Where do you think Jewish people come from?

Tribalism linked to religion and race has existed since humans existed. Even monkey colonies have rivalry between them.

The difference is that we are supposed to be the more ‘intelligent’ of the apes, yet we are still throwing stones and spears at each other like we did in prehistoric times. Nothing has changed except that the stones and spears are a little more deadly now.

No it's not. Ethiopian Jews have had a difficult time being accepted by some people in Israel due to racism.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32813056

No it's not. Ethiopian Jews have had a difficult time being accepted by some people in Israel due to racism.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-32813056

Judaism is an ethnoreligion.

Ur of the Chaldees is where Abram came from, I believe.

Having got that out of my system, there are (at least) two things which make this a really difficult situation to solve.

Firstly, Jews absolutely need a country. Over a thousand years of history tells us that, for reasons I don't fully understand, almost whenever a country starts to go bad, Jews are among the first to be persecuted. It's not just the Holocaust, it's hundreds of years of discrimination, expulsion and suspicion. So if they are not going to have the country of Israel, where can they have which will be a safe haven?

Secondly, there are people on both sides who think they have a divine right to the land. Some Jews believe God gave it to them. Some Muslims hold the view that any land which has ever been ruled by Muslims must never be allowed to pass out of Muslim control. I am not sure how prevalent those views are, but I suspect their existence (on both sides) is why the two state solution never seems to get off the ground.

Unless the UN or someone (probably the US) wants to get back to colonisation and enforce a two state solution (which will mean both sides hate and attack them and given Israel has a very good military I'm not sure it would even be possible) I think that part of the world will continue to be a brutal mess. I wish there was an answer but I don't think there is.

The Arabs were offered a two-state solution at least 5 times as I recall.
The turned it down every time, the last time being in 2008.
This is because they don't want a two-state solution. They want a one-state solution and that state isn't Israel.

Why do you say that? Would that not be a good solution? Just because it's never gonna happen, doesn't mean it's not a good idea.

Let's not forget that back in the heady days of the 90s when it felt like a two state solution was achievable, Hamas was blowing up buses and murdering innocent Israeli civilians in order to (successfully) derail it.

The best evidence available so far is that homo sapiens originated somewhere in/near modern day Ethiopia. Everything past that is migration.

What a stupid comment. Israel is an exansionist state??? It gave back Sinai for peace wirh Egypt, it left Gaza. Where there are disputed settlments are in the West Bank but that's been an issue for decades and it has nothing to do with accommodating immigrants. And in any case, the vast majority of Israeli setllements are in blocs near the green line which were always going to be included as part of Israel in any 2 state solution with land swaps to compensate Palestine such as Modiin Illit, Beitar Illit, Maale Adumim, Gush Etziyon etc.

You don't have a clue what you're talking about.

You're conflating sovereignly and land ownership. Different concepts. Many Israelis rent their homes and dont' own land because they can't afford it.

It usually does on predominantly leftist mumsnet. I was on a thread last week, and some of the posts I read were so blatantly antisemitic. Some of them got removed. It’s pretty obvious what is motivating some posters’ hatred towards Israel and it goes beyond Gaza.

Germany has paid Israel around 85 Billion Euros in reparations.

Most land in a country isn't publicly owned, it's state land. And state land can be used for residential development and sold for private use. Happens everywhere, all the time.

Prior to 1948, all land owned by Jews had been privately purchased. Arabs obviously owned land although a lot of the land was held by large absenteee landlords and the rural villagers would lease the land from them (which is why some land sales prior to 1948 would then lead to dsplacement from villages). After 1948, there was an "absentee landlord law" which allowed the land held by arabs not present in Israel (either through displacement or because they had never lived there) to be held by the state - problematic for sure but similar laws passed elsewhere with large scale displacements - certainly, happend to the 800,000 Jews displaced from Arab countries who lost all their property.
However, nearly all the land was state land and not privately held land and that passed to the state of Israel in 1948 when the brits left.

It's more problematic in the West Bank because there Israel hasn't annexed it and applied Israeli civil law. So legally they really shouldn't be converting state land to private land for Israeli citizens. Until now, privately held land was protected but a lot of the recent uproar in the WB is because extremsit groups are trying to take over privately held land, whch is illegal under Israeli law too.

Nope, we're real!
I'm proud to be a Zionist.
Boker tov everyone!

Told you this has would descend into Israel-Bashing!
(Off to watch Eastenders, so sheket b'vakasha)

Thank you - the saddest part is that it’s so normal, we don’t even think about it.

i had to take my son for a catch-up vaccination, which was held at a regular local primary school. We just walked in from
the street. He was stunned, and so worried for the kids there that there wasn’t security on the door ☹️

this whole thread has been so refreshingly supportive and reinforced my suspicions that most of our lovely fellow Brits do support us - even if they’d rather keep quiet than face abuse for stating their support. So, thank you - it’s a great feeling to wake up to

Because these are religions and not ethnicities - and no one obsesses in trying to prove that they don't come from where they say there do. I think the OP was making the point that Jews originated from what is now Israel (more or less) and all these antisemities run around desperately trying to prove that they don't.

Of course Jews originate from the Levant, and it is remarkable how genetically tight Ashlenazi Jews remain as a people despite hundreds of years of exile in Europe. Most Israelis, though, come from other countries in the region - and were driven out. Anti zionists who suggest Israelis should just 'go home' are ignoring the fact that, for most, there is no other home.

But "who lived there 2000 years ago" doesn't get you very far, in Israel or anywhere. Palestinians have an equally valid claim, and solutions will only be found by looking forward, not back.

https://www.met.police.uk/advice/advice-and-information/t/terrorism-in-the-uk/current-threat-level-UK/

Take a look at this.
Is anyone starting a thread asking where Sikkh's, Muslims or Baptists come from?
Why not?

The fact that Israel is an expansionist state - has to be to accommodate that automatic right. As @Bloodysquirellls said, depending on which side of the moral debate you stand, settling could be considered stealing.

Because it's both. Yes, people can convert to Judaism but historically numbers have been small. Similarly, you can be an atheist and still ethnically Jewish. Also explains the existence of "Jews for Jesus" = basically Jews who converted to Chistianity but didn't want to give up their ethnic identity. Ethnic Jews are geneally genetically related to each other even after millenia of displacement.