Nor did it start in 1948. The Israeli people have had a presence in that area for thousands of years.
The history of the human race is conquer and vanquish - again and again.
Right or wrong, Western Europeans conquered America and vanquished those living here. This has been human's story from time immemorial.
He is steeped in Replacment Theology.
They HAD a presence 2000 years ago. They did not HAVE a presence for thousands of years. In determining when we should start looking at the back and forth between the arabs and the jews, I would think a good place to start would be immediately after a 2000 year break in the action. Go back and read what the Zionists said about the Palestinians at the turn of the last century. They called them "our semitic brothers". There were several places they were thinking about making the destination spot of Zionism. They picked Palestine because of the good relations with the existing inhabitants (and also the ease with which they could be conquered)
The history of the human race is conquer and vanquish - again and again.
Ok. Now we are getting somewhere.
That's all I wanted.
As long as we all agree that what the Zionists are doing is an invasion where they are conquering and vanquishing the Palestinians, we can then move on and discuss the ramifications of that and what else it signifies.