-
- Le Monde diplomatique
- -----------------------------------------------------
-
- September 2008
-
- ZIONIST NATIONALIST MYTH OF ENFORCED EXILE
-
- Israel deliberately forgets its history
-
___________________________________________________________
-
- An Israeli historian suggests the diaspora was the
consequence,
- not of the expulsion of the Hebrews from Palestine, but
of
- proselytising across north Africa, southern Europe and
the
- Middle East
-
- by Schlomo
Sand
-
___________________________________________________________
-
- Every Israeli knows that he or she is the direct and
- exclusive descendant of a Jewish people which has existed
- since it received the Torah (1) in Sinai. According to
this
- myth, the Jews escaped from Egypt and settled in the
Promised
- Land, where they built the glorious kingdom of David and
- Solomon, which subsequently split into the kingdoms of
Judah
- and Israel. They experienced two exiles: after the
- destruction of the first temple, in the 6th century BC,
and
- of the second temple, in 70 AD.
-
- Two thousand years of wandering brought the Jews to
Yemen,
- Morocco, Spain, Germany, Poland and deep into Russia.
But,
- the story goes, they always managed to preserve blood
links
- between their scattered communities. Their uniqueness was
- never compromised.
-
- At the end of the 19th century conditions began to favour
- their return to their ancient homeland. If it had not
been
- for the Nazi genocide, millions of Jews would have
fulfilled
- the dream of 20 centuries and repopulated Eretz Israel,
the
- biblical land of Israel. Palestine, a virgin land, had
been
- waiting for its original inhabitants to return and awaken
it.
- It belonged to the Jews, rather than to an Arab minority
that
- had no history and had arrived there by chance. The wars
in
- which the wandering people reconquered their land were
just;
- the violent opposition of the local population was
criminal.
-
- This interpretation of Jewish history was developed as
- talented, imaginative historians built on surviving
fragments
- of Jewish and Christian religious memory to construct a
- continuous genealogy for the Jewish people. Judaism's
- abundant historiography encompasses many different
- approaches.
-
- But none have ever questioned the basic concepts
developed in
- the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Discoveries that
- might threaten this picture of a linear past were
- marginalised. The national imperative rejected any
- contradiction of or deviation from the dominant story.
- University departments exclusively devoted to "the
history of
- the Jewish people", as distinct from those teaching what
is
- known in Israel as general history, made a significant
- contribution to this selective vision. The debate on what
- constitutes Jewishness has obvious legal implications,
but
- historians ignored it: as far as they are concerned, any
- descendant of the people forced into exile 2,000 years
ago is
- a Jew.
-
- Nor did these official investigators of the past join the
- controversy provoked by the "new historians" from the
late
- 1980s. Most of the limited number of participants in this
- public debate were from other disciplines or non-academic
- circles: sociologists, orientalists, linguists,
geographers,
- political scientists, literary academics and
archaeologists
- developed new perspectives on the Jewish and Zionist
past.
- Departments of Jewish history remained defensive and
- conservative, basing themselves on received ideas. While
- there have been few significant developments in national
- history over the past 60 years (a situation unlikely to
- change in the short term), the facts that have emerged
face
- any honest historian with fundamental questions.
-
- Founding myths shaken
-
- Is the Bible a historical text? Writing during the early
half
- of the 19th century, the first modern Jewish historians,
such
- as Isaak Markus Jost (1793-1860) and Leopold Zunz
- (1794-1886), did not think so. They regarded the Old
- Testament as a theological work reflecting the beliefs of
- Jewish religious communities after the destruction of the
- first temple. It was not until the second half of the
century
- that Heinrich Graetz (1817-91) and others developed a
- "national" vision of the Bible and transformed Abraham's
- journey to Canaan, the flight from Egypt and the united
- kingdom of David and Solomon into an authentic national
past.
- By constant repetition, Zionist historians have
subsequently
- turned these Biblical "truths" into the basis of national
- education.
-
- But during the 1980s an earthquake shook these founding
- myths. The discoveries made by the "new archaeology"
- discredited a great exodus in the 13th century BC. Moses
- could not have led the Hebrews out of Egypt into the
Promised
- Land, for the good reason that the latter was Egyptian
- territory at the time. And there is no trace of either a
- slave revolt against the pharaonic empire or of a sudden
- conquest of Canaan by outsiders.
-
- Nor is there any trace or memory of the magnificent
kingdom
- of David and Solomon. Recent discoveries point to the
- existence, at the time, of two small kingdoms: Israel,
the
- more powerful, and Judah, the future Judea. The general
- population of Judah did not go into 6th century BC exile:
- only its political and intellectual elite were forced to
- settle in Babylon. This decisive encounter with Persian
- religion gave birth to Jewish monotheism.
-
- Then there is the question of the exile of 70 AD. There
has
- been no real research into this turning point in Jewish
- history, the cause of the diaspora. And for a simple
reason:
- the Romans never exiled any nation from anywhere on the
- eastern seaboard of the Mediterranean. Apart from
enslaved
- prisoners, the population of Judea continued to live on
their
- lands, even after the destruction of the second temple.
Some
- converted to Christianity in the 4th century, while the
- majority embraced Islam during the 7th century Arab
conquest.
-
- Most Zionist thinkers were aware of this: Yitzhak Ben
Zvi,
- later president of Israel, and David Ben Gurion, its
first
- prime minister, accepted it as late as 1929, the year of
the
- great Palestinian revolt. Both stated on several
occasions
- that the peasants of Palestine were the descendants of
the
- inhabitants of ancient Judea (2).
