"Lost years" (1948–1967) Palestinians

abd al-qadir al-husayni, leader of army of holy war in 1948

after 1948 palestine war , accompanying palestinian exodus, known palestinians al nakba (the catastrophe ), there hiatus in palestinian political activity. khalidi attributes traumatic events of 1947-49, included depopulation of on 400 towns , villages , creation of hundreds of thousands of refugees. 418 villages had been razed, 46,367 buildings, 123 schools, 1,233 mosques, 8 churches , 68 holy shrines, many long history, destroyed israeli forces. in addition, palestinians lost 1.5 2 million acres of land, estimated 150,000 urban , rural homes, , 23,000 commercial structures such shops , offices. recent estimates of cost palestinians in property confiscations israel 1948 onwards has concluded palestinians have suffered net $300 billion loss in assets.

those parts of british mandatory palestine did not become part of newly declared israeli state occupied egypt or annexed jordan. @ jericho conference on 1 december 1948, 2,000 palestinian delegates supported resolution calling unification of palestine , transjordan step toward full arab unity . during khalidi terms lost years followed, palestinians lacked center of gravity, divided between these countries , others such syria, lebanon, , elsewhere.

yasser arafat, leader of plo, in palestinian refugee camp in southern lebanon, 1978.

israeli historian efraim karsh takes view palestinian identity did not develop until after 1967 war because palestinian exodus had fractured society impossible piece national identity. between 1948 , 1967, jordanians , other arab countries hosting arab refugees palestine/israel silenced expression of palestinian identity , occupied lands until israel s conquests of 1967. formal annexation of west bank jordan in 1950, , subsequent granting of palestinian residents jordanian citizenship, further stunted growth of palestinian national identity integrating them jordanian society.

in 1950s, new generation of palestinian nationalist groups , movements began organize clandestinely, stepping out onto public stage in 1960s. traditional palestinian elite had dominated negotiations british , zionists in mandate, , largely held responsible loss of palestine, replaced these new movements recruits came poor middle-class backgrounds , students or recent graduates of universities in cairo, beirut , damascus. potency of pan-arabist ideology put forward gamal abdel nasser—popular among palestinians whom arabism important component of identity—tended obscure identities of separate arab states subsumed.