| Summary/Abstract |
This article focuses on the evacuation of the camps for Jewish detainees in Cyprus during the period between May 1948 and February 1949. While the British Mandate over Palestine ended on 15 May 1948 and the Israeli Provisional Government declared British immigration laws null and void, Jewish immigration to Israel was restricted after 1 June 1948 by UN Security Council Resolution 50. Consequently, over 10,000 internees remained on the island until the final evacuation. While Resolution 50 did not ban immigration per se but rather the military training of the immigrants, the British government nevertheless insisted on maintaining the camps in Cyprus and limiting the immigration of military aged men. The article draws upon archival material as well as press articles and published works on the subject. It undertakes to identify the chief obstacles to the immigration of the remaining detainees on the island in the backdrop of the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the Israeli path towards statehood and international recognition.
|