Penn State International Law Review Volume 12 Article 4 Number 1 Dickinson Journal of International Law 9-1-1993 Israel's Law of Return: Analysis of Its EvIoution and Present Application Nancy C. Richmond Follow this and additional works at: http://elibrary.law.psu.edu/psilr Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, and the International Law Commons Recommended Citation Richmond, Nancy C. (1993) "Israel's Law of Return: Analysis of Its EvIoution and Present Application," Penn State International Law Review: Vol. 12: No. 1, Article 4. Available at: http://elibrary.law.psu.edu/psilr/vol12/iss1/4 This Comment is brought to you for free and open access by Penn State Law eLibrary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Penn State International Law Review by an authorized administrator of Penn State Law eLibrary. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. COMMENTS I Israel's Law of Return: Analysis of Its Evolution and Present Application I. Introduction To Zion, looks, the Jew, So long our hopes are not yet lost- Two thousand years we cherished them- To live in freedom in the Land Of Zion and Jerusalem. Excerpt from Hatikvah, the National Anthem of the State of Israel' The lyrics of Hatikvah reflect the yearnings that Jews have felt throughout centuries of persecution, yearnings to return to their homeland, the ancient land of Israel. While these yearnings appeared quashed after the Holocaust, in the wake of this disaster, "Zionism alone emerged as a viable Jewish response" to the horrors of anti- Semitism.2 This movement resulted in the establishment of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948, in accordance with the United Nations' adoption of the resolution for the formation of an independent Jewish state in Palestine.' In reparation for the devastation the Holocaust 1.