The fall of Israel

[lees1975]

133. Yes, the Jewish people were expelled from Palestine by the Romans, the biggest exile occurring after 70 A.D.

If you want to keep going back, on a claim that the original inhabitants should be restored to their homeland, then the descendants of the Canaanite population that existed there when, according to the Old Testament narrative, the land was promised to Abraham and his descendants, should lay claim to the land.

And historically, it's a far reach to recognize the ownership of land by a nation conquered and exiled from it for over 1,500 years. That sets some precedents that Americans probably don't want to discuss or acknowledge.

The fact is that the Arabic population living there when the Balfour declaration was made have a longer history as the occupants and owners of the land that is now the nation of Israel, along with the West Bank and Gaza Strip, than any other people group who lived there, including the Jews.

I'm not saying that the Jewish population doesn't belong there, decisions have been made by world powers in modern times that have led us to this point. But all of that history, especially since 1946, has caused the violence and terrorism that has left the region in virtually constant warfare, and is the cause behind both October 7, and the retaliation occurring against Gaza. It was going to be a big problem moving in the bulk of the world's Jewish population to a land occupied by a majority Muslim and minority Christian population and it doesn't seem like much advanced planning was done to work for a solution that would have benefitted everyone, and not caused the displacement, poverty and violence that this did.