Gypsies, Jews, Nationalism, and The American People

Submitted by Robert (United States), Jan 12, 2017 at 20:46

The issue of Identity is fascination. In Europe, only two (2) "People" were able (and still are) to keep their Identity without completely assimilating; these were, and are, the Jews and the Gypsies. They have moved about in different Lands or Countries, but haven't vanished from History.

Nationalism, and its closely connected concept, Irredentism, are only understood in the context of the Industrial Revolution, in my view of these issues.

The American People are fascinating because they form a People, even without the usual sort of "Racial" identity (the latter term is discredited, but the notion of Ethnicity isn't much of an improvement.

That said, Jordan is important - there are citizens there who arrived as "Refugees" after 1948 from Israel, and as such do not completely blend in as Jordanians.

But none of this disproves, or proves, that Palestinians cannot, or will not, one day assimilate into Syria and Iraq as Sunni Arab citizens of those countries, whether or not their former "Palestinian" identity remains for some time.

The relevant issue which is emerging, is whether Palestinian Refugees are to be treated better than Syrian Refugees, or Iraqi Refugees, or Libyan Refugees. All are Arabs. However, some are the victims of other Arabs, while the others are victims of Jews. So Victimhood needs exploring, as well as anti-Antisemitism.

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