Basic Misconceptions

I have had a disagreement with a reader who confuses opinions for facts and is ignorant of the long complex history of Jewish presence in Israel. He believes that Israel was founded as a State after WWII “to house European Jewish refugees” who “stole Palestinian land” and subsequently Israel became an “apartheid State” separating Jews and Arabs. These are widely believed falsehoods, particularly on the political left. I will attempt to provide some context to demonstrate the true situation:

1. Israeli legitimacy: Due to the prevalent anti-Semitism throughout Europe in the 19th century and particularly the pogroms in Russia, many Jews emigrated to the US, Britain (including my grandparents) and the Ottoman Empire. Then after the Balfour Declaration of 1917 by the British Government to establish a Jewish Homeland in Palestine (as they called it) and after WWI, Britain and France were given Mandates in 1922 by the League of Nations (the precursor of the UN) to establish States for the indigenous peoples in what had been the defeated Ottoman Empire. Britain was given a Mandate for Palestine to establish a Homeland for the Jewish people that eventually became Israel and Jordan, and a Mandate for Mesopotamia to establish an Arab State that eventually became Iraq and Kuwait, and France had a Mandate for Syria that eventually became Syria and Lebanon.
2. Purchased Land: Under the British Mandate (1922-1948), Jewish immigration to Palestine was at first encouraged and the Jewish National Fund purchased Land throughout British Palestine, mainly from Arabs. For example, the Jezreel Valley was purchased from the Sarsour family in Beirut starting in 1911, barren land north of Jaffa was purchased in 1906 where Tel Aviv was founded (now a city of ca. 500,000 people). And this happened throughout Palestine, founding cities like Zichron Ya’akov (founded by Ya’akov Rothschild), Ness Ziona, Rishon LeZion, Rehovot, Rosh Pina and many more, as well as old established cities such as Haifa, Jerusalem, Hebron, that had indigenous Jewish populations. In Umm Khalid, when the Jewish Agency reps arrived to negotiate with the mukhtar, he famously said, “what took you so long?” It is now the city of Netanya.
3. The Jewish Refugees: Very few Jewish refugees arrived in Palestine between the end of WWII in 1945 and the establishment of Israel in 1948. According to the British then, immigration to Palestine was illegal and they militarily prevented it (such as the ship Exodus 1948, whose Jewish refugees were forcibly interned in Cyprus or returned to Germany). But once the British left and Israel was founded, it accepted not only ca. 1.5 million European Jewish refugees, but also ca. 600,000 Jewish refugees who were expelled and/or escaped from Arab Lands (see figure). Certainly the Holocaust in Europe during WWII affected the decision by the Jews in Palestine to proclaim their independence, but it was a fait accompli even without the refugees.
4. Arab Reaction: The Local Arabs (who never called themselves Palestinians until 1964) opposed Jewish immigration to Palestine, and massacred Jews in uprisings in 1921, 1929 and 1936, when an Arab revolt was put down by the British. However, the British reneged on their Mandate to establish a Jewish Homeland, and like France, hoped to keep the Land for themselves. After WWII the Jews then fought the British and forced them to leave in 1948, following which 5 Arab armies attacked Palestine to massacre the Jews. The Jewish population of Palestine in 1948 was 650,000. Everyone expected another Holocaust, but the Jews finally fought back and defeated the invading armies as well as the local Arabs. The UN passed the Partition Plan in 1948 establishing two States (the original “two-State solution”), but the Arabs rejected the Plan while the Jews accepted it. But, after the war with the defeat of the Arabs, only the State of Israel was founded and was recognized by most members of the UN.
5. The Arab Refugees: Approximately 600,000 Arab refugees left Palestine for surrounding Arab areas (Jordan, Lebanon, Syria), so there was a population exchange (see figure). Some stayed in Gaza and the West Bank and others remained in Israel. These Arab Israelis now number about 2 million (their numbers have grown) and represent ca. 20% of the population. They are largely integrated in all walks of life (a Supreme Court Judge, doctors, nurses, technicians, professors, etc.). Notably, although there have been demonstrations and protests by some Israeli Arabs in the past, there were NONE during the current war in Gaza. This shows a very significant degree of their integration into Israeli society, in fact 21 Israeli Arabs were murdered by the Hamas terrorists on Oct 7 and 5 were kidnapped.
6. Apartheid propaganda: What are the signs of an apartheid state as defined by the Afrikaners in South Africa: the legal separation of the races, separate facilities for blacks and whites, such as schools, toilets and medical treatment, etc. None of this exists in Israel, there is no legal separation of Arabs and Jews, everyone is an equal citizen. There are no separate facilities for anything, for example not only are there Arab and Jewish patients together in hospitals and clinics, but the doctors and nurses are completely mixed. My pharmacist, the X-ray technician, the optician, the junior doctor I see, all are Arabs. This is not unusual, it is routine. So Israel is NOT an apartheid state, this is false propaganda. People mix-up the Palestinians who are not Israeli citizens, who live outside the State and are foreigners, with the Israeli Arabs, just as there are Mexican Americans who are American citizens and Mexicans who live in Mexico. This doesn’t mean that you call the US “an apartheid State” because it doesn’t extend rights to all foreign Mexicans.