Taking land usually involves war which can get really ugly. I don't think fighting a war in order to take someone's land is moral.And the corollary question is: should we just allow people to take others' land with impunity? — Baden
Not necessarily. You don't have to ethnically cleanse a country to take it over. Peutro Rico for example was acquired from the Spanish by the United States in the Treaty of Paris 1898.Which on a grand scale translates to, is ethnic cleansing OK? — Baden
The right of Americans to posess the land and to create their system is based on nothing other than political acceptance of that right by Americans and to some extent the international community. Should Americans begin to question their right to the land and should the international community question it, their claim to the land will be weakened. — Hanover
Although the pressure the international community can bring to bear on a particular country depends to a large degree on the relative power of that country so we don't always get fairness in this process. — Baden
ethnic cleansing — Baden
So what? Palestinians and Jews have claims to this land because they live there and have lived there historically not because of their race and religion. — Baden
The idea that diversity is a universal good which communities at all levels ought to seek is a current vogue, at least for the last several decades. "Ethnic cleansing" appeared in print only in the mid 1990s. — Bitter Crank
Do you believe that some countries are illegitimate in that they took someone's land with out permission? If so, what should be done about it ideally? Should we give back the the land? To whom? the original owners or the previous owners? — Purple Pond
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