So what is the definitive length of time an expelled people have to be, you know, expelled, before they lose all their rights? A year? A hundred years? A thousand years? Just curious what your objective parameters are.
A thousand years seems reasonable.
I think after a generation, rights become a matter of negotiation. When you go far back into history - there is no way of even knowing if the historical claims are accurate. It's kind of like paying reparations and the right of return issues.
Hmmm. Interesting. I actually go the other direction with that question. Any quantification is ultimately arbitrary. The morally correct answer, imo, is that a people who have been conquered, expelled, invaded, ethnically cleansed, whatever terms you want to attach to it, have an on-going, inherent, inviolable right to return to that land. This is especially true of indigenous cultures (pre-invasion cultures which originated on that territory). This right does not supersede or overthrow the rights of other cultures, but the right, itself, exists. This right is limited by the extent to which a culture can maintain its distinctiveness and integrity, by definition.