Kanoi: Of course more Yidden died in Israel since 1948 than the 100 years before. There were more Yidden in Eretz Yisroel!
What everyone is trying to say is that the myth that Jews and Arabs got along hunky dorey before the evil Zionists came along is just that, a myth. It’s generally perpetuated by sonei Yisroel to “prove” how the Jews are the cause of their own suffering. Needless to say, have you ever noticed how the original neighborhoods of Meah Shearim and Geula look like forts? There’s a reason for that. Arab marauders were fairly common when they were built and nobody had any fantasies about them leaving the Yidden alone.