So how big is/was Palestine? It seems that most of the other neighbors in the region 'took' more land than the Jews did to create a homeland. From what little I know of the geography, no one else wanted the land, as it was a wasteland. Now that it has been developed into something, it is a hot item.

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/historical/shepherd/ancient_palestine_ref...
http://www.mideastweb.org/briefhistory.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Levant_830.svg