“The Union Jack was lowered and with the speed of an execution and silence of a ship that passes in the night, British rule in Palestine came to an end.” -eyewitness account on the departure of the British High Commissioner, General Alan Cunningham
The word an-Nakba translates to “The Catastrophe,” which refers to the murder, expulsion, and flight under duress of over 700,000 Palestinians during the intercommunal violence that preceded the end of the Mandate, the ensuing Arab-Israeli war, and the Israeli targeting of Palestinians. One of the most notorious massacres was the Irgun’s (Zionist militia) killing of 120 people in the village of Dayr Yassin, after which they stuffed the bodies of the civilians into the village well.
On May 15th, 1948, the British Mandate for Palestine was terminated by the UN, and the 1947 partition plan was to be put into place. However, Egypt, Syria, Transjordan, and Iraq invaded Israel, beginning an Arab-Israeli war that lasted until December. The UN partition plan was thrown out in favor of the eventual armistice lines. Many Israelis subscribe to the narrative that the fledgling Israeli state was born defenseless and had to stand up for itself against what they saw as a senseless Arab attack.
Yellow/orange areas were designated for a Palestinian state (including an enclave in and around Jaffa)
Green areas were designated for an Israeli state
The city of Jerusalem and its environs, in light tan, was to be internationally administered.
"Palestine – Plan of Partition with Economic Union under A/RES/181 – Map" by United Nations is in the Public Domain, CC0
The UN passed the 1947 partition plan. The Israeli leadership accepted it, while the Palestinians rejected it. Today, some Israelis subscribe to the narrative that Palestinians do not have a homeland because they rejected this deal. With hindsight, and knowing what the next 76 years held for the Palestinian people, perhaps it would be accepted. But it's important to consider the context of the time period. Palestine had been part of an independent mutasarrifate under the Ottomans. The British had made a deal promising a Palestinian homeland. In the 1947 partition plan, 55% of historic Palestine went to a Jewish state and 45% to an Arab state. At the time, Jews constituted a third of the population and owned less than 10% of the land in Palestine. The Palestenian persepective was that any ceding of territory was a loss.