#pre-diaspora judaism

[mylight-png]

I frequently mourn the fact that so little is commonly known about the smaller details of traditional Jewish life. And I don't mean diaspora Jewish life, it's amazing how much we know and have preserved of various diaspora community traditions.

I mean ancient Judean lifestyles. And yes, the Torah outlines a lot of it, which is amazing. But I don't want to just know that Judean women wore jewelry or nose rings or etc, I want to be able to know what our traditional Jewish jewelry looked like. Smaller specifics instead of the broad strokes.

We can know what religious garb looked like, and even the general gist of day to day clothing. But I want to know specifically what colors people would dye their clothes for their personal tastes, the specific embroidery designs that were worn.

I want to know how traditional Judean women wore their hair, both how they wore their head coverings (knot styles, accessories for the coverings, etc) and how unmarried women would adorn their heads.

I want to know what traditional Judean makeup looked like, what toys the children played with, so so so many aspects of ancient Jewish life that I have been able to find nothing about.

Maybe, of course, I just don't know enough history. But I've tried googling these things and I have not ever found a satisfactory answer.

I wish to know what traditional, pre-occupation, pre-exile Jewish life was like.

If anyone knows anything about any of this, please please please reblog or send an ask or comment about anything you know.

This topic is of great interest to me but I'm not great at finding good history information, I've got more experience doing in-depth research on current events and politics.

#jumblr #jewish #judaism #jew #ancient judea #pre-diaspora judaism

[secular-jew]

The same crazy Islamists who took all the rights and freedoms away from these women, are the same ones that wish "Death to America" and "Death to Israel." They're the same ones that US university students are cheering on and supporting.

Women at the beach in Iran, prior to the 1979 religious fanatic theocratic takeover of their country.

#iranian #iran #pre 1979 #1979 #theocracy #israel #secular-jew #jewish #judaism #israeli #jerusalem #diaspora #secular jew #secularjew #islam #Hamas #Hezbollah #al qassam brigades #Isis #Al Qaeda #Taliban #women's rights

[determinate-negation]

Did the majority of Jewish people and institutions support Zionism pre-1948?

no, very far from it. i dont have time to give an in depth response, theres a lot of history here but ill give some bullet points

some interpretations of judaism have always opposed a jewish state in any form and many jews were religiously against zionism from when it first started becoming a political movement

(there are still a lot of religious jews who are anti zionist on religious grounds. the satmar hasidic dynasty is an example. this is separate from political groups like neturei karta)

religious opposition to a jewish state was so strong that without zionism constituting itself as a specifically nationalist movement drawing on other 19th century nationalist movements it probably would not have become successful

assimilated jews in europe, which herzl himself was, were divided on zionism. many assimilated middle class jews were liberal nationalists of their own countries and rejected zionism. many other european jews were socialists and rejected zionism as a form of nationalism and imperialism.

among european jews who were generally poorer and more religious, zionism became more popular in response to the active extermination of jews in eastern europe. still, it was not the dominant belief in eastern europe. eastern european jews were very involved in socialist and radical movements, many specifically saw socialism as the only answer to european antisemitism. the jewish labor bund in particular espoused a type of anti zionist diaspora politics.

most anti zionist and socialist jews, especially eastern european ones, especially the working class, were murdered. thats part of why its not so common anymore

post-war and in the context of the red scare, american jewish institutions basically threw left wing anti zionist jews under the bus, let people lose their jobs and get blackmailed, and started focusing on relations with israel

there has always been jewish opposition to zionism both on religious and political grounds and it was a hotly debated topic and not something people agreed on. you can read more here

i have reading guides under my tag resources

edit: this is just pertaining to european jewish history and american jewish history, and mostly of ashkenazi jews. the history of arab jews is different but to be very brief, there was not widespread support among arab jews for zionism before the nakba and founding of the state of israel, and the israeli govt and zionist organizations were very active in trying to create conditions for arab jews that would encourage them to immigrate to israel

#mine #history #anti zionism

[steveyockey]

I love the Haggadah, the guidebook to the Passover seder, because it's one of the few Jewish texts that embraces imagery, and because its imagery has evolved to reflect the perspectives of particular periods and communities. One section in particular, the Four Sons (updated to Four Children) frames various approaches to questioning and answering the Passover narrative. They each embody types: the Wise Child, the Wicked Child, the Simple Child, and the Child Who Does Not Know How To Ask. It's the representations of the Wicked Child that fascinate me. The Wicked Child is said to cut himself off from the community, and in turn the community is obligated to ostracize him. He is what we might call a “self-hater." For hundreds of years, Haggadot in Europe depicted the Wicked Child as a warrior, his uniform updated for the region and era in which the story was retold. It was a point of Diasporic pride that Jews and war—and, by extension, Jews and empire—were incompatible. Not just incompatible: mutually exclusive. Judaism was fundamentally opposed to tyranny and all its trappings. Soldiers were intrinsically wicked, their armaments signifiers of depravity.

Then, after 1948, this imagery was reversed, and the uniform vanished. Not only was it no longer acceptable to depict the Wicked Child as a soldier; it was now often the Wise Child, typically the hero, who'd get that role—depicted as an Israeli soldier, of course. There are Israeli Haggadot with soldiers everywhere, not just among the Sons. And not just Haggadot; some of my favorite Rosh Hashanah cards involve soldiers, tanks, gunships, and aircraft carriers. "Have a sweet New Year, also here's a hand grenade!" It's almost a parody of the traditional antipathy for warriors, and a brutal denial of what used to be intrinsic to Judaism. I know Zionists will read this differently—pre-state Jews feared armies because they had no sovereignty, we need our own nukes, etc. The gleaning I take is that neither culture nor self-imagery is static. Contexts change, authenticity is subjective, culture is fluid. The one constant is that the Haggadah itself, and everything it represents, is our cultural firmament, and it is everybody's. Imagery, tradition, family, history, narrative: they're all part of the ever-morphing palette of art.

Who knows, maybe one day we'll stop policing legitimacy based on conformity to twentieth-century dualities etched in stone. In the meantime, we have comics.

Eli Valley, Diaspora Boy: Comics on Crisis in America and Israel (2017)

#Eli valley #diaspora boy #reading

[adelle-ein]

god knows there's a lot of antisemitic microaggressions from "friends" that i'm willing to let slide. genuinely my standards aren't that high. which is obvious based on the people i was friends with pre-oct 7th lol. but like i do have limits and those limits have been crossed by

expressing a desire to join hamas/the houthis

expressing open support for hamas and oct 7th

referring to oct 7th as "legitimate resistance/oppressed rising up/revolution/freedom fighting"

denying oct 7th happened at all

insisting shani louk is alive (she is not, while her family had hope at first they have since found pieces of her she could not have survived losing)

joking about october 7th

joking about the holocaust

saying jews didn't "learn their lesson" from the holocaust

denying the holocaust

denying other jewish genocides

mocking the hostages and their families

wishing death on the hostages

using "zio"

saying israelis need to go back to brooklyn/florida/poland/etc

saying jews were and have always been well-treated in MENA regions

openly fetishizing and lying about mizrahi/sephardic jews

saying antisemitism doesn't exist/is over

saying ashkenazism don't face antisemitism

saying judaism is a dominant world religion

saying zionists/AIPAC/israel are controlling companies/the government/biden/trump/US military/US police/hollywood

mocking hebrew and jewish culture

mocking jewish holidays

treating jewish holidays as inherently evil

saying that israeli government crimes are being done in "our [jews'] names" and we bear the guilt for it

saying "happy [jewish holiday/memorial day] now stop doing genocide!!!"

