[samtheman]

Jews have been living on that land --- in smaller or greater numbers --- since biblical times. This is not a trumped-up attachment on the part of the Jews. After WWII, the European Jews didn't just cast about in search of some nice Mediterranian beach-front property... they decided it was time for all of them to go home. They went home. And that's where they are today. If the rest of the Arab world truly cared for the Palestinians (instead of truly detesting them and exiling them from Jordan, Kuwait and other places) they would have used some of their vast tracts of empty land, emulated the Jews, turned desert into garden, and given the Palestinians a home in the greater pan-Arab world... which is what they really want anyway.

[Diogenes of Sinope]

Sammy,

Unfortunately, your warm and fuzzy justification doesnt match the facts in evidence.

1) Jews have been a minority in that region for most of its history. Also of note is the fact that many of those in the region who are now Muslim are decendants of Jews.

2) Jews have exercised dominion over the region for only a fraction of it's history. Those with equal claim to the region would include Iranians, Iraqis, Syrians, Khurds, Egyptians, Turks, Greeks, Italians, Arabs, French and English.

3) The ethnic ties of European Jews to the region has never been established.

4) Since there has been continuous human habitation of the region for over 450,000 years the fact that Abraham wandered in from Iraq and claimed the land doesn't negate the claim of the people already living there.