Israel: A land only prophesized for the Jewish?

A central piece in Zionist's claims over Isreal come from their assertion that within the Torah (Old Testament), God granted David the bold idea that God would create a homeland for the Jews alone and that David would be the one to rule over it. Verses from the Torah are used to justify this relegation of Isreal to a Jewish homeland and establish a right for Jews to return to the sacred space made for them by the divine.

Verses such as this may be used.

2 Samuel 7:

8 Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the Lord of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; 9and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. 10 And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, 11 from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the Lord declares to you that the Lord will make you a house. 12 When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come forth from your body, and I will establish his kingdom.13 He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 

Other verses advocate for what may be applied as a justification for violence against the Palestinian people and/or any other religions residing in the "Jewish homeland' of Isreal, such as this verse.

Deuteronomy 12:

2 You must demolish completely all the places where the nations whom you are about to dispossess served their gods, on the mountain heights, on the hills, and under every leafy tree. 

3 Break down their altars, smash their pillars, burn their sacred poles with fire, and hew down the idols of their gods, and thus blot out their name from their places.

These verses, and those similar to them, can act as justifications for a Jewish majority in Isreal, and even for violence against those who fight against the concept of a Jewish home state.

But is Isreal really only predestined for the Jews?

In the Quran, you have verses extremely similar to those just mentioned above, leading us to wonder - Is Jerusalem really only for the Jews?

Surah 17:7

[And said], "If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, [you do it] to yourselves." Then when the final promise came, [We sent your enemies] to sadden your faces and to enter the temple in Jerusalem, as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with [total] destruction.

Unless I am alone in this sentiment, I would venture to say that this sounds extremely similar to the verse that the Jewish militant community uses to drive out those that they see as outsiders to the Jewish state. Is it possible that this divine right was not only instilled upon the Jewish community? Or that it cannot be interpreted as so? What happens when more than one religion is given the task of eradicating others who do not subscribe to their religious beliefs?

Another verse inspired communication and reflection between the two.

Surah 38:

Be patient over what they say and remember Our servant, David, the possessor of strength; indeed, he was one who repeatedly turned back [to Allah ].

David, the king of Israel and the Jews..and the Muslims? According to this verse, it cannot be assumed that this supposed divine intervention only singled out the Jews - unless we are to attribute authority to one religious text over another. There is an argument to be made that Isreali zionists cannot simply turn to the Torah and use their religious verses to establish a Jewish homeland - unless they would like to give the same weight to similar verses in the Quran.

Instances like these remind us to take a step back, widen our view, and research for ourselves what others have told us about things we may not believe apply to us.