Why did the Arabs reject the United Nations plan to partition Palestine?

Answer 1

Palestinian Arabs opposed the plan, leading to a war over the future control over the territory.

Answer 2

They believed that the land was exclusively theirs for three reasons:

1) It's Been Ours for Generations: Arabs were outraged and greatly saddened by the creation of the State of Israel because they believed that the land that had physically belonged to their parents and grandparents should have been theirs for inheritance. In their minds, it did not make sense that a group of German, Polish, French, English, and Russian speaking people should claim land that their ancestors had not even visited for centuries.

2) Jews Will Kick Us Out: Many Arabs were afraid that they might lose their rights and territories under the authority of the Jewish State. In the Middle East, ethnic cleansing was a relatively common phenomenon by victors in wars. (Turks and Greeks expelled each other from territories. Lebanese Christians and Muslims had also done this throughout history.) As a result, Arabs were afraid of losing all of their rights in a Jewish State. Those who stayed realized that this would not be the case, but that was the minority.

3) Pan-Arabism: Many Arabs claimed that a Jewish State would prevent Pan-Arabism from occurring even though the most successful Pan-Arab Nationalist project was the Egyptian-Syrian United Arab Republic which was physically split by Israel. Simply put, a Jewish State in Israel's location drives a geographical wedge between Egypt and North Africa in the west and the Levant, Iraq, and Arabia in the east.

Answer 3

Answer 1

Because Palestine is their land.

Answer 2

The Palestinian Arabs believed (and many still do) that all of the land belonged to them and being forced to share it with an invader from outside of the country would be ridiculous. The UN Partition Plan in particular accorded the Jewish State much more land than the Jews controlled at that time and was seen as catering to their interests. In fact, the Jewish State was 56% of the overall land. The Arabs completely rejected the plan. Arabs often make the claim that this size differential was the cause of the rejection; to read about this claim, see the Related Question below.