saying diaspora jews are okay but not israeli ones

saying all israelis need to die/deserve to die/are settlers who therefore deserve to die

saying jews have no culture/stole all culture from muslims/arabs/christians

open insane blood libel conspiracies about (for example) israelis kidnapping blonde palestinian children or digging up graves for organ/skin theft

referring to israeli "blood money"

spreading and endorsing neo-nazis

spreading and endorsing holocaust deniers and other bigots ie norman finkelstein

spreading and endorsing avowed tankies, NK/russia supporters, and deniers of the ukrainian/uyghur/armenian/syrian/etc genocides

spreading rhetoric from other hate groups ie neturei karta

sharing cartoons of octopi, big-nosed evil men, netanyahu and co eating babies, etc

spreading conspiracy theories about spotify or tumblr or what the fuck ever being controlled by """zionist""" CEOs (and even explicitly stating they're jewish when they often aren't)

belittling ANY anti-antisemitism movement as anti-palestinian

using terms like "zionist rats/pigs/filth"

"all zionists should die/kill themselves/aren't human/should be gassed"

"the zionist entity/zionist state"

"hitler loved israel/was a zionist"

"[x] is worse than the holocaust"/"the holocaust is the only genocide that's taken seriously bc it's a genocide of white people"/"get over the holocaust"

being creepy and ogling about the token good jews that meet your insane standards

weighing in on deeply personal intracommunity jewish discussions in horrible ways

telling Good Jews that you’re so sorry about how isolated they’re being by the majority of jews, which are Bad Jews

saying not to donate to palestinian aid groups bc it could make israel money bc israel controls all the aid groups apparently bc they're just so greedy and want so much money

did i mention je-isra-zionists really love money

movements against "zionism in medicine" and other witch hunts against "zionist" (jewish) people in professions

participating in mass harassment movements and callouts against random jews online asking people to stop being antisemitic

openly calling for violence against jews and/or israelis

claims of dual loyalty against diaspora jews

support the american south bc they're victims of their government too (true) but kill all the israelis bc they definitely support every action taken by their government (hm)

jokes and memes. the fucking memes. you're monsters

"but lace, this is hyperbole, surely nobody is actually saying these things " -- these are all literally, exactly, personally things my "friends" and mutuals have said and reblogged/retweeted since october 7th. if you're reading this now there is a 99% chance you are one of them.

and yes i fucking hate the israeli government. what is happening in palestine is evil. i'm a nonzionist jew.

but i know that's not enough. unless you're a token in "jewish" voice for """peace""" willing to say "kill every single israeli and the holocaust wasn't a big deal and 10/7 didn't happen and antisemitism isn't real and i have never been afraid as a jew in my life" you're one of Them. Being pro palestine or even antizionist isn't enough, you have to want your whole family dead and you can't say a fucking word about the way you're treated by your lovely leftist "allies". oh and you better post about it! constantly! 24/7!!!! or you're secretly a zionist who loves dead palestinian babies! probably personally killing them yourself! you filthy ki- er, zionist rat!

so, yeah, if you think i'm one of Them, that's fine. feel free to block me, i'd much prefer if you did. and let me be clear that jews are not exempt from this either. it's reprehensible regardless

i am not your fucking good jew. If you have ever thought of me as one, fuck you. You are not my good goy, either. Fuck your bugs bunny "i wish all my jewish mutuals a happy rosh hashanah." Fuck your "pictures of African Jews worshipping" tokenism and "jews fighting god" memes. Fuck your nazi punches and your Anne Frank headcanons. Fuck all your disgusting pats on the back and keep my fucking name out of your mouth. If you can't stop reblogging blood libel then I don't want to see another goddamn WORD of it.

#txt #lacevent #antisemitism

[hero-israel]

It recently occurred to me that one of the results of Zionism was a place where Judaism and Jewishness were defined by….Jews. Even though the US is a great place for Jews, fundamentally our identity is constrained by what the gentile majority can conceptualize as what being a Jew even means (see: any time an American cultural Christian clearly has defined Judaism as “pre-Christianity” somewhere so deep they can’t even realize it themselves).

Granted, as Israel has shown one potential downfall of allowing Jews to define Judaism and Jewishness is that it allows the most conservative and inflexible Jews to assert that their idea of Judaism must be the correct one, which is also not great, or the idea that if Israelis and Diaspora Jews differ on an issue of Jewish identity we should assume that the Israeli position should be assumed to be the correct one, which can get kinda annoying.

Yes, that leads to the tension where Reform Judaism is the most widespread version in North America, yet in Israel it barely exists and is often seen as suspicious or even illegitimate. There is a whole different version of "secularism" when your "secular" society speaks Hebrew and has days off for every Jewish holiday and schoolchildren are raised to sing about the Jewish homeland. Israel is a topsy-turvy place where Jews are actually in the majority, in charge, where their levels of adjusting to things bigger than themselves would be unthinkable to American Jews.

[cowboymaterials]

"im not jewish myself but i think that the proper way to deal with the jewish population of israel would be—" please don't be so idealist. im unlearning zionism myself, but no one wanted us after the war and no one wants us now. we don't want to go back to france, romania, poland, russia... the antisemitism there never went away. it isn't better there. and my extremely left wing, pre-1967-borders-wanting cousins in israel are so far removed from our romanian roots that they would be strangers in a strange land there. the majority of israelis aren't even from europe but other middle eastern nations, to whom it's extremely unsafe to return.

i get where you're coming from but it's really, really not so easy.

I appreciate this message, thank you for sharing your perspective, but I do want to challenge you on this.

You are right, of course it is not easy. I never said it was. My post was a reflection on what justice beyond the settler colonial nation-state could look like. There are no easy answers to this, but the obligation to end colonial occupation globally requires us to try. Just because it is hard doesn't mean it is impossible. Just because it is hard doesn't mean it is necessary.

It is not idealist to call for the end of genocide, occupation, and apartheid. And calling for this requires thinking in new ways about what true justice and safety looks like for Jewish people, otherwise the state of Israel will seem to be the only place that Jewish people can be safe.

But are Jewish Israelis safe? Not physically: Palestinians fight back to reclaim their occupied territory, Israel makes war against its own people, forcing its people into military service, building homes in areas of conflict, promoting violent racism that results in crimes against Black and Brown Jewish people. Not emotionally: the trauma of permanent war and the ideology of racist militarized nationalism are scarring. Not culturally and spiritually: Israel's ethnonationalism privileges Orthodox Judaism and Ashkenazi tradition and the banning of Yiddish resulted in a loss of culture only being recuperated now.

The fault lies in the state of Israel and the antisemitic colonial powers that facilitated its creation and its continued existence. It is an injustice for Jewish people to be forced to replicate the same genocide, displacement, and dehumanization they face in order to feel safe.

Many of the countries whose antisemitism forced Jewish people into diaspora are supportive of Israel, and many of these countries are also colonizers. This is not incidental. Instead of real reparation, these countries chose to benefit from the displacement of Jewish people. The British created Israel not to bring justice for Jewish people but to widen their geopolitical sphere. British politicians called for the "restoration of the Jews" to Palestine in the 1840s, prior to the political zionist movement. This was motivated by antisemitism and by Britain's ambitions to expand their empire. Since its inception, Israel has fought colonial wars internally and externally, acting as a militarized arm of European imperialism. Exporting arms India to be used in the occupation of Kashmir, to Hutu militias carrying out the Rwandan Genocide, and to the Guatemalan army aiding in the massacre of Indigenous Mayans. Allying with Apartheid South Africa, training the Serbian soldiers carrying out the Srebrenica genocide (and then granting them citizenship to protect them), training US police (and FBI, CIA, ICE officers), refusing to recognize the Armenian genocide while arming Azerbaijan's military to continue ethnic cleansing of Armenians. This is not a complete list. There are many other explicit instances where Israel has supported genocide and police violence globally.

I say this to demonstrate how not only is Israel not safe, but Israel makes the rest of the world less safe too. Israel reinforces colonial conquest, not acting in service of Jewish people but in service of imperial powers.

I do think there is another question in here too: Where do Jewish people go if Israel does not exist? This is a question settlers globally ask in response to Land Back. The answer is varied. Pam Palmater speaks to this, while referring to Canada this can also be applied to Israel. Maia Ramnath offers some insight from an anarchist perspective, saying that decolonizing may result in the replication of the nation-state, but this is not symptomatic of the decolonial effort, but rather the global dominance of the nation-state form, requiring global revolution.

