Israel's most basic pretext for its colonization and ethnic cleansing of Palestine is that God gave the land to the ancient Hebrews, therefore today's Jews have exclusive right to it. Israel apologists often cite scripture to support this claim: in Genesis 17:8 God tells Abraham, "As an everlasting possession I will give you and your descendants...the land in which you now are aliens, all the land of Canaan." (For clarity, all citations are from The New English Bible). Conveniently, Zionists omit the next verse, in which God tells Abraham, "For your part, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you..."
Thus, the land grant was conditional, based on the Hebrews keeping God's commandments such as "Administer true justice, show loyalty and compassion to one another, do not oppress the orphan and the widow, the alien and the poor, do not contrive any evil, one against another." (Zechariah 7:9-11). Nevertheless, the Hebrews incessantly violated God's conditions, so God punished them: "An enemy shall surround the land; your stronghold shall be thrown down and your palaces sacked" (Amos 3:11). "...and I will drive you into exile beyond Damascus." (Amos 5:27).
The result was foreign invasions resulting in permanent loss of the land through the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 63 B.C. The claim, therefore, that God gave the land to the Jews is a half-truth omitting the conditions of the land grant and the Hebrews' violations thereof. Nevertheless, many of today's Zionists claim divine right to the land while continuing to break God’s commandments by stealing ever more Palestinian land, destroying Palestinian homes and livelihoods, and crushing Palestinian resistance.
By Gregory De Sylva
By Gregory De Sylva