Since Oct. 7 Israeli settlers seized 37,000 acres of West Bank territory from the Palestinian inhabitants. The Mayor of one of the settlements said the Palestinians never had a legal claim to the land. Many settlers claim that God gave them the land. The Israeli military is protecting the settlements.
Anyone who studies the westward expansion on to Indian lands has heard these same arguments. The “God gave us the land” claim was called Manifest Destiny. It was in the natural order of things that the savages should give way to the civilizing influence of the white people. As for ownership, the Indians didn’t really “own” the land; they just wandered around on it hunting and fishing. There were no actual deeds or land titles.
It was wrong then, and it is wrong now. A few Europeans treated Native Americans with respect, but not enough. Some Israelis try to aid the West Bank Palestinians as well, but not enough.
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