以色列是一个非常特殊的民族国家,它是二战前后大批犹太移民集中迁入巴勒斯坦后通过联合国一纸决议建立的.以色列和巴勒斯坦阿拉伯人自建国之日起冲突至今,成为世界瞩目的"中东火药桶",每隔几天就向全世界播放街头暴力冲突和自杀式袭击的电视画面.它重新恢复了已经几乎失传的希伯来文字,并在中东干燥的戈壁沙漠中创造了快速发展的经济奇迹.这些特殊性使以色列很自然地成为现代民族国家建构和民族理论研究中的一个重要案例.沃尔特·拉克的《犹太复国主义史》一书向读者提供大量生动信息,勾画出自19世纪来犹太人是如何从一个散居各国的少数族群演变为一个民族并独立建国的历程.对这一历史过程的分析有助于我们认识族群演变的特性和共性,也可以为我们思考今天中国的民族问题提供许多有益的启示.%A special nation-state, Israel was established by Jewish immigrants in the land of Palestine in 1947 following a UN resolution. With nonstop conflicts between the Jews and the Arabs since the founding of Israel, the country has become"a powder keg in the Middle East". Television pictures of street violence and suicide bombings are broadcast to global audience every few days. Israel has restored the Hebrew language which was almost lost and created an economic miracle in the desert in the Middle East. All this has made Israel a unique case for theoretical studies on ethnicity and nation building. A History of Zionism by Walter Laqueur provides a lot of detailed information about how the Jews have evolved since the 19th century from ethnic minorities in many countries into a"nation"and established an independent country. An analysis of this historical process will help us learn about the u-niversality and particularity of ethnic evolution and also enlighten us about ethnic relations in today's China.
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