While the situation in Israel differs from that in the West Bank, there are still significant elements of systemic discrimination against Arab citizens. The 2018 Nation-State Law is a prime example, as it:
1. Removedd Arabic as an offical language 2. Defined Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people exclusively 3. Declared Jewish settlements a national value
This law effectively codified the second-class status of Arab citizens, who make up about 20% of Israel's population. Additionally, Arab Israelis face ongoing disparities in areas such as education, employment, and housing. They are underrepresented in government and leadership positions.
While Arab citizens have legal rights on paper, the reality is a system of de facto segregation and institutional discrimination. The Nation-State Law and other policies create a two-tiered system that privileges Jewish citizens over Arab citizens, meeting key criteria of apartheid even within Israel proper.
[1] What to Know About the Arab Citizens of Israel https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-know-about-arab-citize... [2] Israel's controversial new “Jewish nation-state” law, explained | Vox https://www.vox.com/world/2018/7/31/17623978/israel-jewish-n... [3] Israel: New Laws Marginalize Palestinian Arab Citizens https://www.hrw.org/news/2011/03/30/israel-new-laws-marginal... [4] The argument that Israel practices apartheid, explained https://www.vox.com/23924319/israel-palestine-apartheid-mean... [5] Israel - Minority Rights Group https://minorityrights.org/country/israel/ [6] Q&A: Israel's Apartheid against Palestinians: Cruel System of ... https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2022/02/qa-israel...
You keep oversimplifying. It's just not simple.
Btw: „God‘s chosen people, God‘s promised land, nation state law, jewish majority“. Sounds very racist to me. - If it walks like a duck, sounds like a duck, it is propably a duck?
Here's the thing about settler colonialism: it's when you're sent by an empire to settle on land you're not native to. Jews are native to Israel. Dig in the ground, you'll find coins and pots and tablets in Hebrew.
"Thousands of years ago" is not OK, but "for centuries" is. Sorry, you don't get to choose.
As for the second Nakba, October 7th really was as close to a second holocaust as the Jews experienced, one in a long line of pogroms. To do that and then hide behind and below women, children and innocent civilians you're using as human shields, that's beyond a war crime, it's a crime against humanity.
As for the idea of a Jewish majority homeland, go check the bible. It predates "polish jews in the 19th century" by a few centuries.
Then they had a kingdom that lasted about 200 years before falling apart, we can count it as almost 500 years if you want to include the kingdom of Judah time. And now it's more than 2500 years later. Jews who can't trace a single ancestor back to the Middle East for hundreds of years can somehow claim to be indigenous to the land and "return" there. And they have the right to displace or murder the people who have been living there for generations and whose genetics show their ancestors have been in that area for hundreds or thousands of years.
Clearly this is an absurd standard of 'indigenous' that nobody in their right mind should take seriously.
As for your other claims, they are irrelevant. Whether or not Hamas uses or has used human shields is completely unrelated to whether or not it is good or righteous to commit genocide on the Palestinians (indeed, there can be NO excuse for genocide). And if using human shields is so vile that the people of the same country deserve to be slaughtered I should point out that the Israeli military has a rich history of using Palestinian civilians (including children) as human shields. And if October 7th qualifies as a holocaust, then what Israel has done in Gaza is a holocaust ten times over.
Jewish History in Palestine
The history of Jewish presence in Palestine and the claim to this land is often justified by religious, historical, and modern political narratives. Central to the debate are the biblical accounts of the conquest of Canaan and the brief duration of the ancient Jewish kingdoms. Today, the Jewish claim to the land after more than 2,000 years is frequently challenged, especially in light of the continuous presence of Palestinians in the region.
Biblical Narratives and the Conquest of Canaan
The Bible provides several accounts of the violent conquest of Canaan by the Israelites. Their God explicitly commanded them to exterminate the native population. This is illustrated clearly in the book of Joshua, where the destruction of Jericho is described:
“And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, sheep, and donkey, with the edge of the sword.” (Joshua 6:21)
This systematic annihilation of the population was understood by the Israelites as a divine command. A more explicit directive is found in the book of Deuteronomy:
“But of the cities of these peoples, which the Lord your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them…” (Deuteronomy 20:16–18)
These passages suggest that the Israelites did not acquire their “homeland” through peaceful settlement but through genocide. According to the biblical narrative, they were invaders, seizing land through brutal force and eliminating its original inhabitants.
The Brief Duration of the Ancient Jewish Kingdoms
While the Jewish kingdoms play a significant role in the Bible, their actual existence was historically limited. The Kingdom of Israel (the northern kingdom) lasted only about 200 years before being conquered by the Assyrians, while the Kingdom of Judah (the southern kingdom) existed for around 350 years before being destroyed by the Babylonians. In total, the Jewish people had about 500 years of political control in the region—a relatively short period compared to the millennia during which other civilizations lived there.
Now, more than 2,500 years have passed since the fall of these Jewish kingdoms. In that time, the descendants of the local populations—today’s Palestinians—have lived continuously in the region. The claim that Jews, after centuries of absence, have a right to return to this land appears weak, especially considering that many Jews living in Israel today have no genealogical connection to ancient Israel.
Ancestry and Genetic Studies
Modern genetic research further supports the notion of a deep-rooted Palestinian presence in the region. A 2017 study revealed that around 90% of the DNA of modern Palestinians is derived from the people who lived in Bronze Age Canaan. This suggests that the Palestinians are the direct descendants of the ancient inhabitants who lived there long before the arrival of the Israelites.
In contrast, many modern Jews have no traceable ancestry to the biblical Israelites. Historians like Shlomo Sand argue that many Jews are descendants of later converts, such as the Khazars from Eastern Europe, who embraced Judaism centuries after the fall of the Jewish kingdoms. These findings cast doubt on the idea that Jews have an inherent right to return to the land.
Historical Expulsions and Colonization
The claim of returning to the “ancestral homeland” after over 2,000 years is also problematic from a historical and moral standpoint. Following their expulsion by the Romans in the 1st century CE, Jews lived primarily in the Diaspora, while the ancestors of today’s Palestinians continued to reside in the region.
In the 20th century, European powers, through the Sykes-Picot Agreement and the Balfour Declaration, facilitated colonial projects that supported the Zionist movement. These events led to the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, resulting in the Nakba—the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes. As such, the establishment of Israel can be seen as a colonial project that relied on the displacement and dispossession of the native population to make way for Jewish settlers, many of whom had no direct genealogical link to the region.
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The biblical account of the genocidal conquest of Canaan and the brief political presence of the ancient Jewish kingdoms challenge the modern Jewish claim to the land. Given the genetic continuity of the Palestinian population and the colonial backing of modern Zionism, the Jewish right of return after so many centuries appears increasingly questionable.
Hey, looks like they just found not just a few coins and pots, but an entire Nabatean temple (along with a warehouse district) just off the cost of Italy.
So by your logic, Jordan and/or Saudi Arabia are welcome to annex the surrounding land (which much have belonged to the settlement also), and start kicking out the rootless interlopers currently living the area, any time they want to.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/underwater-temple...