Why were the Jews allowed to basically steal Israel?

Question

I've been doing some reading about Israel and it seems the Jewish people have no real property claim on the land. "After World War I, the League of Nations approved the British Mandate for Palestine with the intent of creating a "national home for the Jewish people". In 1947, the United Nations approved the partition of the Mandate of Palestine into two states, one Jewish and one Arab. The Arab League rejected the plan, but on May 14, 1948, Israel declared its independence. The new country's victory in the subsequent Arab-Israeli War expanded the borders of the Jewish state beyond those in the UN Partition Plan. Since then, Israel has been in conflict with many of the neighboring Arab countries, resulting in several major wars and decades of violence. Throughout the conflict, Israel's boundaries have been subject to dispute."

America has fought people off its borders at numerous times in its history. Why does it support Israel who is essentially encroaching on Palestinian territory?

Answer 1

"The land formerly known as Palestine."

The region formerly known as Palestine was formerly known as Israel and only renamed to Palestine by the Romans in order to offend the Jews who lived there

Maybe you have never read a history book but the Jews have been continuously living there for over three thousand years

How long have Arabs or Muslims been living there? Nowhere near as long.

Half of Jewish history had already happened there by the time Mohammed even spoke his first words.

The history of the area is complex due to the many tribes and (later) nations that settled, conquered and ruled, traded there or moved through: Canaanites, Philistines, Samaritans, Nabataeans, Greeks, Romans, Muslims and Christians.

In pre-Biblical times, the area was known as the Land of Canaan and had been a collection of city-states, tributary to the Egyptian Pharoah, as attested to in the Tel-El Amarna tablets. The breakup of the Egyptian empire beginning about 1500 BC made possible the invasion of the Israelites. According to Jewish tradition, twelve tribes entered Canaan from Egypt and conquered it, led by Moses approximately 1240-1200 BC. Historical evidence from the Amarna tablets suggests that there were already 'apiru' (Hebrews) among the Canaanites in the time of Egyptian rule.

During the final years of the Late Bronze Age, the Philistines also invaded Canaan (1500 - 1200 BC). Other evidence suggests that around 1200 BC, semi-nomads from the desert fringes to the east, joined by elements from Anatolia, the Aegean, and the south, possibly including Egypt, began to settle in the hill country of Canaan. A large proportion - probably a majority of this population - were refugees from the Canaanite city states, destroyed by the Egyptians in one of their periodic invasions.

The Biblical account continues with the rise of an Israelite kingdom, first under Saul and then under David at about 1000 BC, the date of David's conquest of Jerusalem.

In 539 B.C. the Persians conquered the Babylonians. The Jewish Temple, destroyed by the Babylonians, was rebuilt (516 BC). Under Persian rule the Jewish state enjoyed considerable autonomy. Alexander the Great of Macedon, conquered the area in 333 BC His successors, the Ptolemies and Seleucids, contested for control. The attempt of the Seleucid Antiochus IV (Antiochus Epiphanes) to impose Hellenism brought a Jewish revolt under the Maccabees, who set up a new Jewish state in 142 BC The state lasted until 63 BC, when Pompey conquered the region for Rome.

At the time of Christ the Jewish state was ruled by puppet kings of the Romans, the Herods. When the Jews revolted in 66 AD, the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem (70 AD). The Bar Kokba revolt between 132 and 135 AD was also suppressed, Jericho and Bethlehem were destroyed, and the Jews were barred from Jerusalem. The Roman Emperor Hadrian determined to wipe out the identity of Israel-Judah-Judea. Therefore, he took the name Palastina and imposed it on all the Land of Israel. At the same time, he changed the name of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina. The Romans killed many Jews and sold many more in slavery. Some of those who survived left the devastated country (and established Jewish communities throughout the Middle East) but there was never a complete abandonment of the Land of Israel. That is, there were always Jews and Jewish communities in Palestine, though the size and conditions of those communities fluctuated greatly.

When Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity (312), he took steps to elevate the status of Jerusalem and the city became a center of Christian pilgrimage. Constantine relaxed some restrictions on Jews, but renewed the prohibition on the residence of Jews in Jerusalem, permitting them to mourn for its destruction once a year, on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av.

Palestine over the next few centuries generally enjoyed peace and prosperity until it was conquered in 614 AD by the Persians. It was recovered briefly by the Byzantine Romans, but fell to the Muslim Arabs under caliph Umar by the year 640. During the Umayyad rule, the importance of Palestine as a holy place for Muslims was emphasized, but little was done to develop the region economically. Few Arabs came to Palestine; the Muslim rulers ruled Christians and Jews.

In 691 the Dome of the Rock was erected on the site of the Temple of Solomon, which is claimed by Muslims to have been the halting station of Muhammad on his journey to heaven. Close to the Dome, the al Aqsa mosque was built. In 750, Palestine passed to the Abbasid caliphate, and this period was marked by unrest between factions that favored the Umayyads and those who preferred the new rulers.

In the 9th century, Palestine was conquered by the Fatimid dynasty, which had risen to power in North Africa. The Fatimids had many enemies - the Seljuks, Karmatians, Byzantines, and Bedouins - and Palestine became a battlefield. Under the Fatimid caliph al Hakim (996-1021), the Christians and Jews were harshly suppressed, and many churches were destroyed. In 1099, Palestine was captured by the Crusaders, establishing the Latin Kingdom. Jews were seen by the Crusaders as infidels, as bad as the Muslim occupiers of Jerusalem, and were slaughtered by Christian soldiers along their way to liberate Jerusalem and then thousands in the city when they got there. Following the first Crusade, a Papal Bull was issued in 1119 AD to reinforce St. Augustine's earlier plea, in 427 AD, not to kill the Jews, but to allow them to wander the earth as evidence of their rejection by God.

By the time the Crusaders were defeated by Saladin at the battle of Hittin (1187), and the Latin Kingdom was ended, Palestine had become a wasteland. Mongol invaders who arrived in 1260 destroyed many of the villages. The Mamluks ended the Crusader period in 1291, but under Mamluk rule Palestine declined further. Mamluks burned and sacked towns and villages, uprooted orchards, and destroyed wells. In 1351, the Black Death was reported in Palestine and by 1500 the population had declined to barely 200,000 people. For comparison, the state of New Jersey, roughly comparable to Israel in size, had a 2001 population of about 8.5 million people and still had rural, undeveloped areas.

In 1516 the Mamluks were defeated by the Ottoman Turks. The first three centuries of Ottoman rule isolated Palestine from outside influence. The discovery of sea routes to the East began to erode the importance of the Middle East to commerce. In 1831, Muhammad Ali, the Egyptian viceroy nominally subject to the Ottoman sultan, occupied Palestine. Under him and his son the region was opened to European influence. Ottoman control was reasserted in 1840, but Western influence continued. The Ottoman tax system was ruinous and did much to keep the land underdeveloped and the population small. When Alexander W. Kinglake crossed the Jordan in 1834-35, he used the Jordan's only bridge, a survival from Roman antiquity. Among the many European settlements established, the most significant in the long run were those of Jews, Russian Jews being the first to come (1882).

It is important to note that there was a Jewish population in Palestine continuously. Even after the Jewish state was ended by the Romans, Jewish communities continued to exist. All of the successor governments tried to eliminate the Jews at one time or another, but none succeeded as numerous accounts testify over the centuries. When the Zionists started the modern "return" to Eretz Yisrael in the 19th Century, they were joining Jews who never left.

Answer 2

you got something wrong there. The state of Israel was created under the approval of the United Nations. At the request of (among others) and with the enthusiastic approval of Joseph Stalin, one time dictator of the USSR.

If you need the details, the muslims (Jordan, Syria, Egypt, Saudis) were at that time allies of Great Britain and the US, while Israel was supported by the Soviets. Within a few years however some of the arab nations were subverted by the soviets (a.k.a. "underwent a popular revolution") and shifted sides, becoming allies to the USSR. Israel had to ally with the west to survive.
For whatever reason (IMO thanks to some very good propaganda) the west gets the "blame" for the creation of Israel - even though they supported the muslims.
the russians get no blame. go figure.

