Shlomo Sand – författare

A historical tour de force, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a groundbreaking account of Jewish and Israeli history. Exploding the myth that there was a forced Jewish exile in the first century at the hands of the Romans, Israeli historian Shlomo Sand argues that most modern Jews descend from converts, whose native lands were scattered across the Middle East and Eastern Europe.In this iconoclastic work, which spent nineteen weeks on the Israeli bestseller list and won the coveted Aujourd'hui Award in France, Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel's future.

Shlomo Sand was born in 1946, in a displaced person's camp in Austria, to Jewish parents; the family later migrated to Palestine. As a young man, Sand came to question his Jewish identity, even that of a "secular Jew." With this meditative and thoughtful mixture of essay and personal recollection, he articulates the problems at the center of modern Jewish identity.How I Stopped Being a Jew discusses the negative effects of the Israeli exploitation of the "chosen people" myth and its "holocaust industry." Sand criticizes the fact that, in the current context, what "Jewish" means is, above all, not being Arab and reflects on the possibility of a secular, non-exclusive Israeli identity, beyond the legends of Zionism.

Internationally acclaimed Israeli historian Shlomo Sand made his mark with books such as The Invention of the Jewish People and The Invention of the Land of Israel. Returning here to an early fascination, he turns his attention to the figure of the French intellectual. From his student years in Paris, Sand has repeatedly come up against the "great French thinkers." He has an intimate knowledge of the Parisian intellectual world and its little secrets, on which he draws to overturn certain myths attaching to the figure of the "intellectual" that France prides itself on having invented. Mixing reminiscence and analysis, he revisits a history that, from the Dreyfus Affair through to Charlie Hebdo, seems to him that of a long decline. As a long-time admirer of Zola, Sartre and Camus, Sand is staggered to see what the French intellectual has become today, in such characters as Michel Houellebecq, Eric Zemmour and Alain Finkielkraut. In a work that gives no quarter, and focuses particularly on the Judeophobia and Islamophobia of the elites, he casts on the French intellectual scene a gaze that is both disabused and mordant.

What is happening to the Left? It seems to be dying a slow death. While many commentators have predicted its demise, the Left has always defied these bleak prognoses and risen from the ashes in the most unexpected ways. Nevertheless, we are witnessing today a global decline in organized movements on the Left, and while social struggles continue to challenge dominant political regimes, these efforts do not translate into support for traditional left parties or into the creation of dynamic movements on the Left.Bestselling historian Shlomo Sand argues that the global decline of the Left is linked to the waning of the idea of equality that has united citizens in the past and inspired them to engage in collective action.  Sand retraces the evolution of this idea in a wide-ranging account that includes the Diggers and Levellers of seventeenth-century England; the French Revolution; the birth of anarchism and Marxism; the decolonial, feminist, and civil rights revolts; and the left-wing populism of our time. In piecing together the thinkers and movements that built the Left over centuries, Sand illuminates the global and transnational dynamics which pushed them forward. He outlines how they shaped the notion of equality, while also analysing how they were confronted by its material reality, and the lessons that they did – or did not – draw from this. This concise and magisterial history of the Left will appeal to anyone interested in the idea of equality and the fate of one of the most important movements that has shaped the modern world.Also available as an audiobook.

What is happening to the Left? It seems to be dying a slow death. While many commentators have predicted its demise, the Left has always defied these bleak prognoses and risen from the ashes in the most unexpected ways. Nevertheless, we are witnessing today a global decline in organized movements on the Left, and while social struggles continue to challenge dominant political regimes, these efforts do not translate into support for traditional left parties or into the creation of dynamic movements on the Left.Bestselling historian Shlomo Sand argues that the global decline of the Left is linked to the waning of the idea of equality that has united citizens in the past and inspired them to engage in collective action.  Sand retraces the evolution of this idea in a wide-ranging account that includes the Diggers and Levellers of seventeenth-century England; the French Revolution; the birth of anarchism and Marxism; the decolonial, feminist, and civil rights revolts; and the left-wing populism of our time. In piecing together the thinkers and movements that built the Left over centuries, Sand illuminates the global and transnational dynamics which pushed them forward. He outlines how they shaped the notion of equality, while also analysing how they were confronted by its material reality, and the lessons that they did – or did not – draw from this. This concise and magisterial history of the Left will appeal to anyone interested in the idea of equality and the fate of one of the most important movements that has shaped the modern world.Also available as an audiobook.

