Prof. Shlomo Sand, who just retired from a decades-long teaching position at the Department of History at Tel Aviv University, is probably best known for his bestselling The Invention of the Jewish People, the first book in a trilogy whose final chapter, ‘How I stopped Being A Jew,’ just appeared in English.
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Um, if your name is Shlomo, you’re a Jew.
Boy, does this guy not understand anything. Not about sociology, history, anthropology, culture, or, in fact, Israeli-ness and Judaism. To pick just one of many, many points: Should Christians in the UK leave their country because they are “privileged” by the fact that England is a Christian country (Queen is head of state and head of gov’t)? Or citizens of Greece, or all the Muslim sates? And, what does he make of centuries of secular Jewish culture? Does he not know it? Like it? Also, all nation states are exclusive clubs, you can’t just join, you have to be let in. Also, he seems completely unaware of western anti-Semitism’s growing acceptance. So uninformed, so foolish.
But of course! It’s an established fact, that so called “scientists” and “experts” never know shit about their so called “field of expertise”, and so called “professors” are the least understanding shit scientists of all scientists. If you want to hear an intelligent opinion, go straight to Mahane Yehuda market and ask there!
Israel does not identify exclusively as a Jewish state. The Israeli Supreme Court clearly said that the state of Israel belongs to all its citizens but diaspora Jews have a ”special key” which is the right to make alyah. Shlomo Sand should know that the nation-states of most diasporic peoples privilege the immigration of their diaspora. According to international law, this is totally acceptable. There is nothing shocking about that. The fact that a NYC Jew can move to Israel does not curtail the political rights of Palestinian-Israelis. Now, if Sand wants to talk about discrimination against Arab Israelis, he has to put things into context. Israel is at war and its Arab minority identifies with the enemy. This is not a small detail!
As for the fact that there is no ”secular Jewish culture”, Shlomo Sand should know that Judaism is not a religion in the strict sense of the term. One does not have to believe in God to be a Jew. No Rabbi disputes the fact that an atheist can practice Judaism and be a good Jew altogether. This is what Shlomo Sand doesn’t understand. Judaism is not just a matter of faith.
According to Anthony Smith, modern nations are created out of ethnic groups (groups that share the myth of a common origin), that evolved into modern (inclusive) nationalities. And the Torah contains a strong ethnic narrative. Whether it is based on facts or a mythology is totally irrelevant, this is the how Jews perceived themselves for centuries. For example, according to Jewish tradition, the Cohen’s are the descendants of Aaron, and the Levy’s share common ancestors with King David, Solomon and Moses.
Limiting Judaism (or Jewishness) to a religious phenomenon only is a big mistake!