In 1947, when the UN division plan for the British mandated area for the area was being drawn up, the land ownership was as follows.

9% Jewish owned
3% owned by resident Palestinians
18% owned by non resident Arabs

the rest (69%) owned by the authorities


Population, 1945

1,764,520, comprising 1,061,270 Muslims, 553,600 Jews, 135,550 Christians and 14,100 people of other groups.


So, before the State of Israel existed, neither side owned the land, and there was a mixed population.

Lets have an end to the 'land of their ancestors' routine round here. There have been many attempts to create peace in the region. The most sucessful ones included
The Roman solution:
Kill every jewish person in the area, and there one less faction involved



And Divis, do you also support the Native Americans in reclaiming their land of their ancestors?
There are tens of millions of people describing themselves as 'Irish American'. If they all get returned, it would sink the emerald isle.


Which would solve one long running problem , I suppose....