This Land is MINE...

My Obiter Dicta published a quote from the book of Maccabees ((IMacc. 15, 33-34) that deserves to be noticed. This is his posting:

When Antiochus VI demanded that Simon hand over territory to the Seleucid Crown, Simon replied:

"We have neither taken foreign land nor seized foreign property, but only the inheritance of our fathers, which at one time had been unjustly taken by our enemies. Now that we have the opportunity, we are firmly holding the inheritance of our fathers."

Irrespective of what happens practically and what policy is adopted for the future of the Jewish State, it behooves all sides to remember that the point of departure is that noted by Simon. If he's not right, then Jews have no right to live anywhere in Eretz Yisrael.