CarolC, even if one accepts scriptural texts as factual, pulling an odd verse out of minor books (and out of context) really means nothing.

The fact that many people choose to ignore is that, until the series of wars that began less than 24 hours after the declaration of Israel as a nation, most of the territory which constituted the state in 1949 had been purchased under either Turkish or Mandate law from its prior owners. It is entirely true that thousands of refugees were created by a succession of Arab defeats, mostly following Arab aggression or credible threats of invasion.