April 1948: Fawzi al-Qawuqji (born in Tripoli, worked in Berlin on anti-Jewish Nazi propaganda during WWII & commanded the “Arab Liberation Army” during '48 War) & his army left Damascus for Haifa; and thousands of Arabs fled amid rumors Haifa would be bombed.
After Haifa was to be bombed, al-Qawuqji’s forces planned to “clean up” Haifa (murder the remaining Jews).
At first, 25,000 Arabs in Haifa packed up & fled immediately - mostly north toward Lebanon or Syria.
However, around the same time, the Haganah (precursor to the IDF) regained total control of Haifa; and Golda Meir went to Haifa to try to persuade the Arab community to stay and be a part of the new country where they would have equal rights, the ability to carry on with their lives, to keep their homes, and to maintain their businesses.
Unfortunately, Golda could not convince them to stay. The Arabs expressed appreciation that Golda came to speak with them personally, but said they had to leave or else they would be judged as traitors.
This took place three weeks before the British officially ended the Mandate and left the country. A British police report from Haifa, dated April 26, 1948, stated, “every effort is being made by the Jews to persuade the Arab populace to stay and carry on with their normal lives, to get their shops and businesses open and to be assured that their lives and interests will be safe.”
Despite the best efforts of “the Jews” and of Golda Meir specifically to get them to stay and be equal citizens in the new state, a total of more than 50,000 Arabs left Haifa before the war’s end.
Source: Captain Allen - X