Nothing remains more controversial, however, than the question of who is at fault. For a long time, it was part of the myth surrounding the founding of the state that the vast majority of Arabs left the ancestral land voluntarily during the war—driven by the promises by Arab leaders that they could return to their homes after a few weeks once the Jews were beaten back. No Palestinian ever voluntarily handed their home to the Israelis, of course. But it took more than forty years for Israeli and Palestinian historians, some working together, to begin painting a more realistic picture. They came
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