Speaker - Bernard Wasserstein

At the end of its three-decades-long mandate in 1948, Britain withdrew its administration and 100,000-strong armed forces from Palestine. But unlike its departure from any other dependent territory, it did not hand over to any successor government. Instead it left Arabs and Jews to fight for possession of the Holy Land. Historians have long debated why Britain left Palestine. But how did they leave? Was it a dignified withdrawal or a disorderly cut and run?

Bernard Wasserstein was born in London in 1948 and was a Professor of History at several British and American universities. A Guggenheim and British Academy fellow, he has been a recipient of the Golden Dagger and Yad Vashem book awards. Since 2014, when he retired from the University of Chicago, he has lived in Amsterdam. His books, which have been translated into twelve languages, include The British in Palestine, Divided Jerusalem, and Israelis and Palestinians.