Igboland, Jewishland? : separatism-based religion in the "Promised Land"
Roč.23,č.1(2025)
the Igbo; Jewish identity; redemptive separatism; Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB); Nnamdi Kanu; Israel-Nigeria relations; religious nationalism
8–23
AFP. (2018/10/22). Nigerian Separatist Leader Admits He's in Israel, Says Owes Life to Jewish State. The Times of Israel. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://www.timesofisrael.com/nigerian-separatist-leader-admits-hes-in-israel-says-owes-life-to-jewish-state/.
Equiano, O. (1789). The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Retrieved [19.3.2025] from https://equianosworld.org/assets/files/3rd%20Edition%20-%20The%20Interesting%20Narrative.pdf.
Hayun, E. (2024). African Jewish tribe wants to establish a Jewish state in part of Nigeria. Ynet. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bku5owjj0.
Kanu, N. & Minhar, E. (2018/11/29). Jewish State 2. KAN 11. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://www.kan.org.il/content/kan/podcasts/p-8350/41864/.
Kanu, N. & Vardi, M. (2018/10/28). "Millions of people aspire to a Jewish state": an interview with the exiled leader from Biafra. [YouTube]. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRcx5QW7l7o.
Kattan, Y. (2024). From Nigeria to the Maccabiah: Nigeria's Jewish soccer team aiming to compete in Israel. Ynet. Retrieved [19.3.2025] from https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/bkxab6bh1l.
Knesset. (2018/5/1). The Nation-State Basic Law 5778-2018. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://main.knesset.gov.il/EN/activity/documents/BasicLawsPDF/BasicLawNationState.pdf.
Meier, G. & Shazar, S. Z. (1970). The Law of Return. Nefesh B'Nefesh. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://www.nbn.org.il/life-in-israel/government-services/rights-andbenefits/the-law-of-return.
Nigeria Sanctions Committee against IPOB. (2017/9/20). In Nigeria Sanctions Committee. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://nigsac.gov.ng/IndSancDetails?id=27.
Patinkin, A. (1996). Legends of the Lost Tribes - Ibo Tribe of Nigeria. [YouTube]. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLCZXhM9IL4&ab_channel=AranPatinkin.
TVC News Nigeria. (2025/3/21). Nnamdi Kanu Apologises To Court, Judge, Others Over 'Unguarded' Comments. [YouTube]. Retrieved [21.3.2025] from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E3kST6jDyY.
WordProject. (2025). Genesis 46. Retrieved [17.3.2025] from https://www.wordproject.org/bibles/kj/01/46.htm.
Achebe, C. (1982/2/26). Interview with Anthony Appiah. D.A.N. Jones & John Ryle. Times Literary Supplement, pp. 209.
Afsai, S. (2016). Nigeria's Igbo Jews: Jewish identity and practice in Abuja. Anthropology Today, 32(2), pp. 14–17. | DOI 10.1111/1467-8322.12239
Agbo, P. O. (2024). 'We shall triumph like the Jews': unveiling the implicit side of IPOB's armed separatism in Southeast Nigeria. Security Journal, 37, pp. 1144–1163. | DOI 10.1057/s41284-023-00412-2
Ameh C. G. (2017/8/7). What new DNA test result reveals about Igbos, Jews. Daily Post. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://dailypost.ng/2017/08/07/new-dna-test-result-revealsigbos-jews/.
Anderson, B. (1983). Imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. London: Verso.
Arise News. (2024/6/2). IPOB Was a Peaceful Movement That Unfortunately Has Been Hijacked by Miscreants. [YouTube]. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bD605-QeOiw.
Bruder, E. (2008). The Black Jews of Africa: History, Religion, Identity. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bruder, E. & Parfitt, T. (Eds.). (2012). Introduction. In Id. African Zion: Studies in Black Judaism (pp. 1–9). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Eboh, C. (2024/3/19). Nigerian court denies separatist leader Kanu bail, orders trial. Reuters. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/nigerian-courtdenies-separatist-leader-kanu-bail-orders-trial-2024-03-19/.
Ezemenaka, K. E. (2021). Minority rights and violence: A comparative analysis of the conflict in Southern Cameroon and Biafran separatism in Nigeria. Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, 21(1), pp. 81–94. | DOI 10.1111/sena.12343
Hacohen, D. (1998). The Law of Return as an Embodiment of the Link between Israel and the Jews of the Diaspora. The Journal of Israeli History, 19(1), pp. 61–89. | DOI 10.1080/13531049808576119
Hannigan, J. A. (1991). Social Movement Theory and the Sociology of Religion: Toward a New Synthesis. Sociological Analysis, 52(4), pp. 311–331. | DOI 10.2307/3710849
Harnischfeger, J. (2012). Igbo Nationalism and Jewish Identities. In E. Bruder & T. Parfitt (Eds.). African Zion: Studies in Black Judaism (pp. 65–86). Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Hobsbawm, E. & Ranger, T. O. (1983). The Invention of Tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Ilona, R. (2016). The Igbo Jews and the Questions of Genetics & Culture. ResearchGate. Retrieved [19.3.2025] from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304479678_The_Igbo_Jews_And_The_Questions_of_Genetics_Culture.
Juergensmeyer, M. (1995). The New Religious State. Comparative Politics, 27(4), pp. 379–391.
