tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40982705233022954212024-03-04T23:07:54.099-08:00Israeli situationa very desperate one !Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.comBlogger135125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-14214360069461498082016-07-30T21:13:00.001-07:002016-07-30T21:13:56.356-07:00Secret Celebration: How Spanish Jews Kept Purim Under the Inquisition<p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><font color="#000000"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a dir="ltr" href="http://unitedwithisrael.org/the-secret-celebration-how-spanish-jews-kept-purim-under-the-inquisition/" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="0" style="line-height: 1.22em;">http://unitedwithisrael.org/the-secret-celebration-how-spanish-jews-kept-purim-under-the-inquisition/</a><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></font></p><h1 class="single-title" itemprop="headline" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Secret Celebration: How Spanish Jews Kept Purim Under the Inquisition</font></h1><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span><p class="lead" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><em style="line-height: 1.22em;"><strong style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Despite merciless persecution, Jews found a way to observe Purim during the Spanish Inquisition.</strong></em></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In 1391, anti-Jewish massacres swept Spain, where Jews were given the choice of converting to Christianity or being murdered. Some 20,000 Spanish Jews became Christians during this time period and many more continued to convert throughout the 1400s under duress. However, many of these Jews who were converted under the sword continued to practice Judaism in secret. This greatly disturbed the Spaniards, who saw that many closet Jews continued to be part of the top echelons of Spanish society, like they had during the Golden Age of Muslim Spain.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Thus, in 1492 Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand expelled from their kingdom the Jews who continued to practice their faith. Previously, the Spanish Inquisition was established to hunt down Jews who continued to practice their faith in secret. In total, 165,000 Jews fled Spain, with 50,000 baptized and an additional 20,000 perishing while attempting to leave Spain in 1492. Meanwhile, 31,912 “heretics” were burned at the stake in Spain, with an additional 17,659 burnt in effigy. For secret Jews, known as Anusim, Conversos or Marranos, who lived under the yoke of the Inquisition and thus were in constant fear that they would be discovered, the Purim holiday had a special meaning since Queen Esther was also forced to practice Judaism in secret initially.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For the Anusim of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, Purim was not a festive day full of children making noise and adults consuming alcohol. If these Jews celebrated in this manner, they would be discovered by the Inquisition. Instead, the Anusim, whose very existence was always in peril, would fast for three days, just as Queen Esther fasted for three days when the Jews of Persia were threatened with annihilation.</span></p><div id="attachment_143925" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="line-height: 1.22em; width: 300px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="size-medium wp-image-143925" src="http://3q3otpb8pif2ntuhr3cenh91.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/65-604-920x800-300x261.jpg" alt="Spanish Megillat Esther" height="261" width="300" style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span><p class="wp-caption-text" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Scroll of Esther with Spanish translation (<a dir="ltr" href="http://ajudaica.com/" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1" style="line-height: 1.22em;">ajudaica.com</a>)</span></p></div><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">As a result, the Inquisition used the Fast of Esther as an indicator of Jews engaging in forbidden religious activity. Furthermore, a three day fast was not considered healthy. According to Gabriel de Granada, a 13-year-old boy interrogated by the Inquisition in Mexico in 1643, the women of his family would divide the three day fast between them. Some would fast on the first day, while others would fast on the second and third. Leonor de Pina, who was arrested by the Portuguese Inquisition in 1619, recorded that her daughters would fast for three days during daylight, while eating during the night. When they ate, they would refrain from eating meat.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Scholars of the Anusim maintain that the secret Jews of Spain, Portugal and Latin America viewed private fasting for three days as a substitute for the mitzvah of having a public Megillah reading in the synagogue and sending gifts of food to family and friends, which were actions that would have caught the attention of the Inquisition. In fact, Professor Moshe Orfali of Bar Ilan University asserted that the Anusim fasted quite often, which they viewed as a way of demonstrating their remorse for being forced to violate the Torah.</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Interestingly, the Anusim also transformed Queen Esther into “Saint Esther,” as a means of disguising their Jewish faith from the Inquisition. Anusim frequently offered all of their prayers to her. Thus, even though the Anusim lost much of their Jewish heritage over the centuries when the Inquisition was in place, they never forgot Queen Esther or the words in the Megillah which proclaim, “These days of Purim will never leave the Jews, nor will their remembrance ever be lost to their descendants.”</span></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><em style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">By: Rachel Avraham</em></p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-56796445595039546552016-07-30T21:08:00.001-07:002016-07-30T21:08:56.572-07:00How a Maharaja from Gujarat housed 1,000 Polish child refugees during
World War II<div id="ygrp-text" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div class="WordSection1" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><b style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">How a Maharaja from Gujarat housed 1,000 Polish child refugees during World War II<span style="line-height: 1.22em;"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Posted on Apr 21 2016 - 11:45am by <a href="http://thevoiceofnation.com/author/rosie/" title="
