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Framing the question as who owns Palestine already sets the question as having a certain desired answer and also the lack of definitions for what constitutes "ownership" (i.e. a land belonging to a group) and what constitutes "Palestine" make the question difficult to answer.
As for "Palestine" this term is typically interpreted one of two ways. The first way is to refer to all of the land in the British Mandate of Palestine which includes the Modern State of Israel (except for the Golan Heights), the Gaza Strip, and the West Bank. The second way is to refer to exclusively those territories which the Palestinian Authority claims will serve as a basis for a future Palestinian State: the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Understandably, it changes the argument fundamentally if 78% of the territory in question is exempted from the discussion.
As for "ownership" there are two understandings of this word. The first is the literal definition of possessing something. Therefore whatever persons, companies, organizations, or governments own something with proper title as viewed by recognized governments are those who have "ownership". (This is like any typical sale.) The second definition is the perceived Color of Right of Title, which is to say that a certain person, organization, or government should have proper title but does not have it on account of an illegal activity. (This case would come for example if A owned a book and B stole it. While B has physical possession of the book, A still retains ownership since stealing, the act of transfer and acquisition, is illegal.) Understandably, most Israelis claim that no illegal act took place and therefore title properly belongs to them. Palestinians and their sympathizers often (but not always) argue that their land was stolen and therefore, they retain proper ownership.
As for the 78% of Mandatory Palestine which is now the State of Israel, this came about through Israel's acceptance of UN Resolution 181 and its border defense against Arab aggression to counter international laws that they did not like. As a result, the acquisition in the 1947-1949 of war was not an illegal act since self-defense is not a criminal act unless it is grossly disproportionate to the attack and the war was a relatively balanced affair as well as being resolved at the moment that each Arab state was willing to engage in an armistice. Just to clarify, this means that the 1949 borders of Israel belong to Israel.
As for the remaining Palestinian areas that were acquired in 1967, the situation becomes murkier, but as concerns the West Bank, Jordan attacked Israel first and Israel retaliated. Again the self-defense doctrine comes to the fore. Israel would have the rights to those territories acquired in self-defense. However, Israel was willing to concede some of those rights pursuant to a final, lasting peace with its neighbors, which is all that UN Resolution 242 discusses. Those states that have made peace with Israel since 1967 (Egypt and Jordan) have seen the return of territory (in Egypt's case) or the cession of the rights to occupied territory with tertiary partners (Jordan to the Palestinian Authority).
As for Gaza specifically, at this point in history, there are only two parties that claim it, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas. Since Hamas is not recognized as an independent government by any country, it retains exclusively de facto control of the area while the Palestinian Authority retains de jurecontrol pursuant to the Oslo Accords of 1993.
As for the West Bank specifically, since Israel ceded the possible claim to the West Bank to Jordan in UN Resolution 242 and Jordan then agreed to cede its rights to claim the land in full to the Palestinian Authority, the Palestinian Authority has the right to claim the lands of the West Bank. There are certainly Israelis who disagree with the extent of these rights, their viability vis à vis their religion, or use the doctrine of terra nullius to disavow the Palestinian Authority of these rights, but this is the minority of Israelis. Most Israelis want the majority of the West Bank to revert to the Palestinian Authority with a guarantee of peaceful coexistence.
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Is Israel an Arab country?
No. Israel is a considered to be the Jewish State. Palestine is considered an Arab country.
In 1947 a united nations commission recommended that palestine be?
divided into an Arab and a Jewish state.
Why is the land so important to the Arab-Israeli Conflict?
For the Israelis, Israel is both the historic Jewish Homeland and the land the God had promised to the Jewish people. For the Arabs, Palestine is their ancestral home and the place that was hallowed through Mohammed's ascension to heaven at Al-Aqsa.
What was the Arab hope for Palestine at the end of World War 2?
The Arabs wanted a unitary independent Arab State to be created called Palestine and would refuse the creation of any Jewish State in the region.
Did Palestine become the country of Israel after the World War 2?
Yes and No. The Mandate of Palestine was merely the British Name for the land they occupied in the Southwestern Levantine region of the Middle East. There was no nation of Palestine or independent Governate of Palestine at any point in the prior 2000 years. When the Jewish population of the Mandate of Palestine declared independence, they used the name Israel to denote their country. The Arab residents of the British Mandate preferred to continue using the name Palestine to represent themselves. The majority of the Mandate's land ended up in Israeli hands in 1949, but some parts were under Arab control. It is these Arab areas that will likely form the basis of the Palestinian State.
What British mandate was the focus of the Arab-Jewish controversy?
The British Mandate of Palestine was the only mandate with an Arab-Jewish controversy.
Is Israel an Arab country?
No. Israel is a considered to be the Jewish State. Palestine is considered an Arab country.
What was the immediate result of the United Nations resolution (which went into effect in May 1948) to partition (divide) Palestine into two states one Jewish and one Arab?
War. The Jewish refugees in Palestine obviously accepted the resolution. However, Palestine, supported by the Arab states, protested. As the Jewish population in Palestine attacked Arab families, evicting them from newly made Jewish neighborhoods, the Arab states invaded. It could be contended that Israel knew that the war was coming and had to defend itself - and couldn't risk a fifth column.
What was the nations plan for palestine?
to partion Planstine into seprate Arab and Jewish states
What was the Arab hope for palestine?
The Arabs wanted a unitary independent Arab State to be created called Palestine and would refuse the creation of any Jewish State in the region.
Why did tensions between Arabs and Jews in Palestine escalate during the 1930s?
Jewish Immigration to Palestine increased significantly, causing Arabs to worry about losing their land.
What is effect did the UN partition have on Palestine and Jerusalem?
The Partition would have separated the Mandate for Palestine into a Jewish State, an Arab State, and a separate UN-governed area for the Old City of Jerusalem. However, since fighting broke out immediately after the UN Resolution was signed, the only effect of the Resolution was to grant legitimacy to the presence of two states, one Jewish and one Arab in the land of Mandatory Palestine.
What was the United Nations' plan for Palestine?
to partion Planstine into seprate Arab and Jewish states
In 1947 a united nations commission recommended that palestine be?
divided into an Arab and a Jewish state.
Which statement explains one reason why tensions increased between Great Britain and Jews in Palestine during World War 2?
The British limited Jewish immigration to Palestine in exchange for Arab oil resources.
Who are Palestine?
Jewish people they have always held this land and they have there kings buried thee i think that claims it as there land and God cave them the land so it belongs to them and noone else and everyone one else who is on the land will be destoyed by God in the end
Why is the land so important to the Arab-Israeli Conflict?
For the Israelis, Israel is both the historic Jewish Homeland and the land the God had promised to the Jewish people. For the Arabs, Palestine is their ancestral home and the place that was hallowed through Mohammed's ascension to heaven at Al-Aqsa.
