The commonly quoted statistic is that in 1948, Israel owned 7% of the
land.  First question: Does the mean the land allocated to it under
Partition, the land it controlled after the armistice agreements, or
the entire land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan River? 
Second question: Who owned the rest of the land?  I am under the
impression that much of it was state land.  True?  Percentage?

Dear Elef, 

This figure, which is not undisputed upon, draws its claim at leats
partially from Michael Fischbach's 2003 book "Records of
dispossession: Palestinian refugee property and the Arab-Israeli
conflict" (Columbia University Press).

To answer your first question, it refers to the whole area between the
Mediterranean and the Jordan River: "Palestine's land surface was
approximately 26.3 million dunums, of which about one third was
cultivable. The land in Jewish possession rose steadily from 456,003
dunums in 1920 to 1,393,531 dunums in 1945 (Khalaf, 1991, pp. 26-27)
and 1,850,000 dunums by 1947 (Avneri p. 224)" (SOURCE: Wikipedia,
"1947 UN Partition Plan",
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1947_UN_Partition_Plan>).

Fischbach bases his information on the archive of the "United Nations
Conciliation Commission for Palestine" and claims that "of the land
that was later covered by the 1949 Armistice Agreements the Jewish
National Fund and private Jewish owners possessed under 2,000,000
dunums. The mandatory government held around 300,000-400,000 dunums
and the remaining land belonged to private Arab owners (Fischbach,
2003, p. 59)." (QUOTED by Wikipedia, ibid).

In other words, 90% of the land, according to this claim, belonged to
Arabs. After 1948, the lands of those Arabs who have *left* their
homes (whether they had to flee, as they claim, or that they have left
as part of a war, as the Israelis claim) have been confiscated.
However, interestingly, the State of Israel did not nationalise most
of the land - not directly in any case. Instead, it used the Jewish
National Fund, which still owns much of the public land in Israel (and
even today owns %14 of the land in Israel -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_National_Fund).

Afterwards, "In 1960 under Basic Law: Israel Lands, JNF-owned land and
government-owned land were together defined as "Israel lands," and the
principle was laid down that such land would be leased rather than
sold. The JNF retained ownership of its land, but administrative
responsibility for the JNF land, and also for government-owned land,
passed to a newly created agency called the Israel Land Administration
or ILA.

Of the total land in Israel in 1997, the Israel Government Press
Office statistics say 79.5% is owned by the government, 14% is
privately owned by the JNF, and the rest, around 6.5%, is evenly
divided between private Arab and Jewish owners. Thus, the ILA
administers 93.5% of the land in Israel."
(SOURCE: "What about land? Does Israel discriminate against Arabs
owning land?", Palestine Facts,
<http://www.palestinefacts.org/pf_1991to_now_israel_land.php>).

There is, however, critique on Fischbach - his study was sponsored by
an insitution committed to the Palestinian cause - "Institute for
Palestine Studies" - and his findings strikingly contradict the
British Land Survey information, titled "Survey of Palestine" (1946).

For example, "According to Mitchell Bard (citing Moshe Aumann, "Land
Ownership in Palestine, 1880-1948," in Michael Curtis, et al., The
Palestinians, (NJ: Transaction Books, 1975), p. 29, quoting p. 257 of
the Government of Palestine, Survey of Palestine), in terms of the
land that would eventually become Israel, 9% of the land was owned by
Jews, 3% by Arabs who became citizens of Israel, and 18% by Arabs who
left the country." Seventy percent of the land belonged to the British
government.
(See: Mitchell Bard, "Myth and Facts, Partition", Jewish Virtual
Library, <http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/myths/mf3.html>).

A pro-Palestinian site, "Palestine Remembered", also uses the Survey,
claiming that while Jews owned 5.8% of the land, " Palestinians & 
others", owned 94.2% of the land (SEE: "Palestinian And Zionist Land
Ownership Per District as of 1945",
<http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Maps/Story573.html> ).

Review of Fischbach
--------------------
Golan, Arnon "Records of Dispossession: Palestinian Refugee Property
and the Arab-Israeli Conflict (review)" Shofar: An Interdisciplinary
Journal of Jewish Studies - Volume 23, Number 4, Summer 2005, pp.
200-202

I hope this answers your question (as best as one could, given the
conflicting sources). Please contact me if you need any clarification
on this answer before you rate it.

Let us keep very accurate the fact that On 14 May 1948, the day the
State of Israel came into existence, five Arab armies invaded the
country from every side. In propaganda broadcasts the invaders ordered
their Arab brethren living there to leave so the armies could
slaughter Jews at will. They were promised they could return in
triumph after the expected victory in the Jihad (Holy War).

An estimated 600,000 Arabs ran away and became refugees with no
country. Those who stayed (and their offspring, of course) are
full-fledged citizens of the State of Israel. There are approximately
1 million Arab Israelis.

The so-called ?Palestinian refugees? have not been allowed to settle
in any Arab nation. For an Arab country to allow them to settle would
be to admit that they were refugees from the country of Israel, and
they do not recognize Israel?s existence. If there's no Israel, there
can be no refugees FROM Israel, see?

They have been supported in camps since 1948. The Arab countries--
among the richest nations of the world-- do not contribute to their
maintenance; they do not provide support to their beloved
brethren living in miserable, squalid camps.  The Arabs drive
Mercedes, Land Rovers, Jaguars, and Rolls Royces, build opulent
palatial homes, and are among the most conspicuous of consumers, but
decline to support the very people they claim are the worst
victims of oppression by the United States and Israel.

Through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the US pays over
60% of the price of operating the camps.

Sorry, I want to point this out every time there is discussion about
Israeli land and land claims. I apologize. Forgive me. Learn the
truth!

A further point that is often ignored, is that prior to the 6 Day War
in 1967, what is now called The West Bank belonged to Jordan and what
is now called The Gaza Strip belonged to Egypt.

Neither have displayed much interest in reclaiming their territory.

Moreover, most legal systems have the concept of abandonment of private property.