Right of Merit?

This is an open-ended post, as I would like your input on this one, followers :)
I am wondering, is there such thing as meritorious right?
To elaborate.... We know that the Jews deserve to live in Israel, but do you think that one of the reasons is because they earned it? Because, under their care, the desert blossomed and sprouted economically? Do you think that is a good reason to deserve something?
The pro-Palestinians and "anti-Zionists" (a not-so-subtle euphemism for anti-Semites,) would argue that the Jews took their land, and it doesn't matter whether it prospered or not; it's still theirs. What would you have to say to this?
If you "took" someone's house (and this is not a very good analogy, because we know the Jews did not snatch Israel out of the Palesinians' hands,) and then planted a nice garden in front, fixed up the trimming and made it look nice, does that mean that you are now the rightful owner? I am not so sure about this one. I was intending to use it as the basis for my third proof of my thesis, but I am not sure if it is even a valid argument. I would really like to know what you think.
Please comment below, or even email me! I could use the help!!

The Right of the Jews to the Land Of Israel - 2

About a month ago I posted the first part of my thesis' first proof. This first proof is that of historical right - essentially proving through history that the Jews are Israel's legitimate owners. In my latest post I outlined history's general summary of Jews in Israel - in this post I will attempt to back that up with archaeological evidence, upon which huge importance is placed in today's scientific, rationalistic world. This research was very rewarding, because it's important to know that tangible proof of our ownership exists. Enjoy :)

The Jews’ historical presence in Israel is not only found in the records of the past, but embodied in physical objects of today, such as jewelry, writings, art, furniture, buildings and so forth. As historian Andrea Berlin said, archaeologists view physical remains as cultural data. For many, items such as money or pottery serve as factual evidence that something or someone once existed where it was found. Monuments and artifacts that have stood the test of time transport us back into history in order to see characteristics of previous cultures, to ponder their ideas and thoughts - even to discover new civilizations. Physical remains exist as proof to our pragmatic eyes that lands were settled, nations were born, wars were fought and ancient communities lived and worked in modern territories. It is simple to discard the Torah and claim that the Jews never existed in the Holy Land – that their presence was conjured up by pro-Israel fanatics seeking to discredit the Arabs. But it is not so easy to dismiss shards of Hebrew pottery found in the south of Jerusalem dating back 3,000 years ago, nor artifacts found inside the Temple Mount and Old City of David from 1000 BCE.

The evidence of the Jews’ existence reaches even further back into the past than David, however. According to the Torah, Joseph lived in Egypt for 93 years serving the Pharaoh. Historical evidence supports this account also - “Imhotep (2655-2600 BCE, Egyptian ii-m-hatāp meaning "the one who comes in peace") was an Egyptian polymath, who served under the Third Dynasty king, Djoser, as chancellor to the pharaoh … He is considered to be the first architect and engineer and physician in early history… The Upper Egyptian Famine Stela, dating from the Ptolemaic period, bears an inscription containing a legend about a famine of seven years during the reign of Djoser. Imhotep is credited with having been instrumental in ending it.” (Wikipedia, Imhotep) The similarities between the historical Imhotep and the Biblical Joseph are too vast to be ignored – according to history, both were physicians, architects, and overseers; moreover, both lived to be 110 years of age, married into the priesthood of On, interpreted dreams, instituted a tax of one-fifth, and came from families of twelve. (Were Joseph and Imhotep the Same Man? The Genesis of Israel and Egypt, by Emmet Sweeney, 2001,2nd Edition)

From Joseph’s family, who later joined him in Egypt, emerged the numerous Jewish people, a nation fathered by Joseph and his eleven brothers, the Twelve Tribes of Israel. According to the Torah, the Jews remained in Egypt in the small region of Goshen for 430 years after Joseph. Extraneous evidence supports this fact as well – for instance the details of Egyptian life given in the Torah are surprisingly consistent with the historical culture of the time: “If the Israelites did not spend time in Egypt, it is unclear how the author of Genesis and Exodus would have known enough to so accurately describe Egyptian… customs… In the Joseph narrative, when the author mentions the titles of the Egyptian officials, he employs the correct title in use and exactly as it was used in the period referred to….In Genesis 41:40 Pharoah elevates Joseph to a high position, which corresponds precisely to the office of prime minister or vizier of Egypt, who was the chief administrator in the country, second in power to Pharaoh himself.” (Quartz Hill School of Theology, Israel’s Sojourn in Eyypt.)

