Israel - created by terrorism

By contrast, the Arab fighters were more defensive, attempting to keep control of Palestinian areas, but rarely counterattacking into Zionist-held territory. By the time the main Arab armies intervened in May 1948, around 250,000 Palestinian refugees had already fled.

Mobilised

In mid-May 1948 the combined forces mobilised by the Arab states in Palestine numbered only 25,000 compared to the 35,000 fighters commanded by the nascent Israeli Defence Force (IDF). The IDF rapidly brought more troops into battle, fielding 65,000 by mid-July and 96,441 by December.

Ben-Gurion announced the birth of Israel to the world on May 15, 1948. However, the expulsions and massacres continued to gather momentum. As many as 230 Palestinians were shot in cold blood at Tantura and buried in a mass grave on May 22.

Yitzhak Rabin, later prime minister of Israel, was in charge of military operations in the towns of Ramla and Lydd in July 1948. He estimated that his troops drove about 50,000 Palestinians in that area from their homes, forcing them to march to the West Bank without food or water.

Over the following months the number of Palestinian refugees swelled to about 850,000. Penniless and traumatised, they were housed in overcrowded camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The United Nations General Assembly passed a resolution calling on Israel to allow the refugees to return - 60 years later they and their descendants are still waiting.

The disaster which overtook the Palestinians in 1948 has to be set in the context of a region in turmoil. One of the reasons why both the old colonial empires and the US saw a potentially valuable ally in the Zionist movement was the growth of a powerful anti-imperialist movement across the Middle East.

But the incompetence and treachery of the Arab leaders demonstrated the folly of leaving Palestine’s fate in the hands of the likes of King Abdullah of Jordan and King Farouq of Egypt.

However, 1948 also showed how the cause of Palestine could set the Middle East alight by strengthening and uniting a mass movement against imperialism and its local client rulers.