The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #111572   Message #2366118
Posted By: Nickhere
14-Jun-08 - 08:44 PM
Thread Name: BS: Israeli Jews/Israeli Arabs
Subject: RE: BS: Israeli Jews/Israeli Arabs
Robomatic, about those title deeds. I'm fairly sure actual paper title deeds are a relatively recent invention. Prior to that, ownership was mainly done through oral agreement (you'll find many examples of that in the Old Testament, for instance). There were ways of marking out boundaries, even simply using natural landmarks. But in recent centuries some more official documentation was probably required. I don't know that the Ottoman Empire was a housebreaker as such - the Seljuks had established a kingdom in the region as far back as the late 12th or 13th century, and various Muslim tribes (eg. the one under Sal-ad-Din) had held power there for one or two hundred before that.

In one sense, none of us are entitled to anything, if we were to take the Christian message to heart everything would be held in common for the good of all humanity. As Marx said, private property is theft.

The second part of your post "Title deeds ... may my right hand wither..." echoes Teribus' post and suggests you also believe 'might is right' In other words, legal title deeds mean nothing, since so many people have passed through the region, a kind of chicken-and-egg conundrum. The land simply belongs to whoever can take it and hold it.