What does Shlomo Sand’s book say?
the prominent israeli historian ilan pappé stated that it is important to understand that the zionists who established the state of israel were largely secular until the 1970s. their aim was to modernize judaism, not to create a religious state. however, they later used religious texts politically rather than spiritually. this was done after they realized that many christians would support zionism based on references in the old testament, and this strategy proved successful.
over time, zionist leaders also managed to convince religious jews that the colonization of palestine was a religious mission. in reality, their objective was never to establish a religious state. it was always a colonial project, similar to other european colonial ventures, particularly those involving groups seeking refuge or escape from difficulties in europe. they chose to build a new life on land that already belonged to others by settling in palestine, located in the heart of the arab and islamic world. despite the presence of an existing population, the zionist movement believed from the beginning that it had the right to remove palestinians in order to build what they envisioned as a european-style state. they did not want the local population to remain.
shlomo sand, a professor at tel aviv university, is part of a group of israeli historians that includes ilan pappé, benny morris, simcha flapan, and avi shlaim. these historians challenged traditional narratives of israeli history and questioned the founding myths of israel. their research relied on declassified government documents released about thirty years after israel’s establishment, as well as extensive archaeological studies. according to this research, there is no archaeological evidence in jerusalem or palestine of king solomon’s era, david’s temple, or even of a historical political entity known as israel with a defined people or land. because of this, dismantling the founding myths of zionism and israel was a difficult and controversial task for sand.
in his books when and how was the land of israel invented?, when and how were the jewish people invented?, and how i stopped being an israeli, sand rejected the idea that a single jewish people was exiled from its homeland into the diaspora. he argued instead that many eastern european jews are descendants of individuals and communities that converted to judaism at different points in history.
as a result of his work, shlomo sand has faced strong hostility and even death threats. his book when and how were the jewish people invented? has been translated into more than twenty languages, including arabic and chinese.
