The Palestine issue has been a controversial issue throughout history, and many claims and propaganda have been circulated about this region. One of the claims at the heart of this issue is that Palestinians voluntarily sold their land. However, this claim represents a mistake that does not coincide with historical facts and conscience. By clarifying this issue, experts shed light on the history and land ownership of Palestinian lands.
Zionist lobbies in America, “Palestine was an empty and barren land, we came and revived it. Therefore, those lands are ours.” They make propaganda in the form of. At the same time, for the Islamic world, “Palestinians sold their land with their own hands, and we bought it for big money.” They put forward arguments such as: However, today’s reality refutes both claims.
Currently there are approximately 8.5 million worldwide Palestinian is alive. Approximately three and a half million of them live inside Palestinian territory, and the remaining five million live outside it. Almost all of those living outside and most of those inside are refugees and have been deported. forced migration they have been made.
Population Density in Palestinian Territories
The total surface area of Palestinian territory is 28,220 km2. Part of this area Naqab desert Contains. The Naqab desert remains undeveloped and unsuitable for productive agriculture. Only some areas are used as pasture and for limited agricultural activities. Israel uses this desert as prisons and famous prisons where it forcibly sends its Palestinian prisoners. Dimona nuclear It uses land for its power plant.
However, let’s take a look at the population density, taking this desert into account: If the entire Palestinian population still lived in these lands, if they were not subject to deportation and if there was no Jewish immigration from outside, there would be 300 people per square kilometer in these lands. For comparison, there are an average of 80 people living per square kilometer in Turkey. In other words, the population density in Palestine would be approximately four times that in Turkey.
The population density is still at these levels because a number of Jews similar to the Palestinians who were forced to migrate were brought from abroad, some of them reverse-migrated during the intifada periods, and currently there is a Jewish population of around 4.5 million.
Palestinians Had to Abandon Their Land
Occupying ZionistsThey argue that the Palestinians sold their lands with their own hands and that they paid a lot of money to buy them. However, when we think about this claim, shouldn’t those who received large amounts of money in exchange for the lands subject to sale own property and live a comfortable life in the countries they visit? Were these people so impulsive that they spent large amounts of money on short-term pleasures or gambling games?
But the truth is that Palestinians are in the countries mentioned, refugee campsThey live in absolute misery and are in need of assistance from international aid organizations. The conditions in which these people live are changed not by selling their land, by being forced to deport It is a concrete indicator that they had to leave their lands.
Mass migration out of Palestine began during the 1948 War. However, there was no mass migration before this date. This event, It is proof that the Palestinians who left Palestine had to leave their homeland and land not by selling them, but because of war and violence against them.. This is because Jewish organizations made intense efforts to purchase land before 1948. However, after this date, through deportation They have already seized large lands.
The Israeli occupation state aims to give the lands of Palestinians who were forced to migrate to Jewish immigrants.law on abandoned landsHe passed a law called “. Under this law, hundreds of thousands of acres of land were easily given to Jewish immigrants. But there is a contradiction here, isn’t there?
Palestinian Lands Are Considered “Abandoned Lands”
If the Palestinians sold their land with their own hands, why would this land be sold?abandoned lands” is considered? Millions of acres of landabandoned” is clear evidence that the Zionists settled in these lands not by purchasing, but by using violence and forcing people to migrate. When we think logically, no family would prefer to leave their own land and change their living conditions by force on the other side.
Today, Israel takes a very determined stance in denying the right of return of Palestinians who are refugees. Moreover, “Road mapHe put forward the denial of refugees’ right to return to their homeland as a condition for accepting his plan. So why do they so decisively deny these people the right to return to their homeland?
If these people had sold their land for money, They present their sales documents and title deeds and settle the returning refugees without any problems.I. But it doesn’t work that way. The fact that they confiscated the lands of the people who were forced to migrate, with a law enacted under the name of “the law on abandoned lands”, leads to the emergence of the real owners of those abandoned lands when the refugees return to their homeland, and the understanding that the invaders usurped these lands by force, not by purchasing them.
Herein lies the issue. This fact alone proves that the Zionists “Palestinians sold their land” may invalidate their claims.
The Process of Jews Acquiring Property in Palestinian Lands
Let’s take a closer look at the process of Jews acquiring property in Palestinian lands: Palestinian lands cover 28 million acres in total. At the establishment of the Israeli occupation state in 1948, the amount of land owned by Jews was only 2 million decares. This, Only 7% of Palestinian land coincides.
650 thousand decares of these lands were acquired during the Ottoman period. This property acquisition process, which started in the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent, gained momentum especially with the establishment of the Jewish lobby. In this process, Suleiman the Magnificent, Yusuf Nassi, who has a Jewish origin, Sea of Tiberias He donated some of the lands around him. At this point, the Jews’ efforts to acquire land began, and by 1917 they owned 650 thousand acres of land.
300 thousand acres of land were donated to the Jews by the British invaders. The British imposed high land taxes on Palestinians, and those who could not pay these taxes confiscated their property and then these lands Jewish They handed it over to immigrants.
200 thousand decares of land were sold for a symbolic price. However, this sales transaction involved tax games and fraud. The lands sold in this way were confiscated by the British and the sale was actually carried out for a symbolic fee.
Again, 600 thousand decares of land were purchased from some Arab landowners who lived outside Palestine and acquired property in Palestinian lands. It is clear that there is no intervention by the Palestinians at this stage. Palestinians had no role in 87% of the land acquired by Jews by 1948.
250 thousand decares of land were purchased from Palestinians. This constitutes 0.9% of the total amount of Palestinian land, and those who decided to sell faced a huge social backlash and eventually had to leave Palestine.
Now, let’s consider the ratio of sold lands to all lands and the ratio of those selling to the general population: When judging a society, do you look at the opinion of 0.9% or the opinion of 99.1%?
At least 99% of the Palestinian people maintained their determination not to sell land to Jewish immigrants and insisted on this determination. If Jewish immigrants have kept the total amount of land at nine per thousand in 30 years, despite the attractive offers of encouraging organizations, this reflects the solidarity, determination and will of the Palestinian people to fight effectively. However, unfortunately, the Palestinian people have been slandered despite this solidarity. This is similar to ascribing the crime of adultery to someone who is careful to protect their chastity.
After 1948, Jewish immigrants acquired property entirely through occupation, usurpation and forced migration. They also used the above-mentioned law to seize the lands of Palestinians who were forced to migrate.
