The Jewish story is under assault

[aranthus]

From the Los Angeles Times http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0422-halevi-passover-unesco-20160422-story.html

"Who are the Jews? A religion? A people? The question has taken on a special urgency in our time. At the heart of the anti-Zionist assault is the notion that the Jews aren't a people but only a faith. That premise is normative throughout the Arab world, and especially in the Palestinian statehood movement, all of whose factions deny the existence of a distinct Jewish people with a right to national sovereignty.

The Jewish calendar tells a different story. On Passover, we celebrate the birth of the Jewish people through our escape from Egypt; it's the beginning of a coherent historical narrative. On Shavuot, two months later, we celebrate the giving of the Torah at Sinai, imprinting the Jewish people with a distinct path to God. The Jews, then, are a people with a specific faith. In that order."

Halevi gets to the heart of it.

[shira]

1. Doesn't matter what we Jews think. Certain non-Jews think they have a right to define us. n/t

[stopbush]

2. The problem is there was no escape from Egypt.

Seriously, which Biblical scholars still believe that these ahistoric foundational myths have any basis in fact?

[shira]

3. You're missing the point. Jews are a nation, not just defined by religion.

Ask any Jewish Atheist because that person is as much a Jew as any other.

[stopbush]

4. I get the point. But to claim that fables are the start of an historic

narrative is to elevate myth to the level of fact, and that is dangerous.

[Israeli]

5. Did the Exodus really happen?

Archeological researchers find no evidence that the biblical Exodus as recounted in the Passover story happened, but rather the Egyptians ruled Israel during that period and that it was they who eventually left, though gradually.

Assaf Kamer
Published: 04.23.16, 23:34 / Israel Jewish Scene

Contrary to the biblical story that recounts the tale of the people of Israel leaving Egypt, the common view among mainstream archaeologists is precisely the opposite: the ancient Egyptians were the ones who ruled the land of Canaan, and they are the ones who left the Land of Israel to return to Egypt.

Prof. Israel Finkelstein of Tel Aviv University, an internationally renowned expert in biblical archaeology, explained the historical background of the biblical Exodus story as revealed from archaeological excavations:......

See : http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4795318,00.html

Also ....

Were Jews Ever Really Slaves in Egypt, or Is Passover a Myth?

Where is the real proof - archeological evidence, state records and primary sources?

read more: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/the-jewish-thinker/were-jews-ever-really-slaves-in-egypt-or-is-passover-a-myth-1.420844

[kayecy]

6. Misleading use of the word 'nation'......

merriam-webster and other major dictionaries include term similar to the following:

".....a large area of land that is controlled by its own government."

Your statement is therefore misleading. The Jews could not claim to be a 'nation' until after 1948

[shira]

7. What's misleading is your notion that Jews are only defined by their religion....

That they are not a people, nation, tribe.

It doesn't matter what you think because Jews have seen themselves as a nation/people/tribe, etc.. for thousands of years no matter where we have lived throughout the world. Whether we're religious or atheist.

As to definition of a nation:

Nation (from Latin: natio, "people, tribe, kin, genus, class, flock&quot is a social concept with no uncontroversial definition,[1] but that is most commonly used to designate larger groups or collectives of people with common characteristics attributed to them—including language, traditions, customs (mores), habits (habitus), and ethnicity. A nation, by comparison, is more impersonal, abstract, and overtly political than an ethnic group. It is a cultural-political community that has become conscious of its autonomy, unity, and particular interests.[2]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nation

I know what you're doing denying that Jews are a nation.
You''re trying to delegitimize any claim they have to their historic homeland.

[kayecy]

8. I'm suggesting you take more care......

I'm suggesting you take more care with your replies......According to most dictionaries, for a people to claim to be a 'nation', they have to to be sovereign. The Jews, whether you agree with it or not, were not sovereign until 1948.

You are trying to claim that the Jewish people had something which they did not.....You would be the first to claim that the Palestinians are not a nation.