What is the conflict with Israel? Whose land is it?

Question

I know nothing of the issues that are at the heart of the conflict surrounding Israel. Quite truefully my knowledge doesn't go pass the Old Testament in the Bible. What I learned there is that the land that the Jews later came to occupy was not their birth home and was already occupied by people and they were told by God that not only was this their land now but they were to kill all whom they encountered. So they conquered a foreign land that was not their birth land and took up residents. The bible goes on with stories of Israel being conquered, enslaved and so on. Forward 2000 years, what has been going on since and who has occupied the land in that time, before the Jewish nation was created and Jews from all over the world went back. Before they went "back" what was going on their, who was living their, and what was the story. Is God the only reason Jews believe this is their land? Please no talk of anti semitic feelings. Their is none of that here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...

Answer 1

The Jews in Israel took no one's land.  When Mark Twain visited the Holy Land in the 19th century, he was greatly disappointed.  He didn't see any people.  He referred to it as a vast wasteland.  The land we now know as Israel was practically deserted.  

This is very important to understand.  Because one of the biggest demands of so-called Arab "Palestinians" today is the "right of return." They contend that millions and millions of Arabs must be permitted to settle in Israel with full voting rights.  Most of these people have never set foot in Israel before.  Many of their parents never set foot in Israel before.  A few had lived in the area in 1948 or 1967 and fled at the instructions of Arab invaders who pledged to "liberate" the land and annihilate the Jews.  

So, the answer is that Israel is the Jewish homeland, while the Arabs have 22 countries of  their own.

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Answer 2

Only a few goat herders lived their before Israel was created then suddenly millions of Arabs showed up

Answer 3

To make it short for you.

Israel is the last unsolved colonial rule in the world. Israel was born out of the colonial system. The conclusion of Israel is going to be like most former colonies. 2 states or one state for both native people and colonists.

Answer 4

It is Palestine and it belongs to the Palestinian people,both Christian and Muslim. It does not belong to a largely atheist population of ex-jews from all over the world.  

Answer 5

The land belongs to Palestinians, period.

Answer 6

its arabic land & the invadors are israels PEICE OF CAKE

Answer 7

It belongs to the Jewish people.

Answer 8

The ONLY land the Jews have EVER known to be THEIRS is ISRAEL. The Arabs came much later (after many of the Jews were forced into exile), settled on it, and are now claiming it as theirs. The Jews had PRIOR OWNERSHIP and the Bible (including Jesus) is the RESULT of the Jewish association with its LAND, which were it NOT for ISRAEL--there would be NO Jesus! Think about it!

Answer 9

the conflict is over a piece of land named, israel, which the israel's own and the palestinians who have no right to it, want it...

A common misperception is that all the Jews were forced into the Diaspora by the Romans after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the year 70 C.E. and then, 1,800 years later, suddenly returned to Palestine demanding their country back. In reality, the Jewish people have maintained ties to their historic homeland for more than 3,700 years.

The Jewish people base their claim to the Land of Israel on at least four premises: 1) the Jewish people settled and developed the land; 2) the international community granted political sovereignty in Palestine to the Jewish people; 3) the territory was captured in defensive wars and 4) God promised the land to the patriarch Abraham.

Even after the destruction of the Second Temple in Jerusalem and the beginning of the exile, Jewish life in the Land of Israel continued and often flourished. Large communities were reestablished in Jerusalem and Tiberias by the ninth century. In the 11th century, Jewish communities grew in Rafah, Gaza, Ashkelon, Jaffa and Caesarea.

The Crusaders massacred many Jews during the 12th century, but the community rebounded in the next two centuries as large numbers of rabbis and Jewish pilgrims immigrated to Jerusalem and the Galilee. Prominent rabbis established communities in Safed, Jerusalem and elsewhere during the next 300 years. By the early 19th century — years before the birth of the modern Zionist movement — more than 10,000 Jews lived throughout what is today Israel.1 The 78 years of nation-building, beginning in 1870, culminated in the reestablishment of the Jewish State.

Israel's international "birth certificate" was validated by the promise of the Bible; uninterrupted Jewish settlement from the time of Joshua onward; the Balfour Declaration of 1917; the League of Nations Mandate, which incorporated the Balfour Declaration; the United Nations partition resolution of 1947; Israel's admission to the UN in 1949; the recognition of Israel by most other states; and, most of all, the society created by Israel's people in decades of thriving, dynamic national existence.

