No. Focusing specifically on 1920–1948, the situation is more about land purchases, settlement, and growing tensions rather than outright “theft” in the legal sense, though Palestinians often experienced dispossession.
Here’s a clear breakdown:
1. British Mandate Period (1920–1948)
After World War I, the League of Nations gave Britain the mandate over Palestine. During this period, Jewish immigration increased, especially due to European persecution (e.g., the rise of Nazism in the 1930s).
2. Land Purchases
Jewish organizations legally bought land from absentee Arab landowners, mainly in coastal plains, parts of Galilee, and around Jerusalem. Often, Palestinian tenant farmers working the land were displaced when ownership changed. They were sometimes compensated, but many lost livelihoods. The amount of land purchased remained a small fraction of the total land—estimates suggest around 6–7% of Palestine by 1947.
3. Rising Tensions and Violence
As Jewish immigration and settlement increased, Arab resentment grew. There were major riots and clashes in 1920, 1921, 1929, and the 1936–1939 Arab revolt. These often involved disputes over land, economic displacement, and political control.
4. UN Partition Plan (1947)
By 1947, the UN proposed a partition: 56% to Jews, 43% to Arabs, Jerusalem international. Jews accepted; Arabs rejected it. Palestinians saw much of this as unjust, since Jews owned a much smaller portion of the land at the time but were allocated more than half under the UN plan.
Key Takeaways (1920–1948)
- Much land was legally purchased by Jewish organizations.
- Many Palestinian farmers were displaced as a result.
- Violence and riots reflected deepening resentment over land, immigration, and political control.
By 1948, tensions culminated in the Nakba, when hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled or were expelled, and their land came under Israeli control after the war that arab countries have started.