The formation of the Arab League in 1945 ended up relegating Palestinian leaders to the sidelines. Palestinian leaders were not listened to by Arab leaders and were not trusted by the British. This left whatever Palestinian leadership there was in a disempowered and vulnerable position.

In 1947, Zionist violence against the British was as high as it had been during the Arab Revolt. The British moved quickly towards withdrawal from Palestine, supporting the international proposals for partition. "Partition was the fashionable diplomatic solution of the period for a host of seemingly intractable situations, including those in Germany, India, and Korea. None of these other cases managed to forestall international war or repeated diplomatic crises, and Palestine was no exception in this regard" (Kimmerling, Baruch and Joel S. Migdal, The Palestinian People). War started between Palestinians and Zionists almost immediately following the UN vote for partition.

The war with the Zionists in 1947-1948 left Palestinian society devastated. There was wholesale flight and expulsion through Palestine. Crushing military defeats ensured that an Arab state post-partition would not happen. By the end of the Naqba (the Catastrophe) Palestinians were displaced from over 400 towns, cities, and villages.

The Palestinian people held the old Palestinian political elite responsible for losing Palestine. They soon disappeared from the political scene.

Passing under different imperial governing powers (first the Ottomans, then the British, then the Zionists), and confronted with a changing economic system that had no regard for their livelihoods, the Palestinians failed to prevent massive displacement and to solidify a Palestinian nation-state. They were unable to affect the Ottoman government against Zionist land purchase, nor were they able to prevent land sales by absentee merchant landowners. They could not raise sufficient popular consciousness about the gravity of Zionist aims nor organize effective opposition. They failed to get a response from British mandate administration, and to overcome internal divisions between elites and between old and new generations of leaders. Ironically, all of these defeats and dispossessions ultimately resulted in a uniform identity. 1948 ended many internal differences, gaps, and conflicts. It "proved both a great leveler, and a source of a universally shared experience" (Khalidi, Rashid. Palestinian Identity: The Construction of Modern National Consciousness). The shared experience of defeat, dispossession, and exile cemented and universalized a common Palestinian identity.