And FYI Majority of Israelis are from Europe.

#palestine #decolonize #antisemitism

[pargolettasworld]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDbdKHsRrvk

The Yemenite Jewish community is one of the oldest Jewish communities, pre-dating even the official Diaspora.  History first records a Jewish presence in Yemen about 110 BCE, and that community was surprisingly powerful for a few centuries, with the King of the Himyarites actually converting to Judaism around 390 CE.  Things pretty much went predictably downhill from there, and the Yemenite Jews became one of the early Jewish communities airlifted to the brand-new state of Israel in 1949 and 1950, on account of pogroms initiated after the partition of Mandatory Palestine.  As of 2022, I think there was only one Jew left in the entire country of Yemen.

The Yemenite Jews are marvelous dancers as well as singers, and most of the lessons I’ve had about Yemenite Jewish music circle around to dance pretty quickly.  In this video from 1966, you get it all.  You get to hear the singing and the instrumental music, and you can see the dance as well.

#jewish music

[menalez]

Ah no worries then! I'm a much different time zone, Pacific! :) also rip other anons but I'm worthier of menalez😌🙏 and also there's definitely debate about how "Jewishness" is like, identified by various ppl - this person in specific I think I remember saying some things about how they represent Judaism (religion and culture) which were really odd, but maybe it's that they are a usamerican? Anyways, just because someone is my psychic nemesis of the day it doesn't mean they are known to all lol

Oh so like I was thinking about in general is about the different ways that people have approached the current state, and the collapse of the option of a two state solution (which while historically maybe could have worked when originally offered, at this point I don't think it really could function). I know that people disagree with Edward Said's analysis, but I feel like it is the one most logically following - as while people claim that Israelis and Palestinians are not intertwined, they really are geopolitically and are ever aware of their shared social positioning. I don't think two states are feasible to be accepted at this point, especially as militarily it's just going to be going from extremely volatile neighbors to being extremely volatile neighbors. How do you think?

Aside though as I did take a long scroll through your recent blogs, I think you said something along the lines of repatriation of land to Palestinians and "Palestinian Jews" - I am not so sure how you mean by the latter? As diaspora Jewish groups return to the region at various points depending on the local political climate, which was often turning hostile. I am not really sure how we distinguish that from Jewish groups in general... For example, we see establishment of some number of Sephardic/Russian/Bukhari communities in the 1800s, but then many are kicked out early in the 1900s - like I'm not sure if that's the kinds of community you mean? Like I'm not really understanding where you make the cutoff for what is a Palestinian Jew? Like the communities in the area pre 1948 I don't think were that markedly different than those post 48 (of course, just in much larger numbers and changes in ratios of certain communities moving)

hm i have no idea what her life is so for all i know maybe she was raised with jewish traditions etc so i can understand if she feels like her cultural and religious upbringing reflected that even if shes american (plus in many parts of the US, theres massive jewish communities that are quite tight-knit but i dont think that applies to her)

i shared a post yesterday about the two-state solution which i think generally summarises my views. i just do not believe that the two-state solution is going to be fair to palestinians and i think it ultimately would serve israel more than anything. im in support of there being a singular, joined state, but that would also need a lot of work after decades of resentment built up (which, i believe palestinians' resentment is very much understandable but.. i dont think a state could be built when there is resentment between the groups) so im not sure how it should be approached but there should be work done to build bridges between the two groups, starting with ending the dehumanisation of palestinians and making them more self-sufficient and allowing them to build up a state instead of sabotaging them at every turn the way the israeli govt has been doing.

as for palestinian jewish ppl-- i am not referring to a specific genetic makeup. i am referring to jewish people who were already in palestine through peaceful means and coexisted with non-jewish palestinians in palestine.

here is what palestinians said in 1947:

The Palestinian National Charter, as amended by the PLO's Palestinian National Council in July 1968, defined Palestinians as "those Arab nationals who, until 1947, normally resided in Palestine regardless of whether they were evicted from it or stayed there. Anyone born, after that date, of a Palestinian father—whether in Palestine or outside it—is also a Palestinian. The Jews who had normally resided in Palestine until the beginning of the Zionist invasion will be considered Palestinians."

when palestine was under the ottoman empire, thousands of jewish people lived on the land and were around 5-7% of the population. they were palestinian jewish people too.

at the end of the day, there were jewish people in palestine long before the state of israel was established. there were jewish people who lived in palestine among their christian and muslim neighbours and they did not do so through violent or colonial means, they were citizens of the country like anyone else and have equal right to that country.

you can also read this which shows that jewish people were recognised by anti-zionist palestinians in 1919 as equally palestinian:

https://web.archive.org/web/20070928031156/http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/pdfs/predicament.pdf

they were referred to as "arab jews" or "palestinian jews". it was not about their genetic origins, to my knowledge. hopefully that clarifies what i mean!

[sophieakatz]

Thursday Thoughts: Star Wars! Nothing But Star Wars!

Happy May the Fourth! On this Star Wars day, I’d like to take a look back at some of the many ways this beloved franchise has been a part of my writing life – from blog posts, to poems and TikToks, to immersive theatre!

*

The Disney+ series The Mandalorian has inspired many of my “Thursday Thoughts” blog posts. It all started with me comparing different Mandalorian characters to the denominations of Judaism, in my December 2020 post, “Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Mandalorians.” Here’s an excerpt:

Then the pandemic hit, and I found myself furloughed, with so many empty hours on my hands and a Disney+ account still at my fingertips. I ended up watching all of Clone Wars and Rebels over the course of a few weeks, greatly expanding my Star Wars exposure.

“Huh,” I found myself thinking more than once, “there’s a lot of Mandalorians in these shows. And they keep taking their helmets off! What’s up with that?

“You know what,” I joked in a text to a friend, “I bet they’re all Reform Mandalorians, and our buddy Mando is Orthodox.”

The best part is, over time, the subtext turned into text. The Mandalorians aren’t Jewish, exactly, but they are undeniably a diaspora culture with strong parallels to my experience as an American Jew. I realized that this series is connected by a single question: what does it mean to be a Mandalorian? It’s a question that all real-world members of diaspora cultures must grapple with – without a homeland to unite us, what makes us, us?

I examined the show’s many answers to this question last month in my post, “The Mandalorian Question.” I won’t excerpt it here – it’s full of season three spoilers! – but I encourage you to give it a read if you’ve seen the show and want to learn just how deep I can dig a rabbit hole. This is the way!

*

In 2021 and 2022, I had the amazing opportunity to be a show writer for Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser – the world’s first fully-immersive hotel. This two-day, two-night immersive experience casts the guest as the main character of their own Star Wars story. For me, this meant spending my days running around a spaceship, my laptop in my arms, chasing aliens!

During my time on board the Starcruiser Halcyon, I collaborated with the Immersive Experience Director team to develop the show. Together we created performance tools which allow actors to invite the guests to step forward and play in a way never before seen at a Disney park or resort. Many of this show’s scenes are “non-scripted.” This means that a character enters the scene with pre-knowledge and guiding intentions or goals. They ask questions to connect with the guests and, with the guests’ help, move the story forward. I developed and documented non-scripted scenes for every story track in the show. I also had the opportunity to create scripted character moments for media events, including a character appearance featured on Good Morning America.

While I can’t share the documentation itself, I am eternally grateful to the vloggers who have revealed the adventures of the Halcyon’s inhabitants to the world. So now, I can show you what happens when a Saja invites a guest into the Climate Simulator to learn about the Force, give you a glimpse into Sammie the mechanic’s first moments asking the guests to help him navigate the ship, and bring you along on one of my favorite plotlines – Sandro’s attempts to woo fellow musician Ouanii.

