What are opinions on Do the Jews deserve Israel?

Answer 1

The thoughtfulness of the question and the alternates is worthy of a history lesson.

Throughout the history of the region, the Jews have maintained a presence in the region. There has been no history of a people who have been in the country continuously other than the Jews.

The term Palestinians is a misnomer. Those people who are currently termed Palestinians are not a recognizable ethnic or religious group, but are of the ethnic group "Arab". The term was coined after the Yom Kippur war by Yassir Arafat to promote the idea that there should be a right of return for those people who fled the area in 1948, at the direction of their leaders. In the more than 60 years since the formation of the Jewish state, these people have been refused citizenship in any other Arab country. There are some analysts who contend that this has been done by the other Arab countries to maintain tension within the area. Historically, in any other situation of refugees of one country to another, those who are refugees either return to the country of origin (and is currently an option under Israeli law) or are absorbed into surrounding countries as citizens. Only this particular group of people have been denied this option by their fellow Arabs. They are denied citizenship by Jordan, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and/or Syria on the grounds that they are not eligible by their "ethnicity". So those people have been in "refugee camps" for more than 60 years with no legal standing.

As a question of "deserving", the House Israel has maintained a presence in this area since approximately 1800 BCE. Even during the various conquests of the country by Assyrians, Persians, Greeks, or Romans, House Israel has always returned to this country as their homeland. The conquests of all but the Romans always left the 'name' Israel on the land. The Romans, in their last conquest of the country in 70CE deported all Jews into slavery and changed the name to Palestine as a sign of might. Of course, we all know that Rome was the superpower of the day, so by custom the name stuck. But there still was no ethnic group known as Palestinians, it was a military decision.

This particular region became part of the Ottoman Empire and was not considered a country in the 1800's, merely a geographical region within the empire, much as the Transjordan region. As a interesting note, Mark Twain wrote of the region as being very bleak and arid, with no redeeming features in the late 19th century novel "Innocents Abroad". He noted that this region was not attractive to any people and it was very poorly populated because it could not support a population. At the time, this was an accurate assessment of the country and his remarks on it are worth reading. Yet the Jews yearn for this land.

Jews have always held an affinity to this particular bit of land, remembering it in their writings, lore, prayers, and rituals. They have always been identified with it by the rest of the world. There is no other place in the world where Jews are assigned a 'place', such as the English in Great Britain, the Germans of Germany, or the Chinese of China. Only in Israel. So a question of "deserving" Israel isn't necessarily a correct question, it's a matter of world perception...and the Jewish people are not welcome in any other country for very long. Their history shows that expulsion throughout all of Europe and the Mediterranean happened on a depressingly frequent basis.

Only when the Jews are in The Land (a Jewish term for Israel) does it support a thriving community. They can and do prosper in Israel, literally making the desert bloom. Their technical achievements concerning agriculture in Israel are particularly impressive, making drip irrigation the main means of watering crops. Their produce is highly prized in Europe for it's quality, making Israeli produce a world treat, highly prized among gourmet chefs.

As a side commentary, Israel voluntarily gave up Gush Katif in 2003, leaving behind intact about a billion dollars worth of agricultural greenhouses ready to use. The Palestinians destroyed an excellent source of income to themselves. They knew how to use it because they were paid employees of those same greenhouses. Yet today, they are 'poor Palestinians' because they have no income...which they destroyed.

Geographically, Israel is the size of New Jersey in the United States...or less than the size of the Solomon Islands. Its neighbors are, with the exception of Jordan, more than six times the size of it. There is no mention of carving the neighboring countries into smaller units, only Israel. It is interesting to note that these neighboring countries were also defined in the Balfour Declaration, making Iran, Iraq, and other neighboring countries' boundary lines suspiciously straight. There are not many places in the world where such long straight lines mark a border between countries.

Throughout the less than 70 year history of current Israel, the country has been attacked by her neighbors on a continuing basis. She is situated in a relatively minor section of the world, surrounded by enemies who would love to see her disappear. Yet she survives, in large part because of the Jew's love for their homeland.

She does not seek to expand her territory; won land yet gave it back, and is beset by demands that she give up land on the basis that she "doesn't deserve" it. She ceded land that she won in the 1967 war, land that she developed over a 40 year period. There is no other country in the world which is expected to return land to a conquered enemy! Yet the demands of world councils have forced this one little country to do just that. The surprise attacks by her neighbors make her a prime target and should have wiped Israel off the map...yet it hasn't happened. Given her military might, she should have been able to conquer the surrounding countries..yet she hasn't done this. From the recent history of the country, all Israel seeks to do is to develop the land she has. No conquest, no Imperialism, just live in a very small country in security.

So! Do the Jews deserve Israel? Perhaps, perhaps not. But I know of no other place in the world where Jews are actually welcomed. Even in the United States where any ethnic or religious groups are welcomed with open arms, the Jew is only marginally accepted for what they are. In the European nations, they have been (and are being) attacked for peacefully practicing being who they are. In France, Sweden, Germany and other places, their way of life, indeed their very lives, are being attacked by government and other ethnicities simply because they exist.

Deserve is a slippery term. Do the French "deserve" France? Do the Indians "deserve" India? Or do the Americans "deserve" the United States? In each case, the indigenous peoples were absorbed and a country was born. In the case of Israel, their indigenous people returned to their country. Simply put, without the Jews, there would be no Israel. They literally have no place to go but to their own land.