What are three strong arguments that Arabs should rule Israel?

Answer 1

Answer 1

I can not find one strong argument because Israel is the Jewish homeland. However, this does also mean that the Palestinian people should live in and rule Gaza and the West bank as this is their homeland.

Answer 2

The question is written in a very slanted way as it is not "Should the Arabs control Israel", but it is written as if such an opinion is already affirmed, a position that is not necessarily the case. Similar to the position in Answer 1, I find the arguments that the Arabs should rule Israel fatuous and ridiculous. However, in the spirit of debate, I will put those arguments below that are most emphasized and seen by Arabs as being the most compelling (followed by the reasons why those arguments are not convincing).

Historical Arab Claim

The land of the former Mandate of Palestine had physically belonged to parents and grandparents of the Fellahin (Settled Arabs) and should have been their inheritance. Prior to 1900, less than 10% of the population of what would become Mandatory Palestine was Jewish and the Fellahin were the majority. There were also a large percentage of Turks, Circassians, Bedouin, and Druze, but the Fellahin were still the majority. In their minds, it did not make sense that a group of German, Polish, French, English, and Russian speaking people should claim land that their ancestors had not even visited for centuries. Many also doubted the Jewish historical connection to the land, arguing that these Jews were European converts.

The main thrust of this argument is that Israel is a modern colony in the Middle East (as opposed to a return of a people to their lost homeland). In the narrative, Zionist Jews or those Jews who desired to create a Jewish State cleverly manipulated the Great Powers, especially the United Kingdom into giving them the right to immigrate to Mandatory Palestine in large numbers without consulting the rights of the Fellahin. Additionally, Zionist Jews purchased large swaths of land from Turkish nobility without consulting the Fellahin who lived on that land for centuries but did not properly own it. As a result, numerous Fellahin were forced off of their land during the Yishuv period, Yishuv being the word for a Zionist Jewish settlement in Mandatory Palestine. The Jewish population in Palestine continued to rise until 1939 when the Fellahin successfully petitioned the British government to close off Jewish Immigration. The Fellahin, who now identify as the Palestinians, have a right to that country based on this history and the Yishuv, which has now become Israel, does not.

Response: The Arab historical claim does not negate or prevent a Jewish historical claim. That Arabs are often unwilling to acknowledge Jews as Semites and choose to think less of them is not a valid reason to oppose the Jews' right to statehood. The primary motivation here, on the Arabs' part, is irridentism, the desire to recover lands lost because of war or diplomacy. We see similar Arab irridentism in regards to Spain, but that has cooled over the course of the last 500 years.

If we respond point by point, we could argue that (1) most Fellahin did not actually own the land that they lived on, rather it was the property of Turkish nobility, (2) that the Fellahin were not consulted because they had no power. The Zionists consulted the Turkish nobles who owned the land and bought it from them and consulted the British government because it was they who ruled the Mandate, (3) the exclusivist idea that only the Fellahin should have a right to rule, excluding other minorities as opposed to Israel which actively integrates its minorities into government.

Human Rights Abuses and Inequality for Arabs in Israel and Palestine

This argument is relatively straightforward. The establishment and existence of Israel has resulted in a Second-Class Status for the Fellahin within Israel, who are denied a number of rights and privileges because of their being tied to a group that does not perform military service. Additionally, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled their homes and tens of thousands of Palestinians have died in the numerous Arab-Israeli Wars. If the Arabs were in power, this would not be the case.

Response: It is this last statement that underpins why this view is incorrect. Even if we attribute the 21,000 Palestinians who died in conflict with Israel (both civilians, militants, and suicide bombers) wholly to Israel, is the argument seriously that Arabs would not have, on their own racked a higher death toll. In the 1984 Hama Massacre in Syria, 30,000-40,000 Syrian civilians were murdered by Hafez Assad. In 1969-1970, Jordan launched a military attack against Palestinian refugees in Jordan and killed an estimated 15,000 Palestinians in that one year. The Lebanese Civil War caused the deaths of 250,000 people on all sides. Of course, all of this fails to take into account the high degree of Religism (discrimination based on religion) present in almost all Arab countries, which has effectively prevented Non-Muslims from becoming a truly active and accepted part in Arab societies. The idea that Arabs would be more egalitarian than Israel currently is is laughable.

Religious Right to the Land

All the prophets (Ibrahim, Musa, Dawood, Suleiman, 3isa, etc.) are Muslims because sent from the same and the Only GOD (Allah) who got the same Curriculum. Naturally, therefore the promise continues on to the rest of the Muslims. Furthermore, God disinherited the Children of Israel in the Qur'an because of their sins while wandering the desert, which is why Masjid al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock are on top of the Jewish Holy Temple.

Response: While this view is very popular in Muslim circles, Islam fundamentally opposes this view. Israel is a unique case and the Qur'an actually says that Allah is behind the creation of Israel. These views are established in 5:20-21 where Allah commands Moses to take the Holy Land for his people, in 17:104 where Allah claims responsibility for gathering the Jews to Israel, and 26:59 where the Qur'an gives the Land of Israel to Jews as inheritance. There is no point in the Qur'an that even alludes to Muslim control or right to rule any place in the Levant region. Unfortunately, as many Muslims would like to advocate the above argument since it would support their personal beliefs. It is additionally worth noting that the placement of Islamic structures in what are Jewish holy sites is an indication less of God's power than of man's.