I take a lot of pride in my writing, but I freely admit that I have a difficult time putting into words just how much this project meant to me. While working on the Halcyon, I bonded with the cast and crew in a way that still resonates with me a year later. We were all truly living and breathing Star Wars, teaching each other how to make the impossible possible – and we did it. Now, this story I had a hand in creating has come to life for thousands of people. We’ve made long-time fans’ dreams come true and helped new fans take their first Star Wars steps. Sometimes I have a hard time believing it happened – but it did.

*

Being able to bring someone else’s intellectual property to life has served me well as a professional writer – but it’s always fun to go exploring through my favorite fictional worlds on my own time! I am a proud fan writer, and in high school, this meant writing fanfiction. A couple years ago, I found my way into the world of TikTok storytelling – a joyous combination of writing, cosplay, and interactive roleplay.

Star Wars fans on TikTok love to portray their favorite characters and create original characters of their own. I was inspired by these incredible creators to bring my own Star Wars character to life on my TikTok channel. Her name is Shira Alderaani Khesed; she is a poet, a mechanic, and a citizen of Alderaan, a planet literally destroyed by the titular war. Shira first appeared to me in the form of a poem written from her point of view, which you can hear me recite here. Here’s an excerpt:

What happens when a planet’s blown away? When millions of voices stop at once And millions of hearts fall silent, too…

I’ve taken Shira on a few short TikTok adventures since then, using the hashtag #shiraalderaani – including using this all-too-relatable soundbite here – and I’m excited to do more with this character!

Of course, I don’t only write poetry from a fictional character’s point of view. As we neared the opening day of Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, I wrote a poem in celebration – a tribute to all who brought this incredible project to life. I shared it to Instagram at the time, but I’ll put it at the end of this blog post, too.

Thank you for coming on this journey of Star Wars introspection with me! If you’re an artist, how has Star Wars played a role in the works you create and the stories you tell? If you’re not an artist, what Star Wars content do you most enjoy? (Movies, series, books, music, fanart… anything!)

May the Fourth be with you!

*

The Halcyon may soar among the stars But no stars shine so brightly as the ones Who walk her halls and bring this ship to life - The Saja, the musicians, and the droids The heroes and the villains, scoundrels, too The soldiers, the commanders, and the crew Mechanics, humans, aliens – faces shown, And every face no passenger will see The names they’ll read on nametags, learn in blogs, And all the names our guests will never hear - Costumers, techs, directors at the helm, Assistants on whose shoulders we all ride, Those near and far who dreamed that it would be, Who gave their time, their work, their love, their lives… This writer stands among you, ever proud To share your climb, to celebrate, to rise And lift my voice in praise of Halcyon – Our Starcruiser – and all who make her fly!

SAK

#thursday thoughts #star wars #starcruiser #shiraalderaani #mandalorian #writer #writblr #galactic starcruiser #show writer #poet #poetry #original characters #star wars oc

[transgenderer]

okay so obviously the answer to this question would have political implications for some groups and so would be very controversial but im genuinely very curious which how genetically related various groups are to the people living in canaan 2000 years ago. like, one would think modern ethnic jews would have some significant chunk, but like, a diaspora involves a LOT of outbreeding, even if youre trying not to, so how large is that chunk? less than 1/4? less than 1/8? and similarly, how related are the arabs of that area? its not like all the jews left. and before they were their own thing theres was a lot of interbreeding going on, so i imagine theres a lot of like, shared ancestors pre-judaism, cousin-style. surely we have like, 2000 year old bones we can sequence

[bookloversofbath]

The Jewish World: Revelation, Prophecy and History :: Edited by Elie Kedourie

The Jewish World: Revelation, Prophecy and History :: Edited by Elie Kedourie

The Jewish World: Revelation, Prophecy and History :: Edited by Elie Kedourie soon to be presented for sale on the outstanding BookLovers of Bath web site! London: Thames & Hudson, 1979, Hardback in dust wrapper. Includes: Line drawings; Black & white photographs; Chronological tables (1); Colour photographs; Maps; List of sources; Illustrated lining papers; 2-column text; From the cover: The…

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[jewfrogs]

hey i have a question but you fully don't have to answer if you don't want to. I see a lot of ppl using 'zionistic' as an insult, because of the israel-palestina situation rn. and obviously colonisation can and should not ever be justified ever. the fact that people are using Judaism as a justification is gross, but zionism on its own to me never seemed wrong? as an idea? the fact that it's used rn to hurt palestine ppl is, but that principle of zionism doesn't seem so weird? am i missing smth?

the core idea of zionism, that eretz yisrael (palestine/judea/canaan/the holy land) was promised to the jews and we should/will return there one day, has existed within judaism for a long time (at least since the second exile by the romans and arguably since the first by the babylonians). there have been many attempts/movements to return to/reconquer the land (the revolt against heraclius, david alroy, sabbatai zevi, the perushim, judah ben shalom) throughout this time. i wouldnt universally call this a Bad Thing by any means—we didnt particularly want to leave judea in the first place! people kept treating us like shit everywhere else! the desire to return to our home & promised land makes sense, and for about two millennia, it didnt really come to tangible fruition.

however, zionism doesnt really refer to the broad historical concept of jewish nationalism/return to our homeland. zionism is a specific political concept that originated in europe in the 19th century, founded in part by theodor herzl, who argued that the jewish people could not be free from antisemitism within europe and needed our own state within our homeland. throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, zionism (backed by britain & america) began to blossom, spread among jewish communities worldwide (as a response to our persecution), and gain meaningful political ground.

the problem with this ideology is that people (including some jews) were already living in the holy land and had been for centuries. the establishment of a jewish state there meant the negation of the palestinian nation that already existed in the same land (which is why myths about it being "a land without people" or "uninhabited" were so widespread and harmful). there is no zionism that doesnt hurt palestinian people, because its premise relies on their land being stolen and them being expelled from it. zionism has always been a colonial ideology, something which was openly acknowledged by the forefathers of the movement.

(zionism also relies on the negation of the diaspora & the countless forms of judaism forged within it and the consolidation of judaism into a singular identity (an attempt to return to a pre-diaspora judaism), which is deeply harmful to the jewish people & judaism. we cannot be un-diaspora-ed!)

to sum it up: zionism—which is the specific movement that led to the foundation of the state of israel, not the wider concept of aliyah or jewish nationalism—is inherently harmful and rotten to its core.

#its an easy misunderstanding to make bc the term zionism gets retroactively applied #but its a specific and fairly recent concept and a very not good one at that #antizionism #ask #anonymous

[socialistsephardi]

The Political History of Zionism

With everything currently going on, I’ve decided to make this post detailing the different streams of Zionism, in order to deconstruct rhetoric surrounding Zionism. I do this to aid arguments against Hasbara, which often claims that Zionism is unified and simple.

To begin, Political Zionism is generally considered to start with the writings of Theodor Herzl, in the 19th century political climate of Central and Eastern Europe. Prior to this, numerous pre-zionist movements were competing among the Jews of europe following an event called the Haskalah, or “Jewish Enlightment”. The French Revolution caused France to become the first european nation to recognize Jews as citizens with rights, which would be followed by Britain and Germany. This allowed for the formation of a new secular Jewish middle class enthrawled by enlightment principles - mainly, rationalism, romanticism, and nationalism. However, this also generated a shift from religious persecution towards ‘racial’ antisemitism. As the Jews of various countries were subjected to either intense expectations of assimilation, or reoccuring waves of pogroms, it became clear that most of europe regarded these emancipated Jews as foreign nationals of alien religion and culturally compatible. The proto-Zionists begin building a consensus pushing for immigration to Ottoman Palestine, some seeking to provide an alternative to the pogroms, some believing themselves witness to the signs of an imment messiah, etc. Moshe Hess, an associate of Karl Marx, calls for Jews to create a socialist state in Palestine (more on Hess later). Waves of European Jews arrive, and organizations aiming to support Jewish farmers and artisans in Palestine and Syria are founded. The local authorities begin to differentiate between the immigrant Jews and the Jews from the local communities. Herzl enters the Jewish public consciousness with his writings calling specifically for the creation of a Jewish majority state. appealing to the British and French empires to aid them. He rejects Hess’s socialist proposal and instead proposes a reconstruction of Jewry altogether, rejecting the diaspora entirely, arguing that only separation could ensure Jewish survival. Herzl proposes establishing this state in Argentina, but concludes that Palestine would likely have more ideological appeal. I feel it crucial to note here that in his early writings, Herzl is hostile to religious Jews, claims that the Jews of the Ghettos and Shtetls hold back the intellectual, and calls the Sephardi Jews living under France in Algeria mixed blood barbarians. These attitudes would carry over into the political zietgiest of early Zionism.

