In 1896, the Viennese journalist, Theodore Herzl, published The Jewish State, influenced by 19th century European nationalism. The vision: creation of a Jewish nation-state. In 1897, Herzl convened a Congress of Jews at Basel, Switzerland and founded the World Zionist Organization to restore the Jewish National Home in Palestine, which at that time was a remote Turkish colony, but inhabited by over a half million Arab Palestinians.
The political program adopted at this 1897 Congress, that continues to provide its basis, begins: "Zionism aims at establishing for the Jewish people a publicly recognized and legally secured home in Palestine." Among the means identified for attainment of the objective: "Promotion of the settlement of Jewish agriculturalists, artisans and tradesmen in Palestine." Zionism was envisioned as a "wall protecting Europe from Asia" and "an outpost of culture against barbarism." It implied alliance with the great western capitalist powers and therefore was very Eurocentric. Thus it has always represented a western bias.
In 1916, Zionist leaders met with British authorities asking for creation of an autonomous Jewish settlement in Palestine. British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, in November 1917, declared that the British supported establishment of land for a "national home" for the Jewish people. This became known as the Balfour Declaration, perhaps regarded by the British as a method for preserving and extending their dominion in the region that was becoming strategic because of the emerging era of oil. However, since the Arabs had greatly assisted the British in defeating the Turks during the War, the Declaration included language that "nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine," over 90 percent of the population at the time. The dream of a united Arab nation or kingdom had been kindled during WW I, significantly by T.E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), but was cruelly betrayed by the Treaty of Versailles (1919) which divided up the spoils among European powers Great Britain and France after the War. The Arabs claimed that the British had promised them an independent state as well. The ratio of Jewish settlers to Palestinian indigenous in 1918 was only one to ten.
The first Arab anti-Zionist riots occurred in Palestine in 1920. Despite these problems, the League of Nations formally approved the British Mandate over Palestine in 1922. This Mandate by a foreign colonial power preempted self-government by the Palestinians, facilitated Jewish immigration, and oversaw the transfer of land to the settlers without the consent and against militant opposition of the indigenous Palestinians. Large tracts of land were purchased or "acquired" from the Arabs, massive electrification of the country was initiated, and a "model" town, Tel Aviv, inhabited completely by Jews was laid out, including construction of schools and other institutions.
In 1930, Sir John Hope Simpson was dispatched by the British government to study the economic conditions in Palestine. He found that the Zionist land policy was displacing large numbers of Arab farmers while also causing neglect and deterioration of agricultural land. Throughout the 1930s, the Arabs conducted large-scale strikes and boycotts in protest. The Palestinian general strike in 1936 in protest of continued Jewish immigration, the latter spurred by Hitler's persecutions, led to the creation of the British Peel Commission (1937). The Commission found British promises to Zionists and Arabs irreconcilable, declared its Mandate unworkable, and recommended partition of Palestine into Jewish, Arab, and British (largely the holy sited) states. The Zionists reluctantly accepted but the Arabs vehemently rejected the partition plan. Sporadic rebellion lasted until 1939, by when most Palestinian leaders had been killed, exiled or imprisoned, and the British dropped the plan. Instead, the British began strict controls over Jewish immigration for 5 years. In ten years a binational Palestine (one state) was to be established.
Shocked, the Zionists rejected the latest proposal. The Arabs demanded immediate creation of a secure Arab Palestine and prohibition of all further Jewish immigration. As World War II was unfolding, Zionists and most Arabs supported the British war efforts. The plan was scrapped but tensions inside Palestine continued to mount.
Haganah was a secret armed group organized by the Jewish Agency, the organization that officially worked with the Mandate. The Irgun, the most militant of all, and the Stern Gang also emerged as Jewish terrorist groups. Irgun, under the leadership of a Polish Jew, Menachen Begin, also announced in 1944 its war against the Mandate and specifically its goal to assassinate British officials because of their support for a limitation of Jewish immigration quotas. Virtually all current Israeli leaders were members or support for a limitation of Jewish immigration quotas. Virtually all current Israeli leaders were members or supporters of one or more of these terrorist organizations. Fifteen British officials had been murdered by October 1944. The terror campaign gathered momentum in 1945-46. The Kind David Hotel in Jerusalem was bombed with many killed. Thousands of Europe's Jews sought admission to Palestine following the end of the war but the British blocked the immigration attempts and detained the migrating Jews in Cypress and other locations. The Jewish terrorist groups responded to the blockade with the escalation of violence, including the blowing up a number of buildings, bridges, and railways, while targeting British soldiers.
Armed Zionist organizations began forcefully expelling Palestinians from their homes, claiming an attack by Arab armies was imminent.
On April 9, 1948, the Irgun terrorist organization, commanded by Menachen Begin, as a part of an increased campaign of violence, attacked the village of Deir Yasin, killing 254 Palestinian men, women and children. The intention was to terrify the Palestinians into leaving their land. Ten thousand Palestinians did leave the country in fear of their lives. Begin later declared: "There would have been no State of Israel without Deir Yasin."
At midnight, May 14, 1948, the British High Commissioner for Palestine departed the country. (I bet he said, "Phew"!) At 4 p.m. that same day, the Jews held a ceremony in Tel Aviv at which time they read their Declaration of Independence of the Jewish State in Palestine, for the Jewish people (wherever they might be living at the time), to be called Israel.
for more dtails
http://www.brianwillson.com/palest_hist.html