The odds were 200 to 1, seven Arab nations with population of over 140 million, against one fledgling Jewish nation with 650,000 people. The Arabs driven by hatred and pride, the Jews driven by the need for survival and the desire to put the Holocaust behind them. The Jews had no backing from any other country, the Arabs had, amongst other advantages, a British-sponsored army called the Arab Legion. Israel was fighting on four fronts. Transjordan to the east , Syria and Lebanon to the north, Iraq and Syria in the north east and Egypt in the south. It was 1948 and this was Israel's War of Independence.

On November 29th the previous year, the United Nations had voted in favour for the partition of the Land and the Jews had penciled in May 14th 1948 as the date for the declaration of the State of Israel. Incredibly, this was spoken of in Scripture. Isaiah 66:8 says, "Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labour than she gives birth to her children."

In the intervening months, many Arab Palestinians fled the land, prompted by the boasts of the Arab military commanders who declared that, as they were going to "drive the Jews into the sea", it would be most convenient for them to get out of the way and return to their homes after the inevitable victory. This has proved a controversial event as Palestinian propaganda states that the Palestinians were forced to flee through the threat and reality of Jewish massacres. If you think about it, this position is hardly surprising. After all, if they accepted the real historical facts, then they would have to completely take the blame for the refugee crisis - particularly as the Arab world have made no attempt in over 50 years to absorb their fellow Arabs, the Palestinians, into their own (often oil-rich) lands. Instead, the poor Palestinians have been used as political pawns, forced to live in refugee camps and fed with blatant untruths, with the calculated aim of producing generations of a people filled with hate and resentment for the "land-grabbing" Israelis. That is the real tragedy of the crisis.

But it can't be left there because it is important for us to always seek the truth in any situation, particularly one as crucial as this one. So here are the views of the three parties, Israelis, Palestinians and United Nations and you can discern what really happened during those turbulent times. The Israeli position has already been stated and here are some quotes. The Iraqi Prime Minister, Nuri Said, declared at the time, "We will small the country with our guns and obliterate every place the Jews seek shelter in. The Arabs should conduct their wives and children to safe areas until the fighting has died down." The Secretary of the Arab League Office in London, Edward Atiyah, said, in his book "The Arabs", "This wholesale exodus was due partly to the belief of the Arabs, encouraged by the boastings of an unrealistic Arabic press and the irresponsible utterances of some of the Arab leaders" (p. 83).

The official Palestinian position is quoted on the PNA website, which states, "as a result of the Balfour Declaration and the Partition Plan, the racist policy of the British mandate government, and the brutalities perpetrated by the Jews against the Palestinians, a total of over 750,000 Palestinian refugees were forced to abandon their homes and seek refugee in neighboring Arab countries. This large number of people didn't leave their country voluntarily, but were forced to flee following the Zionist massacres committed against unarmed Palestinians". A predictable mixture of hyperbole and mistruth.

The United Nations were strangely silent on the subject at the time, viewing the moving of populations and the creation of refugees as an unavoidable consequence of war. But they did have something to say about the Arab attitude, suggesting that they brought the whole thing on themselves. In a report of the United Nations Palestine Commission just before hostilities they stated, "Arab elements, both inside and outside of Palestine, have exerted organized, intensive effort toward defeating the purposes of the resolution of the General Assembly. To this end, threats, acts of violence and infiltration of organized, armed, uniformed Arab bands into Palestinian territory have been employed … The organized efforts of Arab elements to prevent the partition of Palestine; the determined efforts to Jews to ensure the establishment of the Jewish State as envisaged by the resolution; and the fact that the Mandatory Power, engaged in the liquidation of its administration and the evacuation of its troops, has found it impossible fully to contain the conflict, have led to virtual civil war in Palestine". If the Arabs had accepted the United Nations resolution then, arguably, there would have been no refugee crisis. But, instead … they invaded