Adventures in Identity Politics; Or, Return of the Cossacks

Cossacks attack members of Pussy Riot in Sochi, Russia, during the 2014 Winter Olympics (from video for “Putin Will Teach You How to Love the Motherland” by Pussy Riot)

Once upon a time, Jews in Europe were targeted in a policy of ethnic cleansing, igniting a reaction of popular Jewish support for a national-messianic movement. This happened in 17th century Ukraine as a pogrom, in the form of an uprising initially led by Cossack chieftain Bognan Chmielnicki, that led to a messianic mass migration to Ottoman Jerusalem by the followers of Shabbetai Zvi.