Quote:
Originally Posted by Snuffleupagus
Palestine has never controlled any territory, historically the land was Ottoman, British and now Jewish.
I agree with the religious part, the sooner people grow brain cells the better.
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To add to this, the area was sparsely populated for a long time due to the harsh environmental conditions. When Zionists started purchasing land with the hope of re-establishing a Jewish homeland around Jewish communities, Muslim Arabs also started pushing for settlement in the same area. The idea that Arabs were the indigenous people and Jews just showed up after WW2 isn't true. There was a land grab during the period of British control and both sides participated.
Most Palestinians in West Bank can trace their family back to Jordanian settlers and most in Gaza to Egyptian settlers around the same time that the Jewish diaspora was reclaiming Israel. Both communities did have native representation, and both were bolstered by settlers at around the same time. Jews were in Israel long before the Arab conquests and had continuity there throughout the millennia.