Did Zionism Replace Palestinians?

The Arab population between the river and the sea has only increased since the advent of Zionism, and Palestinian national identity has only grown stronger. In reality, anti-Zionists strive to “replace” Jewish national identity.

As Jewish immigrants settled in the British Mandate for Palestine between World War I and World War II, so did Arab immigrants from surrounding areas. The Arab population between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea more than doubled during that time period. Because these two peoples – Jews and Palestinian Arabs – developed their own national movements, in 1947, the United Nations General Assembly suggested a partition of the land based on population. The Palestinian Arab leaders rejected the plan and started a war. This pattern has continued ever since. Nothing about Zionism necessitates the “erasure” of the Palestinians, nor does it preclude creating a Palestinian state.

Recommended Reading

The Claim of Dispossession: Jewish Land-Settlement and the Arabs, 1878-1948

"This study sheds new light on the historic background of the contemporary Palestinian problem. Avneri traces the spread of Jewish settlements over the seventy-year period before the establishment of the State of Israel, in order to see how it affected the existing Arab community's economy and social and cultural institutions. He demonstrates that there is no historical evidence for the eviction of the Palestinians from Israel previous to the founding of the state. Most of those who left afterwards did so on their own volition."

Palestinians Rejected Statehood Three Times, Claim Frustration — with Israel

"While the Palestinian people have much to be frustrated about, the object of their frustration should be not Israel, but their own leaders, who have thrown away opportunity after opportunity to establish the Palestinian state they claim to desire above all else."

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