From here, Zionism begins to grow, the call for simple immigration to the land is supplanted by a demand for a Jewish majority state, and competing schools of thought emerge. The World Zionist Organization is created, and the Zionists pivot attempt including the consent of the Ottomans in the project. Herzl here also begins to explicitly call for the colonization of Palestine, in line with his admiration for the french and british empires. The first major split within the Zionist movement comes with the formation of Labor Zionism based on Hess’s writings. Wheras Herzl’s camp depended on gaining support from the empires and from prominent Jewish figures, Labor Zionism argued that only the Jewish working class could create such a nation, and sought to emphasize a progressive Jewish identity. This is also where a re-alignment for the religious backing begins. Originally, orthodox Jews are in an uneasy alliance with the entirely secular Jews in the movement, mostly because despite his early writings, Herzl emphasized a need to manufacture support from orthodox rabbis and communities. With Herzl eventual death, the orthodox separate from the mainstream movement, citing the believe that only the Messiah can reassert Jewish control over the land. Reform Jews at this time also reject Zionism, as it is perceived as a threat to Jewish citizenship in Europe and America. The Reform rejected the notion that Jews were bound by a shared nationality, a position which held true until the holocaust.

Over the next few decades, various zionist groups in palestine compete for power. Many begin attacking the Muslim and Christian Palestinian communities, often forcibly separating the local Jewry in the process. Jewish terrorist groups launch attacks on British centers following WW1. Labor Zionists rejected traditional Jewish practice, arguing that these represented a diaspora mentality. They also set up the early Kibbitzim. Jabotinsky develops a trend known as Revisionist Zionism, with the aim of territorial maximalism. Revisionist Zionism becomes ingrained as the right wing faction, and eventually becoming the ideological foundation of the current Likud party. Jabotinsky admired and borrowed core concepts from Mussolini and fascism, in particular the centrality of the state, social conservative unity, and racial supremacy. Mussolini knew of this and told the founder of the World Jewish Congress “For Zionism to succeed, you need to have a Jewish State with a Jewish flag, and Jewish language. The person who understands that is your fascist, Jabotinsky". The revisionists during this time approved of the idea of building a Mediterranean alliance and opposing British influence. In 1939, Stern forms Lehi, and they oppose Britain in WW2, instead arguing that Jews must align with the Axis, eventually going so far as to claim that if they were to take control of the mandate, they would negotiate with Hitler to see the Jews in the camps transfered in as new citizens, and in exchange join the German sphere.

Following WW2, the Nakba occurs, and the Haganah (including groups like Lehi) is reorganized into the IDF. The liberal/general Zionists are now faced with oppozing interal forces such as the labor Zionists and the revisionists. They now turn to emphasis liberalism in the new state, mostly the democratic electoral system and the free market, but largely become a backdrop to the rest of the political movements, which turn themselves into party affiliation, since the basic liberal structure had already been established. The labor Zionists become the dominant trend in Israeli politics until the 70′s. Following the Six Day Way in 67, Israel seizes control of the rest of the land from the mandate. This sets off a new movement. Previously, Religious Zionism was a minor stream mostly simply meaning religious Jews who supported Zionism. From here on, however, it becomes dominated by a right wing religious trend and becomes NeoZionism. NeoZionists combined religious and nationalist elements, specifically advocated settlements beyond the green line, and often advocate the removal of Arab people, citing Arab Israelis as a potential 5th column. Neozionists believe that the secularism of other zionist branches is a significant weak point, and usually incorporate far right orthodox talking points. Groups such as the Hebron settlers are highly influenced by Neozionism. Neozionists are also usually behind the call to establish an entirely orthodox state in the west bank if Israel were to pull out. On the opposite end, there are the post-Zionists, who believe Zionism has fulfilled its goal. Post-Zionists are not really coordiated in the same way others on this list are, but generally they are critical of the direction israel has moved, they typically seek to try to make Jews safer in the diaspora, generally support Arab Israelis and some post-zionists believe in transforming the state into an entirely liberal-democratic one. Right wing Israelis also use “post zionist“ to refer to the Israeli left after the Oslo Accords in the mid 90′s.

Finally, I’d like to take note of Kahanism. Kahanism is an extremist ideology based on the work of Rabbi Meir Kahane, and materialized as the Kach party in Israel, a party which was boycotted by every other faction the single time they were elected to the Knesset, and is now banned and labeled a terrorist organization. Kahanists believe that every single Jew should live in Israel, and that only Jews should live in Israel. They advocate for Israel to enforce traditional Jewish law at the national scale, and together with Neozionists have engaged in actions to provoke fear in diaspora communities. Kahanists believe that all Arab people are the mortal enemy of all Jews and that Israel should seize land from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Egypt. Kahane himself proposed laws, including banning intermarriage, banning cultural meetings between Jewish and Muslim students, and re-segregating areas that had already undergone desegregation.

So that is a compressed history of the trends within Zionism. I write this not to garner sympathy for Zionism, but in hopes that this helps pick apart hasbarist simplification. At best, Zionism produced a labor movement with a terribly racist history which stole yemenite Jewish children and encouraged discrimination and segregation against sephardi and mizrachi Jews within Israel from a secular ashkenazi ‘core‘. At worst, fundamentalists and militant zealots who are overwhelmingly hostile to anyone else, groups who align with historic and current fascist and nazi movements, and a massive, overwhelming history of abuse and human rights violations against Palestinians, other Arabs, Jews of color, diaspora movements, etc. If you needed any reason beyond the sheer weight of the Palestinian cause to oppose Zionism, here you go. I hope this sways the mind of any lingering ZIonists reading this, and I hope this is used to more effectively call out Zionism for what it is - a racist, imperialist, and fascist ideology hellbent on redefining Judaism for its aims against any act of solidarity between groups, completely fueled by western interests in carving up and controlling West Asia / the middle east/ Al-Mashriq.

#zionism #antizionism #palestine #jumblr #judaism #israel

[womenfrommars]

Debunking myths about Jewish history

1. ‘’Ashkenazi Jews are white Europeans’’

Let’s start with the claim that’s been propagated the most on the Internet. The claim is that some ethnic Jews are indeed Middle-Eastern (e.g. Sephardi and Mizrahi), but that the Ashkenazi Jews specifically are (white) Europeans. This claim simply isn’t supported by scientific evidence.

The results support the hypothesis that the paternal gene pools of Jewish communities from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East descended from a common Middle Eastern ancestral population, and suggest that most Jewish communities have remained relatively isolated from neighboring nonJewish communities during and after the Diaspora.

(...)

