This literature must also be approached cautiously, as it tends to essentialize notions of nation and identity. I incline toward the new constructivist school in nationalism studies that rejects primodialist understandings of nations and nationalism and problematizes the idea of homeland.14 Similarly, these new theoretical conceptualizations have been applied to the
Jewish case, raising significant controversy over the authenticity of Jewish peoplehood15 and their relationship to the land of Israel.16 While I do not intend to take sides in this debate, I also do not to seek to reify paradigms and stress the contested and liminal nature of the concepts discussed here, while also acknowledging that Jewish-American settlers believe they are members of an actual and authentic diaspora and view their migratory patterns as a return to a concrete and genuine homeland in Israel and its occupied territories.