1948, the day after Israel’s declaration.

Question 26

Approximately how many Palestinian Arabs were displaced by 1949?

Answer 26

Over 700,000 Palestinians became refugees.

Question 27

When were armistice agreements reached between Israel and its neighbors?

Answer 27

By March 1949.

Question 28

Which areas did Israel gain beyond the UN Partition lines by 1949?

Answer 28

West Jerusalem and parts of Galilee.

Question 29

What organization coordinated Jewish immigration and settlement under the Mandate?

Answer 29

The Jewish Agency for Palestine.

Question 30

Who led the Jewish Agency during the Mandate period?

Answer 30

David Ben-Gurion.

Question 31

What term describes the creation of refugee camps after 1948?

Answer 31

The Palestinian refugee crisis.

Question 32

What is the initial Israeli narrative about Palestinian flight in 1948?

Answer 32

That Arabs fled voluntarily, expecting an Arab military victory.

Question 33

What alternative Israeli claim emerged about Palestinian exodus?

Answer 33

That Arab leaders encouraged Palestinians to leave via radio broadcasts.

Question 34

Who led Palestinian Arab opposition to Jewish immigration during the Mandate?

Answer 34

Haj Amin al-Husayni.

Question 35

What was Amin al-Husayni’s wartime alliance that weakened his influence by 1945?

Answer 35

His collaboration with the Nazis during WWII.

Question 36

What is the Palestinian perspective on the Nakba?

Answer 36

They argue they were forcibly expelled by Zionist militias to establish a Jewish state.

Question 37

What is the Transfer Thesis regarding the Nakba?

Answer 37

The idea that Zionists pursued a deliberate policy to expel Palestinians.

Question 38

Which historian first articulated the Transfer Thesis in the 1970s?

Answer 38

Walid Khalidi.

Question 39

Which Israeli historian adopted the Transfer Thesis in the 1980s?

Answer 39

Benny Morris.

Question 40

Which historian argued the Transfer Thesis was a marginal Zionist ideology?

Answer 40

Efraim Karsh.

Question 41

What is the Master-Plan Thesis about the Nakba?

Answer 41

That the Palestinian exodus was part of a long-term Zionist plan, such as Plan Dalet.

Question 42

When was Plan Dalet formulated?

Answer 42

March 1948.

Question 43

Which historian is a leading proponent of the Master-Plan Thesis?

Answer 43

Ilan Pappe.

Question 44

Which 1948 expulsions support the Master-Plan Thesis?

Answer 44

The expulsions from Lydda and Ramle in July 1948.

Question 45

What is the Four Waves Analysis of the Palestinian exodus?

Answer 45

Benny Morris’s division of the exodus into four chronological waves with distinct causes.

Question 46

What period does Wave 1 of Morris’s analysis cover?

Answer 46

December 1947 to March 1948.

Question 47

Approximately how many refugees left during Wave 1?

Answer 47

About 100,000 Palestinians.

Question 48

What period does Wave 2 cover?

Answer 48

April to June 1948.

Question 49

Approximately how many refugees left during Wave 2?

Answer 49

About 250,000 Palestinians.

Question 50

What period does Wave 3 cover?

Answer 50

July to October 1948.

Question 51

Approximately how many refugees left during Wave 3?

Answer 51

About 100,000 Palestinians.

Question 52

What period does Wave 4 cover?

Answer 52

October to November 1948.

Question 53

Approximately how many refugees left during Wave 4?

Answer 53

About 200,000 Palestinians.

Question 54

What do Social Collapse Theories argue about the Nakba?

Answer 54

They argue the collapse of Palestinian society and leadership fueled the exodus.

Question 55

Who proposed the Two-Stage Explanation of social collapse?

Answer 55

Historian Eliezer B. Gelber.

Question 56

What does Gelber’s Two-Stage Explanation involve?

Answer 56

A fragile Palestinian society post-1936–39 revolt and fear during 1948 conflict.

Question 57

What did Baruch Peretz argue about the Nakba’s social causes?

Answer 57

He argued governance breakdown and rumors drove Palestinians to flee.

Question 58

What is the Voluntary Departure Thesis?

Answer 58

The idea that Palestinians left voluntarily, encouraged by Arab states.

Question 59

Who is a main proponent of the Voluntary Departure Thesis?

Answer 59

Efraim Karsh.

Question 60

Which Syrian Prime Minister claimed Palestinians were invited to leave?

Answer 60

Khalid al-Azm.

Question 61

What contradiction critics point out about the Voluntary Thesis?

Answer 61

Lebanon and Syria discouraged Palestinians from leaving and urged them to stay.

Question 62

Which organization’s resolution led to the Partition Plan?

Answer 62

United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181.

Question 63

What year was the Nakba historiography Transfer Thesis first challenged?

Answer 63

In the 1990s, notably by Efraim Karsh.

Question 64

How did the Jewish Resistance Movement end?

Answer 64

It dissolved after Operation Agatha in mid-1946.

Question 65

What was the goal of the Haganah during the Mandate period?

Answer 65

To protect Jewish settlements and later support state formation.

Question 66

Who led the Irgun during the Mandate period?

Answer 66

Menachem Begin.

Question 67

What other name is Lehi known by?

Answer 67

The Stern Gang.

Question 68

What overall unresolved crisis resulted from 1948 events?

Answer 68

The ongoing Palestinian refugee crisis.