The m values based on haplotypes Med and 1L were ~13% ± 10%, suggesting a rather small European contribution to the Ashkenazi paternal gene pool. When all haplotypes were included in the analysis, m increased to 23% ± 7%. This value was similar to the estimated Italian contribution to the Roman Jewish paternal gene pool. (Hammer et al. 2000)

About 80 Sephardim, 80 Ashkenazim and 100 Czechoslovaks were examined for the Yspecific RFLPs revealed by the probes p12f2 and p40a,f on TaqI DNA digests. The aim of the study was to investigate the origin of the Ashkenazi gene pool through the analysis of markers which, having an exclusively holoandric transmission, are useful to estimate paternal gene flow. The comparison of the two groups of Jews with each other and with Czechoslovaks (which have been taken as a representative source of foreign Y-chromosomes for Ashkenazim) shows a great similarity between Sephardim and Ashkenazim who are very different from Czechoslovaks. On the other hand both groups of Jews appear to be closely related to Lebanese. A preliminary evaluation suggests that the contribution of foreign males to the Ashkenazi gene pool has been very low (1 % or less per generation). (Benerecetti et al. 1993)

A sample of 526 Y chromosomes representing six Middle Eastern populations (Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and Kurdish Jews from Israel; Muslim Kurds; Muslim Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian Authority Area; and Bedouin from the Negev) was analyzed for 13 binary polymorphisms and six microsatellite loci. The investigation of the genetic relationship among three Jewish communities revealed that Kurdish and Sephardic Jews were indistinguishable from one another, whereas both differed slightly, yet significantly, from Ashkenazi Jews. The differences among Ashkenazim may be a result of low-level gene flow from European populations and/or genetic drift during isolation. (Nebel et al. 2001)

Here, genome-wide analysis of seven Jewish groups (Iranian, Iraqi, Syrian, Italian, Turkish, Greek, and Ashkenazi) and comparison with non-Jewish groups demonstrated distinctive Jewish population clusters, each with shared Middle Eastern ancestry, proximity to contemporary Middle Eastern populations, and variable degrees of European and North African admixture. Two major groups were identified by principal component, phylogenetic, and identity by descent (IBD) analysis: Middle Eastern Jews and European/Syrian Jews. The IBD segment sharing and the proximity of European Jews to each other and to southern European populations suggested similar origins for European Jewry and refuted large-scale genetic contributions of Central and Eastern European and Slavic populations to the formation of Ashkenazi Jewry. Rapid decay of IBD in Ashkenazi Jewish genomes was consistent with a severe bottleneck followed by large expansion, such as occurred with the so-called demographic miracle of population expansion from 50,000 people at the beginning of the 15th century to 5,000,000 people at the beginning of the 19th century. Thus, this study demonstrates that European/Syrian and Middle Eastern Jews represent a series of geographical isolates or clusters woven together by shared IBD genetic threads. (Atzmon et al. 2010)

2. '’Ashkenazi Jews are the descendants of the Khazars’’

Another popular idea on the Internet, which is also associated with the alt-right, is that Ashkenazi Jews are the descendants of the Khazar people, from the Khazar empire (roughly 600-1000). This culture completely died out and there are no direct descendants, so genetic testing is a bit difficult.

However, there still has been done genetic testing that confirms this hypothesis to be false.

Employing a variety of standard techniques for the analysis of population-genetic structure, we find that Ashkenazi Jews share the greatest genetic ancestry with other Jewish populations, and among non-Jewish populations, with groups from Europe and the Middle East. No particular similarity of Ashkenazi Jews with populations from the Caucasus is evident, particularly with the populations that most closely represent the Khazar region. Thus, analysis of Ashkenazi Jews together with a large sample from the region of the Khazar Khaganate corroborates the earlier results that Ashkenazi Jews derive their ancestry primarily from populations of the Middle East and Europe, that they possess considerable shared ancestry with other Jewish populations, and that there is no indication of a significant genetic contribution either from within or from north of the Caucasus region. (Behar et al. 2013)

However, if the R-M17 chromosomes in Ashkenazi Jews do indeed represent the vestiges of the mysterious Khazars then, according to our data, this contribution was limited to either a single founder or a few closely related men, and does not exceed ∼12% of the present-day Ashkenazim. (Nebel et al. 2005)

3. '’Palestinians are indigenous to the land of Israel, so the Jews can’t be indigenous’’

First off, it has been established that Jews and Palestinians share the same ancestry:

Archaeologic and genetic data support that both Jews and Palestinians came from the ancient Canaanites, who extensively mixed with Egyptians, Mesopotamian and Anatolian peoples in ancient times. Thus, Palestinian-Jewish rivalry is based in cultural and religious, but not in genetic, differences. (Arnaiz-Villena et al. 2001)

If Palestinians are considered native, then so should Jews, since both descend from the ancient Canaanites.

Furthermore, the Hebrew Bible states that Philistines (’’Palestinians’’) came from Caphtor, which has been identified as modern-day Crete, an island that is part of Greece (see also Finkelstein 2002). Other contestants for Caphtor include Cyprus and Cilicia (modern-day Turkey).

Archeological evidence also supports this theory:

Modern archaeologists agree that the Philistines were different from their neighbors: Their arrival on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean in the early 12th century B.C. is marked by pottery with close parallels to the ancient Greek world, the use of an Aegean—instead of a Semitic—script, and the consumption of pork. (National Geographic)

This was more recently confirmed by DNA evidence:

Now, a study published today in the journal Science Advances, prompted by the unprecedented 2016 discovery of a cemetery at the ancient Philistine city of Ashkelon on the southern coast of Israel, provides an intriguing look into the genetic origins and legacy of the Philistines. The research appears to support their foreign origin, but reveals that the reviled outsiders were soon marrying into the local populations. (...) The four early Iron Age DNA samples, all from infants buried beneath the floors of Philistine houses, include proportionally more “additional European ancestry” in their genetic signatures (roughly 14%) than in the pre-Philistine Bronze Age samples (2% to 9%), according to the researchers. While the origins of this additional “European ancestry” are not conclusive, the most plausible models point to Greece, Crete, Sardinia, and the Iberian peninsula. (Idem)

Now, this doesn’t mean that modern-day Palestinians are mostly European, as the research also found that the Philistines were mixing with the local populations. This also explains why modern-day Jews and modern-day Palestinians are genetically very similar (see above). It is highly unlikely that modern-day Palestinians are the direct descendants of the ancient Philistines.

However, the name ‘’Palestine’’ is derived from ‘’Philistia’’:

The first records of the Philistines are inscriptions and reliefs in the mortuary temple of Ramses III at Madinat Habu, where they appear under the name prst, as one of the Sea Peoples that invaded Egypt about 1190 BCE after ravaging Anatolia, Cyprus, and Syria. After being repulsed by the Egyptians, they settled—possibly with Egypt’s permission—on the coastal plain of Palestine from Joppa (modern Tel Aviv–Yafo) southward to Gaza. The area contained the five cities (the Pentapolis) of the Philistine confederacy (Gaza, Ashkelon [Ascalon], Ashdod, Gath, and Ekron) and was known as Philistia, or the Land of the Philistines. It was from this designation that the whole of the country was later called Palestine by the Greeks. (Encyclopædia Britannica)

Modern-day Palestinians are the descendants of local populations who converted to Islam due to Islamic conquest. Likewise, Jews are the descendants of local populations who left the country. Despite this, both groups are genetically related to each other. This is because Jews have been a relatively isolated group of people, since the religion of Judaism doesn’t permit interfaith marriage (unless a non-Jew converts into the faith). In other words: the fact that the Palestinians may be indigenous to the land of Israel doesn’t negate the fact that the Jews are indigenous to the land of Israel.

Our findings corroborate previous studies that suggested a common origin for Jewish and non-Jewish populations living in the Middle East (Santachiara-Benerecetti et al. 1993; Peretz et al. 1997; Hammer et al. 2000).

(...)

