Talk:Criticism of Judaism/Proposed section on Middle East land-ownership conflict

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Note: the following content is proposed for inclusion in the encyclopedia, in the Religious Zionism article. Please include any comments in the on-going discussion at Talk:Criticism_of_Judaism#Proposal for new section: "Critics claim that Judaism's precepts have led to unfair land-ownership practices and expulsion of peoples in the Middle East" (in other words, this Talk sub-page is just to hold the proposed content, not for discussion itself). --Noleander (talk) 14:03, 20 March 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Judaism's precepts have led to land ownership conflicts and expulsion of peoples[edit]

See also: Religious Zionism, Land of Israel, 1948 Palestinian exodus, and Masei § Instructions for taking the land

Critics claim that Judaism's precepts have led to land ownership conflicts and expulsion of peoples in the Middle East.[1] Specifically, some critics cite the Hebrew Bible's notion of a "Promised Land" (ha-Aretz ha-Muvtachat) - which promises to the Jews the "Land of Israel" (Eretz Israel) - as a factor in the settlement of the Middle East,[2] as described by one analyst: "Zionism aspires to restore the Biblical promised boundaries. It is a new manifestation of the ancient aspiration for the Land of Israel promised in the Bible."[3] Critics also claim that verses from the Hebrew Bible are used to provide justifcation and motivation for confiscation and expulsion, citing specificially Numbers 33:50–55:[4]

"... And the LORD spoke unto Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying:'Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy all their molten images, and demolish all their high places. And ye shall drive out the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein; for unto you have I given the land to possess it.... But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you, then shall those that ye let remain of them be as thorns in your eyes, and as pricks in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land wherein ye dwell."

In addition to the Hebrew Bible, critics claim that the Talmud and writings of important Rabbis are used to justify expulsion and land acquistion, such as Nahmanides's commentary on Numbers 33:53, where he wrote "it is a positive commandment to inherit the land [of Israel] and dwell therein."[5] However, noted Jewish scholar Maimonides disagreed with Nahmanides on this issue, and Maimonides did not include Numbers 33:53 in his list of 613 commandments in the Book of Commandments (Sefer Hamitzvot).[6]

Some critics regard the Jewish settlement in the Middle East as a primarily religious effort: one researcher into Arab attitudes towards Israel wrote "By regarding Zionism as only a manisfestation of Judaism, [the Arab authors] add a dimension of historical and cultural depth to their analysis.... Zionist settlement and Zionist belligerence in 1948 are only links in a long chain of trespasses and insatiable lust for the property of others. Fundamental Zionism is manifested in the claim that God is the God of Israel, and other nations have no part in him.... [W]hen they [the Arabs] examine Judaism as a religious and historical phenomenon, they find that it always had an attachment to the Land of Israel. This means that it is 'Zionist' in essence and history, so that Judaism and Zionism are one and the same." [7]

However, authorities point out that Zionism is generally regarded as a secular movement, distinct from Judaism, and in fact many Jews believe that Zionism is contrary to religious precepts because the Messiah has not yet arrived.[8]


  1. ^
    • Hirst, David (2003). The gun and the olive branch: the roots of violence in the Middle East By. Nation Books. p. 418-419. ISBN 1560254831.
    • Chomsky, Noam (1996). World orders, old and new. Columbia University Press. p. 264:. ISBN 0231101570.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: extra punctuation (link)
    • "FrontPage magazine interview with Christopher Hitchens". December 11, 2003.
    • Masalha, Nur (2000). Imperial Israel and the Palestinians: the politics of expansion. Pluto Press. p. 93. ISBN 0745316158.
    • "Essay by James M. Martin from "Atheist Nexus"".
    • Quigley, John B. (1990). Palestine and Israel: a challenge to justice. Duke University Press. p. 176-177. ISBN 0822310236.
    • Chomsky, Noam (1999). Fateful triangle: the United States, Israel, and the Palestinians (2nd Ed, revised). South End Press. p. 153-154. ISBN 0896086011.
    • Saleh Abdel Jawad (2007) "Zionist Massacres: the Creation of the Palestinian Refugee Problem in the 1948 War" in Israel and the Palestinian refugees, Eyal Benvenistî, Chaim Gans, Sari Hanafi (Eds.), Springer, p. 78.
    • Yishai, Yael (1987). Land or peace: whither Israel?. Hoover Press. p. 112-125. ISBN 0817985212.
    • Rubenberg, Cheryl (2003). The Palestinians: in search of a just peace. Lynne Rienner Publishers. p. 162. ISBN 1588262251.
    • Salaita, Steven George (2006). The Holy Land in transit: colonialism and the quest for Canaan. Syracuse University Press. p. 54. ISBN 081563109X.
    • Geaves, Ron (2004). Islam and the West post 9/11. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. p. 31. ISBN 0754650057.
  2. ^ Masalha, Nur (2007). The Bible and Zionism: invented traditions, archaeology and post-colonialism in Palestine-Israel. Zed Books. p. 194. ISBN 1842777610.
  3. ^ Harkabi, Yehoshafat (1974). Arab attitudes to Israel. John Wiley and Sons. p. 75. ISBN 0470352035.
  4. ^
    • Kassim, Anis F. (2000). The Palestine Yearbook of International Law, 1998-1999, Volume 10. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers. p. 9. ISBN 9041113045.
    • Masalha, Nur (2000). Imperial Israel and the Palestinians: the politics of expansion. Pluto Press. p. 251-252. ISBN 0745316158. citing the book by Raphael Israeli, Palestinians Between Israel and Jordan', Prager, 1991, pages 158-159, 171, 182.
  5. ^
    • Quoted by David Golinkin in Ayin L' Tziyon: Looking Towards Zion, Karen Stein, Ed., United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, 2008, p. 77. The author writes "His [Nahmanides] opinion was accepted by a number of prominent medieval rabbis and is very popular among Israeli rabbis today."
    • Menachem Lorberbaum (2003), "Making and Unmaking the Boundaries of Holy Land", in States, nations, and borders: the ethics of making boundaries, Allen E.Buchanan (Ed.). Cambridge University Press, p.26-27
    • David Golinkin, "Responsa: Does Jewish law permit the State of Israel to give back all or part of the territories captured in 1967 for the sake of peace", [1]
  6. ^ David Golinkin in Ayin L' Tziyon: Looking Towards Zion, Karen Stein, Ed., United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, 2008, p. 77.
  7. ^ Harkabi, Yehoshafat (1974). Arab attitudes to Israel. John Wiley and Sons. p. 200-201, 215-216. ISBN 0470352035. Two chapters focus on this topic: "Refuting the Historic Right" ( pp. 192-205) and "Contradictions in Zionism (pp. 206-217).
  8. ^ Pappé, Ilan (2007). The ethnic cleansing of Palestine. Oneworld. p. 10-11. ISBN 1851685553.
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