How did Israel acquire the land its on?And why the big fuss?

Answer 1

Many of the other answers have addressed the manner in which Israel acquired the land it's on, but few have addressed "the big fuss".

I'm not going to delve into pre-history and tell you biblical accounts of which god gave the land to which people, but I will say that by the 8th century CE the land was primarily occupied by Arabs. In the early 20th century Britain had a firm imperial grip on the area. The "big fuss" basically boils down to a series of letters sent to and from an Englishman and an Arabian. The Englishman, Sir Henry McMahon was a high up English official in Egypt. In 1915 he corresponded with Sherif Hussein of Mecca to negotiate an agreement. The agreement was that in return for his people's help in fighting the Ottoman Empire in World War One, Sherif Hussein's people would be given control of some land.

Here's where it gets muddy - what land is actually agreed upon is still in question. It's one of those funny historical interpretative problems that seem to hang around forever. No matter how many people write papers on what was actually agreed upon, the only thing we really CAN agree upon is that we aren't sure what land is agreed upon. Sound complicated? It is.

Regardless of that fact, the Ottoman Empire was driven back by Hussein's people and all was good in the Middle East. That is until 1917. With three sentences the agreement with Sherif Hussein (whatever it was) was reneged upon. I encourage you to find a copy of the Balfour Agreement. It's the document that more or less (I'm only saying that to spare you a REALLY big explanation) gave the Jews a home in Israel.

So there's the fuss. Nobody is really sure who the land legally belongs to (although a lot of people will tell you it's side a or side b for sure!). All we do know is that the state of Israel has been there for a good long period of time now and it's hard just to take that away. The Palestinians? They're pretty angry about the whole affair too, and who can blame them? Their ancestors fought for the British in WWI in exchange for land they've never received!

That's my two cents. Best of luck.

Answer 2

Good question

As you can see from the "answers," above, there is a lot of quasi-historical claptrap that in the end is just a manifestation of hysteria.

The answer is simple. Until the 1948 partition, Jews bought the land from owners - mostly absentee Arabs and Turks. After creation of the State, and recognition by [1] the United States and [2] the Soviet Union, the government condemned lands and offered compensation to the former owners.

The fact that the former owners refused to accept the compensation, or to appeal the prices offered through the court system, is their problem. There has been NO EVIDENCE that the prices offered were less than going rates for the lands seized - the same system is used in almost every law-driven society in the world.

Simple answer - they bought the land.

Answer 3

Originally, God gave the land of Canaan to Israel, promised first through Abraham. Eventually the Israelites settled there and lived there and so far as I know some always lived there.

But the majority were scattered through various wars and captivities both in BC times and AD times.

Eventually the rule of the land passed into Muslim hands and then Christian and then Muslim and so on.

The Jews remained scattered over the world, the only group of people ever to remain in existence without a homeland for almost 2,000 years.

The Jews applied to the international community for many years to be able to return to their homeland, by this time called The Palestine, with Christians, Jews, and Muslims all living on the land.

Eventually Britain had the rule of the land and because of the Nazi killing of over six million Jews (with horrendous treatment of them) they were finally allowed to return to their homeland.

The British established the borders of Jordan for the Muslims and Israel for the Jews. The British weren't too happy about giving anything to the Jews and the Arabs weren't too happy about having them there and so even before the creation of modern Israel, Israel was fighting for it's life against the Muslim Arabs. They have been fighting ever since.

Biblically, Jerusalem is the central city of the world, the city chosen of God for his people and for his presence. The Muslims also claim Jerusalem as a holy city. And no one is going to give in.

There's a lot more, but that's the simple answer.

Answer 4

The land was ALWAYS Israel, since ancient times. The people were enslaved and scattered around the world. In response to the Holocaust and the need for a "home" for Jewish people who did not want to be persecuted as "foreign" in other countries, the intelligent world governments realized the only logical home was the ancient land of Israel. It was nothing but a pile of rocks and desert land, but in 1948, on the day of the proclamation of the State of Israel, five Arab armies invaded the new country from all sides. In frightful radio broadcasts, they urged the Arabs living there to leave, so that the invading armies could operate without interference. They could return after the expected quick victory in that “holy war,” get their property back — and that of the Jews. Things turned out differently. The invading armies were defeated. Those who had left became refugees — people without a country. Those who stayed, and their children, are full-fledged citizens of the State of Israel

Answer 5

The jews stole the land from the christian and jewish arabs in 1948.
After WW2 they illegally entered Palestine and formed terrorist gangs which committed atrocities against the British administrators and the indigenous population.
They attacked arab villages and massacred or drove the population away
To stop the bloodshed the UN passed a resolution to divide Palestine between the arabs and the jews.
The arabs would not agree to this because they saw it as giving in to terrorism.
.So the jews attacked them and took as much land as they could and the arab population ended up in refugee camps in Gaza and the West Bank.
There will never be peace in the Middle East until this is put right but Israel is the most successful terrorist state because it has always been supported by the USA.

Answer 6

Palestine was partitioned by the UN in 1948 to restore Israel that had been destroyed by the Romans and its people scattered throughout thje world- the diaspora. Palestinians claim the same land hence the conflict.

Answer 7

it all started with the belfour declaration. Britain ruled Palestine under the mandate awarded to them at the end of World War I. in 1917, the British foreign minister Arthur James Belfour with the consent of the British crown promised the Jews to give them the land of the Palestinians as a Jewish national homeland. This promise became known as the "Belfour declaration."
and since then, the war didnt stop between palestinians and the invaders
it is simple, if someone took you home, settled there, used your money, would you fight back or not?

Answer 8

To cut the story short: The state of Israel exists due to a UN resolution, passed after WW2. The purpose of that UN resolution was to have a safe place for Jews WHO NEED (OR IF THEY NEED) A SAFE ZONE-not so that Israeli journalists would blast Jews who don't live in Israel or leave Israel. States who voted in favor of Israel's creation were mostly states inhabited by Christians, whom many Israelis view as "idol worshipers and enemies of the Jews".