Links via Diigo (weekly)

Links of interest for the week ending in November 21, 2009.

• The Invention of the Jewish People

  "The Jewish people were forced from the Holy Land by the Romans and wandered Europe for two thousand years until they could reclaim their rightful homeland.
  
  Even when I was a kid, that story didn’t sound quite right. I began to read about Jewish populations in places they weren’t supposed to be--China, Ethiopia, Central Asia, India. Not only that, but also Jews tend to resemble the people they live among. That didn’t quite fit the standard biblical narrative and the story of the diaspora. If we Jews are all—but for a few converts along the way—descended from David and Solomon, how come there are so many holes in the story?"

  tags: judaism, race, israel, palestine

• Al Jazeera English - Focus - The politics of sporting rivalry

  As`ad AbuKhalil never fails. This excellent piece discusses the demise of pan-Arabism, contextualized in the recent sporting rivalry between Egypt and Algeria to play at next year's World Cup. Frankly, I think FIFA should have disqualified both teams from the start; pre- and post-game media sensationalism set off an unnecessary wave of violence, ignorance, and jingoism.

  tags: egypt, algeria, nationalism

• stuff white people do: mistake greeks for arabs, arabs for muslims, and muslims for terrorists

  tags: race, islamophobia

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.