“Nobody does Israel any service by proclaiming its 'right to exist.'

Israel's right to exist, like that of the United States, Saudi Arabia and 152 other states, is axiomatic and unreserved. Israel's legitimacy is not suspended in midair awaiting acknowledgement....

There is certainly no other state, big or small, young or old, that would consider mere recognition The term "Palestine" is believed to be derived from the Philistines, an Aegean people who, in the 12th Century B.C.E., settled along the Mediterranean coastal plain of what are now Israel and the Gaza Strip. In the second century C.E., after crushing the last Jewish revolt, the Romans first applied the name Palaestina to Judea (the southern portion of what is now called the West Bank) in an attempt to minimize Jewish identification with the land of Israel. The Arabic word "Filastin" is derived from this Latin name.

The Hebrews entered the Land of Israel about 1300 B.C.E., living under a tribal confederation until being united under the first monarch, King Saul. The second king, David, established Jerusalem as the capital around 1000 B.C.E. David's son, Solomon built the Temple soon thereafter and consolidated the military, administrative and religious functions of the kingdom. The nation was divided under Solomon's son, with the northern kingdom (Israel) lasting until 722 B.C.E., when the Assyrians destroyed it, and the southern kingdom (Judah) surviving until the Babylonian conquest in 586 B.C.E. The Jewish people enjoyed brief periods of sovereignty afterward before most Jews were finally driven from their homeland in 135 C.E.

Jewish independence in the Land of Israel lasted for more than 400 years. This is much longer than Americans have enjoyed independence in what has become known as the United States.4 In fact, if not for foreign conquerors, Israel would be 3,000 years old today.

Palestine was never an exclusively Arab country, although Arabic gradually became the language of most the population after the Muslim invasions of the seventh century. No independent Arab or Palestinian state ever existed in Palestine. When the distinguished Arab-American historian, Princeton University Prof. Philip Hitti, testified against partition before the Anglo-American Committee in 1946, he said: "There is no such thing as 'Palestine' in history, absolutely not."

Prior to partition, Palestinian Arabs did not view themselves as having a separate identity. When the First Congress of Muslim-Christian Associations met in Jerusalem in February 1919 to choose Palestinian representatives for the Paris Peace Conference, the following resolution was adopted:

We consider Palestine as part of Arab Syria, as it has never been separated from it at any time. We are connected with it by national, religious, linguistic, natural, economic and geographical bonds.

In 1937, a local Arab leader, Auni Bey Abdul-Hadi, told the Peel Commission, which ultimately suggested the partition of Palestine: "There is no such country [as Palestine]! 'Palestine' is a term the Zionists invented! There is no Palestine in the Bible. Our country was for centuries part of Syria."

The representative of the Arab Higher Committee to the United Nations submitted a statement to the General Assembly in May 1947 that said "Palestine was part of the Province of Syria" and that, "politically, the Arabs of Palestine were not independent in the sense of forming a separate political entity." A few years later, Ahmed Shuqeiri, later the chairman of the PLO, told the Security Council: "It is common knowledge that Palestine is nothing but southern Syria."

Palestinian Arab nationalism is largely a post-World War I phenomenon that did not become a significant political movement until after the 1967 Six-Day War and Israel's capture of the West Bank.

Answer 10

thousands of years of complicated history... we should just bulldoze the entire country and turn it into a natural wildlife reserve

Answer 11

The Jews have prior rights to Israel.

The other nations who had lived there are extinct.

Answer 12

The question is not about land. It is just another excuse that the Arabs use to destroy Israel. Don't you think that the Arab brothers and sisters would hope the poor Palestinians?  Well they don't, why? beacuse is it is not politically advantages to do so. It is far better to use them as a bargaining chip to fuel that hatred and the wish of the destruction of Israel. Why did Ahmadinejad work so hard to create a whole conference dedicated to denial of the holocaust?  Because to do so, he thinks, would question Israel's right to exist. But the truth is, Israel was not created because of the holocaust as a way to compensate for the persecution of the Jews.  Israel was dedicated to the Jews.  It was always belonging to the Jews.

