Every modern nation-state has a narrative of its origins, transmitted by both official and popular culture; Among such national stories, however, few have been as scandalous and controversial as the Israeli national myth is. The well-known account of the Jewish diaspora of the first century A.D. and the vindication of a cultural and racial continuity of the Jewish people to this day, resonate beyond the borders of Israel. Despite their abusive employment to justify the settlement of Jews in Palestine and the Greater Israel project, very little academic research has been conducted on its historical accuracy. In this brave and passionate book, Shlomo Sand demonstrates that the national myth of Israel plunges its origins into the nineteenth century, not in biblical times when many historians - Jews and non-Jews - rebuilt an imagined town in order to model a Future nation Sand dissects wi...read more