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'''Zionism, race and genetics''' is the use of ] and ] in support or opposition of Zionist political goals, including Jewish ethnic unity and the descent-based claim to the biblical ]. Early Zionists were the primary supporters of the idea that Jews are a race, as it "offered scientific 'proof' of the ] myth of common descent".<ref name="Hirsch 2009 pp. 592–609">{{cite journal | last=Hirsch | first=Dafna | title=Zionist eugenics, mixed marriage, and the creation of a ‘new Jewish type’ | journal=Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute | publisher=Wiley | volume=15 | issue=3 | year=2009 | issn=1359-0987 | doi=10.1111/j.1467-9655.2009.01575.x | pages=592–609|quote=The work of Jewish race scientists has been the subject of several recent studies (Efron 1994; R. Falk 2006; Hart 2000; Kiefer 1991; Lipphardt 2007; Y. Weiss 2002; see also Doron 1980). As these studies suggest, among Jewish physicians, anthropologists, and other 'men of science' in Central Europe, proponents of the idea that the Jews were a race were found mainly in the ranks of Zionists, as the idea implied a common biological nature of the otherwise geographically, linguistically, and culturally divided Jewish people, and offered scientific 'proof' of the ethno-nationalist myth of common descent (Doron 1980: 404; Y. Weiss 2002: 155). At the same time, many of these proponents agreed that the Jews were suffering a process of 'degeneration, and so their writings advanced the national project as a means of 'regeneration' and 'racial improvement' (R. Falk 2006; Hart 2000: 17)... In the Zionist case, the nation-building project was fused with a cultural project of Westernization. 'Race' was an integral concept in certain versions of nationalist thinking, and in Western identity (Bonnett 2003), albeit in different ways. In the discourse of Zionist men of science, 'race' served different purposes, according to the context in question. In some contexts 'race' was mainly used to establish Jewish unity, while in others it was used to establish diversity and hierarchy among Jews. The latter use was more common in texts which appeared in Palestine. It resulted from the encounter of European Zionists with Eastern Jews, and from the tension between the projects of nation-building and of Westernization in the context of Zionist settlement in the East.|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40541701}}</ref> '''Zionism, race and genetics''' is the use of ] and ] in support or opposition of Zionist political goals, including Jewish ethnic unity and the descent-based claim to the biblical ]. Early Zionists were the primary supporters of the idea that Jews are a race, as it "offered scientific 'proof' of the ] myth of common descent".<ref name="Hirsch 2009 pp. 592–609">{{cite journal | last=Hirsch | first=Dafna | title=Zionist eugenics, mixed marriage, and the creation of a ‘new Jewish type’ | journal=Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute | publisher=Wiley | volume=15 | issue=3 | year=2009 | issn=1359-0987 | doi=10.1111/j.1467-9655.2009.01575.x | pages=592–609|quote=The work of Jewish race scientists has been the subject of several recent studies (Efron 1994; R. Falk 2006; Hart 2000; Kiefer 1991; Lipphardt 2007; Y. Weiss 2002; see also Doron 1980). As these studies suggest, among Jewish physicians, anthropologists, and other 'men of science' in Central Europe, proponents of the idea that the Jews were a race were found mainly in the ranks of Zionists, as the idea implied a common biological nature of the otherwise geographically, linguistically, and culturally divided Jewish people, and offered scientific 'proof' of the ethno-nationalist myth of common descent (Doron 1980: 404; Y. Weiss 2002: 155). At the same time, many of these proponents agreed that the Jews were suffering a process of 'degeneration, and so their writings advanced the national project as a means of 'regeneration' and 'racial improvement' (R. Falk 2006; Hart 2000: 17)... In the Zionist case, the nation-building project was fused with a cultural project of Westernization. 'Race' was an integral concept in certain versions of nationalist thinking, and in Western identity (Bonnett 2003), albeit in different ways. In the discourse of Zionist men of science, 'race' served different purposes, according to the context in question. In some contexts 'race' was mainly used to establish Jewish unity, while in others it was used to establish diversity and hierarchy among Jews. The latter use was more common in texts which appeared in Palestine. It resulted from the encounter of European Zionists with Eastern Jews, and from the tension between the projects of nation-building and of Westernization in the context of Zionist settlement in the East.|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40541701}}</ref>



Revision as of 18:48, 8 July 2023

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Zionism, race and genetics is the use of racial theories and Genetic studies on Jews in support or opposition of Zionist political goals, including Jewish ethnic unity and the descent-based claim to the biblical Land of Israel. Early Zionists were the primary supporters of the idea that Jews are a race, as it "offered scientific 'proof' of the ethno-nationalist myth of common descent".