What is happening to the Left? It seems to be dying a slow death. While many commentators have predicted its demise, the Left has always defied these bleak prognoses and risen from the ashes in the most unexpected ways. Nevertheless, we are witnessing today a global decline in organized movements on the Left, and while social struggles continue to challenge dominant political regimes, these efforts do not translate into support for traditional left parties or into the creation of dynamic movements on the Left.

Bestselling historian Shlomo Sand argues that the global decline of the Left is linked to the waning of the idea of equality that has united citizens in the past and inspired them to engage in collective action.  Sand retraces the evolution of this idea in a wide-ranging account that includes the Diggers and Levellers of seventeenth-century England; the French Revolution; the birth of anarchism and Marxism; the decolonial, feminist, and civil rights revolts; and the left-wing populism of our time. In piecing together the thinkers and movements that built the Left over centuries, Sand illuminates the global and transnational dynamics which pushed them forward. He outlines how they shaped the notion of equality, while also analysing how they were confronted by its material reality, and the lessons that they did – or did not – draw from this. 

This concise and magisterial history of the Left will appeal to anyone interested in the idea of equality and the fate of one of the most important movements that has shaped the modern world.Also available as an audiobook.

Since the brutal massacre perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October and the subsequent bombing and invasion of Gaza, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been thrust back to the centre of the world’s attention.  How can this deep-rooted conflict, stretching back for more than 75 years, be brought to an end?  What kind of political structure might one day enable Israelis and Palestinians to overcome the seemingly interminable cycle of violence and live in peace with one another?  For many years, politicians and citizens of different persuasions have called for a two-state solution – two independent states, Israel and Palestine, co-existing side by side.  This was Shlomo Sand’s view too: a distinguished Israeli historian and political activist on the left, he had long supported the idea of a two-state solution.   But as more and more settlements were built in the occupied West Bank and millions of Palestinians were forced to live in a situation of de facto apartheid, deprived of their basic civil rights and political freedoms, he came to the conclusion that the two-state solution had become an empty formula that no one seriously intended to implement. It was in this context that Sand sought to find an alternative way out of the Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio.  His journey into the dark corners of Zionism’s ideological past threw up some surprises.  He discovered that some Zionists and other Jewish intellectuals had rejected the idea of an exclusive Jewish state and had supported moves to create a bi-national federation.  They believed that only egalitarian integration within the framework of a common state would ensure that Israel could be a safe haven for all of its inhabitants. While the chances of realizing this egalitarian vision may seem remote in the current hostile context, it may well be that a bi-national state in which Israelis and Palestinians are treated as equals is the only realistic solution in the end.Also available as an audiobook

Since the brutal massacre perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October and the subsequent bombing and invasion of Gaza, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been thrust back to the centre of the world’s attention.  How can this deep-rooted conflict, stretching back for more than 75 years, be brought to an end?  What kind of political structure might one day enable Israelis and Palestinians to overcome the seemingly interminable cycle of violence and live in peace with one another?  For many years, politicians and citizens of different persuasions have called for a two-state solution – two independent states, Israel and Palestine, co-existing side by side.  This was Shlomo Sand’s view too: a distinguished Israeli historian and political activist on the left, he had long supported the idea of a two-state solution.   But as more and more settlements were built in the occupied West Bank and millions of Palestinians were forced to live in a situation of de facto apartheid, deprived of their basic civil rights and political freedoms, he came to the conclusion that the two-state solution had become an empty formula that no one seriously intended to implement. It was in this context that Sand sought to find an alternative way out of the Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio.  His journey into the dark corners of Zionism’s ideological past threw up some surprises.  He discovered that some Zionists and other Jewish intellectuals had rejected the idea of an exclusive Jewish state and had supported moves to create a bi-national federation.  They believed that only egalitarian integration within the framework of a common state would ensure that Israel could be a safe haven for all of its inhabitants. While the chances of realizing this egalitarian vision may seem remote in the current hostile context, it may well be that a bi-national state in which Israelis and Palestinians are treated as equals is the only realistic solution in the end.Also available as an audiobook

