History
Why did Palestinians reject the 1947 partition plan?
EXPLAINED FROM SOURCES
The short answer
Because Palestinians believed it was unfair to give away a large part of their homeland to create another state. In 1947, the United Nations proposed dividing Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem under international control.
The fuller explanation
Because Palestinians believed it was unfair to give away a large part of their homeland to create another state.
In 1947, the United Nations proposed dividing Palestine into a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem under international control.
At the time, Palestinian Arabs were the majority of the population. Yet the proposed Jewish state would receive roughly 56% of the land. The population of that proposed state would include roughly 498,000 Jews and 407,000 Arabs, as well as about 90,000 Bedouins counted separately in the UN committee’s estimates.
Jewish leaders accepted the plan, although some were unhappy with its borders. Palestinian Arab leaders and surrounding Arab states rejected it.
Their basic argument was: why should the people already living in Palestine have their country divided without their agreement? They argued that Palestinians should instead be able to decide the future of their own country.
The dispute developed into war, and Israel declared independence in 1948.