The Invention of the Land of Israel

Published by Dar Al-Ahliya, "The Invention of the Land of Israel" (Invention of the Land of Israel: From Holy Land to Homeland) by historian Shlomo Sand is the follow-up to his provocative work The Invention of the Jewish People. In this volume, Sand shifts his analytical critique to territorial nationalism. He investigates how a spiritual, theological concept—the "Holy Land"—was historically re-engineered during the 19th and 20th centuries into a concrete, political homeland to justify statehood. Drawing on historical documents, biblical criticism, and geographical records, Sand demonstrates that traditional Judaism viewed the land as a sacred spiritual realm rather than a national territory. The book exposes the geopolitical mechanisms used to erase the historical presence of the native Palestinian population in favor of a nationalized mythical geography.

It is a crucial, deeply researched investigation into how geographical myths and religious terminology are used to construct modern national borders and political claims.

Historians, geographers, political scientists, scholars of religious studies and nationalism, and readers interested in Middle Eastern history and Israeli-Palestinian relations.