From the beginning of the Palestinian cause up until today, a recurring accusatory question has been posed to us as Palestinians, both in our homeland and in the diaspora, whenever we present the Palestinian cause as a national issue, not exclusive to Palestinians alone: How can you ask us to support Palestine and defend it when you sold your land to the Jews and took the money? And now, you claim it is your right and want us to support you in regaining what you willingly gave away?
In response to this question, it is crucial to shed light on the truth behind it, who stands behind this narrative, who promoted it, and how the process of land sales (which was falsely attributed to Palestinians) actually occurred.
Amid the fierce war our nation faces today, it is undeniable that this war is not an exception but rather follows the same patterns as others. It consists of military, ideological, and media dimensions. This is not new to the organization and execution of wars. What happened in Palestine followed the same blueprint. Discrediting Palestinians and undermining their national and regional project had a significant impact on stripping the Palestinian cause of its broader national context. The Jews relied on promoting the idea that Palestinians voluntarily sold their land without coercion, using brokers, collaborators, and traitors—some of whom were from Palestine itself (and what nation is free of traitors?).
The Jews began establishing studies and references aimed at reinforcing the narrative of Palestinians selling their land. Over time, this lie became deeply rooted in the minds of many across our nation, who relied on hearsay without investigating historical facts or verifying the information they received. Thus, truth and falsehood became intertwined, with the darkness of the lie overshadowing the shining light of truth, except for those who scrutinized closely enough to see the truth emerging bright and clear beneath the shadows.
By revisiting British, Jewish, and Arab documents, backed by statistics, land records, and more, we can verify a very important fact: by 1948, the total area of Palestinian land that fell into Jewish hands amounted to approximately 2 million dunams, which is equivalent to 8.8% of the total land area of Palestine, which is 27 million dunams. It is also documented that these 2 million dunams reached the Jews through the following means:
First:
The Jews acquired approximately 650,000 dunams (six hundred and fifty thousand dunams) through two methods. The first method: they obtained part of this land as a minority that had lived in Palestine for hundreds of years. We do not deny the fact that some Jews lived in Palestine before the aggression and Jewish immigration (and they were a minority). The second method: they obtained the other portion with the help of Turkish governors appointed over Palestine by the Committee of Union and Progress, most of whom were either Jewish or sympathetic to them. Thus, through these two methods, the Jews obtained approximately 650,000 dunams of Palestinian land.
Second:
The Jews acquired approximately 665,000 dunams (six hundred and sixty-five thousand dunams) with direct assistance from the British Mandate government, which gave the land to the Jews as follows:
- A grant to the Jewish Agency estimated at 300,000 dunams from the British High Commissioner.
- Sale of land to the Jews estimated at 200,000 dunams at symbolic prices, also through the British High Commissioner.
- The Mandate government gifted Sultan Abdul Hamid’s land in both the Hula and Baysan regions (the Hula and Baysan concessions), covering an area of 165,000 dunams, to the Jewish Agency.
Third:
The Jews purchased 606,000 dunams from Lebanese and Syrian landowners who owned this land before the Sykes-Picot division, when Palestine, Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon were a single entity under Ottoman rule (Bilad al-Sham, or Greater Syria). When Turkey was defeated, and the Allies occupied Bilad al-Sham, the Sykes-Picot Agreement was implemented, dividing the land into four countries: Syria and Lebanon fell under French occupation, Eastern Jordan under British occupation, and Palestine under the British Mandate, preparing it to become a national homeland for the Jews. Many landowners ended up living in one country while their properties were in another. Many took advantage of this situation and sold their land in Palestine to the Jews, who paid them exorbitant prices. The following families sold land:
- The Sursock family of Beirut:
Michel Sursock and his brothers sold 400,000 dunams in the Marj Ibn Amer Valley (one of the most fertile areas in Palestine). 2,546 Palestinian families lived on this land and were expelled from their villages to make way for Jewish families brought from Europe and elsewhere. - The Salam family of Beirut:
They sold 165,000 dunams to the Jews. The Ottoman government had granted them the concession to reclaim land around Lake Hula, with the intention of selling it to Palestinian farmers at symbolic prices. However, they sold it to the Jews instead. - The Beihm and Sursock families (Michel Sursock and Mohammed Beihm):
They sold another concession in the Hula region. Like the Salam family of Beirut, this concession was intended for reclamation and then ownership transfer to Palestinians, but they sold it to the Jews. - Anton Tyan and his brother Michel Tyan sold the Jews land in Wadi al-Hawarith, estimated at 5,350 dunams. Afterward, the Jews seized all the land in Wadi al-Hawarith, amounting to 32,000 dunams, and expelled its inhabitants with the help of the Mandate government, claiming that the locals could not provide documents proving ownership of the land they had been farming for hundreds of years.
