How David Ben-Gurion got the Palestinians wrong in 1948

"When European Jewish settlers embarked on brutal ethnic cleansing to establish Israel in 1948, they thought the Palestinian population would be the least of their problems. In fact, Zionist leaders like David Ben-Gurion believed that the refugee problem would resolve itself. There was deep-seated conviction among Zionists that the Palestinians lacked an identity, and they would just flee to neighbouring Arab countries and assimilate. They would not come back to claim their stolen land."

"But what happened was the exact opposite. Decade after decade, the Palestinian national cause grew stronger. Today, few survivors of the Nakba of 1948 remain, but the national commitment to Palestinian rights and historical justice is as strong as ever. That is because the older generations did not teach the younger ones to forget the trauma and move on; they taught them to remember and to keep the keys to their ancestral homes in their minds."

"The refugee problem did not resolve itself not just because of Palestinian determination and resilience, but also because the Israeli policies of violence and dispossession backfired. Israel's theft of land and resources and violent displacement of Palestinians was the starting point for every Palestinian generation to reject and resist occupation. As Israel succeeded in usurping more and more Palestinian land, it failed miserably in controlling the Palestinian consciousness."

"Despite continuous Israeli efforts to turn refugee camps into isolated enclaves, recruit agents and collaborators to undermine unity, and introduce international bodies to redefine the refugee issue as a purely humanitarian one, it failed to dismantle the Palestinian national cause. Those who were dispossessed and violated the Palestinian refugees became the most ardent carriers of the idea of resistance. Refugee camps became the centres of peaceful and armed struggle."

European Jewish settlers carried out ethnic cleansing in 1948 to establish Israel, expecting Palestinians to leave and not return. Zionist leaders believed the refugee issue would resolve itself and that Palestinians lacked a durable national identity. Instead, Palestinian national identity and commitment to rights and historical justice grew stronger decade after decade. Survivors of the Nakba dwindled, but memory of trauma and retention of keys to ancestral homes sustained younger generations. Israeli policies of violence and dispossession backfired by creating a continuing basis for rejection and resistance to occupation. Attempts to isolate refugee camps, recruit collaborators, and reframe the refugee issue as purely humanitarian failed to dismantle the national cause. Dispossessed refugees became central carriers of resistance, with camps serving as hubs of struggle.

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