The application of the Biblical concepts of Jews as the chosen people and the "Promised Land" in Zionism, particularly to secular Jews, requires the belief that modern Jews are the primary descendants of biblical Jews and Israelites.

Zionism and the notion of the Jewish people as a race

As early as the 1870s, contrary to largely cultural perspectives among integrated and assimilated Jewish communities in the Age of Enlightenment and Age of Romanticism, "the Zionists-to-be stressed that Jews were not merely members of a cultural or a religious entity, but were an integral biological entity". This re-conceptualization of Jewishness cast the "volk" of the Jewish community as a nation-race, in contrast to centuries-old conceptions of the Jewish people as a religious socio-cultural grouping.

Jewish ethnic unity and connection to ancient Israelites

In contemporary political history, supporters of Jewish nationalism have focused on the search for "Jewish genes" and the identification of the "original Jews", in order to strength the Zionist claim to the Land of Israel. Geneticists such as Harry Ostrer and Nadia Abu El Haj have publicly disagreed on the interpretation of the evidence, as there are many genetic mutations restricted to certain groups of modern Jews, but no single gene uniting the majority of Jews worldwide. Harry Ostrer disagreed with criticism of proposed genetic evidence for Jewish unity as "fragmentary and half-truths", and noted that the question "touches on the heart of Zionist claims for a Jewish homeland in Israel".

It is likely that many modern Jews have at least one ancestral line from Levant.

