Historical research shows that the roots of the Nakba—the Arabic word for "catastrophe" referring to the mass displacement of Palestinians—involve actions and decisions from all sides, rather than a single cause.

The Timeline Before the Arab Invasion

The Partition Plan: The United Nations proposed dividing Palestine into Jewish and Arab states in November 1947. Jewish leaders accepted the plan, while Arab leaders rejected it.

The Civil War: Fighting began immediately after the UN vote, months before the five Arab armies invaded on May 15, 1948.

Early Displacement: By May 1948, over 300,000 Palestinians had already fled or been forced from their homes during Zionist military operations, such as Plan Dalet.

Military Strength and Demographics

Population Numbers: Mandatory Palestine held about 600,000 Jews and 1.2 million Palestinian Arabs in 1947.

Military Balance: While Arab nations had national armies, the Jewish forces (such as the Haganah) were well-organized, highly motivated, and rapidly mobilized into a superior fighting force during the 1948 conflict.

Arab Intervention: The surrounding Arab states intervened after Israel declared independence, aiming to block the Jewish state and protect Arab interests, but their armies were fractured, poorly coordinated, and smaller in total effective combat power than often claimed.

Causes of the Nakba

Expulsion and Flight: Historical records from Israeli and international scholars show that Palestinian displacement resulted from a mix of direct military expulsions, psychological warfare, fear of massacres (like Deir Yassin), and voluntary flight from combat zones.

Responsibility: The narrative that the Nakba was entirely self-made by Arab leaders telling civilians to leave is largely contradicted by archives. Most Palestinians fled because of active warfare and expulsions by Zionist forces.

Conclusion

Blaming only one side ignores the historical record.