Palestinian nationalism, since the beginning of the 20th century, has centered on creating homelands for Arabs in Palestine, as part of distributing the territory controlled by the former Ottoman Empire after its defeat in World War I.

Negotiations over the parceling out of land have been contentious, and several wars have been fought in the region.

A key point of dispute is the percentage of the region that should be allotted to Arabs. Some Arabs, as well as their allies and sympathizers, want 100% of the region to be Arabic, or at least Islamic. They don't believe in and refuse to tolerate a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Other advocates, primarily Zionists and their allies and sympathizers, claim a Biblical mandate to re-establish the ancient nation of Israel and insist on a Jewish "right of return" to Palestine.

The resulting Arab-Israeli dispute has proven intractable.

During and after the establishment of Israel, many Arab refugees were left homeless. Some sold their real estate, while others had their property confiscated (with or without compensation). These refugees largely remain near the Jordan River. On the east bank, they reside in Jordan, which has given them equal rights with other Jordanians. On the West Bank, tempers fume as various nationalist and terrorist groups clamor for an end to the limbo of statelessness.

See:

• views of Palestinian statehood

Most discussions of the nationalistic aspirations of these stateless Arabs, who are largely refugees and their descendants who have endured over 50 decades of strife and deprivation, focus on the idea of creating a sovereign state as their homeland.

The proposals for a Palestinian state for this group nearly all dismiss the idea of the group's absorption into Jordan. And a sizeable group of Israelis oppose their absorption into Israel. These Israelis object to the idea of giving voting rights to a group which they fear seeks their overthrow and destruction.

As a compromise between permananent sovereignty and indefinite occupation, the PLO was allowed to establish the Palestinian Authority as a quasi-govermental administration in the West Bank.