Beware the humanitarian racist

[Shaktimaan]

34. The problem with this argument...

aside from the fact that most Israelis and many Palestinians are from similar places, (why is an Egyptian Jew less qualified for citizenship than an Egyptian Palestinian, or the Jewish grandson of an indigenous resident of Hebron?), is that you are using prior oppression to justify continued discrimination. Jews were spread out all over the world because they were evicted from their original homeland and subsequently endured genocide, ethnic cleansing, expulsions, forced relocations and garden variety anti-semitism across the planet, over centuries.

To use this as an excuse for now questioning their legitimacy to immigrate to their homeland is to use injustice to legitimize further injustice. Your example about Ireland is not an apt parallel. People are not given preference merely because their families were once from there but because they identified themselves as Irish citizens, a qualification that Palestinians seeking return lack. A far better analogy would be India and Pakistan, as both also offer preference to those with ancestry. Like Israel, their Partition was accompanied by bloodshed as a hasty population transfer took place. People lost land, their possessions, family members and even their lives. But do we now expect either country to open their borders and offer preferential immigration status to the descendants of those who left? Of course not.

In Israel's case, the Partition was suggested because of the volatility of the two populations living in close proximity. Your argument ignores the fact of the 80 year old conflict split down these ethnic lines. Not acknowledging the relevant history in favor of viewing policies without any context is hardly a reasonable position from which to begin comparing them. You ask "what nations discriminate... etc?" A better question would be "What states do NOT discriminate against members of the nation they have been in conflict with for nearly a century?"

Israel was invented with the intent of bringing Jews from around the world there. For them to pursue policies that support this aim is hardly discriminatory. A future Palestinian state would almost certainly invite Palestinians living around the world to return via incentivized immigration policies that would not apply to former Jewish inhabitants that were thrown out in 1948.

Which nations discriminate on grounds of cultural identity - as opposed to "where your ancestors came from/what nationality they were", but still get accepted as legitimate democracies?

Any nations that fought a war that occurred between two indigenous groups. Or any nations that have a specific group they dislike for some reason. Plenty of Arab nations disallow Jews regardless of where their ancestors are from, for example. America doesn't allow communists or fascists even if they're descended from American Indians.