“Israel is literally a 20th century invention.”
The real 20th century invention is “Palestine” in the modern sense.
There is no real difference between
Palestinians, Syrians, Jordanians and Lebanese,
in terms of language, culture, history, religion, literature etc…
besides the interactions of some of them with Jewish immigrants.
They all live in Ottoman Palestine.
They never called themselves or were they called by others
“Palestinians” except in the sense of people
who lived in a placed called Palestine,
much as you might refer to some people as Iberians or Anatolians.
Anyone, including Jews, living in Mandate Palestine, and before,
was called Palestinian, in the same sense.
This is the second time I’m writing in a just a few hours!
Those who today call themselves “Palestinians”
have always thought of themselves as Arabs.
In modern times claims have come up that they descended
from Canaanites, to establish prior claims to the land,
from Philistines, to establish themselves as the *real* Palestinians,
from Jews, to arrogate to themselves blessings
which are said to be bestowed upon Jews.
Tzatz, this is politics, not genealogy.
“adoption of ideology”
Joseph’s children had an Egyptian mother.
Yet, Jacob said:
“Ephraim and Menasha are like Reuben and Simon to me”.
Judah is also mentioned explicitly as having a non-Jewish wife,
yet, Jacob praised him especially (Genesis 49:8-12).
Apparently, all of Jacob’s children had non-Jewish wives.
The wife of Moses himself was not Jewish.
And later, another very famous Jew
had a Moabite great-grandmother.
Becoming part of the Jewish people,
with the rights and obligations,
isn’t what you make it out to be.