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Masada myth
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1969 Masada state funeral
- ... that although Israel honored 27 ancient Masada skeletons with a state funeral in 1969, the story of "freedom fighters' patriotic last stand" is now known to be a myth?
- Source: Ben-Yehuda, Nachman (1996). Masada Myth: Collective Memory and Mythmaking in Israel. University of Wisconsin Press. ISBN 978-0-299-14833-1, p. xxi: "The bones of twenty-seven humans found on Masada are brought to burial in an official state ceremony."; pages 241-243: "The affair began in October 1963… Immediately, there were newspaper reports to the effect that the remains were probably of the fighters of Masada, and a state burial ceremony was called for. This issue was raised in March 1967, once again, by the same Shlomo Lorentz of the ultra-Orthodox party Agudat Israel. In a blazing speech in the Knesset he demanded that the remains of the skeletons found on Masada should be given a Jewish burial. Mr. Aharon Yadlin, then the minister of culture and education, pointed out that the Jewish identity of the skeletons had not been established and suggested passing the whole issue on to one of the Knesset’s committees. His suggestion was accepted. In fact, the Knesset’s Committee on Culture and Education held a discussion with Yadin on this particular issue in February and March of 1968… On March 12, 1969, Yigael Yadin told Haaretz that he was opposed to a public burial ceremony. He stated that the evidence of the identity of the skeletons was not conclusive enough. He also stated that he believed that the bones were those of the people of Masada but that he lacked definitive proof. In response to this, the spokesman for the Ministry of Religious Affairs stated the next day, also in Haaretz, that “the heroes of Masada came there from Jerusalem and fought the war of the holy city; therefore, it is only natural that their bones would find their final resting place on the Mount of Olives, which was a Jewish cemetery during the days of the Second Temple…. on July 7, 1969, the skeletons that had been uncovered by Yadin’s excavations about five years earlier were brought to burial in a full and formal military ceremony near Masada, at a place called “the hill of the defenders… An impressive array of dignitaries (including Menachem Begin, Yigael Yadin, and Rabbi Shlomo Goren) were present at the burial ceremonies."
Created by Onceinawhile (talk).
Number of QPQs required: 1. Nominator has 77 past nominations.
Onceinawhile (talk) 05:24, 18 July 2024 (UTC).
| General: Article is new enough and long enough |
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Policy compliance:
- Adequate sourcing:
- Not sufficiently - Neutral: - This hook states as fact that which the sources do not state as fact
- Free of copyright violations, plagiarism, and close paraphrasing:
Hook eligibility:
- Cited: - the cite fails to support the hook
- Interesting:
| Image: Image is freely licensed, used in the article, and clear at 100px. |
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| QPQ: Done. |
Overall: 
2603:7000:2101:AA00:A91E:FA5D:EAB2:D6B0 (talk) 09:26, 20 July 2024 (UTC)
I don't think this is that bad to deserve a cross, but you'll definitely want to add a cite to the first paragraph of Yadin's executions at minimum, and that's before interrogating any of the sources.--Launchballer 14:45, 20 July 2024 (UTC)
- Thanks @Launchballer: I have added a cross-ref (it had been referenced at the end of the paragraph, but the paragraph was then split in to two). Re the IP's comments, the citation quote gives all the info about the funeral, and the rest of his book is about the myth. I guess the IP is referring to the latter question. I can bring some more quotes if helpful.
- For context, all the sources in the article say essentially the same thing – there is only one known original source for this event, Josephus. The Israeli national myth version differs from that story in a number of significant ways. We can add some nuance to the words "is now known to be a myth" if that is helpful, but the underlying point is beyond doubt.
- Onceinawhile (talk) 16:28, 20 July 2024 (UTC)
- It's not a question of "nuance." There is no consensus - as incorrectly and blatantly stated - in RS refs that it "is now known to be a myth." That's simply fake news. 2603:7000:2101:AA00:A91E:FA5D:EAB2:D6B0 (talk) 21:10, 20 July 2024 (UTC)