A papyrus scroll in the Brooklyn Museum dating from the reign of Sobekhotep III (the pharaoh who reigned one generation before Moses) was acquired in the late 1800s by Charles Wilbour. It is a decree by the pharaoh for a transfer of slaves, half of which are Semitic in origin. (Did the Exodus Happen? Answering the Skeptics, by Dr. David Lewis) A city called Avaris, unearthed by the Austrian archaeologist Manfred Bietak in the land of Goshen underneath the city of Rameses, provides additional proof of the Israelites’ presence in Egypt; “The people who lived in Avaris were not Egyptian but Asiatic Palestinian or Syrian. The finds there included numerous pottery fragments of Palestinian origin. Several factors about the graves were particularly fascinating: - 65% of the burials were of children under 18 months of age, the norm for this period being 20-30%. Could this be due to the killing of the male Israelite children by the Egyptians, recorded in Exodus 1:22?” (Did the Exodus Happen? Answering the Skeptics, by Dr. David Lewis, John Fulton)

If the Jews’ presence in Egypt can thus be so conclusively proved through archaeology, it must follow that the subsequent Exodus and conquest of Canaan recorded in the Torah is also true. The Egyptian historian Manetho recounts how Egypt collapsed in the reign of Dudimose: ‘In [Dudimose’s] reign, for what cause I know not, a blast of God smote us; and unexpectedly, from the regions of the East, invaders of obscure race marched in confidence of victory against our land (Egypt). [These were the Amalakites, or “Hyksos,” as they came to be called.] By main force they easily seized it without striking a blow and having overpowered the rulers of the land, they then burned our cities ruthlessly… and treated all our natives with cruel hostility, massacring some and leading into slavery the wives and children of others.” The Amalekite invaders thus found the Egyptian nation, devastated by Divine judgment, easy prey.

A papyrus dating from the end of Egypt’s Middle Kingdom was found in the early 19th century and interpreted by A.H. Gardiner in 1909. “The papyrus describes violent upheavals in Egypt, starvation, drought, escape of slaves (with the wealth of the Egyptians), and death throughout the land. The papyrus was written by an Egyptian named Ipuwer and appears to be an eyewitness account of the effects of the Exodus plagues from the perspective of an average Egyptian.” (The Ten Plagues – Live from Egypt by Rabbi Mordechai Becher, Ohr Samayach) Some suggestive phrases found in this papyrus are, “Plague is throughout the land. Blood is everywhere….The river is blood… Men shrink from tasting and thirst after …All is ruin. All animals, their hearts weep. Cattle moan... The land is without light… the children of princes are cast out in the street… he who places his brother in the ground is everywhere. It is groaning throughout the land, mingled with lamentations… Gold and lapis lazuli, silver and malachite, carnelian and bronze… are fastened on the necks of female slaves….” These events correspond exactly to the ones recorded in the Torah – the plagues of blood, cattle disease, darkness, death of the firstborn, and the plunder of the Egyptians.

After their departure from Egypt, the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. They conquered Canaan around 1250 BCE under their leader Joshua. They established their presence and remained in this land until the Babylonian exile in 598 BCE.

If the Jews’ own proof were not enough, and one still found oneself in need of external sources to be convinced, other ancient cultures testify to the presence of Jews in Israel. The Tel Dan Stele is an inscribed stone discovered in 1993 during excavations at Tel Dan in northern Israel dates back to the 9th century BCE - its author was a king of Damascus, Hazaelor, and it contains an Aramaic inscription commemorating victories over local ancient peoples including "Israel" and the "House of David." The Mesha Stele from around the same period is similar, written by King Mesha of the Moabites. “Revisionists insist there was no such entity as "Israel" until at least the 9th century BCE. Yet a well known Egyptian inscription dated to about 1210 BCE clearly identifies an Israel in the land of Canaan as a people that had to be reckoned with. The inscription, which depicts the victories of Pharaoh Merneptah in Canaan, reads in part: ‘Israel is laid waste, his seed is no more.’” (Archaeology and the Bible, pt.2, by Rabbi Dovid Lichtman, aish.com) Thus the presence of Jews in the land of Canaan, conquered by them under Joshua, is not only confirmed by their own history recorded in the Torah, but by extraneous evidence from other contemporary cultures.

The Right of the Jews to the Land of Israel

Hello! 
Wow, it sure has been awhile.... who knew summer vacation could be so busy??? (Vacation?? What's that?? I think I may have heard that word somewhere before....)
This is part of the thesis I am currently working on about the legitimacy of the Jews' claim to Israel. This thesis consists of four proofs - historical right, right of conquest, right of merit, and legal right.In the first proof, I have attempted to prove through history why the Jews should possess Israel.
Any comments and criticisms will be much appreciated. I hope you enjoy! (Note: This is only part of proof one - for those of you who know me, you won't be surprised to learn that I got a little carried away :) )

"Israel is the very embodiment of Jewish continuity. It is the only nation on earth that inhabits the same land, bears the same name, speaks the same language, and worships the same God that it did 3,000 years ago. You dig the soil and you find pottery from Davidic times, coins from Bar Kokhba, and 2,000-year-old scrolls written in a script remarkably like the one that today advertises ice cream at the corner candy store." (Charles Krauthammer, The Weekly Standard, May 11, 1998)

Shakespeare said, “Time is the justice that examines all offenders.” It is an honored element binding together nations, peoples, traditions, beliefs… and possessions. Often we give credence to an idea because it is old. We value objects with long pasts, not merely because they have been widely accepted, but because they have stood the test of time. Likewise nations dwelling in an area of the world for centuries have proven that they are bound to their land; they possess a connection stronger than money or legal documents – this bond is their past, and a past is perhaps the most significant of all links between person and place that exist.

