Reading the Bible with the Eyes of the Canaanites: Neo-Zionism, Political Theology and the Land Traditions of the Bible (1967 to Gaza 2009)
In modern times, a whole range of colonial enterprises have used the Bible. The book of Joshua and other biblical texts evoking the exploits of ancient Israelites have been deployed in support of secular Zionism and settler colonisation in Palestine. The mega narratives of the Bible, however, appeared to mandate the ethnic cleansing and even genocide of the indigenous population of Canaan. This article argues that, with the rise of messianic Zionism since 1967, a Jewish theology of zealotocracy, based on the land traditions of the Bible, has emerged in Israel – a political theology that demanded the destruction of the so-called modern Canaanites; since 1967 fundamentalist rabbis have routinely compared the Palestinian people to the ancient Canaanites, Philistines and Amalekites, whose annihilation or expulsion by the ancient Israelites was predestined by a divine design. This article focuses on the politics of reading the Bible by neo-Zionists and examines the theology of the messianic current which embraces the paradigm of Jews as a divinely ‘chosen people’ and sees the indigenous Palestinians as no more than illegitimate squatters, and a threat to the process of messianic redemption; their human and civil rights are no match for the biblically-ordained holy war of conquering and settling the ‘Promised Land’.
Is The Bible Historical? The Challenge of ‘minimalism’ for Biblical Scholars and Historians
ABSTRACT This article examines the attempts to deflect attention away from issues that I first raised over thirty years ago, and which have not sufficiently been addressed since. It argues for the necessity of distinguishing between the interpretation of the Bible, which is the task of those engaged in Biblical Studies, and the attempts to write a history of the region in the pre-biblical period, which is the domain of historians and particularly archaeologists. ‘Minimalism’ in Biblical Studies refers to a trend that, in the estimation of its opponents, plays down the historical character of the biblical narratives. Having illustrated some of the hostility towards Minimalism exhibited by some biblical scholars, academic institutions and organisations, and propagandists, through personal attacks, ridicule, dismissiveness, etc. this essay argues the case for it. The underlying issue, of course, relates to the question of the writing of the history of Palestine today, and the implications of such an enterprise.
On the Role of Professional Sports in the National Economy Under the Market Economy Conditions
Through the research of the present situations of the professional sports at home and abroad and its influence on economy, this paper points out the opportunities, challenges and the exist- ing main problems that the professional sports faces in the transitional peried-from plan economy to market economy, then elucidates that the professional sports can becompletely developed and improved and play an important role in the national economy under the market economy conditions.