I have often heard it said that the Jews stole land from "Palestinians" to create Israel. If that were the case, then we should indeed be indignant, and demand they hand it back. But it's not true.
My post to danielpipes.org:
...at the time of the British withdrawal in 1948, Jews owned only 6 to 10 percent of the territory's land area. True, but when one discounts uncultivated and public land, the percentage becomes very much higher.
Actually, it's even better than that: the number of Jews in what is now Israel, at 1948, was about 538k ,vs 397k Arabs. See Alan Dershowitz, The Case for Israel, p27. [sources in his book]
Great article! Love your stuff and always looking out for more of your posts.
Summary of Jewish immigration to the Holy Land:
- Part of normal global population moves: in the case of the Jews they bought land, didn't steal it.
- At time of partition and UN establishment of Israel, the Jews in modern Israel were the majority.
- In the Arab-inspired war of 1949, most Arabs fled their homes were not driven out by Jews. This was because of fear of war, and also encouraged by some Arab generals -- who wanted to create the causus belli for refugees and the destruction of Israel.
All this confirmed by contemporaneous sources: Jewish, Arabic and UN observers.
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References:
The above are just a couple of quick links. There is much, much more: abundant evidence from both Muslim and non-Muslim sources that supports the reality of what happened up to 1949: Jews did not "steal" the land that became Israel; and they did not "drive out" the Muslim Arabs living in the land that became Israel.
Related:
Israel is not the only state established for a religion
Related:
Israel is not the only state established for a religion
