Australians For Palestine (AFP) ”seeks to dispel the myths and disinformation about Palestine in Australia” (see: http://www.australiansforpalestine.net/about-us ).
Australians For Palestine (AFP) on the Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine [detailed maps provided] (2012): “Background. For Palestinians, their land is their identity and this has been taken away from them in ever-increasing amounts since the United Nations decided to partition historic Palestine in 1947. The, the total area of historic Palestine was 6.5 million acres, with only a mere 370,000 acres under Jewish control. The Palestinians , who formed the majority population, owned some 2.25 million acres under various titles with the rest cam under the Islamic trust (waqf) and what we would call today “state land”.
The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine. The UN Partition, which divided the land into 56 per cent for the Jewish State, 43 per cent for the Arab State with Jerusalem designated as an International Zone, never eventuated. Instead, the forcible dispossession of Palestinians began even for Israel was declared a state in 1948. Jewish Zionist leaders knew that Israel’s existence could only be assured by ridding it of the indigenous Palestinian population. Zionist militia groups used physical and psychological terror tactics to force Palestinians to flee their homes in towns and villages and then took control of 5 million acres of land. Some 400 Palestinian villages and towns were ethnically cleansed, but the Palestinians never thought for a moment that they would become “permanent” refugees. To obliterate any evidence of these villages, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) planted hundreds of thousands of non-native trees in their place. In effect, the new State of Israel took a further 22 per cent of Palestinian land, and to this day, has denied the indigenous Palestinians their right of return.
Israel’s illegal land grabs are continuing. Since the 1967 war, when Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinians have been victims of a new wave of land expropriations and have witnessed the demolition of their homes and the razing of their farmlands to make way for illegal Israeli settlements, military posts, the Wall and Israeli-only freeways
The Palestinians who remained living in what had become Israel also feel the effects of Israel’s illegal land policies that favour Jewish citizens. For six decades Israel has refused to allow any new towns or villages to accommodate the growth rate of Palestinians. A 1961 law, which states that the JNF exists :for the purpose of settling Jews on such lands and properties”, blatantly discriminates on the basis if ethnicity”. [1].
[1]. Australians For Palestine (AFP) and Women For Palestine (Melbourne), “Palestinian Land Day [Yawm al Ard]”, Briefing Paper, 30 March 2012: http://www.australiansforpalestine.net/45585#more-45585 .