Nationalists borrow another movement’s sacred-claims template to justify land conquest

Evidence

Perica explains that modern Serbian nationalism claimed Kosovo as a sort of “holy land” to justify its “liberation.” This is why, since the Balkan War of 1912, and later in post-Tito Yugoslavia, the claim to Kosovo was justified on the basis of religious sacredness to Serb culture and national identity. The author shows how the comparison with Israeli religiously based territorial claims helped Serb nationalists to justify their own expansionist policies. In this context, Perica explicitly examines what the Balkan nationalists borrow from Israel and Zionism as “Israel appears as a role model to follow in the nationalist struggles for land.” — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 184

Categorization

• XREF: Directly connects to reader’s core research: a manufactured/mirrored external justification (Israeli model) fortifies Serbian sacred claim to Kosovo. Related to sacred-values mechanism in Ginges/Atran work on territorial disputes. — connects to: Nationalists borrow others’ sacralized land narratives as strategic templates — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 184; Imperial conquest is redeemed through an idea that justifies taking land from others — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 504; Sacralized nationalist myth suppresses concrete land history and indigenous presence — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized:…, 355 (+2 more)
• SEED: Possible angle: the transnational diffusion of sacred-territory rhetoric — nationalists adopting another’s holy-land framing lends legitimacy and resists compromise.

Broader Connections

• Nationalists borrow others’ sacralized land narratives as strategic templates #corroborates (0.90) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 184
• Imperial conquest is redeemed through an idea that justifies taking land from others #expands (0.82) — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 504
• Sacralized nationalist myth suppresses concrete land history and indigenous presence #qualifies (0.75) — Nadim N. Rouhana and Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, When Politics Are Sacralized, 355