THE FOUNDING of Israel in 1948 is celebrated as a historic achievement of the Jewish people in their long fight against anti-Semitism. Israel has been called "a land without people for a people without a land."

But to claim this means insisting, as Zionist leader Golda Meir famously declared, that "Palestinians do not exist."

In fact, some 800,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homeland during the Zionist war of terror that led to the creation of Israel.

There are many myths about the founding of Israel. For example, Palestinians supposedly fled because they were told to do so by radio broadcasts from other Arab countries.

This is a complete lie. And thanks to Israel's recent release of secret intelligence files, there's even more evidence of it.

The number one reason that Palestinians fled, Israel concluded, was "direct, hostile Jewish operations against Arab settlements."

In its 1967 war, Israel stole more Palestinian land--the Occupied Territories of Gaza and the West Bank.

Jews anywhere in the world can settle in Israel. But Palestinians are denied this same right.

List of stories from SW's eyewitness report from Palestine