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I have so little patience for this sort of garbage. Jews are indigenous to Eretz Yisrael by any reasonable definition of the term. But let's take UN criteria, to which he links later in the thread: 1/ https://twitter.com/rabbiandykahn/status/1280482583898476544
Our people refers to ourselves by two names, primarily. "Jew" and "Israel". Israel is the name of a people, and that people referred to its (often distant) homeland as "the land of Israel" or "Eretz Yisrael". In our (Hebrew) liturgy, you will not find the word "Jew". 2/
But we have been known as "Jews" (Yehudim, Iudaeoi, Yahud, Yidn, Zhid) for a very long time - since c. 500 BCE. The term first appears in the books of Zechariah, Esther, and Ezra. It is a geographic term, referring to the tribal lands of Judea and its exiles. 3/
So Mordechai was an "Ish Yehudi" even though he lived in Persia and was from the tribe of Benjamin." Jesus was a "Judean" even though he lived in the Galilee.
Nowadays the term "Jew" is used differently, but there is clearly "historical continuity with pre-settler societies"
4/
Nowadays the term "Jew" is used differently, but there is clearly "historical continuity with pre-settler societies"
4/
Thus, if one calls themselves a Jew and is accepted by the Jewish community ("Am Yisrael", "Klal Yisrael"), one is essentially identifying as indigenous, even if they and others protest "Jews are not indigenous". It's like the Original Americans who are cool with "Redskins" 5/
Do Jews have strong links to the territory? Yes. Praying facing it 3x a day, yearning for return, sending money to support communities there; tomorrow, Jewish communities will mourn the siege of Jerusalem kicking off 3 weeks of mourning the Temple's destruction 1950 years ago 6/
Do Jews have distinct social, economic, or political systems? Yes. Wherever Jews lived, they had a high degree of cultural and judicial autonomy - until Emancipation.
Did they have a distinct language? Yes, several, all of which used an alphabet unique to the Jewish people. 7/
Did they have a distinct language? Yes, several, all of which used an alphabet unique to the Jewish people. 7/
Hebrew was not a vernacular, but Jews (mainly men) wrote and studied in Hebrew. Almost every Jew could read Hebrew, even if they couldn't understand. It was a means of communication for disparate Jewish communities - and only Jewish communities. 8/
Did Jews have distinct beliefs? Of course. So much so that it allowed the myth that Judaism is "only a religion" to propagate.
Did Jews form non-dominant groups of society? Ummm, ya think?
Did Jews resolve to remain distinct? Well, the ones who didn't are long gone by now. 9/
Did Jews form non-dominant groups of society? Ummm, ya think?
Did Jews resolve to remain distinct? Well, the ones who didn't are long gone by now. 9/
So by every single UN criterion, Jews are indigenous in Eretz Yisrael. We are privileged to be in a situation where we no longer need to demand indigenous rights, because we have largely attained them, and fought wars to keep them. 10/
It is important to add that saying that Jews are indigenous does not imply that Palestinians are not indigenous to the very same territories, and vice versa. If fact, I don't think there will ever be peace until each side accepts the other's indigenous status. 11/
And for that very reason, @rabbiandykahn's misguided view that Jews are not indigenous to Eretz Yisrael, in addition to being wrong, only furthers us from the type of mutual understanding that can be a foundation for peace. /end
Just for fun: Read the testimony of Eliahu Eliachar to UNSCOP in 1947.
https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-211828/
He, a Sephardic Jew, claims indigeneity for *all* Jews in Palestine - 1947. So much for "appropriation".
https://www.un.org/unispal/document/auto-insert-211828/
He, a Sephardic Jew, claims indigeneity for *all* Jews in Palestine - 1947. So much for "appropriation".
