JEWS ARE
INDIGENOUS TO
ISRAEL
Over 3,000 years ago, the Jewish people developed a thriving civilization and culture in the Land of Israel. Over time, they were conquered by a series of aggressive foreign empires. While some Jews remained in their homeland, most scattered across Europe, the Middle East, and beyond. Although they flourished at times, for 1,900 years, Jews lived as an oppressed minority, suffering persecution, expulsions, and ultimately genocide. They barely survived but never lost hope. They overcame, and managed to maintain their unique identity and connection to Israel. They founded Zionism in the late 1800s as a liberation movement, went back to join Jews who were already in Israel, and built one of the most inspiring nations the world has ever seen. This is why we teach that Israel’s story is about an indigenous people overcoming 1,900 years of oppression to achieve freedom in their ancestral home.
José Martínez Cobo, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, created a working definition for the international community:
“Indigenous communities, peoples and nations are those which, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct… [They] are determined to preserve, develop and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as the basis of their continued existence as peoples…
Jewish culture, language, religion, and identity originated in the Land of Israel over 3,000 years ago. As colonial powers conquered Israel and Jews scattered around the world, Jewish identity evolved, and Jewish communities became diverse. However, living in Israel or longing to return remained central to Jewish identity. That is why Jews around the world came back to Israel in waves and built a modern Jewish state there.
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1300–1200bce: |
Israelite communities grow in the hills of Canaan. |
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1000–960BCE |
King David makes Jerusalem the capital of the Israelite kingdom and King Solomon builds the First Temple there. |
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586BCE |
The First Temple is destroyed by the Babylonian empire. |
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538BCE |
Jews return and begin to rebuild the temple (Second Temple). |
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166–63BCE |
Judah Maccabee leads a Jewish revolt against the Macedonian (Greek) empire, reestablishing Jewish independence. Today, we commemorate this victory with the holiday of Chanukah. |
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20CE |
The city of Tiberias is founded and becomes a center of Jewish life for 1,300 years |
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70CE |
The Roman Empire, led by Titus, destroys the Second Temple. Most Jews gradually scatter across Europe and the Middle East. |
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132–135CE |
The Romans squash the Bar Kokhba revolt. Seeking to destroy the memory of the Jewish nation, Romans rename the land “Palestine,” after the Jews’ ancient enemy, a people of Greek origin called the Philistines. But the Jews continue to call it the Land of Israel. |
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1211 |
A wave of Jews, led by 300 European rabbis, returns to the Land of Israel. |
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1481–1492: |
Many Jews flee Spain to the Land of Israel during the Spanish Inquisition. |
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1500 |
The town of Safed becomes a thriving center of Jewish life and mysticism. |
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1860–1864 |
Jews become the majority again in Jerusalem |
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1882–1903 |
Waves of Jews return to Israel with the modern Zionist movement. Hebrew is revived as a spoken language. |
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1909 |
The city of Tel Aviv is founded. |
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1920 |
The League of Nations establishes the Palestine Mandate, recognizing it as the Jewish homeland under international law. |
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1939–1945 |
As the Holocaust rages, the British prevent countless Jews from escaping to the Palestine Mandate |
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1948 |
Israel declares independence as a Jewish and democratic state. |
Jews have had a continuous presence in Israel for over 3,000 years. Archaeologists have uncovered Jewish artifacts in Jerusalem from as early as the 9th to 10th centuries BCE. Jews also maintained a constant presence in Israel, despite different empires conquering, colonizing, massacring, and/or expelling them multiple times. Those who remained were joined by small waves returning throughout history. They lived as an oppressed minority in the Land of Israel for 1,900 years until the Zionist movement inspired many more Jews around the world to come home starting in the late 19th century.
Multiple scientific studies have shown that most Jews around the world share ancestry with each other and with those who lived in Israel thousands of years ago. Additionally, archaeological findings suggest that early Israelites developed from Canaanite tribes who lived in the region before Jews became a distinct people.
The written and spoken language of the Jewish people is Hebrew, which comes from the Land of Israel. Even after spoken Hebrew gradually declined, Jews continued using it for religious and other purposes. That is why the Zionist movement was able to revive it as a modern language beginning in the late 19th century. Today, Israelis can fluently read both an ancient Hebrew text and an essay discussing cutting-edge, high-tech developments.
250 – 65 bce: Dead Sea Scrolls were written in Hebrew and later hidden. They were discovered in 1947 by three Bedouin shepherds in the caves near the Dead Sea.
Letter written by Simon Bar Kokhba, leader of the Jewish Revolt against the Emperor Hadrian in 132–135 ce
Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs in Hebron: According to Jewish tradition, the Hebrew patriarch Abraham bought the cave and surrounding land from a local tribal chief. It is believed that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their wives are buried here. The cave is Judaism’s second holiest site after the Western Wall and Temple Mount, and Jews have prayed there for thousands of years. Later, it also became a Muslim holy site known as the Ibrahimi Mosque. Courtesy of Dr. Mitch Bard and the Jewish Virtual Library
Bolstered by Jews fleeing from Spain to Israel, the City of Safed became a thriving center of Jewish life and mysticism. Safed was previously called Sepph, a city fortified against attack by Roman forces in 66 ce.
Israel brought Jews together from all over the world, and none of them were colonizers. Those who arrived from Europe did not represent or identify with European colonial powers. They were idealists coming home to the birthplace of the Jewish people, joining Jews who were already there for generations and those who had returned to Israel over the years.
No, Israel was created by Jews who spent decades returning and building the foundations for a state. It is true that Jewish leaders fought for their people’s freedom and self-determination however they could. Like many other liberation movements, this included efforts to garner support for their cause from world powers. While the British Empire initially supported the creation of a “Jewish national home,” they quickly began to break their promises. The British government did not support the creation of a Jewish state when Israel declared independence in 1948.
Some did use terms like “colonial” and “colonize” in their writing. While this may be hard to imagine today, in 19th and early 20th century Europe, these words were often seen as positive and did not contradict the message that Jews were going home. The meaning and perception of these terms changed as the horrors of European colonialism came to light, and rightfully so. However, the underlying facts about Zionism did not change. It was, and is, a movement supporting the rights of Jewish people to self-determination in their ancestral homeland. In 1948, this was how Zionist leaders introduced Israel’s Declaration of Independence:
“The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped… After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith connected to it throughout their Dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom.”
No, it is simply the story of Israel and the Jewish people in modern terms. It is also a response to decades of Jews being dehumanized and smeared as foreign colonizers who have no right to self-determination in their homeland. Stating facts about Jewish history, identity, and rights does not negate Palestinian rights. There can not be justice or peace without mutual recognition and respect for both the Jewish people and the Palestinian people.
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