In an ignorant critique of the new Israeli law declaring Israel the nation-state of the Jewish people, a Palestinian author ridicules the idea that there is a Jewish people altogether, saying that it is merely a religion.

Has there ever been a religion in the world with “people” of its own?! If it is true that the followers of any religion form a nation, the nation is above the peoples, nationalities and ethnicities.

The modern concept of “people” is linked to a geopolitical and legal entity, and to form ethnic groups or nationalities, which does not apply to any religion at all including the Jewish religion.

This is a constant theme of Palestinian political theorists, because they know quite well that if Jews are a people, then Jews were in the area before Arabs were.

Judaism is both a faith and a nation. Before the rebirth of Israel, everyone knew this. And a couple of books from the 19th century document it:

The world always knew that Jews formed a nation and were a people, beyond a religion.

And if the Jewish people require a home, where would it be?

The illustration at the start of one of these books shows it clearly:

“Palestine to Illustrate the History of the Jews.”

The land that was called Palestine by most of the world was also recognized as the homeland of the Jewish people by most of the world — well before Zionism.

The other irony with this author claiming that members of a religion cannot be members of anything other than a religion is the entire concept of the Islamic “umma” — or community. The double standards know no bounds.

Elder of Ziyon has been blogging about Israel and the Arab world for a really long time now. He also controls the world, but deep down you already knew that.

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