I have seen on Daily Kos many people argue that there was a 'Nakba' on May 14, 1948, whereby innocent Palestinians had to flee from the evil Zionist invaders. In order to address this notion, it first is necessary to examine whether there ever was a 'Palestine,' where this 'Palestinian ethnicity' came from, and who the Palestinian leadership was in 1948.
Was there ever a 'Palestine'?
The truth is there never was a 'Palestine' as such, with any form of independence and sovereignty. The history of Israel is as follows:
- Canaanite tribes (not a state)
- State of Israel; first holy temple source
- Babylonians take over
- Persians take over and allow Jews to move back to Israel and rebuild the second holy temple; this forms a province within the Persian kingdom (see: Cyrus)
- Greeks take over; Jews still given the ability to rule as a province within the Greek Empire, though Salucids at one time try to convert all Jews (see: story of Chanukah)
- Romans take over Greeks; Jews still have limited self rule and King Herod greatly improves and increases the size of the Temple. However, Jews revolt, wanting more self rule and the end to taxation. (they were treated as a colony) The 'Bar Kochba' revolt led to total tragedy, estimates of at least a million Jews killed, and the forced Diaspora of Jews. Rome renames Judea to 'Palestina,' which was the name of the enemy of the Jews. The hope was to wipe the very existence of Judea off the face of the map. The earth is salted, and the region is totally sacked and destroyed. Later this area becomes known as part of Byzantium.
- Arabs take over as part of the Caliphate. source
- Crusaders take over from Arabs; independent 'Palestinian' state for the first time since the Ancient kingdom of Israel. source
- Saladin wins war against Crusaders. The area of Israel becomes part of the Ayyubid Kurdish dynasty. source
- Ottomans take over from Ayyubids. source
- British take over from Ottomans. source
You will see, throughout this, that there simply was not an independent 'Palestine' prior to Israel's formation since the time of the Crusaders.
Then.
Israel formed on May 14, 1948 via a UN vote. This is well known. What is not well known is that the local Arabs were also offered a state (which they never previously had, as was just illustrated), (source) and rejected it. Ten Arab states declared war on Israel the very day it was formed, but Israel was victorious, despite all odds. What also is not well known is that the Palestinian leadership was the one who encouraged this war against the fledgling Jewish state, Haj Amin Al Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. This very man also was an architect of Hitler's Final Solution. (source) It was he who encouraged the riots against Jewish and women and children in Hebron. It was he who attempted to prevent any Jew from lawfully immigrating to Israel, even as they were facing death and destruction in Europe. He was the indisputed leader of the local Arabs.
I present to you the notion that the 'nakba' for Arabs was self induced; Arabs declared war on Israel, and they lost the war. Israel had no intention of pushing any Arabs out, and in fact Israeli Arabs have 100% equal citizenship with Jews. This 'nakba' that occurred was thus due to the depraved actions of the Arab leadership, and the local Arabs had to suffer for the sins of their leaders, in the same way that Germans had to suffer for the sins of their Nazi leaders. (and cannot relocate to the Sudetenland)
Local Arabs became this stateless nationality due to their leaders and not Israel and Jews.
UPDATE: For a good debunking of 'New Historians' who claim otherwise, read this
EDIT: I just want to say that I am not saying anything with regards to what should happen TODAY. I am simply saying that the Palestinians exist as they due to wars started by their Arab brethren. Any peaceful resolution MUST take that in mind and place the blame where it belongs. (and not with Israel)
Another edit: To sum up, there would be no 'nakba' were it not for the war started by the Arab League in 1948. There would be no 'occupation' if Israel did not have to fight for its very existence in 1967.
The 'occupation' exists due to the Arab League, and as such, if any compensation is given to Palestinians, the Arab League should pay.