It is shocking that someone as well read as Washington Post editorial writer Richard Cohen still propagates the harmful canard that Israel's creation in 1948  "caused" the Palestinian displacement.

The actual Declaration of Independence by Israel did nothing to the Palestinians but created a homeland for the Jewish people.  Cohen, and the Washington Post staff, must know full well that the neighboring Arab countries and the local Arabs (now known as Palestinians) launched a genocidal attack on Israel right after the Independence announcement.  The outcome was a stunning loss for the Arabs that caused the displacement.  Further, the Palestinians lost the West Bank and Gaza to their land-grabbing brethren Jordan and Egypt, respectively, not Israel.  Had the Jews lost, displacement would have been the most optimistic end result for them, with genocide being the likely outcome.  

Why is the Post hanging on to this lie, that the sudden Declaration of Independence by Israel caused displacement of another people?  It indoctrinates those new to the conflict by reversing what happened: the Arabs caused the displacement of local Arabs by their aggression — not Israel! 

Cohen has written that his mother was ashamed of him for calling Israel an "honest mistake."  It seems Cohen was the honest mistake!  How he continues to implicate Israel's rebirth as the genesis of the conflict is pure make-believe.

It's not too late for the Post to correct its ways.  How about an editorial correcting this libel?