October 10, 2008 by Jay Taber.

Israeli historian Shlomo Sand claims the Jewish religion was in competition with the Christian religion during the biblical era, but that there was no separate people called Jews. Rather, argues Professor Sand, these people of what became known as Palestine were never exiled as in modern myths, but remained where they were, some becoming Christians, some Jewish, and some Muslim. He also claims that historical investigation indicates that the bulk of the European Jews who later immigrated to form the Jewish state of Israel, have no historical connection to the land, but merely converted to the religion as peoples around the world have converted to many other religions.

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October 10, 2008 by Jay Taber.

Evolution of Consciousness

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has established a web page for the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people.

The procedures, reports and communications of the Special Rapporteur help to educate governments and indigenous activists, as well as to illustrate the limitations of international institutions in effectively addressing human rights abuses.

As always, there is not only a role for civil society to play in bringing an end to discrimination, but also a role for scholars and media in preparing humanity as a whole, cognitively, for the evolution of our shared consciousness, and the need to respect the existence of peoples living alongside, but independent from, the framework of state and market controls.

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