This is not about land, it never was and never will be. No amount of land will change the indoctrination of a people to destroy another people. When Gaza was given to the Palestinians, they destroyed it. It is was filled with gardens that produced the majority of organic foods. It was brilliantly designed, to use less water and harness the sun.  Palestine came and did not want to take over this brilliant little paradise, they destroyed it with glee and then blamed Israel for the poor conditions. And the nations' media turned their camera to and again the Palestinians are projects as victims and the Israel as the abuser.

Palestinian children are taught to hate and kill Jews. Song with lyrics like "Find the Jew and when you do Kill the Jew, their blood is nothing, Kill them and go to heaven"  It is in their nursery rhymes, cartoons and in their formal education. Anyone who think that Jews are a tribe of nomads (as one of the the people answered is absurd.  The Jews were there first.  That is true and simple. Yet, those blinded by the media need to support their innate hatred. It is a hatred, pure and simple and it is a fear.  Please open your eyes. Why do you protect and support the Arabs,  who see you as the next one to destroy after the Jews. Why is your hate so deep that you'd rather hate than learn the Truth and protect yourself and your families from the true enemy.  Don't you see what is happening in Europe?  It is no  longer Europe, it is crime filled and dirty and Europeans are afraid to say anything, beaus, guess what, they are going to be out number..very soon. And then, who will they sell out for their survival. They will blame Israel to gain favor with the Arabs.  

Answer 13

You're mostly correct - the land has always been "occupied" by somebody, beginning with the Canannites, Isarelities, Romans, Arabs, Christians, Palistinians (and probably some others in there somewhere).

After WWII - because Hitler displaced so many Jews - the solution was to move them to their traditional homeland - Palistine.  So Britain led the way to setup the Jewish homeland or Israel.

Of course the resident Palistinians weren't happy about it, but they had been conquered by the Turks and the Brits/Allies recaptured the area, so they were in control.

Answer 14

Truth is, like any piece of land, it has changed hands many times throughout history.  Sometimes settled peacefully, and sometimes conquered by armies, it was a piece of Turkey, governed by Britain during the first part of the last century.  The country of Israel is about the size of New Jersey, and was settled by Zionists during the last part of the 19th and early 20th century.  The city of Jerusalem, which has been a city since the time of David (recently celebrated its 3000 anniversary) has never in that time been uninhabited.  It's a very holy city for all three of the major Western religions, but since the Jews settled it and MADE it a city, they thing of it as a particularly sacred place...it is also THE home of Judaism, having been the home of the Temple.  When the zionists began taking refuge from their hostile homelands in that area, there was nothing but a bunch of malarial swamp, and the zionists began carving out a place where they could live, at great peril to the actual people who were doing the work.  Many died in the heat and from malaria and other diseases.  It was NOT an easy life for those who did, but it was better than being treated to the antisemitism of Poland and Russia and Germany at the time.

After World War II, in fact beginning during early n**i times, Jews began to really fight for a proper homeland, a place where they could be free to be Jewish, and the laws of the land would protect them from being tortured and killed by people like the Tzars, the Inquisition and the n***s.  

The land, then known as Palestine, which included Jerusalem, seemed a likely candidate, as it was the ancestral homeland, and there were a large number of Jews there, working hard and trying to carve out a home, and improving the useless land and making it productive.  Also, the fact that no one else cared about that tiny piece of real estate, added to the appeal.  In 1948, there was an official declaration made by Britain, that the country was founded upon.  (actually, I believe the declaration came through in 1947, the War of Independance was won in1948).  Immediately, all the neighboring countries, all Arabs, declared that they would push Israel into the sea, and they attacked.  The Israeli army prevailed, and won a chunk of land called the Negev Desert, as a result of the treaty, along with the right to be their own country....The Arab neighbors have NEVER ceased in their attmept to "push Israel into the sea", and  have never given real quarter to the "Palestinians", a group of people who never were an organized group until AFTER all of this began...there never was a "country" of Palestine.  They were only individual Arabs, who had no personal interest until they were whipped up into a self-righteous frenzy by the likes of Arafat (I'm not sure if he was the first or only the strongest leader they have had as a cohesive group) but they, too, really didn't much care about where they settled, until after someone from outside told them they should.  The life they wer "given" by their Arab "protectors" has not been a good one, but they never had any real claim to that land, either.  Yet they continue to murder innocent people...children on their way to school or in class, rabbinical students praying at the most holy of places, families going out for dinner on a Friday night, worshippers at Shul on the most holy of days, young people going to unwind at a disco, mothers and babies doing their daily shopping.  How anyone can support them (the Palestinians) is beyond me.  