Since the brutal massacre perpetrated by Hamas on 7 October and the subsequent bombing and invasion of Gaza, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been thrust back to the centre of the world’s attention.  How can this deep-rooted conflict, stretching back for more than 75 years, be brought to an end?  What kind of political structure might one day enable Israelis and Palestinians to overcome the seemingly interminable cycle of violence and live in peace with one another?  For many years, politicians and citizens of different persuasions have called for a two-state solution – two independent states, Israel and Palestine, co-existing side by side.  This was Shlomo Sand’s view too: a distinguished Israeli historian and political activist on the left, he had long supported the idea of a two-state solution.   But as more and more settlements were built in the occupied West Bank and millions of Palestinians were forced to live in a situation of de facto apartheid, deprived of their basic civil rights and political freedoms, he came to the conclusion that the two-state solution had become an empty formula that no one seriously intended to implement. It was in this context that Sand sought to find an alternative way out of the Israeli-Palestinian imbroglio.  His journey into the dark corners of Zionism’s ideological past threw up some surprises.  He discovered that some Zionists and other Jewish intellectuals had rejected the idea of an exclusive Jewish state and had supported moves to create a bi-national federation.  They believed that only egalitarian integration within the framework of a common state would ensure that Israel could be a safe haven for all of its inhabitants. While the chances of realizing this egalitarian vision may seem remote in the current hostile context, it may well be that a bi-national state in which Israelis and Palestinians are treated as equals is the only realistic solution in the end.Also available as an audiobook

Throughout the history of the Western world, Jews have suffered various forms of exclusion, stigmatization, and discrimination that have forced them always to be aware of their very particular situation. The Jews became a community under siege and, as Shlomo Sand argues, Judaism was shaped by the hostile gaze of Christian civilization. While the forms of hostility endured by the Jews have varied over the centuries, it is impossible to understand twentieth-century anti-Judaism, or Jewish identity itself, without taking account of the sediments of mental hatred, fuelled by religious belief, which have survived the passage of time.While anti-semitism is the term commonly used today, Sand prefers 'Judeophobia', which predates the appearance of anti-semitismand is more precise. Looking back over the centuries, he seeks to identify some of the stages in the age-old, incandescent hatred of the Jews, and tries to understand what remains today of this trenchant hostility. He also questions whether Zionism, born as a distressed response to modern Judeophobia, has ended up mirroring it. To what extent has Zionism inherited the ideological foundations that have always been characteristic of the persecutors of the Jews?This concise history of anti-Jewish hatred will be of great interest to anyone concerned with one of the most insidious and persistent features of Western civilization.Now available as an audiobook.

Throughout the history of the Western world, Jews have suffered various forms of exclusion, stigmatization, and discrimination that have forced them always to be aware of their very particular situation. The Jews became a community under siege and, as Shlomo Sand argues, Judaism was shaped by the hostile gaze of Christian civilization. While the forms of hostility endured by the Jews have varied over the centuries, it is impossible to understand twentieth-century anti-Judaism, or Jewish identity itself, without taking account of the sediments of mental hatred, fuelled by religious belief, which have survived the passage of time.While anti-semitism is the term commonly used today, Sand prefers 'Judeophobia', which predates the appearance of anti-semitismand is more precise. Looking back over the centuries, he seeks to identify some of the stages in the age-old, incandescent hatred of the Jews, and tries to understand what remains today of this trenchant hostility. He also questions whether Zionism, born as a distressed response to modern Judeophobia, has ended up mirroring it. To what extent has Zionism inherited the ideological foundations that have always been characteristic of the persecutors of the Jews?This concise history of anti-Jewish hatred will be of great interest to anyone concerned with one of the most insidious and persistent features of Western civilization.Now available as an audiobook.

