It's fascinating to me that the land encompassing the modern-day state of Israel is laid claim to by so many different religions and peoples, based on history spanning thousands of years. Many pro-Israel and Zionist types justify the creation of present-day Israel based on claims that go back 100s or 1000s of years. I don't doubt that throughout time, several different groups have lived on, fought over, occupied, and been forced out of this land.
Many people here in the US support Israel and its right to exist. I'm curious if these same people - living on land originally occupied by indigenous people who were forcefully displaced 300 years ago, would be as supportive of a hypothetical Indigenous movement to forcefully re-settle this land based on it being their 'spiritual homeland' and push them from their homes and into refugee camps... like what their ancestors did to the indigenous 300 years ago. My hunch is suddenly, these people wouldn't be so excited about using 'ancient precedent' to determine modern land ownership.
How far back do we go? I have Scottish heritage, in the form of a last name. Other than that, I have no connection to the land of Scotland (other than visiting as a tourist). Do I have a valid claim to Scotland as my 'spiritual homeland' even though my ancestors emigrated to the US several generations ago? I think most people would laugh at this notion. Obviously I have no right to fly back to Scotland tomorrow, and then force some Scottish family off their farm and take it for myself, because I found some evidence or record that a long-distant relative once lived on that land. Yet, this seems to be what happens often in the present-day Israel, especially in the case of settlers who recently immigrate from places like Brooklyn, then join illegal settlements in places like Hebron, claiming they have 'spiritual' connection to the land - when in reality, their family has been in the US for generations.
Is there really enough land in Israel for every person who considers themselves part of the greater Jewish diaspora to return and settle there? This doesn't seem feasible to me, and I think this is one of the fundamental problem/challenges with the modern state of Israel.
Obviously, it wouldn't be feasible for every person with Anglo-Saxon heritage now in Canada, the US, and Australia to suddenly move back to the UK/Ireland today either and seize land claiming some historical or 'spiritual' right to it. The logistics of it don't make any sense. There's literally not enough land in the UK/Ireland to settle that diaspora.
At some point, it seems to me that everyone's going to have to simply make peace with where they're at geographically and share the land where they are... or share the graves below it fighting over it in perpetuity
