Israeli Scholar Disputes Founding Myth
In When and How Was the Jewish People Invented?, Dr. Sand, an expert on European history at the University of Tel Aviv, says the Diaspora was largely a myth – that the Jews were never exiled en masse from the Holy Land and that many European Jewish populations converted to the faith centuries later.
Thus, Sand argues, many of today’s Israelis who emigrated from Europe after World War II have little or no genealogical connection to the land. ...
Full Story »
Historical myth is potent, and it can be great fun, or very bad news. I think it is very likely that the Palestinians in fact are essentially the descendants of the people who occupied the area 2000 years ago, with admixtures of various conquerors (and traders) since then. The Norman Conquest of England brought in maybe 1% of new population, that then were able in large part to supplant the native aristocracy entirely. (Some old Saxon families were able to keep their high status, but this was the exception.) Much more research about the origins of the people of Palestine/Israel needs to be done.