Throughout the history of the Western world, Jews have suffered various forms of exclusion, stigmatization, and discrimination that have forced them always to be aware of their very particular situation. The Jews became a community under siege and, as Shlomo Sand argues, Judaism was shaped by the hostile gaze of Christian civilization. While the forms of hostility endured by the Jews have varied over the centuries, it is impossible to understand twentieth-century anti-Judaism, or Jewish identity itself, without taking account of the sediments of mental hatred, fuelled by religious belief, which have survived the passage of time.While anti-semitism is the term commonly used today, Sand prefers 'Judeophobia', which predates the appearance of anti-semitismand is more precise. Looking back over the centuries, he seeks to identify some of the stages in the age-old, incandescent hatred of the Jews, and tries to understand what remains today of this trenchant hostility. He also questions whether Zionism, born as a distressed response to modern Judeophobia, has ended up mirroring it. To what extent has Zionism inherited the ideological foundations that have always been characteristic of the persecutors of the Jews?This concise history of anti-Jewish hatred will be of great interest to anyone concerned with one of the most insidious and persistent features of Western civilization.Now available as an audiobook.

What is a homeland? When does it become a national territory? Why have so many people been willing to die for such places throughout the twentieth century? What is the essence of the Promised Land?Following the acclaimed and controversial The Invention of the Jewish People, Shlomo Sand examines the mysterious sacred land that has become the site of the longest-running national struggle of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Invention of the Land of Israel deconstructs the age-old legends surrounding the Holy Land and the prejudices that continue to suffocate it. The invention of the modern concept of the "Land of Israel" in the nineteenth century, he argues, not only facilitated the colonization of the Middle East and the establishment of the State of Israel, it is also what is threatening Israel's existence today.

A historical tour de force, The Invention of the Jewish People offers a groundbreaking account of Jewish and Israeli history. Exploding the myth that there was a forced Jewish exile in the first century at the hands of the Romans, Israeli historian Shlomo Sand argues that most modern Jews descend from converts, whose native lands were scattered across the Middle East and Eastern Europe.In this iconoclastic work, which spent nineteen weeks on the Israeli bestseller list and won the coveted Aujourd''hui Award in France, Sand provides the intellectual foundations for a new vision of Israel''s future.

What is a homeland? When does it become a national territory? Why have so many people been willing to die for such places throughout the twentieth century? What is the essence of the Promised Land?Following the acclaimed and controversial The Invention of the Jewish People, Shlomo Sand examines the mysterious sacred land that has become the site of the longest-running national struggle of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The Invention of the Land of Israel deconstructs the age-old legends surrounding the Holy Land and the prejudices that continue to suffocate it. The invention of the modern concept of the "Land of Israel" in the nineteenth century, he argues, not only facilitated the colonization of the Middle East and the establishment of the State of Israel, it is also what is threatening Israel''s existence today.

Shlomo Sand was born in 1946, in a displaced person''s camp in Austria, to Jewish parents; the family later migrated to Palestine. As a young man, Sand came to question his Jewish identity, even that of a "secular Jew." With this meditative and thoughtful mixture of essay and personal recollection, he articulates the problems at the center of modern Jewish identity. How I Stopped Being a Jew discusses the negative effects of the Israeli exploitation of the "chosen people" myth and its "holocaust industry." Sand criticizes the fact that, in the current context, what "Jewish" means is, above all, not being Arab and reflects on the possibility of a secular, non-exclusive Israeli identity, beyond the legends of Zionism.

On its publication in 2009, Shlomo Sand''s book The Invention of the Jewish People met with a storm of controversy. His demystifying approach to nationalist and Zionist historiography provoked much criticism from other professional historians, as well as praise. The furore gave him a privileged position to consider his academic discipline, which he reflects on here in Twilight of History.Drawing on four decades in the field, Sand takes a wider view and interrogates the study of history, whose origin lay in the need for a national ideology. Over the last few decades, traditional history has begun to fragment, yet only to give rise to a new role for historians as priests of official memory. Working in Israel has sharpened Sand''s perspective, since the role of history as national myth is particularly salient in a country where the Bible is treated as a source of historical fact. He asks such questions as: Is every historical narrative ideologically marked? Do political requirements and state power weigh down inordinately on historical research and teaching? And, in such conditions, can there be a morally neutral and "scientific" truth?Despite his trenchant criticism of academic history, Sand would still like to believe that the past can be understood without myth, and finds reasons for hope in the work of Max Weber and Georges Sorel.