According to historical records part, or perhaps the majority, of the Moslem Arabs in this country descended from local inhabitants, mainly Christians and Jews, who had converted after the Islamic conquest in the seventh century AD (Shaban 1971; Mc Graw Donner 1981). These local inhabitants, in turn, were descendants of the core population that had lived in the area for several centuries, some even since prehistorical times (Gil 1992). On the other hand, the ancestors of the great majority of present-day Jews lived outside this region for almost two millennia. Thus, our findings are in good agreement with historical evidence and suggest genetic continuity in both populations despite their long separation and the wide geographic dispersal of Jews. (Nebel et al. 2000)

4. ‘’Well, the Palestinians were there first’’

As discussed before, the ancient Philistines from the book of Deuteronomy are said to have immigrated from Caphtor, which has been identified as island in southern Europe. The ancient Philistines have no direct descendants because they mixed with local populations. The ancient Philistines are also mentioned in the book of Genesis, which mentions they came from Egypt. According to rabbinic sources, this refers to a different people from the Philistines mentioned in the book of Deuteronomy. As discussed before, modern-day Palestinians descend from neither of these people. Palestinians maintain they are the descendants of the ancient Canaanites:

Both Israeli and Palestinian politicians claim the region of Israel and the Palestinian territories is the ancestral home of their people, and maintain that the other group was a late arrival. “We are the Canaanites,” asserted Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas last year. “This land is for its people…who were here 5,000 years ago.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, meanwhile, said recently that the ancestors of modern Palestinians “came from the Arabian peninsula to the Land of Israel thousands of years” after the Israelites. (National Geographic)

As discussed, modern-day Jews and modern-day Palestinians are genetically very similar. This was again established by a recent study:

Finally, we show that the genomes of present-day groups geographically and historically linked to the Bronze Age Levant, including the great majority of present-day Jewish groups and Levantine Arabic-speaking groups, are consistent with having 50% or more of their ancestry from people related to groups who lived in the Bronze Age Levant and the Chalcolithic Zagros. These present-day groups also show ancestries that cannot be modeled by the available ancient DNA data, highlighting the importance of additional major genetic effects on the region since the Bronze Age. (Agranat-Tamir et al. 2020)

According to the Bible, when the Israelites left Egypt, they conquered the Canaanites, who were already living in the land of Israel. Joshua 10:40 mentions there are no survivors of the ancient Canaanites. However, the Bible was written much later after these events took place. The study referenced above supports the hypothesis of continuity, i.e. the ancient Canaanites were not completely wiped out by the Israelites. Instead, Canaanite culture slowly morphed into other cultures, including the culture of the Israelites. As referenced under 3., it is likely both Jews and Palestinians came from the ancient Canaanites.

The Bible itself also mentions the Canaanites continued to exist in Judges 3:1-3 and explains the command to the Israelites was only given to teach them warfare (not to actually annihilate the Canaanites). It is more likely the Canaanites indeed continued to exist:

We show that present-day Lebanese derive most of their ancestry from a Canaanite-related population, which therefore implies substantial genetic continuity in the Levant since at least the Bronze Age. (Haber et al. 2017)

To put it differently, in the land of Israel, the ancient Canaanites were not destroyed, but rather subsumed by the Israelites. The Jews have maintained this culture and tradition. The Palestinians, on the other hand, have not. Palestinians didn’t maintain any tradition from the ancient Canaanites. Instead, their culture, tradition, and language can be traced back to the Hejaz, a region in the west of modern-day Saudi Arabia. This is also the birthplace of the religion of Islam.

Indeed, up until recently, Palestinians were not even called ‘’Palestinians’’. Instead, they were referred to as ‘’Palestinian Arabs’’. A report from 1946 gives more insight. In Chapter VI, titled ‘’The Arab Attitude’’, it states the following:

The Committee heard a brief presentation of the Arab case in Washington, statements made in London by delegates from the Arab States to the United Nations, a fuller statement from the Secretary General and other representatives of the Arab League in Cairo, and evidence given on behalf of the Arab Higher (committee and the Arab Office in Jerusalem). In addition, subcommittees visited Baghdad Riyadh, Damascus, Beirut and Amman, where they were informed of the views of Government and of unofficial spokesmen.

Stopped to the bare essentials, the Arab case is based upon the fact that Palestine is a country which the Arabs have occupied for more than a thousand years, and a denial of the Jewish historical claims to Palestine.

This report states Arabs have lived in Palestine ‘’for more than a thousand years’’, referring to the Islamic conquest of Palestine in the 7th century. Clearly, Palestinians are identified as Arabs here, by Palestinian leaders themselves.

Another report from the same year supports this view:

In addition to the question of right, the Arabs oppose the claims of political Zionism because of the effects which Zionist settlement has already had upon their situation and is likely to have to an even greater extent in the future. Negatively, it has diverted the whole course of their national development. Geographically Palestine is part of Syria; its indigenous inhabitants belong to the Syrian branch of the Arab family of nations; all their culture and tradition link them to other Arab peoples; and until 1917 Palestine formed part of the Ottoman Empire which included also several of the other Arab countries. The presence and claims of the Zionists, and the support given them by certain Western Powers have resulted in Palestine being cut off from other Arab countries and subjected to a regime, administrative, legal, fiscal and educational, different from that of the sister-countries. Quite apart from the inconvenience to individuals and the dislocation of trade which this separation has caused, it has prevented Palestine participating fully in the general development of the Arab world.

You can see the story changed overtime. The Palestinian claim to Canaanite blood is an ad hoc claim that is meant to predate the Jewish presence in Israel.

In general, the Palestinian claim to Canaanite roots also erases the fact that the Israelites drove the Canaanites out of Israel, to Lebanon. The remaining Canaanites were subsumed by the Israelites. Therefore, if Palestinians are native to the land of Israel, and if they descend from the Canaanites, then they must also descend from the Israelites. However, Palestinians attempt to bypass the Israelite link, claiming to not descend from the Israelites. I believe they likewise deny that the Jews descend from the Israelites, claiming that instead the Jews are just Europeans.

This wouldn’t be the first time the Palestinians changed their narrative either. They used to claim they descend from the ancient Philistines, referring to Genesis 21:34 as proof:

And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for a long time. (New International Version)

As such, the Palestinian PM argued they have lived in the land of Palestine before Abraham. (Video is in the article.)

As explained earlier, the Philistines immigrated from southern Europe, and the Palestinians are not directly descended from them, given the DNA evidence. The ancient Philistines have disappeared as a people, because they mixed with local populations. That also explains why modern-day Palestinian DNA is not mostly European, as would be the case if they directly descended from the Philistines.

Recommended further reading

‘’Are Jews Indigenous to the Land of Israel?’’

‘‘Jews and Arabs Share Genetic Link to Ancient Canaanites, Study Finds‘‘

‘‘The Canaanites weren’t annihilated, they just ‘moved’ to Lebanon‘‘

#juno speaks #jewish history #history #jewish #judaism #israel #palestine #israel-palestine conflict #israel-palestine #palestinian #israeli #politics

[sylvielauffeydottir]

Hi I just saw your post about Israel and Palestinian. I don't know if you're the person to ask or if this is a dumb question but I was wondering if anyone has considered starting a second Jewish state? I was wondering because there's a bunch of Christian countries so why not multiple Jewish ones.

Sorry if I'm bothering you and Thanks for your time.

That’s actually a pretty interesting question. I am going to apologize right now, because I essentially can’t give a short answer to save my life.

I’m not a ‘Jewish Scholar,’ so while I can speak with some authority about the history of Zionism, I definitely couldn’t speak about it with as much authority as others. I mentioned in at least one of the posts I have written about the history of plans for a ‘Jewish state’ when Zionism was originally being proposed, and I can kinda of track the history of Zionist thinking for you if you are interested, though essentially it’s just about arguing where to go. But there are better scholars for this than me, so I would recommend Rebecca Kobrin, Deborah Lipstadt, Walter Laqueur … idk. Maybe just read some Theodor Herzl, honestly. With all of that said, I can speak with some authority about the post-war history of this in the Middle East. So let’s go.

In post-war times, there has really only been one serious discussion of an alternative Jewish state, as far as I know. And actually, this is part of why I find it so ironic that people are campaigning so hard to be “anti-Zionist” and to express views like “anti-Zionism” in their activism, because the Jews in Israel who are most anti-Zionist are actually the settlers of Palestinian territories, who want to secede and form a “Gaza-State” called Judeah. There's a great book about this called The Deadly Embrace by Ilana Kass And Bard O'Neill, if anyone is interested. Anyway, most of those people, who are largely Haredim (the Ultra-Orthodox Jews, though some of those settlers are semi Orthodox), have essentially been waging a “culture war” about what it means to have a Jewish state and what the identity of that Jewish state should look like basically since the 1980s.