Juergensmeyer, M. (1996). The Worldwide Rise of Religious Nationalism. Journal of International Affairs (New York), 50(1), pp. 1–20.
Juergensmeyer, M. (2010). The global rise of religious nationalism. Australian Journal of International Affairs, 64(3), pp. 262–273. | DOI 10.1080/10357711003736436
Juergensmeyer, M. (2019). Religious nationalism in a global world. Religions (Basel, Switzerland), 10(2), 97. | DOI 10.3390/rel10020097
Kohnert, D. (2024). On the history of Jews in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of South Africa, Nigeria, DR Congo and Ethiopia. GESIS. Retrieved [19.3.2025] from https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-93412-7.
Lis, D. (2015). Jewish identity among the Igbo of Nigeria : Israel's "lost tribe" and the question of belonging in the Jewish state. Trenton: Africa World Press.
Lyman, S. M. (1998). The Lost Tribes of Israel as a Problem in History and Sociology. International Journal of Politics, Culture, and Society, 12(1), pp. 7–42. | DOI 10.1023/a:1025902603291
Merton, R. (1995). The Thomas Theorem and The Matthew Effect. Social Forces, 74(2), pp. 379–422. | DOI 10.2307/2580486
Miles, W. F. S. (2019). Who Is a Jew (in Africa)? Definitional and Ethical Considerations in the Study of Sub-Saharan Jewry and Judaism. Journal of the Middle East and Africa, 10(1), pp. 1–15. | DOI 10.1080/21520844.2019.1565199
Miles, W. F. S. (2023). Holocaust Consciousness, Igbo Jewish Identity, and the Resurgence of Biafran Nationalism in Nigeria. Journal of Jewish Identities, 16(1), pp. 57–78. | DOI 10.1353/jji.2023.a898139
Neuberger, B. (1985). Early African Nationalism, Judaism, and Zionism: Edward Wilmot Blyden. Jewish Social Studies, 47(2), pp. 156–160.
Nche, G. C. (2023). "Biafra is made in heaven": exploring the religious framing of the neo-Biafra secessionist movement in Nigeria. Politikon, 50(1), pp. 18–40. | DOI 10.1080/02589346.2023.2171833
Nche, G. C., Ugwueze, M. I., & Ugwu, C. I. (2023). "As the Israelites in the Land of Egypt, So are We in Nigeria": The Significance of the Exodus Event for Biafra Secessionist Movement. A Journal of Church and State, 65(1), pp. 1–24. | DOI 10.1093/jcs/csac023
O'Connell, J. (2020). EIGHT. The Ending of the Nigerian Civil War: Victory, Defeat, and the Changing of Coalitions. In Licklider, R. (Ed.) Stopping the Killing (pp. 189–204). New York: New York University Press. | DOI 10.18574/nyu/9780814765425.003.0011
Olayoku, P. (2024). Antisemitism: intersecting politics, religion and consanguinity among Jews in Nigeria. Bulletin de l'Observatoire international du religieux, N°47 [en ligne], février 2024. Retrieved [17.3.2025] from https://obsreligion.cnrs.fr/bulletin/antisemitismintersecting-politics-religion-and-consanguinity-among-jews-in-nigeria-english-version/.
Oluwaseyi, O. A. (2021). Mythmaking, Identity Formation and Ethnic Nationalism in Postcolonial Nigeria Through the Lens of Yoruba and Igbo Nationalism. Politikon, 48(1), pp. 74–97. | DOI 10.1080/02589346.2020.1861510
Onuoha, G. (2011). Contesting the Space: The "New Biafra" and Ethno-Territorial Separatism in South-Eastern Nigeria. Nationalism & Ethnic Politics, 17(4), pp. 402–422. | DOI 10.1080/13537113.2011.622646
Parfitt, T. (2013). Black Jews in Africa and the Americas (1st ed.). Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Parfitt, T. & Fisher, N. (Eds.). (2016). Becoming Jewish: New Jews and Emerging Jewish Communities in a Globalized World. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Rieger, J., Scott, P. M., & Cavanaugh, W. T. (2019). Grassroots Social Movements. In P. M. Scott & W. T. Cavanaugh (Eds.). The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Theology (pp. 558–571). New York: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. | DOI 10.1002/9781119133759.ch40
Sanders, E. R. (1969). The Hamitic Hypothesis; Its Origin and Functions in Time Perspective. Journal of African History, 10(4), pp. 521–532. | DOI 10.1017/s0021853700009683
Shibutani, T. & Kwan, M. K. (1965). Ethnic Stratification. New York: Macmillan.
Subramanian, S. (2022). The Lost Jews of Nigeria. The Guardian. Retrieved [24.8.2024] from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/26/lost-jews-of-nigeria-igbo-judaismisrael.
Tworek, W. (2022). Nostalgia, Canonization and the Messianic Renewal: The Case of the Chabad Hasidic Movement. History and Memory, 34(2), pp. 172–199. | DOI 10.2979/histmemo.34.2.07
Vanguard News Nigeria. (2021/3/21). Nnamdi Kanu, a Threat to Existence of True Judaism in Nigeria—JFI. Retrieved [17.3.2025] from https://www.vanguardngr.com/2021/03/nnamdi-kanu-athreat-to-existence-of-true-judaism-in-nigeria-jfi/.