The state of Israel was created in May 1948, it was a state born in battle for it would be attacked by the Arab states. However the Arab armies were a poor shape to conduct a modern war. A review of the problems faced by the Egyptian and Syrian Armies. The one Arab army that was well trained, well armed and well led was the Arab Legion of the Army of Jordan. A biography of its British born commander Glubb Pasha.
In the led up to the end of the British mandate, the level of violence between the Jewish and Arab community grows in scale. The both sides prepare for war. Jewish forces captured Arab cities such as Haifa, Jaffa and Acre, Arab refugees flee. Five thousand Arab fighters from the rest of the middle east arrive in Palestine to help the Arabs. Fighting starts well before the end of the British mandate. A profile of the King of Jordan.
The history of the British mandate in Palestine from 1917 to 1947. Jewish immigration into Palestine. The Arab revolt between 1936 and 1939. After the Second World War growing violence in Palestine which a hundred thousand British soldiers in Palestine can not control. British decides to withdraw from Palestine and leaves the United Nations to decide upon the future of Palestine.
In the this first episode of season five dealing with the Cold War in Africa and the Middle East. I talk of two colonial wars, the Madagascan uprising against the French and the Mau Mau revolt in Kenya against British rule.