It is true, of course, that the Palestinians never had an independent country. For 400 years (1517-1917) Palestine was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. Prior to that, it was always under the rule of some other Middle East power - yes, this was basically my point.
When pro-Palestinian people talk about 'occupation', I agree when they're referring to Israel's audacious land grabs in the West Bank (stealing Palestinian land). Trouble is, the same people also talk about 'occupation' when referring to the existence of Israel as a legitimate country, with the implication that the entire state of Israel is one big land grab from Palestinians. And this is not true, because Palestinians never had an independent country of their own.