Yuyutsu said- "Why do you call them "Hebrews"?"

Answer- Apparently Jewish people prefer to be called Hebrew. It's my small attempt to keep the discussion respectful- without devolving into subservience. But I'm not Hebrew so what would I know.

Dear Canem Malum,

Technically, Hebrews are the descendants of Abraham the Hebrew (meaning, who has "crossed over") and also include most Arabs and many others, descendants of Abraham's son Ishmael and grandson Esau.

In the Bible however, this term was mainly used as a derogative by Egyptians and Philistines, or to refer to slaves who were descendants of Abraham.

In modern times, certain anti-religious Zionists described themselves as "Hebrew" in order to stress their ethnic origins and connection to the land of Israel while rejecting any connection with the Jewish religion, which they despised as being a feature of diaspora/exile.

The most technically-accurate word to describe Jews used to be "Israeli", meaning a descendant of Jacob (whose name was later changed to "Israel"), the grandson of Abraham. However, that term is now ambiguous because it also describes the citizens of the modern state of Israel, many of whom are not descendants of Jacob.

While most Jews today would habitually describe themselves as "Jews", the word "Jew" only became popular at the time of the Maccabees and was hardly mentioned in the Bible. It technically refers to a member of the tribe of Judah (one of the 12 sons of Jacob).

The ancient United Kingdom of Israel broke into two: "Judea" and "Israel", but since the kingdom of Judea lasted longer while most people of "Israel" were exiled and lost, most (but certainly not all) of Jacob's remaining descendants today are of the tribe of Judah, thus the popularity and common acceptance of this inaccurate term "Jew".

I think that this thread has shown clearly that Anti-Semitism is entrenched in Aus in the left whinge of politics.

Yuyutsu, Well stated!

I would like to hear by video the actual context and quotes Foxy makes of Israeli Prime ministers rather than reports from journalists putting their spin on the Hebrew words spoken by the Prime Minisers.

SM, this thread shows that Nazism didn't die with Hitler in 1945.

Jose' you didn't respond to the fact that those good Christian PURITANS were shown to be genocidal maniacs. If you look at the modern Christians, wherever they went they had a Bible in one hand, and a gun in the other. Preached love and kindness to the native one minute, then shot him dead the next, and then stole his land.