The worst thing the Palestinians do, is sit by idly in their ambulances, watching while their own people die in the streets, when their lives could be saved, because they are dying as martyrs, then turning around and claiming to the world that the Israelis killed them, in order to incite world pity and sympathy.

The easy answer to your question is, the Israelis paid for the real estate, just like people pay for the real estate they build their homes on.  There was, I believe a deed and everything.  So The Israelis own the land...just like I own my house. Fair and square.  Anyone else, trying to kill people and hurt the citizens of a free country, are treated as tresspassers, as they would be if they entered my home and tried to harm me.

Answer 15

Obviously,Galahad is right. If the UN had operated within it's charter and held a plebiscite in 1948 the Palestinian majority would clearly not have opted to submit to Jewish-European overlordship.

Answer 16

If you accept the Wilsonian doctrine of the rights of all people to self-determination then it would obviously belong to the indigenous population; ie. the Palestinians,and since they constituted a clear majority in 1948 if a plebiscite - a referendum - had been held,Palestine would today be a free country with equal representation. If you accept the Imperial doctrine,then obviously with the British Empire in full material possession,they had the power to flood it with jewish developers who openly operated with the intent of buying up all the land and dispossessing the native population without regard to their historical rights or cultural affinities. However,the dominant argument is - as we see from so many responses here - the racist argument that the Palestinians are a lower form of life than jews and are not entitled to any rights in their own homeland. If you think George Antonius was a "goat herd" just google him up. The Tanahk or OT is not a reliable source of information. It claims a vast kingdom encompassing all of Palestine when in fact during that very time frame it was a possession of the Egyptians,from whom it was seized by the Persians from whom it was seized by the Romans. There is no mention of jews still less a jewish kingdom in Herodotus who wrote around 500 B.C. He mentioned Syria,Palestine and Phonenicia. The Kingdom of David is sheer mythology. Palestine belongs to the Palestinians,whether Christian or Muslim. As to the "jews" who claim it as a "birthright",most of them are atheists,which may explain their reputation for extreme brutality.

It had nothing to do with the Holocaust; the agenda was developed in 1897 and in place by 1920 in the form of the so-called Jewish Agency established after the Balfour Declaration in 1917. This antedates the Holocaust by 25 years. As to Mark Twain,he was not a journalist but a satirist and in any event his remarks on the Holy Land were published  in 1867,more  than half a century before 1920 and  81 years before the invention of "Israel". An account of New York in 1867 would not be an accurate reflection of New York in 1920,still less in 1948,still less coming from the pen of a satirist known for barbed wit. Palestine was raped and plundered as a consequence of crude imperial aggression and it is today operated as the private colony of extremely wealthy former jews from around the world. The Palestinians are subject to relentless terrorization. The destruction of their homes and the point-blank murder of their children are virtually daily occurances.

Answer 17

It belongs to the jews

Answer 18

Not Anti-Semitic just not as knowledgeable of the bible as you think.

There is no such thing as an old testament.  It's one book.

Regardless you can find answers in the first part.but you have to spend a lot of time there.

You want 4000 years of history on YA?

Answer 19

It's for Palestinians it's as simple as it sound.

Answer 20

it belongs to palestinians, end of story, but the israelis have america with them cause they are wimps, its palestinians against america and israel.

Answer 21

The land originally belonged to Israel as far back as Adam and Eve. The current Islamic group Hamas disputes this depite the evidence and fires rockets daily at the kindergardens in israel. In this way they ensure future generations of Israelites will remember their actions for ever,

Answer 22

The answers you receive in this section are normally political more than historical.

I suggest you to try the history section after rephrasing the question.

Unfortunately, the Bible is almost the only source of information about the origin of the Habiru( Hebrews) in addition to very limited Assyrian scripture that was found in Iraq in the last century

My point of view is that Israelis are originally nomadic kurds or Persians who moved to Babylon and from there to Palestine then to Egypt then back to Palestine from where they scattered allover the world.

So their claims of homeland in Palestine is  not supported by a single historical  fact.