Al nakba - Palestinian catastrophe - dispossession of Palestine by Israel - P1

Documentary on the forced exodus of Palestinians from their homeland, film produced by Al Jazeera in 2008, to mark 60 years since the founding of the state of Israel, underwritten by the United Nations, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

In the first video installment, the British role is detailed, over the course of 30 years of British rule, explaining how the Jewish population in Palestine rose from only 50,000 in 1908 to 500,000 by 1948. On 19 April 1936, the Palestinians launched a national strike to protest against mass Jewish immigration into the Palestinian homeland and what they saw as Britain’s alliance with the Zionist movement. The British responded with force. During the six months of the strike, over 190 Palestinians were killed and more than 800 wounded.

As the Palestinian revolt continued, Britain’s response hardened. Between 1936 and 1937, the British killed over 1,000 Palestinians; and committed crimes such as ethnic cleansing and collective punishment.

In the face of Jewish terrorist attacks designed to hasten the departure of the British, attacks which killed some 37 British military police, the British eventually capitulated, abandoning their mandate over Palestine and handing it over the the United Nations.

Arab, Israeli and Western intellectuals, historians and eye-witnesses provide the central narrative which is accompanied by archive material and documents, many only recently released for the first time.Editor’s note: Since first running on Al Jazeera Arabic in 2008, this series has won Arab and international awards and has been well received at festivals throughout the world.

further details:
http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/specialseries/2013/05/20135612348774619.html