Before the state of israel, there was the first and second aliyah. Many wealthy jews bought lands from arab landowners and therefore the tenants were kicked out, since the land was now owned by the jews. Also, some land was attained from bribing ottoman officials. I have my own views on them with my own analogies, but I will not share them because I want to know how people think.Was it wrong for the Jews to do this?
It is neither correct to say that Jews bought all of the land which is modern-day Israel, nor is it correct to say that all of the same land is confiscated or stolen Palestinian property. Much of the land of the State of Israel was appropriated by absentee laws which stipulated that persons not residing on their land on such and such dates had relinquished their rights to it. As I'm sure you know, there was an exodus of Arabs after the commencement of hostilities in 1947, both out of fear of the Jews and also due to the urgings of the surrounding Arab governments to make way for an assault on the Israeli forces. As a consequence, many Arabs fled and do to the aforementioned provisions were never allowed to return to their lands and residences. Your analogy about the apartment building is faulty, because if I am evicted from an apartment building in my country I may seek another apartment down the street, in my town, or if worse comes to worse, in another town in my country. In the case of Israel, however, those displaced Palestinians, for the most part, were not allowed to return to the new State of Israel, what had previously been their homes in the Palestine Mandate. As to your last question, I think in the end the Arabs have hurt the Palestinians more by not absorbing them properly when they became refugees and for using the Palestinians as pawns in their quest to destroy Israel. Not to say that Israel is innocent here, but in practical terms the Arabs certainly had the ability to put an end to the daily suffering and uncertainties of refugee life and to this day have chosen not to so that these refugees will not lose their passion for the fight against Israel. This is indeed a tragedy.
The reality fo land ownership in the ottoman Empire: The land was owned by either the Ottoman Empire directly (90% of it) or by landlords with private title deeds (the other 10%). The vast majority of these landlords lived in the Ottoman Empire proper- and not in any of the six provinces that made up the area of Idrael today. The &Palestinians' were mkostly nomadic farmers and migrant workers that moved between these properties. Some others worked the land for their absentee landlords as tenant farmers givign part of their crop as rent for their property (and being kicked off the land if they failed to produce) Only a small minority of them owned the land they had lived on and worked for generations (the same situation as the European serfs and Freemen had faced a couple of hundred years earlier.) The early Jews bought land off of these absentee landlords at exorbitant prices- or from the Turkish. By the time of the end of the British mandate- land ownership in the areas was: 81%- owned by the government, 9% owned by Jews, 10% owned by others (including Arabs, churches, etc). In 1948 a whole slew of Palestinians left the area, urged by the Arab high command to do so with promises that if they cleared the way for the Arab armies and thus aided in the defeat of the Israelis- they would be rewarded with land. Problem is, that the Arabs lost and then treated these displaced Palestinians as dirt and political tools.
ok this question is a hotbet of israeli propaganda. according to the UN the jews owned considerable amount of land but this percentage never exceded 39% in any district. yes many lands where bought fair and square but not to the extent that some here are advocating. as for the population, in 1945 the Jews where only 33% of the total residents compared to 58% for Muslims and 9% for Christians. and genetic studies have proved that a considerable percentage of Palestinians are descendants of the people who originally populated the area(before Islamic conquest).
If Jews bought land in any other country, let us say the Uk. Do they have the right to change the name of the country and kick all the native english people and make them live in a refugee camp for 60 years. The question of debate here: Do the native people have the right to live on their native land.
Kevin my friend you forgot about THE GLORIOUS BULLDOZERS! We (I mean me of course, he he) we like THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH, AMEN! he he So tell us please about the BULLDOZERS. This is 99% right? The rest 1% is the legal deeds. Oh, c'mon be a sport, tell the real story mate. Kevin I want you to hit me with THE TRUTH! You are one of tose BULLDOZE DRIVERS , aren't you? OK, Give me thumbs down if you think I am right here folks. If you do that I will be able to go on with my life. he he
