[CS-FSLUG] NI: Interesting insight on Gaza pullout

[David Aikema]

On 8/24/05, Fred A. Miller <fmiller at lightlink.com> wrote:
> of Israel. Once again, the Palestinians are NOT a race nor a nation! They
> NEVER were. Only in the 20th century did liberals start "drumming" for a

What exactly constitutes a nation?  If you read any of the academic
literature on the topic, there's a lack of consensus as to what
exactly a nation is.

Was the USA a nation in 1700?  Is it now?  Things can change after
all.  While you started getting some rise in Jewish nationalism in the
late 19th century, would the Jews constitute a nation in (eg.) 1800 or
just a religious group?  (they were lacking land at the time after
all).  While I'll agree with you that at the time the modern state of
Israel emerged, the Palestinians were more a backwater in the Ottoman
empire than a nation, I see no reason not to suggest that some sense
of Palestinian nationalism could have emerged in the time since.

David