Internationally acclaimed Israeli historian Shlomo Sand made his mark with books such as The Invention of the Jewish People and The Invention of the Land of Israel. Returning here to an early fascination, he turns his attention to the figure of the French intellectual. From his student years in Paris, Sand has repeatedly come up against the "great French thinkers." He has an intimate knowledge of the Parisian intellectual world and its little secrets, on which he draws to overturn certain myths attaching to the figure of the "intellectual" that France prides itself on having invented. Mixing reminiscence and analysis, he revisits a history that, from the Dreyfus Affair through to Charlie Hebdo, seems to him that of a long decline. As a long-time admirer of Zola, Sartre and Camus, Sand is staggered to see what the French intellectual has become today, in such characters as Michel Houellebecq, Eric Zemmour and Alain Finkielkraut. In a work that gives no quarter, and focuses particularly on the Judeophobia and Islamophobia of the elites, he casts on the French intellectual scene a gaze that is both disabused and mordant.

Ernest Renan was one of the intellectual giants of the second half of the nineteenth century in France, the man who first opened up the study of nationalism. In this book, Shlomo Sand, the author of the best-selling The Invention of the Jewish People, demonstrates the complexity of Renan''s thought. Sand shows the relationship of Renan''s work to that of key twentieth-century thinkers on nationalism, such as Raymond Aron and Ernest Gellner, and argues for the continued importance of studying Renan.Alongside his essay, Sand presents two classic lectures by Renan: the first, the renowned "What Is a Nation?", argues that nations are not based upon race, religion, and language; in the second he uses historical evidence to show that the Jews cannot be considered a "pure ethnos." On the Nation and the Jewish People is an important contribution to the understanding of nationalism, bringing back into play the work of a profoundly misunderstood thinker.

Ernest Renan was one of the intellectual giants of the second half of the nineteenth century in France, the man who first opened up the study of nationalism. In this book, Shlomo Sand, the author of the best-selling The Invention of the Jewish People, demonstrates the complexity of Renan's thought. Sand shows the relationship of Renan's work to that of key twentieth-century thinkers on nationalism, such as Raymond Aron and Ernest Gellner, and argues for the continued importance of studying Renan.Alongside his essay, Sand presents two classic lectures by Renan: the first, the renowned "What Is a Nation?", argues that nations are not based upon race, religion, and language; in the second he uses historical evidence to show that the Jews cannot be considered a "pure ethnos." On the Nation and the Jewish People is an important contribution to the understanding of nationalism, bringing back into play the work of a profoundly misunderstood thinker.

Gehört Israel den Juden? Was bedeutet überhaupt Israel? Wer hat dort gelebt, wer erhebt Ansprüche auf das Land, wie kam es zur Staatsgründung Israels? Shlomo Sand, einer der schärfsten Kritiker der israelischen Politik gegenüber den Palästinensern, stellt den Gründungsmythos seines Landes radikal in Frage. Überzeugend weist er nach, dass entgegen der israelischen Unabhängigkeitserklärung und heutiger Regierungspropaganda die Juden nie danach gestrebt haben, in ihr "angestammtes Land" zurückzukehren, und dass auch heute ihre Mehrheit nicht in Israel lebt oder leben will.Es gibt kein "historisches Anrecht" der Juden auf das Land Israel, so Sand. Diese Idee sei ein Erbe des unseligen Nationalismus des 19. Jahrhunderts, begierig aufgegriffen von den Zionisten jener Zeit. In kolonialistischer Manier hätten sie die Juden zur Landnahme in Palästina und zur Vertreibung der palästinensischen Bevölkerung aufgerufen, die dann nach der Staatsgründung 1948 konsequent umgesetzt wurde. Nachdrücklich fordert Sand die israelische Gesellschaft auf, sich von den Mythen des Zionismus zu verabschieden und die historischen Tatsachen anzuerkennen.

