<p>I would be curious to know what kind of responses you would get to this rhetorical question if you asked it to some of your fellow students at Stern. It is like asking why we each have a right to exist, just because we were born. Or why we have the right to own a house on land that was probably previously occupied by American Indians. Maybe the Israelis should get a giant title insurance policy on their land so no one has the right to take it away from them :)</p>
<p>Here’s the title insurance policy:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.iaf.org.il/Templates/HomePage/HomePage.aspx?lang=EN[/url]”>http://www.iaf.org.il/Templates/HomePage/HomePage.aspx?lang=EN</a></p>
<p>It’s always fascinated me that people never seem to remember the lessons of war, but seem to have an amazing ability to remember who lived where or owned what 100 or 1,000 years ago.</p>
<p>Spain is still upset about Gibraltar, and Britain has occupied Gibraltar since around 1704.</p>
<p>In my idealistic moments, I just wish we could declare that the statute of limitations for challenging land ownership is now over, and we should all just DEAL. But then I have to return to real life. :)</p>
<p>I don’t think it’s a question of existence but of support/conflict based purely on religious reasons. Unfortunately, many wars and conquests have occurred because of religion, and that’s just the reality. It does seem to be the biblical-based religions that have this thing about being ‘chosen’ by ‘God’ which does tend to add another level of complexity to the normal (already complex) issues of war and conquest.</p>
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<p>A lot of Moslems are upset about the Crusades, which were aimed at reclaiming land which the Moslems had conquered in war 300 years before. And a lot of Moslems also resent the Christian re-conquering of the Iberian Peninsula, which they consider to still be a valid part of the Caliphate, despite the fact that it was Christian before the Moslem invasion.</p>
<p>Some Mexicans resent the inclusion of Texas into the US, even though they had taken the land from the last round of “native” inhabitants themselves shortly before. The same for California and Arizona. The first Mexican missions in California were established in the 18th century. California has been a state for MUCH longer than it was a Mexican territory. What claim does Mexico – which was just a political stub of Spain in the New World anyway – have?</p>
<p>The globe is full of resentment over ancient wrongs. Hence, the WashDad “might makes nations” rule. It’s not moral, it may not be “right,” but it is the way things are.</p>
<p>Real estate in Ireland is booming. Can I go reclaim that family cottage plot that Cromwell destroyed in the 1600’s?</p>
<p>Whether or not people feel Israel has a fundamental right to exist or not is actually beside the point. People may still be pizzed off that a Jewish state was plunked down right in the midst of 22 hostile Arab countries (ok, some are Persian), but the fact is, that’s the past. </p>
<p>Israel is here. Time to deal with the reality. It isn’t going to be pushed into the sea. What likely will happen, however, is that the Israeli Arab population, growing at a rapid pace, will overtake the Jewish majority within the next three decades. When that happens, perhaps the Israel that we know, will no longer exist. Demographically, the odds are not in Israel’s favor, sadly.</p>
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<p>I can think of three series of wars based on religious beliefs – the Moslem expansions of the 8th century, the Crusades, and the Catholic/Protestant wars of the 17th century. I’m having trouble coming up with others. I can think of dozens of instances of wars of expansionism, in some of which leaders used faith as an excuse. Even the Catholic/Protestant wars in Europe were in some ways a political struggle between the temporal powers of the Empire and the Roman Catholic Church against the English/Dutch/part of German mercantile/Protestant classes. There isn’t much question that the great wars of the 20th century had nothing to do with religion.</p>
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<p>Not just Israel, Allmusic. Europe, too. Mohammed is the most popular baby name in several European countries. Arabs are having babies. Non-Arab Europeans aren’t.</p>
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<p>I was referring not only to major wars, but also conquests and lesser battles. What about all those tribes the Israelites conquered because ‘God’ told them to? What about the Europeans conquering the ‘barbaric’ Native Americans? That was not purely about religion, but religion was definitely a factor. What about modern-day Islamic terrorism? And wasn’t there some skirmish between the Catholics and Protestants in Ireland? </p>
<p>Here is a site with info about many, many more:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.religioustolerance.org/curr_war.htm[/url]”>http://www.religioustolerance.org/curr_war.htm</a></p>