Do Jews Have the Right to the Land of Israel? Question 36

Stuart Dauermann posed an interesting question at his blog The Messianic Agenda.  Do the Jewish people have the right to return to Israel after so long?

I think he misses something: there can only be two types of justification:  a secular justification and a religious justification.

I believe that all rights belong to G-d.  We only have the "right" to follow His will.  This is the religious justification for a return to the Land.

The secular justification isn't very persuasive.  Many, many years ago I attended a Zola Levitt lecture (my parents have always been huge fans).  And Zola alluded to some of the secular justifications:  (1) that Israelis have a historical claim (which is certainly true); (2) that Israelis took the Land through war, which is how most European countries and America originally laid claim to their land.  He might've cited some other rationales but this was so long ago that I don't remember.

The problem with the secular justifications are that they leave you feeling sorry for those who were living in Israel before 1948 and who had to leave.

But if we look at the "right" of return as G-d's right then consideration for the feelings of those dwellers in Israel prior to 1948 is less of a problem.  G-d's will trumps anyone else's will.  He is the sole rights-holder.

Question 36:

Do you have a more persuasive secular justification for Jewish right to the Land of Israel?






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