It is not unusual to hear critics of Israel, even academics, proclaim, "if Jews can have a state, then why not Catholics, or Protestants, or Hindus, etc.?" I've had to answer this in debate on more than one occasion... including on university campuses.

The name, "Jew", comes from Judah (as in the Hebrew tribe) and later Judah/Judaea (as in the land as it was known in the times of the southern kingdom and the Greeks and Romans). Judaean equals "Jew."

While we know of Abraham and the Hebrew patriarchs from an era centuries earlier, Jews emerged as a people/nation after the experience at Sinai. They came to inhabit a distinct land, had their own culture, language, history--and yes, their own distinct religious beliefs.

The Amarna letters, an archaeological treasure from ancient Egypt, show repeated correspondence between Pharaoh and surrounding Hittite, Hurrian, Babylonian, Canaanite, Assyrian and other kingdoms. Guess what comes out, among other things, in the correspondence?... Complaints about invasions by the "Habiru" and " 'Apiru"... Now what does that sound like? And the letters date back to just around the time scholars have dated the Biblical conquests of Joshua and the Hebrew people.

Christians owe their own belief in G-d, while somewhat modified from the Jews' strict belief in a sole, purely spiritual being, to their connection via Jesus to the Jews... otherwise they would be worshipping the numerous deities and idols of their pagan ancestors. This goes for Muslims as well.

Islam is another offshoot of Judaism, whether this is acknowledged or not. Muhammad fled from Mecca to Medina, the Hijra (flight), in the early 7th century C.E. Mecca was a pagan town. Medina was a date palm oasis established by major Jewish tribes, descendants of refugees who fled during Judaea's wars with Rome.

Listen to the contemporary Roman historian, Tacitus, who wrote around the time of the Jews' earlier struggle for freedom around 2000 years ago: " It inflamed Vespasian's ire that the Jews were the only nation who had not yet submitted." Do you think Tacitus was talking about the Jews' religious affiliation or their identity as a people?

While the Angel Gabriel may or may not have something to do with what's in the Koran (as the Arabs like to tell it), we do know historically that Muhammad had an extensive sojourn with the Jews of Medina, saw them praying towards Jerusalem, learned of the Hebrew prophets through them (although there seems to have been some Christian influence as well), etc. It's no accident that many stories in the Koran look like an arabized version of the Hebrew Bible.

When the Jews would not accept Muhammad as "the seal of the prophets," he turned on them with a vengeance. He killed most of the males and enslaved most of the women and children... nice way to treat hosts who gave you refuge from your enemies!

The famous early Arab historian, Jaluladdin, came right out and stated that the only reason Muhammad accepted the importance of Jerusalem was to win the support of the influential Jewish tribes. After they refused his claims, he returned the direction of prayer back towards the Kaaba in Mecca.
While it's true that one may join one's destiny to the peoplehood of Israel via religious conversion to the faith of that people, faith itself-- while a very important part of the picture-- is still but one part of the picture. So, Ruth the Moabitess became a convert when she told Naomi in the Hebrew Bible, "Whither thou goist I shall go, your PEOPLE shall be my people, your G_d, my G_d." Note, please, that even here, in the religious writings of the Jews, peoplehood is mentioned before religion... perhaps a coincidence, perhaps not.

It is even more interesting when Arabs and their supporters bring this identity issue up. As usual, they rely on the innocent ignorance of most of their audience on such matters.

Consider for a moment how you identify an "Arab." Because of their widespread conquests and forced arabization (still going in places like North Africa where the once majority Berbers' language and culture have largely been outlawed; in the Sudan where millions of Blacks have been killed, enslaved, etc. resisting this; gassings, massacres, and such in Syrian and Iraqi Kurdistan; etc.), it's come down to language spoken, paternal ancestry, and/or one's own actual or willingly adopted identity as such.

By the way, Islam is the forcibly imposed official religion of state of virtually all twenty-two Arab states. So why is this not a problem for those raising this issue with the sole, microscopic state of the Jews?