The Jewish people settled the towns and states of ancient Canaan around 3000 BCE under Joshua.  King David conquered Jerusalem in 1000 and established a powerful Israelite kingdom over much of Canaan including parts of Transjordan. When his son Solomon died, the kingdom was divided into Judea in the south and Israel in the north. The Assyrians conquered Israel in 722 BCE and 136 years later the Babylonians took over, sending the Jewish people into exile. 50 years after that, the Persian king Cyrus conquered the Babylonians and allowed some of the Jews to return to their homeland. Cyrus was followed by Alexander the Great and then by Alexander’s general Seleucus. Finally, in 167 BCE, the Jewish people drove the Seleucids out of their land. 

However, the Jews were foreordained to enjoy their freedom for only 106 years –the new masters of the world, the Romans, sacked Jerusalem in 61 BCE. They ruled Israel until the 300s, (AD) when the Byzantines took over, followed by the Muslims, the Turks, the Crusaders, the French and then the British. It seemed as though every nation in the world was destined to control the Holy Land at one point or another during history.

Throughout these periods of foreign invasion, the Jewish people never stopped travelling to Israel and settling in the land. By the fourteenth century large Jewish and Arab populations existed there. The first wave of modern Jewish immigrants settled in Israel in 1881, during what is known as the “First Aliyah.”  The Zionist movement, propagating a return of Jews to their land, became a formal organization in 1897 with the first Zionist congress in Basle, Switzerland, organized by Theodor Herzl.  The principal goal of the Zionists was to establish a Jewish homeland in the Palestine area, populated by Jews from all over the world. Then the Second Aliyah began 20 years later with the immigration of over 40, 000 Jews from Eastern Europe in 1904. By 1914 there were at least 100, 000 Jews in Israel.  

In 1917, the British expressed their support of the creation of a Jewish homeland in Israel with the Balfour Declaration, which stated, “His Majesty's government views with favour the establishment in Palestine of a  national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object…” Also in 1917, the new Jewish Legion, a group of volunteers, aided the British in their conquest of Israel. From this Jewish Legion and the violence sparked by Arab riots in the 1920s sprung the Haganah, Israel’s future army of the early twentieth century.

The Third, Fourth and Fifth Aliyahs were initiated by the growing anti-Semitism and rise of Nazism in Europe – together these waves of immigration brought 350, 000 more Jews to the Holy Land. However the Arab revolt during 1936-1939 caused the British to tighten restrictions on Jewish immigration and the Jews to form a clandestine movement called the Aliyah Bet, which smuggled Jews into Israel under the noses of the British. Many Jewish immigrants, however, were turned away or rounded up by English soldiers and detained in camps such as the one on the island of Cyprus. The cessation of British support of a Jewish state in Israel had the unintended effect of placing the Jews on the offensive and in open opposition of Britain.

Finally in 1947 the British officially announced their decision to end their Mandate in Israel.  The newly created United Nations approved the “Partition Plan for Palestine”, (United Nations General Assembly Resolution 181,) on November 29, 1947, which sought to divide the country into two states—one Arab and one Jewish. Jerusalem was designated a corpus separatum—an international city—to be administered by the UN. A United Nations Special Committee was created to draft proposals for a Jewish state in Palestine and the State of Israel was proclaimed on May 14^th, 1948.

            “[The Jews’ claim to their land] was not a new claim, but rather a reassertion of a historic right that had never been conceded or forgotten. Even after the destruction of the last Jewish commonwealth in the first century, the Jewish people maintained their own autonomous political and legal institutions: the Davidic dynasty was preserved in Baghdad until the thirteenth century through the rule of the Exilarch Resh Galuta, while the return to Zion was incorporated into the most widely practiced Jewish traditions, including the…Yom Kippur service and the Passover Seder, as well as in everyday prayers. Thus, Jewish historic rights were kept alive in Jewish historical consciousness.” (An Answer to the New Anti-Zionists: the Rights of the Jewish People to a Sovereign State in Their Historic Homeland by Dore Gold and Jeff Helmreich, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Viewpoints, November 16^th, 2003.) The Jews were merely retracting their own possession in establishing their own state. Throughout history they had maintained a strong presence in the land despite the oppression of their various subjugators.