The following article appeared in daily Dawn, June 09, 2007
Why the Zionists believe they are the ‘chosen people’
By M. Shahid Alam
NO idea has played a more seminal role in the recent history of Jewish and Christian Zionism than the Jewish doctrine of divine election or chosenness. Since this doctrine is the cornerstone of Zionism, divine sanction for Jewish uniqueness has been inseparable from Israeli exceptionalism and Israeli history.
At first, political Zionism had little to recommend itself aside from the mythic allure of the Promised Land. Most Jews greeted the project alternatively with consternation and derision. They could instantly sense that the creation of a Jewish state would give an impetus to anti-Semitism in Europe; the project also struck most of them as a fantastic utopia with little chance of success.
The success of the Zionist plan required three steps: persuading Jews to abandon their homes in Europe for the hazards of colonising a backward land, wresting Palestine from its Ottoman sovereign, and somehow making the Palestinians disappear. Some very real hurdles blocked each of these steps.
...
To read in full, please visit, http://www.dawn.com/weekly/encounter/20070609/encounter1.htm
Why the Zionists believe they are the ‘chosen people’
By M. Shahid Alam
NO idea has played a more seminal role in the recent history of Jewish and Christian Zionism than the Jewish doctrine of divine election or chosenness. Since this doctrine is the cornerstone of Zionism, divine sanction for Jewish uniqueness has been inseparable from Israeli exceptionalism and Israeli history.
At first, political Zionism had little to recommend itself aside from the mythic allure of the Promised Land. Most Jews greeted the project alternatively with consternation and derision. They could instantly sense that the creation of a Jewish state would give an impetus to anti-Semitism in Europe; the project also struck most of them as a fantastic utopia with little chance of success.
The success of the Zionist plan required three steps: persuading Jews to abandon their homes in Europe for the hazards of colonising a backward land, wresting Palestine from its Ottoman sovereign, and somehow making the Palestinians disappear. Some very real hurdles blocked each of these steps.
...
To read in full, please visit, http://www.dawn.com/weekly/encounter/20070609/encounter1.htm
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