-
- Proselytising zeal
-
- But if there was no exile after 70 AD, where did all the
Jews
- who have populated the Mediterranean since antiquity come
- from? The smokescreen of national historiography hides an
- astonishing reality. From the Maccabean revolt of the
mid-2nd
- century BC to the Bar Kokhba revolt of the 2nd century
AD,
- Judaism was the most actively proselytising religion. The
- Judeo-Hellenic Hasmoneans forcibly converted the Idumeans
of
- southern Judea and the Itureans of Galilee and
incorporated
- them into the people of Israel. Judaism spread across the
- Middle East and round the Mediterranean. The 1st century
AD
- saw the emergence in modern Kurdistan of the Jewish
kingdom
- of Adiabene, just one of many that converted.
-
- The writings of Flavius Josephus are not the only
evidence of
- the proselytising zeal of the Jews. Horace, Seneca,
Juvenal
- and Tacitus were among the Roman writers who feared it.
The
- Mishnah and the Talmud (3) authorised conversion, even if
the
- wise men of the Talmudic tradition expressed reservations
in
- the face of the mounting pressure from Christianity.
-
- Although the early 4th century triumph of Christianity
did
- not mark the end of Jewish expansion, it relegated Jewish
- proselytism to the margins of the Christian cultural
world.
- During the 5th century, in modern Yemen, a vigorous
Jewish
- kingdom emerged in Himyar, whose descendants preserved
their
- faith through the Islamic conquest and down to the
present
- day. Arab chronicles tell of the existence, during the
7th
- century, of Judaised Berber tribes; and at the end of the
- century the legendary Jewish queen Dihya contested the
Arab
- advance into northwest Africa. Jewish Berbers
participated in
- the conquest of the Iberian peninsula and helped
establish
- the unique symbiosis between Jews and Muslims that
- characterised Hispano-Arabic culture.
-
- The most significant mass conversion occurred in the 8th
- century, in the massive Khazar kingdom between the Black
and
- Caspian seas. The expansion of Judaism from the Caucasus
into
- modern Ukraine created a multiplicity of communities,
many of
- which retreated from the 13th century Mongol invasions
into
- eastern Europe. There, with Jews from the Slavic lands to
the
- south and from what is now modern Germany, they formed
the
- basis of Yiddish culture (4).
-
- Prism of Zionism
-
- Until about 1960 the complex origins of the Jewish people
- were more or less reluctantly acknowledged by Zionist
- historiography. But thereafter they were marginalised and
- finally erased from Israeli public memory. The Israeli
forces
- who seized Jerusalem in 1967 believed themselves to be
the
- direct descendents of the mythic kingdom of David rather
than
- - God forbid - of Berber warriors or Khazar horsemen. The
- Jews claimed to constitute a specific ethnic group that
had
- returned to Jerusalem, its capital, from 2,000 years of
exile
- and wandering.
-
- This monolithic, linear edifice is supposed to be
supported
- by biology as well as history. Since the 1970s supposedly
- scientific research, carried out in Israel, has
desperately
- striven to demonstrate that Jews throughout the world are
- closely genetically related.
-
- Research into the origins of populations now constitutes
a
- legitimate and popular field in molecular biology and the
- male Y chromosome has been accorded honoured status in
the
- frenzied search for the unique origin of the "chosen
people".
- The problem is that this historical fantasy has come to
- underpin the politics of identity of the state of Israel.
By
- validating an essentialist, ethnocentric definition of
- Judaism it encourages a segregation that separates Jews
from
- non-Jews - whether Arabs, Russian immigrants or foreign
- workers.
-
- Sixty years after its foundation, Israel refuses to
accept
- that it should exist for the sake of its citizens. For
almost
- a quarter of the population, who are not regarded as
Jews,
- this is not their state legally. At the same time, Israel
- presents itself as the homeland of Jews throughout the
world,
- even if these are no longer persecuted refugees, but the
full
- and equal citizens of other countries.
-
- A global ethnocracy invokes the myth of the eternal
nation,
- reconstituted on the land of its ancestors, to justify
- internal discrimination against its own citizens. It will
- remain difficult to imagine a new Jewish history while
the
- prism of Zionism continues to fragment everything into an
- ethnocentric spectrum. But Jews worldwide have always
tended
- to form religious communities, usually by conversion;
they
- cannot be said to share an ethnicity derived from a
unique
- origin and displaced over 20 centuries of wandering.
-
- The development of historiography and the evolution of
- modernity were consequences of the invention of the
nation
- state, which preoccupied millions during the 19th and
20th
- centuries. The new millennium has seen these dreams begin
to
- shatter.
-
- And more and more academics are analysing, dissecting and
- deconstructing the great national stories, especially the
- myths of common origin so dear to chroniclers of the
past.
-
- Shlomo Sand is professor of history at Tel Aviv
university
- and the author of Comment le people juif fut
inventé (Fayard,
- Paris, 2008)
-
________________________________________________________
-
- (1) The Torah, from the Hebrew root yara (to teach) is
the
- founding text of Judaism. It consists of the first five
books
- of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch): Genesis, Exodus,
- Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.
-
- (2) See David Ben Gurion and Yitzhak Ben Zvi, Eretz
Israel in
- the past and present, 1918 (in Yiddish), and Jerusalem,
1980
- (in Hebrew); Yitzhak Ben Zvi, Our population in the
country,
- Executive Committee of the Union for Youth and the Jewish
- National Fund, Warsaw, 1929 (in Hebrew).
-
- (3) The Mishnah, regarded as the first work of rabbinic