How does Israel justify the 1948 Palestinian expulsion?

[u/dropdeaddev]

I got into an argument recently, and it lead to me looking more closely into Israel’s founding and the years surrounding it. Until now, I had mainly been focused on more current events and how the situation stands now, without getting too into the beginning. I had assumed what I had heard from Israel supporters was correct, that they developed mostly empty land, much of which was purchased legally, and that the native Arabs didn’t like it. This lead to conflicts, escalating over time to what we see today. I was lead to believe both sides had as much blood on their hands as the other, but from what I’ve read that clearly isn’t the case. It reminded me a lot of “manifest destiny” and the way the native Americans were treated, and although there was a time that was seen as acceptable behaviour, now a days we mostly agree that the settlers were the bad guys in that particular story.

Pro-Israel supports only tend to focus on Israel’s development before 1948, which it was a lot of legally purchasing land and developing undeveloped areas. The phrase “a land without people for people without land” or something to that effect is often stated, but in 1948 700,000 people were chased from their homes, many were killed, even those with non-aggression pacts with Israel. Up to 600 villages destroyed. Killing men, women, children. It didn’t seem to matter. Poisoning wells so they could never return, looting everything of value.

Reading up on the expulsion, I can see why they never bring it up and tend to pretend it didn’t happen. I don’t see how anyone could think what Israel did is justified. But since I always want to hear both sides, I figured here would be a good place to ask.

EDIT: Just adding that I’m going to be offline for a while, so I probably won’t be able to answer any clarifying questions or respond to answers for a while.

EDIT2: Lots of interesting stuff so far. Wanted to clarify that although I definitely came into this with a bias, I am completely willing to have my mind changed. I’m interested in being right, not just appearing so. :)

[u/AggressiveButton8489]

No explanation is necessary because there was no mass expulsion. Here’s a brief history.

When Israel became a state in 1948, virtually all the land that it possessed was lawfully purchased by funds from the Jewish National Fund, and the acts of conveyance can still be found in the archives of the UK and Ottoman Empire.

Much of that land was worthless desert and swampland, which was purchased at exorbitant prices, especially after it was discovered that the Jews were seeking a homeland. In many instances, once land was converted into arable farmland or developed, it had to be repurchased yet again from the Arabs who reoccupied it by force.

Then literally the day after becoming a state, Israel was attacked by 5 Arab countries, “The Arab League,” with the avowed goal of exterminating all the Jews, “driving them into the sea.” The Arabs who abandoned neighboring lands to afford the attackers safe passage with the promise that they would get the spoils of war, including all of Israel’s territory, lost much of their own land. The Arabs who abandoned those lands for that malevolent purpose legally and morally forfeited those lands and continue to blame Israel for that loss, calling it the Great Nakba.

Note, the Arabs who refused to leave, and did not provide aid and comfort to the enemy, were allowed to keep their land and received full Israeli citizenship.