Why the “Ancestral Homeland” Argument Doesn’t Make Sense

Why the “Ancestral Homeland” Argument Doesn’t Make Sense Lately, a lot of people talk about Jews having the right to live in Israel because it’s their “ancestral homeland.” But let’s think about that logically. If we applied the same rule to everyone: Should Black people in the Caribbean or the Americas go back to Africa because that’s where their ancestors came from? Should Indians in the Caribbean return to India, since that’s where their ancestors lived centuries ago? Of course not — those communities have lived, worked, and built their lives where they are for generations. Their “home” is where they live now. The same logic applies to Jews. Before the Holocaust, Jews lived all over the world — Poland, Germany, Iraq, Morocco, the U.S., and many other places. Very few were living in Canaan/Palestine at the time. Claiming ancestral rights in Israel ignores the fact that generations of Jews had already made other lands their home. Meanwhile, Palestinians have lived in the land fo...