As to the "encroachment of palestinian territory" - sorry but that's false. The land was Turkish, until lost in war to great Britain. Before that it was Christian (Kingdom of jerusalem), Muslim (conquest from Byzantines) Christian (Roman Empire) and Jewish/ Greek/ Phoenician etc. Even the Mongols owned it at one time. All by right of conquest, I'm afraid
I am also puzzled why this conflict keeps going on. Considering the milions of square miles which are in the possession (also acquired by invasion, BTW) of the muslim countries (who declare support for the Palestinians - but somehow never deliver) it would have been simpler and cheaper to create an entirely new state for the Palestinians, and make it into a land of milk and honey. Instead, they keep attacking Israel- 8 times now? more? I'm losing count. Makes no sense.

One thing is obvious- if Israel wanted to occupy a larger area- they could. I remember they occupied all of the Sinai peninsula and they gave that away in return for peace. So I'm not buying that "encroaching" bit.

In any case the Palestinians are way better off that the Tibetans. And no one seems willing to challenge China over that issue.

Answer 3

There are many ways in which you could rationalize it:

First, the UN and League of Nations approved a jewish state in their ancestral lands along the Med.

Secondly, it was their home until the Romans expelled them for being rebellious once too many times.

Thirdly, enough Jewish people lived there; decided that they had an innate right for self-government and said "we're a country now". (like so many others have done in history)

Fourth, they defeated the Arab armies who attacked them on multiple occasions.

So by the rights of international decisions, ancient lands, the right of self determination, and lastly conquest- it's theirs.

Interestingly enough, had the Arab countries so concerned for the palestinians accepted them into their countries; there would not be such a large problem with it now.

And if you want to get technical; the Arabs are a desert people, so they 'stole' the whole of the middle east from the native inhabitants. Just like the Americans stole the US, the Spanish stole central and south american, the Angles & Saxons stole the UK; the Germans stole germany, the Russians russia, etc etc etc.

Answer 4

If you take parts of the Bible as history and not an article of faith, then there is a legitimate claim by the Jews to the section of the Middle East that they currrently occupy. After their exodus from Egypt, they wandered for a time before settling in the land that is present-day Israel. Jerusalem is noted for being one of the most over-run cities in history, occupied by Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, etc. etc. so that the true ownership of the land does get murky. And people are unwilling to use he Bible as a historical document because of their beliefs on the fallibility of the book as an article of faith. If you are unwilling to see it as a historical document, then look at other writings that are not religious and look at archeological findings. It seems a small thing to give BACK to these people the land that was originally theirs, especially in light of what they have been through in recent years ("recent" = WWII). For what they have given to the world, this not-so-great piece of real estate seems little enough sacrifice.

Answer 5

Wow! Are you off base. Jesus lived there, there were two temples built there, thousand of people lived there before it was an area of contention. It was Israel long before it was called Palestine.
Are you so prejudiced and backward that you think all the Jews came from Eastern Europe. Abraham lived there, as I said Jesus lived there. You knew he was a Jew right? Or did you?
Judging from your ignorant question you probably thought he was from Germany.

Answer 6

Your analysis is essentially correctThe illegal immigrant jews who came in after WW2 and formed terrorist gangs were allowed to override the interest of the christians and muslims who had lived there for centuries.
This was because the jews had influence in both the USA and Britain where they were represented in government but the arabs had no such influence.
There will not be peace in the Middle East until the refugees get back their land.

Answer 7

jews control banking, media and all other vital organizations in USA and europe. besides christians had the guilty feeling of slaughtering millions of jews in germany (mind u, nazis wer christians, they dint fall off any outer planet). so out of sympathy they drove arabs and settled jews in arab land. jews, when persecuted by christians were given protection by muslim rulers in erstwhile spain and morocco and now jews have returned the favour of muslims by expelling arabs from their legitimate land.