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Originally Posted by Thor
Thoughts on this propoganda video?
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These videos are obvioulsy slanted, but they do serve a purpose in drawing attention to the fact that it's not just as simple as "Israelis invaded and stole the natives land".
A few facts that often get overlooked:
1) The arab migration to the region around 1850-1949 was also quite large. The UN invented rules to define Palestinian refugees than are different from all other rules regarding refugees. Anyone who had lived in what is now Israel for two years or any of their descendants is defined as a Palestinian refugee. This includes all migrant workers, new immigrants, etc...
2) Jews were actively denied property rights in the Ottoman empire for hundred of years. Of course, they owned less land the muslims in the region. On top of this throughout the 1700s and 1800s there were riots, progroms, etc.. that drove the Jewish population out of Jerusalem and what is now Israel.
3) Despite the above, if you look at the population history of Jerusalem, Jews made up a majority in Jerusalem since about 1835:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demogra...y_of_Jerusalem
The population of Jerusalem did not consistently rise about 20k until the very late 1800s, despite having historical populations of up to 1 million. That area is now home to close to 2 million people. The land was, in fact, largely depopulated and abandoned until zionists returned to it.
In 1949, Jordan invaded East Jerusalem. Every Jew was removed from the area and the Jewish section of the old city was demolished. Israel regained control of the region in 1967.
Currently, most of the "settlements" are in the area around Jerusalem. I honestly, cannot see a single reason for why the area around Jerusalem should be considered a solely Palestinian area that Jews should be barred from settling in. Israel has a population of over 1.5 million Jews living within its borders. A Jewish population should be allowed to live in the West Bank, particularly in the area around Jerusalem.