References

  1. Hirsch, Dafna (2009). "Zionist eugenics, mixed marriage, and the creation of a 'new Jewish type'". Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. 15 (3). Wiley: 592–609. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9655.2009.01575.x. ISSN 1359-0987. The work of Jewish race scientists has been the subject of several recent studies (Efron 1994; R. Falk 2006; Hart 2000; Kiefer 1991; Lipphardt 2007; Y. Weiss 2002; see also Doron 1980). As these studies suggest, among Jewish physicians, anthropologists, and other 'men of science' in Central Europe, proponents of the idea that the Jews were a race were found mainly in the ranks of Zionists, as the idea implied a common biological nature of the otherwise geographically, linguistically, and culturally divided Jewish people, and offered scientific 'proof' of the ethno-nationalist myth of common descent (Doron 1980: 404; Y. Weiss 2002: 155). At the same time, many of these proponents agreed that the Jews were suffering a process of 'degeneration, and so their writings advanced the national project as a means of 'regeneration' and 'racial improvement' (R. Falk 2006; Hart 2000: 17)... In the Zionist case, the nation-building project was fused with a cultural project of Westernization. 'Race' was an integral concept in certain versions of nationalist thinking, and in Western identity (Bonnett 2003), albeit in different ways. In the discourse of Zionist men of science, 'race' served different purposes, according to the context in question. In some contexts 'race' was mainly used to establish Jewish unity, while in others it was used to establish diversity and hierarchy among Jews. The latter use was more common in texts which appeared in Palestine. It resulted from the encounter of European Zionists with Eastern Jews, and from the tension between the projects of nation-building and of Westernization in the context of Zionist settlement in the East.
  2. Haddad, Hassan S. (1974). "The Biblical Bases of Zionist Colonialism". Journal of Palestine Studies. 3 (4). : 98-99. ISSN 15338614 0377919X, 15338614. JSTOR 2535451. The Zionist moveinent remains firmly anchored on the basic principle of the exclusive right of the Jews to Palestine that is found in the Torah and in other Jewish religious literature. Zionists who are not religious, in the sense of following the ritual practices of Judaism, are still biblical in their basic convictions in, and practical application of the ancient particularism of the Torah and the other books of the Old Testament. They are biblical in putting their national goals on a level that goes beyond historical, humanistic or moral considerations… We can summarize these beliefs, based on the Bible, as follows. 1. The Jews are a separate and exclusive people chosen by God to fulfil a destiny. The Jews of the twentieth century have inherited the covenant of divine election and historical destiny from the Hebrew tribes that existed more than 3000 years ago. 2. The covenant included a definite ownership of the Land of Canaan (Palestine) as patrimony of the Israelites and their descendants forever. By no name, and under no other conditions, can any other people lay a rightful claim to that land. 3. The occupation and settlement of this land is a duty placed collectively on the Jews to establish a state for the Jews. The purity of the Jewishness of the land is derived from a divine command and is thus a sacred mission. Accordingly, settling in Palestine, in addition to its economic and political motivations, acquires a romantic and mythical character. That the Bible is at the root of Zionism is recognized by religious, secular, non-observant, and agnostic Zionists… The Bible, which has been generally considered as a holy book whose basic tenets and whose historical contents are not commonly challenged by Christians and Jews, is usually referred to as the Jewish national record. As a "sacrosanct title-deed to Palestine," it has caused a fossilization of history in Zionist thinking… Modern Jews, accordingly, are the direct descendants of the ancient Israelites, hence the only possible citizens of the Land of Palestine. {{cite journal}}: Check |issn= value (help); More than one of |pages= and |p= specified (help)
  3. ^ Falk, R. (2014). "Genetic markers cannot determine Jewish descent". Frontiers in Genetics. 5 (462): 462. doi:10.3389/fgene.2014.00462. PMC 4301023. PMID 25653666.
  4. Ostrer, Harry. A Genetic History of the Jewish People. Oxford University Press. p. 89. ISBN 978-3-319-57345-8. thus, it is common today among Ashkenazim and other Jews—Syrian, Kurdish, Djerban, and Yemenite Jews. It demonstrates that these Jews are the descendants of people who once lived in the Middle East
  5. Abu El-Haj, Nadia. The Search for Jewish Origins and the Politics of Epistemology. University of Chicago Press. pp. 48–49. ISBN 978-0-226-20140-5. It functions as evidence of what one might call cultural fidelity—of the fact that contemporary, self-designated Jews really do descend from a single ancient population, from a common history and long tradition of cultural distinction that is visible on the Y-chromosome only because their ancestors remained true to their faith.
  6. Falk, Raphael (2017). Zionism and the Biology of Jews. History, Philosophy and Theory of the Life Sciences. Springer International Publishing. pp. 208–210. ISBN 978-3-319-57345-8. There are no 'Jewish genes,' even though there are plenty of mutations that are pretty much restricted to a certain group of Jews. It follows that there can be no clinching biological answer to the question of identifying the original Jews, nor to any question about the shared heritage of all Jews qua Jews… Smocha argues for the emancipation of the Jewish nation from inherited notions of alleged biological unity. Shouldn't genetic research likewise shake itself loose of the effort to anchor Zionism in the supposedly shared biological origins of the Jews?
  7. Ostrer, Harry (2012). Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People. OUP USA. p. 220. ISBN 978-0-19-537961-7. Are recent discoveries fragmentary and half-truths? I think not, because the molecular genetic studies of which Sand is critical have set the bar higher for discovery, reporting, and acceptance than the race science of a century ago—less stand-alone observation with more replication and more rigorous statistical testing. The stakes in genetic analysis are high. It is more than an issue of who belongs in the family and can partake in Jewish life and Israeli citizenship. It touches on the heart of Zionist claims for a Jewish homeland in Israel. One can imagine future disputes about exactly how large the shared Middle Eastern ancestry of Jewish groups has to be to justify Zionist claims.
  8. Susan Martha Kahn (2013). "Commentary: Who Are the Jews? New Formulations of an Age‐Old Question". Human Biology. 85 (6). Project MUSE: 919. doi:10.13110/humanbiology.85.6.0919. ISSN 0018-7143. What it means is that a certain number of people who currently identify themselves as Jews have certain genetic variants that indicate a high likelihood that they are descended from populations that likely inhabited the Levant some 2,000 years ago. These variants are not necessarily exclusive to people who identify as Jews, nor are they present in all people who currently identify themselves as Jews. Even Jews who do have these variants likely have ancestors from other parts of the globe. Nonetheless, it is not unreasonable to assert that, based on current genetic testing technologies and theories of genetic variation, there is a high likelihood that many contemporary Jews have at least one ancestral lineage that leads back to the Levant. In fact, contemporary genetic studies, including recent studies of the whole genome that extend beyond the Y-chromosome and mtDNA studies discussed by Abu El-Haj, agree on a much greater level of genetic sharing and continuity among Jewish populations than would be evident from only a single shared lineage. This does not make Jews a race any more than shared ancestry makes Italians or Basques or Finns a race. It makes them, like all humans, a product of complex and diverse ancestral lineages that ultimately all converge together back in Africa some 100,000–200,000 years ago. The persistent and intractable question of who are the Jews remains unresolved despite Ostrer's and Abu El-Haj's careful analyses, passionate arguments, and differently extreme conclusions. These contrasting scholarly efforts represent only the latest chapter in a long and complex history of discourse involving biological determinism, prevailing notions of peoplehood, and very real social and political agendas. Perhaps any scientific data that suggest a biological component to Jewish identity will be the subject of heated and multivocal debate. New techniques in genetic ancestry tracing may have the potential to create more consensus than discord about the nature of Jewish peoplehood, but all interpretations of this research must be fully contextualized in order to recognize what is at stake and for whom. Only then can we hope to find some kind of shared understanding about "who are the Jews."
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