You live on dispossessed land,
Sure, if you go back 1000 years or more. Honestly, I don't think that counts.
as do I, as do a lot of countries, so I don't see how this is even an argument to begin while you continue to benefit from such land without quibble. Second, what were the circumstances by which Israel acquired the land they currently occupy? Can you tell me if you know that?
Oh, you really picked the wrong person to try that on. In summary, Israel was first mooted by the British (Balfour declaration, 1917 I think without checking), before the British handed over Palestine to the UN as a mandate, who sort of half-arsed an idea for the end of the mandate and rushed it through in a way that didn't really answer a load of key issues (1947). Israel immediately declared independence and essentially mandate Palestine collapsed into civil war, with Israel then also promptly invaded by their Arab neighbours. Israel won, and in the process also expelled a huge number of Palestinians ("the Nakba"). Israel then pushed Egypt and Jordan out of Gaza and the West Bank in the 1967 war to leave us roughly with the status quo, except of course for the ongoing theft of Palestinian land that Israel doesn't formally own in contravention of international law.
And finally. Do you really fucking think most countries would not initiate an aggressive response like Israel did after experiencing a terrorist attack that saw the raping and murder of over 1000 people, not to mention, during a festival that was promoting peace between the two states?
I'm sure they would. But this is the result of occupying other people's land: they tend to resist. Why do you think empires constantly had to put down rebellions?
Now, I'd be somewhat more sympathetic with occupying other people's land if they got proper citizenship rights, retained full property rights as individuals, free and equal ability to produce and earn and lead fulfilling lives. Unfortunately, that's absolutely not what is going on in the Occupied Territories. The comparison with apartheid is extraordinarily valid.
And if you REALLY want to play the game of people dispossessed of their land, we can go back 2000 years to when the Jews themselves were forced out of that land.
Fuck that shit. Seriously.
Firstly, the idea that people have a right of return after 2000 years is laughable. The USA does not get the right to invade the UK because Americans should be allowed to have their ancestors' homeland. The UK can't legitimately invade northwest Germany because that's where the Angles and Saxons came from. The notion is absurd.
Secondly, what expulsion, exactly? There were Hebrews taken from Israel as slaves by various empires (e.g. Assyrians, Romans), but many just emigrated out of their own free will. Even after their removal / emigration, they could have returned, but were largely happy in their diaspora. The emperor Hadrian banned them from
Jerusalem after a revolt, not the whole of Israel. Of course, we might also note the Romans treated the Jews very poorly... after the Jews kept rebelling against Roman rule. (See what I mean about people not liking foreign overlords?)
We also have to remember that the Jews were merely one of the peoples of that place and time. There were others who lived in the area - other Canaanites, Arameans, Samaritans. It wasn't magically depopulated at any point. Those people - including Jews who didn't leave - mostly turned to Christianity, and then to Islam, and became... the Palestinians. The Palestinians are the descendants of people who lived there 2000 years ago every bit as much as the Jews are. Why do a bunch of people whose ancestors fucked off thousands of years ago get to steal the land from those whose ancestors stayed?
When did I ever say that Israel is free to do as it pleases? This is exactly my issue. So many of you take my attempts to show that this is not a black and white situation as me putting full support behind a side.
Look dude, if you want to see people sympathising with Israel wholeheartedly, you have almost the entire mainstream political and media ecosystem of your country. We all get that, day in and day out. I mean, fuck, my government has pretty much said it should be illegal to sympathise with the Palestinians, and attempted to pressure the police into banning demonstrations and arresting people for waving flags. That's what it's like in the real world outside this forum, and if you want to bother people with lectures on balance and nuance, I suggest you start there.