1.5. Besides maintaining a large majority by legislation, the Israeli establishment has within the context of its Zionist character confiscated non-Jewish Arab land and kept a majority of land in Israel in Jewish hands. From 1948 to 1967, scores of Arab villages disappeared altogether and many hundreds of thousands of acres of Arab land were confiscated under the absentee property law and land requisition laws, passed in the Knesset from 1950 to 1953. In many towns, houses of Arabs w?re confiscated in 1948 because their owners had left them for some days in order to be in safer quarters. Fields in villages were taken away because of the owner’s absence from his property for some few days. 16. After the establishment of Israel, all government Iand and almost all confiscated land was given to the Jewish National Fund. This amounts to over 90 per cent of Israeli farmland. Jewish National Fund land may not be sold or leased to Arabs. 17. Since the end of the June 1907 war Israei has begun to build strictly Jewish settlements in many parts of the occupied territories. Thus the Palestinians, who arc the heart of the issue, have no place in their homeland. This fact is due to the exclusivist structure of Israel. Their aspirations are denied, their legitimate rights abrogated and their determination derided. 18. Mrs. Meir stated the following in an interview with The ,Sun&y Times of London on 15 June 1969: “There was no such thing as Palestinian people in Palestine considering itself as a Palestinian peopIc and we 2 came and threw them out, and took their country away from them. They did not exist.” 19, It is clear from such a statement that the Zionist leaders of Israel are adamant in their rejection of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians. Thus the incom- 
**Analysis**
The text appears to be discussing the historical and ongoing processes of land confiscation, settlement, and exclusion of Palestinians by the Israeli government and Zionist leaders. It highlights the Zionist character of the Israeli establishment and its impact on the rights and aspirations of the Palestinian people. The text focuses on the political and social aspects of this issue, rather than economic or environmental ones.

**Category**
Humanitarian aid and relief, Education