Little-Acorn
Gold Member
66 years ago today, on May 14, 1948, The UN ended the British mandate in the Palestine area, announcing plans for a Jewish state, an Arab state, and a combined area in Jerusalem; and the residents of the Jewish area proclaimed the State of Israel.
A few hours later, the new Israel was attacked by combined forces of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. And the attacks have gone one more or less continuously, ever since.
In this first conflict of the modern State of Israel, the Israelis captured enough territory from their attackers to increase its size by nearly 70% over what had been mandated by the UN. When the Arab nations attacked, many Arabic peoples fled the battle areas, and later called themselves "Palestinian refugees".
They even managed to pass an ordinance stating that their descendants (including those not yet born who had never lived in the embattled areas) would also be called "Palestinian refugees", thus making the "refugee" problem permanent and ever-expanding instead of assimilating into the areas they had fled to.
A few hours later, the new Israel was attacked by combined forces of Egypt, Jordan, Syria, and Iraq. And the attacks have gone one more or less continuously, ever since.
In this first conflict of the modern State of Israel, the Israelis captured enough territory from their attackers to increase its size by nearly 70% over what had been mandated by the UN. When the Arab nations attacked, many Arabic peoples fled the battle areas, and later called themselves "Palestinian refugees".
They even managed to pass an ordinance stating that their descendants (including those not yet born who had never lived in the embattled areas) would also be called "Palestinian refugees", thus making the "refugee" problem permanent and ever-expanding instead of assimilating into the areas they had fled to.