- The Qabbani family of Beirut sold the Jews 4,000 dunams in Wadi Qabbani, after which the Jews seized the entire valley under the same pretext used in Wadi al-Hawarith.
- The Sabaag and Tueni families of Beirut sold the Jews the villages of Al-Hurayj, Al-Dar Al-Bayda, and Al-Inshirah, later known as Nahariya.
- The Qutli, Al-Jaza’iri, and Al-Mardini families of Syria sold a large portion of the land in Safed to the Jews.
- The Yusuf family of Syria sold a large piece of land to the Jews for the benefit of The Palestinian Land Development Company.
- Khair al-Din al-Ahdab, Wasfi Qaddoura, Joseph Khadij, Michel Sirji, Murad Dana, and Elias al-Hajj of Lebanon sold the Jews a large area of Palestinian land near Lebanon.
Fourth:
Despite all the difficult conditions imposed on the Palestinian people and the unfair laws enacted by the British High Commissioner, who was often Jewish, the total land sold by Palestinians over thirty years amounted to 300,000 dunams. Anyone who sold their land to the Jews was considered a traitor, and many were executed by the Palestinians.
Among the factors that led some Palestinians to this sin were:
- In the early years of the British occupation, Palestinians were unaware of the Jews’ true intentions and treated them as an oppressed minority, due to their simplicity, spontaneity, and kindness.
- The British laws enacted by the Mandate government, designed to create conditions that would allow land to fall into Jewish hands. One such law was the Mandate Charter, which included Article 2 stating: “The Mandatory power is responsible for creating political, administrative, and economic conditions to ensure the establishment of a national home for the Jews in Palestine.” Another clause in the constitution that governed Palestine stated: “General legislation and principles of justice and equity should only be applied in Palestine to the extent that the circumstances allow, and adjustments required by public conditions should be made during their application.” Another article stated: “Since Islamic law grants the Sultan the authority to convert miri (government) land into privately owned land, it is appropriate to grant the High Commissioner this authority.”
- The significant temptations offered by the Jews to those who sold land. The price the Jews paid for one dunam was ten times what Arabs paid for it. This caused some individuals with weak morals to fall into this trap, and such individuals exist in every nation.
It is to the credit of the Palestinian people that they collectively criminalized the few who committed this sin, ostracized, despised, and labeled them as traitors, and in many cases, executed them. Newspapers reported on the executions of individuals in Palestine who had sold land to the Jews or acted as brokers for such sales. Among these reports was one published by Al-Ahram on July 28 and 29, 1937: ‘(A certain individual) was shot and killed while on his way home at night. He was notorious for brokering land deals to the Jews and leading some Masonic lodges that worked for Zionism. It was said that his assassination was due to his role in transferring ownership of large tracts of Palestine’s most fertile land to the Jews. Muslims closed Hassan Bek Mosque in Manshiya to prevent his funeral prayer from being held there, and only a few of his relatives—and not all of them—attended his burial, along with some Freemasons. His family feared that people would refuse to allow his burial in Muslim cemeteries, so they moved his body to his original village of Qalqilya, where there was resistance to his burial in the Muslim cemetery. It was said that he was buried in a Jewish settlement called Binyamina because he was married to a Jewish woman. His grave was later exhumed at night, and his body was thrown 20 meters away.’
From the above, it becomes clear that the 8.8% of Palestine’s land—equivalent to 2 million dunams—that ended up in Jewish hands by 1948 was not primarily acquired through purchases from Palestinians, as many even among our intellectuals believe. Rather, the majority of this land reached the Jews through Turkish Masonic governors, gifts and grants from the British government, and purchases from Syrian and Lebanese families. Only 300,000 dunams were purchased from Palestinians over thirty years, amidst oppressive economic policies, pressures, and temptations. This means that only one-eighth (1/8) of the land acquired by the Jews by 1948 came from Palestinians. We also saw how one Lebanese family sold 400,000 dunams in a single transaction, a larger amount than what Palestinians sold over thirty years. These were rare and exceptional individuals who were punished with ostracism and death.
No society throughout history has been free of the weak and hypocritical, and it is unfair to hold the entire Palestinian people responsible for a crime committed by a few outliers. Especially since this people held those outliers accountable and punished them. What the Palestinian people continue to offer today in terms of sacrifices and heroism—despite the long years since their land was occupied and the enormity of the conspiracy against them—stands as a testament to their steadfastness and determination not to relinquish their land.
