CarolC - With regard to you paragraph 2 above, we fundamentally disagree. Palestineans need not have been displaced from their homes as you put it. In most cases, not all, they chose what they thought was a temporary (until Israel was crushed) situation.

Regarding your mantra of "the unacceptable behavior" of Israel towards Palestineans, Palestinean citizens of Israel were (and are) treated light years better than their brethern under Arab control (perfectly, no; better, yes). And Palestineans coming under Israeli control after 1967 were also treated better by the Jewish state than by Jordan. Of course Palestineans are now treated as an enemy because there is a 'defacto' war by them against Jewish Israel. Therefore, I cannot believe that you really believe your statement.

Jews had had a presence in the land from Biblical times, through the Crusades, through the Ottomans and through the British mandate. And from the late 19th century, groups as the Zionists, were negotiating for a Jewish homeland where there had always been Jews. Interestingly, the British offered Herzl (part of) Uganda for a Jewish state; it was not accepted for obvious reasons.