En este valiente y apasionado libro, Shlomo Sand demuestra que el mito nacional de Israel hunde sus orígenes en el siglo XIX, no en los tiempos bíblicos en los que muchos historiadores –judíos y no judíos– reconstruyeron un pueblo imaginado con la finalidad de modelar una futura nación. Sand disecciona con la minuciosidad de un forense la historia oficial y desvela la construcción del mito nacionalista y la con­siguiente mistificación colectiva.

¿Qué es una patria?, ¿cómo y cuándo se transfigura en un "territorio nacional"? ¿Por qué multitudes enteras han estado dispuestas a inmolarse por tales lugares a lo largo del siglo XX? ¿Cuál es la esencia de la Tierra Prometida? Tras el escándalo desatado por su obra anterior, La invención del pueblo judío, el historiador israelí Shlomo Sand examina ahora esa enigmática tierra sagrada que se ha convertido en el solar donde acontece la lucha nacional más longeva de la modernidad. La invención de la tierra de Israel desmonta las antiguas leyendas que envuelven Tierra Santa y los prejuicios que continúan asfixiándola. Sand disecciona el concepto de "derecho histórico" e indaga en la concepción moderna de la "Tierra de Israel" formulada por cierto protestantismo evangélico del siglo XIX y por el sionismo. Esta invención que, a su juicio, hizo posible la colonización de Oriente Próximo y la creación del Estado de Israel, constituye ahora una seria amenaza a su propia existencia como hogar nacional judío.

"El historiador israelí de reputación internacional Shlomo Sand irrumpió en la escena intelectual francesa con sus dos primeras y magistrales obras La invención del pueblo judío y la Invención de Israel. En esta nueva y controvertida obra Sand analiza la historia y actualidad de la intelectualidad francesa, de Émile Zola a Michel Houellebecq, trazando un análisis cultural e intelectual de Francia a lo largo del siglo XX.Durante sus estudios en París y a lo largo de toda su vida, Shlomo Sand trató a los "grandes pensadores e intelectuales franceses", conoce íntimamente el mundo intelectual de París y sus secretos. Con esta experiencia, el autor examina y desbroza parte de los mitos relacionados con la figura del "intelectual" que Francia se enorgullece de haber inventado. Mezclando recuerdos y análisis, revisita una historia que, desde el caso Dreyfus hasta después del dramático asalto a la redacción de Charlie Hebdo, se presenta como una decadencia de largo recorrido. De esta forma, Sand, que en su juventud fue un gran admirador de Zola, Sartre y Camus, se sorprende hoy día al ver cómo el intelectual parisino se encarna en figuras como Michel Houellebecq, Eric Zemmour o Alain Finkielkraut... Al final de una obra dura y sin concesiones el autor se interroga en particular por la judeofobia e islamofobia de las elites intelectuales francesas, proyectando sobre la escena intelectual francesa una mirada a la vez irónica y sarcástica."

¿Qué le está pasando a la izquierda? ¿De verdad está en crisis? Aunque a lo largo de su historia se ha entonado su réquiem en varias ocasiones, hasta ahora siempre había vencido a las adversidades. Sin embargo, en la actualidad, los movimientos de la izquierda organizada parecen estar en grave declive en todo el mundo. Tal vez ello no sea sino un síntoma de un borrado más profundo y problemático, el del «imaginario de la igualdad», que ha sido la principal fuerza motriz de la izquierda global desde su nacimiento.Esta es la tesis de este agudo y penetrante ensayo histórico. Y para comprender su pertinencia, Shlomo Sand propone remontarse a las fuentes de este «imaginario» y estudiar la gestación, las transformaciones y los ajustes de la idea de igualdad a lo largo de más de tres siglos. Desde los Diggers de la Revolución inglesa hasta la formación del anarquismo y el marxismo, del tercermundismo a las revoluciones anticoloniales, desde el feminismo post-MeToo hasta el populismo de izquierdas actual, este libro analiza a los pensadores y movimientos que construyeron la izquierda mundial.Con la brillantez y el compromiso que le caracterizan, Shlomo Sand asume el difícil reto de escribir una breve historia mundial de la izquierda que, con gran sentido pedagógico, se dirija al mayor número de personas, proponiendo al mismo tiempo hipótesis originales en un momento en que debemos hacer todo lo que esté en nuestra mano para reactivar el imaginario igualitario.