Shlomo Sand interview

SHLOMO SAND, author of The Invention of the Jewish People is interviewed by in the Guardian. Excerpt:

Sand is scathing about accusations made by Jews living elsewhere that his book is anti-Israel. From the comfort of the diaspora they charge him with sedition. Some say his thesis fuels antisemitism. Overseas donors to Tel Aviv University have called for him to be sacked.

But Sand has voted for Israel with his feet. He is not anti-Zionist, he says, but post-Zionist: accepting modern Israel as a fait accompli. Besides, his interest in the country's survival as a democracy is not theoretical. His family lives there.

Diaspora Zionists can nurture the Jewish myth of biblical nationhood as dual citizenship alongside their passports from safer states. When they refer to "Israel" and "Jerusalem" in their prayers, they do not have to distinguish between scriptural metaphor and political reality. It is a distinction on which Israel's survival depends.

Otherwise the interview doesn't really address criticisms of the book aired in earlier reviews (for some of which, go here and keep following the links).