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Ethnic Cleansing and the Bible: A Moral Critique

Ethnic Cleansing and the Bible: A Moral Critique Even for secular Zionists, Jewish claims to exclusive title to ‘the land of Israel’ rest on the Bible. Although Political Zionism was an assault on Judaism, its settlement policy today has no more ardent supporters than Religious Zionists. The Bible salves whatever pangs of conscience they might have about the expulsion of the Palestinians: normal rules of morality are suspended, and ethnic cleansing is applauded. However, the Bible's land traditions pose fundamental moral questions, relating both to their content—they mandate the ethnic cleansing of Canaan—and to the ways they have been deployed in favour of various colonial enterprises, including Zionism. Nevertheless, neither has been sufficient to bother the biblical academy to the point of critical opposition. Academics have an ethical responsibility, and are accountable to a wider public. This essay proposes that a moral exegesis of the Bible and an ethical evaluation of its interpretation, not least as it refers to the Holy Land, is indispensable today. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Holy Land Studies Edinburgh University Press

Ethnic Cleansing and the Bible: A Moral Critique

Prior, Michael
Holy Land Studies , Volume 1 (1): 37 – Sep 1, 2002
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Publisher
Edinburgh University Press
Copyright
© The Continuum Publishing Group Ltd 2002
ISSN
1474-9475
eISSN
1750-0125
DOI
10.3366/hls.2002.0003
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Even for secular Zionists, Jewish claims to exclusive title to ‘the land of Israel’ rest on the Bible. Although Political Zionism was an assault on Judaism, its settlement policy today has no more ardent supporters than Religious Zionists. The Bible salves whatever pangs of conscience they might have about the expulsion of the Palestinians: normal rules of morality are suspended, and ethnic cleansing is applauded. However, the Bible's land traditions pose fundamental moral questions, relating both to their content—they mandate the ethnic cleansing of Canaan—and to the ways they have been deployed in favour of various colonial enterprises, including Zionism. Nevertheless, neither has been sufficient to bother the biblical academy to the point of critical opposition. Academics have an ethical responsibility, and are accountable to a wider public. This essay proposes that a moral exegesis of the Bible and an ethical evaluation of its interpretation, not least as it refers to the Holy Land, is indispensable today.

Journal

Holy Land Studies – Edinburgh University Press

Published: Sep 1, 2002

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