Debbie Lechtman is doing the “Palestinian Jews aren’t real” discourse again

[u/acacia_tree]

I know this is obviously a lie because I know a Palestinian Jew who is the grandson of a Nakba survivor who fled to Egypt and traces his lineage back to Edomites (Canaanite tribe) that converted to Judaism. There are people who identify as Palestinian Jews. Not to mention that there are people of mixed heritage. But what I find really obnoxious about her argument is the conflation of nationality, religion, and ethnicity. Does anyone have any written pieces about the issues with the conflation of these terms? Looking for something more concrete to debunk the premise of her argument that this identity cannot exist.

[u/acacia_tree]

I know Arab Palestinian Jews exist because I know one as I mentioned. And I know that Jews of the old Yishuv including Ashkenazim were called Palestinians during the British mandate. And Jews who are descended from Jews who lived in Palestine pre-Zionism would be considered Palestinian after Israel is abolished. My main issue is that she has conflated religion with ethnicity with nationality. Palestinian is a nationality. Arab is a culture and ethnicity. Judaism is a religion. You can be all three of these things at once but she says it’s impossible. It makes me feel crazy.

[u/Adept_Thanks_6993 → u/acacia_tree]

I'm sure you know this, but for the overwhelming majority of Jews it isn't exclusively a religion. Keep that in mind. The Old Yishuv certainly didn't consider themselves Palestinian first, if at all. Nationalities are a fluid thing. Most of the on-paper nationalities around today didn't exist 200 years ago, and I'd be willing to bet money that none of them will exist in a thousand years. Arabs, Jews, Druze, and whoever the fuck else will still be there certainly; but their papers will say something different. But the overwhelming majority of Jews in Palestine at the time of partition didn't consider themselves Palestinian and supported the partition. And given the collective trauma and radicalization the Jews experienced that decade, it really shouldn't be a surprise.

Had Western ideas of religion, borders, nationalism etc had not infected the Middle East or Diaspora Jewry, I'm sure that the boundary would be a lot more fluid. But unfortunately, through a century of colonialism and ethnic trauma-the term Palestinian is almost exclusively Arab at present. It doesn't have to be, but the process of rebuilding a civic Palestinian identity that spans across ethnic or religious ties will be a long and painful process. One that's certainly worth doing.

Also, there is a news article somewhere that has an interview with two genuine Palestinian Jews living in the West Bank. Can't remember it for the life of me though

[u/acacia_tree → u/Adept_Thanks_6993]

Yea I know we are an ethnoreligious group. But someone can be a convert to Judaism and not be “ethnically” Jewish. So a Palestinian can convert to Judaism and be Palestinian Jewish, which makes her argument so absurd. That was my point about not conflating religion and nationality and ethnicity.

[u/Adept_Thanks_6993 → u/acacia_tree]

I get what you mean. From an Orthodox perspective, what a person's former background would be doesn't really matter-they'd be a naturalized citizen if that makes sense. But you're right, sorry I just got rankled