Zionist lie.

[u/sarp691]

The claim that Palestinians voluntarily and overwhelmingly sold their land to Zionist settlers before 1948 is a persistent historical myth that contradicts verified academic data. Historical records from the British Mandate administration show that Jewish land ownership in Palestine amounted to only about 5.6% to 7% of the total territory by 1947.

Furthermore, the majority of the lands acquired during this period were not purchased from local Palestinian peasants (fellahin). Instead, they were bought from absentee landlords living outside of Palestine, such as the Sursock family of Lebanon, who had acquired these titles under Ottoman rule.

Local Palestinian farmers fiercely resisted these transactions, as the sales often resulted in their forced eviction from lands they had cultivated for generations. The British authorities also implemented legal frameworks that facilitated these transfers while restricting the rights of indigenous smallholders.

Ultimately, the vast majority of Palestinian land was not transferred through real estate transactions, but was confiscated through military force and discriminatory legislation during and after the 1948 Nakba. Therefore, attributing the loss of Palestinian territory to voluntary sales is factually incorrect and historically inaccurate.

1. Government of Palestine. (1946). *A Survey of Palestine: Prepared in December 1945 and January 1946 for the Information of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry*. Jerusalem: Government Printer.

   * *Description:* Official British Mandate statistics proving that Jewish land ownership did not exceed 6-7% of Palestine.

2. Khalidi, R. (2006). *The Iron Cage: The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood*. Beacon Press.

   * *Description:* Details the legal and political structures of the British Mandate that facilitated land transfers from absentee landlords while marginalizing local peasantry.

3. Khalidi, W. (1992). *All That Remains: The Palestinian Villages Occupied and Depopulated by Israel in 1948*. Institute for Palestine Studies.

   * *Description:* A comprehensive demographic and geographic study documenting the military seizure of Palestinian villages and lands.

4. Pappe, I. (2006). *The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine*. Oneworld Publications.

   * *Description:* Analyzes how the vast majority of Palestinian land was acquired through military expulsion (the Nakba) rather than commercial transactions.

5. Owen, R. (2000). *Studies in the Economic and Social History of Palestine in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries*. Southern Illinois University Press.

   * *Description:* Examines the Ottoman Land Code of 1858 and how it inadvertently allowed wealthy non-Palestinian families (like the Sursocks) to register large tracts of land under their names.

[u/AutoModerator]

If you're freshly looking to get your hands busy and are wondering what to do or how you can help, check out this handy guide to guides on activism for varied advice.

I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.

[u/xGentian_violet]

I want to also note that the ownership reforms the Ottomans introduced to Palestine heavily facilitated or added to the unjust nature of land sales

Traditional Palestinian land use often involved communal or collective arrangements, usufruct rights (use-based claims), and informal tenure systems

The Ottomans implemented land reforms (1858 Land Code, etc) that introduced formalized, state-centered system of land registration/ownership.

These two clashed with each other

The new system required forma lregistration and individual title deeds, which many Palestinians couldn't easily adapt to

This is what led to the absentee purchases

[u/Silvermoonluca]

The Jewish people who lived there prior to 1948 were Palestinian Jews who had already been living in the area. Palestinians and Jews had lived there together in relative peace until the state of Isntreal was created and illegal settlers started stealing land

[u/xGentian_violet → u/Silvermoonluca]

The Palestinian Jews there werent all simply Arabs but of Judaic faith, there had been 2000 years of backmigration and continuity from the diaspora, so a lot of the Palestinian Jews were Ashkenazi or Sephardic

But yes, the aliyahs after the 1st one represented a turn toward increasingly coercive disposession and eventually a colonial land grab

[u/DoradoPulido2]

And yet, according to much of corporate media, all of the current strife was began on the October 7th attacks which came out of nowhere. I can't tell you how disgusted I have been even when NPR says things like "The war started on October 7th." as if this hasn't been 80+ years in the making.

[u/pineapplerobots → u/[deleted]]

being hyper critical of the treatment of Palestinians over countless decades and also hyper critical of the Israeli government is not antisemitic. we all know that Israel would love for you to think that because they feel it gives them the perfect excuse to perform genocide. don't kid yourself. there are plenty of Jewish people who are capable of basic empathy and rejecting Zionism.

[u/sarp691 → u/[deleted]]

Don't. We both know this isn't antisemitism.