29 The contrast between the two national versions reached a peak in the war of 1948, which was called "the War of Independence" or even "the War of Liberation" by the Jews, and "El Naqba", the catastrophe, by the Arabs.
30 As the conflict intensified in the region, and with the resounding impact of the Holocaust, the United Nations decided to divide the country into two States, Jewish and Arab. Jerusalem and its environs were to remain a separate entity, under international jurisdiction.The Jews were allotted 55% of the land, including the unpopulated Negev desert.
31 Most of the Zionist Movement accepted the partition resolution, convinced that the crucial issue was to establish a firm foundation for Jewish sovereignty. In closed meetings, David BenGurion never concealed his intention to expand, at the first opportunity, the territory given to theJews.That is why Israel's Declaration of Independence did not define the state’s borders and Israel has not defined its borders to this day.
32 The Arab world did not accept the partition plan and regarded it as a vile attempt by the United Nations, which at the time was essentially a club of Western and Communist nations, to divide a country that did not belong to it. Handing over more than half of the country to the Jewish minority, which comprised a mere third of the population, made it all the more unforgivable in their eyes.
33 The war initiated by the Arabs after the partition plan was, inevitably, an "ethnic" war; a war in
What happend in 1948 was an "ethnic" war, a war which each side seeks to conquer as much land as possible and evict the population of the other side.