Two Turkish academics said that talk about Palestinians selling their land to Jews decades ago is Zionist propaganda, and historical facts do not accept these claims, amid the spread of these claims in conjunction with the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.
Zakaria Qurshun, dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Fatih Sultan Mehmet University, reported that the Palestinians did not sell their land, and when the Jews began to enter Palestine as invaders, fatwas were issued prohibiting the sale of land to them when the area was under Ottoman rule.
Qurshon stressed that historical facts do not accept the claim that the Palestinians sold their land, and repeating these claims helps Zionism and Israel's policy to rid Palestine of the Palestinians.
Resettlement
He explained that the area was under Ottoman rule until 1917, and buying and selling took place between Ottoman citizens, Muslims, Jews or others.
Following the anti-Jewry that began in the West in the 19th century, the search for a homeland began, and Britain immorally gave Palestinian-owned land to Jews, with the Balfour Declaration of 1917, which marked the beginning of the conflict we are witnessing today and the emptying of Palestine of its true inhabitants.
The Turkish researcher pointed out that Zionist philosophy treated Palestine as an uninhabited land, and stated that after World War I more Jews were settled in the Palestinian territories when the area became under the British mandate, and this quickly led to the proclamation of the State of Israel in Palestine and the displacement of its inhabitants.
No voluntary sale
Ahmed Amin Dag, vice president of the Association of Middle East and African Researchers, said that more than 5 million Palestinian refugees living in different parts of the world today have not sold their land or left voluntarily.
Amin Dag stressed that the allegations of selling Palestinian land are one of the biggest slanders said by the Israeli occupation administration, adding that Palestinians have been forcibly deported from their villages, so there is a so-called right of return for these people in various UN resolutions.
The researcher pointed out that some Palestinians sold their land to Jews under the threat of British-backed Jewish gangs at the time of the Mandate, and explained that the circulation of all Palestinian land took place either by seizing it from Jewish gangs or handing over the British occupation administration to Jewish settlers.
Amin Dag stressed that the Palestinians did not sell their land despite all the British facilities and threats before the declaration of the state of Israel.