Without development, some areas are not very desirable or can only sustain nomadic people. As populations increase, people settle in less desirable areas. Infrastructure (i.e. roads, power lines, aqueducts, etc.) is developed to support the use of this land.

Besides, you seem to be hung up on what someone wrote they saw. Try walking in some parts New York City at 3 or 4 AM (as I have). One could conclude it had been deserted.

So it's OK for Israel to annex Nevada. :)

The Dome of the Rock, was built in 687 A.C., so Muslim Arabs have been around been around continuously since at least then. Wasteland or not in the past, you do not now have rights to it. I suggest you accept the territory provided by the UN in 1948 and leave it at that.

You want to start making up rules about territorial ownership? Then why not Hamas making up their rules about it. The Armenians should be claiming part of Jerusalem. Right? That path leads to eternal warfare.

You need to convince the Palestinians they were not displaced, not me.

It makes perfect sense to me that Jews in the occupied territories become Palestinian citizens. It that's were you live, be my guest. Reciprocity - just like the Israeli Bedouins.

You yourself said they did it for generations. There are 2 Jews that have been (and are) living in Kabul (under Taliban rule, no less). These two don't happen to get along, but that is another story.

So are you saying the creation of Israel "poised the well"? Sure, undo the whole thing and have the Jews return to Syria, Iran, wherever. Diversity is a good thing. Just like peace.

and now you tell me they are (or were) actually Jews. If that is what you are saying, I will grant you that Jews and Palestinian Arabs are same people. They just seem to have some cultural or religious differences. Incidentally, in the mid to late 1950's I was living in New York City in the Lower East Side section of Manhattan. There were a lot of Jews in the neighborhood. One of the local movie theaters (on Clinton! Street) was in fact called Palestine. Today, in common usage, Palestinians are the Arabs of the region. Perhaps this shows the folly of putting to much weight on names.

In 1948, I was 8 years old, a "displaced person" of WW-II, and lived in a UN refuge camp in Germany. My world was small. Pardon me for not knowing the details of the negotiations on the creation of Israel (not that I can trust what you say). Actually, an international Jerusalem makes a lot of sense. It would remove some sharp points of friction. It would have been a Solomonic choice.

You may (or may not) remember the UAR, the United Arab Republic. Egypt and Iraq, IIRC. You like to lump all Arabs together and maybe you have a point. If these idiots could get along, perhaps what is needed is that they join politically including also Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Oman, the other little kingdoms, and of course the Palestinian Arabs of the occupied territories. The US should get into the "democratic nation building" business again and give aid (same as to Israel on a per capita basis). It would clear up those refuge camps. Over time, peace would be assured. Does that sound like a plan to you? You definitely could not complain about where Arafat was born. :)

Israel did have definite borders in 1967 before the Arab attack. Those are the borders that very few would contest. If Israel wanted peace lifting the occupation of the lands beyond these borders would be a major step. Not doing so is the major cause of the troubles you face. There are other causes, to be sure.