As I have pointed out ad infinitum ad nauseum, every square inch of the land in Palestine that was acquired by Jews was bought and paid for (meaning that cash was exchanged with the owners of the time, and deeds were drawn up etc.), by the Jewish National Fund starting circa 1901. It happens that that land included all of Judea/Samaria (AKA “the West Bank”) which, during the Arab-Israel War of 1948, was taken over and occupied by Jordan. The thing is, wealthy Arab landowners were only too happy to sell “worthless desert land” to the “foolish Jews,” at exorbitant prices. When the “worthless desert land” was proven to be very airable (thanks to science and irrigation), the cry “Jews stole our land” was heard around the world.
Were some Arabs displaced by these purchases? It happens that a good portion of the lands purchased by JNF were at the time rented out to poorer Arabs. As happens here in the US, when a landlord sells property that tenants are living on, sometimes the tenants have to live elsewhere. This is exactly the situation in Jerusalem in Sheikh Jarrah. Jewish landlords who owned those properties prior to the Jordanian occupation were restored to the ownership. They attempted to collect rent from the Arab residents. Those residents refused to pay (having been instructed to do so by Palestinian leadership) and were subsequently evicted (which is what happens in the USA when tenants don’t pay their rent). The thing is, this situation went on for many years before the landowners appealed to the Israeli Supreme Court, and were granted permission to evict their tenants.
History sucks don’t it? Oh wait! I forgot! Progressives are all socialists who don’t believe in legal ownership so no landlord anywhere in the world has the right to expect they can collect rents. How foolish of me..
For more of my insights regarding Israel and “Palestine,” click HERE.