There is a really good article about this that you can find right here written by Peter Lintl, who is a researcher at the Institution of Political Science for the Friedrich-Alexander Universitat. I’ll summarize it for the lazy people, though, because it’s like 40 pages. Just know that this paragraph won’t be super source heavy, because it is basically the same source. Essentially, the Haredim community has tripled in size from 4% to 12% of the total Israeli population since 1980, and it is probably going to be about 20% by 2040. They only accept the Torah and religious laws as the basis for Jewish life and Jewish identity and they are critical of democratic principles. To them, a societal structure should be hierarchical, patriarchal, and have rabbis at the apex, and they basically believe that Israel isn’t a legitimate state. This is primarily because Israel is (at least technically, so no one come at me in the comments about Palestinian citizens of Israel, so I’ll make a little ** and address this there) a ‘liberal’ democracy. Rights of Israeli citizens include, according to Freedom House, free and fair elections (they rank higher on that criteria here than the United States, by the way), political choice, political rights and electoral opportunities for women, a free and independent media, and academic freedom. It is also, I should add (as a lesbian), the only country in the Middle East that has anything close to LGBT+ rights.

[**to the point about Palestinians and Palestinian citizens of Israel: I have a few things to say. First, I have recommended this book twice now and it is Michael Oren’s Six Days of War, which absolutely fantastically talks about the ways in which the entire structure of the Palestinian ‘citizenship’ movement, Palestinian rights, and who was responsible for governing Palestinians changed after the Six Days War. If you are at all interested in the modern Middle East or modern Middle East politics, I highly recommend you read this, because a huge tenant of this book is that it was 1967, not 1947, that caused huge parts of our current situation (and that, surprisingly, a huge issue that quote-on-quote “started it” was actually water, but that’s sort of the primary secondary issue, not the Actual Issue at play here). Anyway, I’ve talked about the fact that Israel hugely abuses its authority in the West Bank and Gaza and that there are going to be current members of the Israeli Government who face action at the ICC, so please don’t litigate this again with me. I also should add that the 2018 law which said it was only Jews who had the natural-born right to “self-determine” in Israel was passed by the Lekkud Government, and I really hate them anyway. I know they’re bad. It’s not the point I’m making. I’m making a broader point about the Constitution vis-a-vis what the Haredim are proposing, which is way worse].

To get back to the Haredim, basically there is this entire movement of actual settlers in territories that have been determined to belong to the Palestinian people as of, you know, the modern founding of Israel (and not the pre-Israel ‘colonial settler’ narrative you’ll see on instagram in direct conflict with the history of centuries of aliyah) who want to secede and form a separate Jewish state. They aren’t like, the only settlers, but I point this out because they are basically ‘anti-Zionist’ in the sense that they think that modern Zionism isn’t adhering to the laws of Judaism — that the state of Israel is too free, too radical, too open. And scarily enough, these are the sort of the people from whom Netanyahu draws a huge part of his political support. Which is true of the right wing in general. Netanyahu can’t actually govern without a coalition government. Like I have said, the Knesset is huge, often with 11-13 political parties at once, and so to ‘govern’ Netanyahu often needs to recruit increasingly right wing, conservative, basically insane political parties to maintain his coalition. It’s why he has been so supportive of the settlements, particularly in the last five years (since he is, as I have also said, facing corruption charges, and he really can’t leave office). It would really suck for him if a huge chunk of his voters seceded, wouldn’t it?

Anyway, that is the only ‘second Jewish State’ I know about, and I don’t think that is necessarily much of a solution. I really don’t have the solutions to the Middle East crisis. I am just a girl with some history degrees and some time on her hands to devote to tumblr, and I want people to learn more so they can form their own opinions. With that said, I think there are two more things worth saying and then I will close out for the night.

First, Judaism is an ethno-religion. Our ethnicities have become mixed with the places that we have inhabited over the years in diaspora, which is how you have gotten Sephardi, Mizrahi, Ashkenazi, and even Ethiopian Jews. But if you do actual DNA testing on almost all of the Jews in diaspora, the testing shows that we come from the same place: the Levant. No matter how pale or dark, Jews are still fundamentally one people, something we should never forget (and anyone who tries to put racial hierarchy into paleness of Jews: legit, screw you. One people). Anyway, unlike other religious communities, we have an indigenous homeland because we have an ethnic homeland. It’s small, and there are many Jews in diaspora who choose not to return to it, like myself. But that homeland is ours (just as much as it is rightfully Palestinians, because we are both indigenous to the region. For everyone who hasn’t read my other posts on the issue, I’m not explaining this again. Just see: one, two, and three, the post that prompted this ask). This is different from Christians, for example, who basically just conquered all of Europe and whose religion is not dependent on your race or background. You can be a lapsed Christian and you are still white, latinx, black, etc right? I am a lapsed Jew, religiously speaking, and will still never escape that I am ethnically Ashkenazi Jewish.

Second, I think you raise a really good point about other religious states. There are many other religious majority states in the world (all of these countries have an official state religion), and a lot of them are committing a lot of atrocities right now (don't even get me started on Saudi Arabia). I have seen other posts and other authors write about this better than I ever could, but I am going to do my best to articulate why, because of this, criticism of Israel as a state, versus criticism of the Israeli Government, is about ... 9 times out of 10 inherently antisemitic.

We should all be able to criticize governments. That is a healthy part of the democratic process and it is a healthy part of being part of the world community. But there are 140 dictatorships in the world, and the UN Human Rights Council has condemned Israel 45 times since 2013. Since the creation of the UN Human Rights Council, it has has received more resolutions concerning Israel than on the rest of the world combined. This is compared to like … 1 for Myanmar, 1 for South Sudan, and 1 for North Korea.

Israel is the world’s only Jewish majority state. You want to talk about “ethnic cleansing” and “repressive governments”? I can give you about five other governments and world situations right now, off the top of my head, that are very stark, very brutal, very (in some cases) simple examples of either or both. If a person is ‘using their platform’ to Israel-bash, but they are not currently speaking about the atrocities in Myanmar, Kashmir, Azerbaijan, South Sudan, or even, dare I say, the ethnonationalism of the Hindu Nationalist Party in India, then, at the very least, their activism is a little bit performative. They are chasing the most recent ‘hot button’ issue they saw in an instagraphic, and they probably want to be woke and maybe want to do the right thing. And no one come at me and say it is because you don’t “know anything about Myanmar.” Most people know next to nothing about the Middle East crisis as well. At best, people are inconsistent, they may be a hypocrite, and, whether they want to admit it to themselves or not, they are either unintentionally or intentionally buying into antisemitic narratives. They might even be an antisemite.

I like to think (hope, maybe) that most people don’t hate Jews. If anything, they just follow what they’ve been told, and they tend to digest what everyone is taking about. But there is a reason this is the global narrative that has gained traction, and I guarantee it has at least something to do with the star on the Israeli flag.

I know that was a very long answer to your question, but I hope that gave you some insight.

As a sidenote: I keep recommending books, so I am going to just put a master list of every book I have ever recommended at the bottom of anything I do now, because the list keeps growing. So, let’s go in author alphabetical order from now on.

One Country by Ali Abunimah Rise and Kill First: The Secret History of Israel's Targeted Assassinations by Ronen Bergman Kingdom of Olives and Ash: Writers Confront the Occupation, edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman The Girl Who Stole My Holocaust: A Memoir by Noam Chayut If a Place Can Make You Cry: Dispatches from an Anxious State by Daniel Gordis Israel: A Concise History of a Nation Reborn by Daniel Gordis The Deadly Embrace by Ilana Kass And Bard O'Neill Like Dreamers: The Story of the Israeli Paratroopers Who Reunited Jerusalem and Divided a Nation by Yossi Klein Halevi Antisemitism by Deborah Lipstadt Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East by Michael Oren The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East by Abraham Rabinovich One Palestine, Complete: Jews and Arabs Under the British Mandate by Tom Segev Hollow Land: Israel's Architecture of Occupation by Eyal Weizman

#ask #jew tag