Post-Zionist' Shlomo Sand has outraged many Jews by disputing the ethnic basis of Jewish identity. Rafael Behr*meets him in Paris
*Saturday 16 January 2010*19.05*EST
Sand's hands are depicting how most Jews are descended from converts who never set foot in the Holy Land. That has come as a bit of a surprise to many Jews and as a colossal affront to Zionism, Israel's national ideology. The modern Israeli state was founded on belief in a "Jewish people" as a unified nation, established in biblical times, scattered by Rome, stranded in exile for 2,000 years, then returned to the Promised Land.
But according to Sand there was no exile, and as he seeks to prove by dense forensic archaeological and historical analysis, it is meaningless to talk today about a "people of Israel". At least not if by that you mean the Jews.
Shlomo Sand: the man that Zionists love to hate | Books interview | Books | The Observer