View all posts by Rosie Fernandez" style="line-height: 1.22em;">Rosie Fernandez</a><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"> <a href="http://thevoiceofnation.com/personalities/how-a-maharaja-from-gujarat-housed-1000-polish-child-refugees/" style="line-height: 1.22em;">http://thevoiceofnation.com/personalities/how-a-maharaja-from-gujarat-housed-1000-polish-child-refugees/</a><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In 1941, as Europe was fraught in an ugly World War, an Indian king showed compassion to Polish child refugees. Between 1941-42, 1,000 Polish children were deported from Poland to Siberia. These children, mostly orphans, travelled to India from Siberia, where Maharaja Jam Saheb Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji of erstwhile Nawanagar (Gujarat), provided shelter to them near his capital Jamnagar.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></p><p class="AppleTemporaryEdgeToEdgeParagraphElement" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px 1px; height: 275px;"><img border="0" id="Picture_x0020_5" src="cid:image001.jpg@01D1A167.805DF640" alt="raja2" style="line-height: 1.22em; right: 0px; width: 414px; position: absolute; left: 0px;"></p><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A group of Polish children pose with Raja Jam Saheb in Balachadi, Gujarat, in 1945.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">An exhibition titled, <i style="line-height: 1.22em;">Passage to India: The Wartime Odyssey of Polish Children and the Good Maharaja </i>will trail this touching tale of humanism during the World War II. The event will put on display at the UN next week.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In February 1940, Joseph Stalin initiated mass deportations of Poles to Siberia. World War II was taking over Europe and the Soviet Union, and Poland found itself in the claws of not one, but two occupiers: Stalin and Hitler. The Nazis were already carrying out methodical killing in Poland’s German-occupied territories.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></p><p class="AppleTemporaryEdgeToEdgeParagraphElement" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px 1px; height: 236px;"><img border="0" id="Picture_x0020_4" src="cid:image002.jpg@01D1A167.805DF640" alt="raja6" style="line-height: 1.22em; right: 0px; width: 414px; position: absolute; left: 0px;"></p><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">From Tehran, large ships transported refugees to Africa, India, Mexico and other locales.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In Poland’s Soviet-occupied regions, large masses, that included several villages, were packed off in boxed cars with no supply of food and water. They were deported to Siberia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia Gulags.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In 1941, as Germany gained stronger foothold, the Soviet Union changed tactics, and joined the Allies. Britian, a part of the Allied group, decided to release the Poles, and transport them to India, which was a British colony then. Gradually, batches of sick and undernourished Polish children arrived in convoys.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></p><p class="AppleTemporaryEdgeToEdgeParagraphElement" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px 1px; height: 459px;"><img border="0" id="Picture_x0020_3" src="cid:image003.jpg@01D1A167.805DF640" alt="raja4" style="line-height: 1.22em; right: 0px; width: 414px; position: absolute; left: 0px;"></p><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Jam Saheb was informed about the situation of Polish refugees by pianist Ignacy Jan Padrewski, the head of Polish government in exile in London.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Indian National Congress was not very pleased that Britain had drawn India into the war conflict. Nonetheless, several Indian <i style="line-height: 1.22em;">rajas</i> of the princely states came forward to play host to the refugees. Jam Saheb Digvijaysinghji, who ruled Nawanagar, and was a member of the Imperial War Council, was informed about the situation by Ignacy Jan Padrewski, the head of Polish government in exile in London.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Travelling for a month, the children arrived in India via Persia in April, 1942, and were housed temporarily in Mumbai’s Bandra area. The little refugees gained their health in their 3-month-long stay in Bandra, and picked up basic English language skill, enough to carry simple conversations. Shortly after, they arrived in Nawanagar village of Balachadi and found themselves in roomy barracks.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></p><p class="AppleTemporaryEdgeToEdgeParagraphElement" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px 1px; height: 310px;"><img border="0" id="Picture_x0020_2" src="cid:image004.jpg@01D1A167.805DF640" alt="raja3" style="line-height: 1.22em; right: 0px; width: 414px; position: absolute; left: 0px;"></p><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A group of Polish boys in Bandra in Mumbai, Maharashtra, in 1942.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Anuradha Bhattacharjee, a scholar at Jamia Millia Islamia University, says, “India, though not sovereign at the time and not at all prosperous, became the first country in the world to accept and offer war-duration at her own cost to the hapless Polish population,” she said.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Balachadi was one among the several places that housed World War II refugees. The British government brought in hundreds of thousands of displaced people from across the world: Jews from Central Europe. But some Maltese, Balkan and Anglo-Burmese refugees stayed for considerably longer periods of time in camps near Bharatpur, Coimbatore and Nainital.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></p><p class="AppleTemporaryEdgeToEdgeParagraphElement" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px 1px; height: 276px;"><img border="0" id="Picture_x0020_1" src="cid:image005.jpg@01D1A167.805DF640" alt="raja5" style="line-height: 1.22em; right: 0px; width: 414px; position: absolute; left: 0px;"></p><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Polish children perform their national dance in Balachadi, Gujarat.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">India has been able to uphold with age-old philosophy of welcoming distressed refugees from various parts of the world, notwithstanding its own teeming population. May be European nations, which are better equipped, learn a lesson on being a generous host from India.<o style="line-height: 1.22em;"></o></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em; line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><o style="line-height: 1.22em;"> </o></span></p></div><div style="line-height: 1.22em; height: 112.8px !important;"><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="line-height: 1.22em; width: 682px !important; height: 188px !important; transform-origin: 0px 0px !important; transform: scale(0.6) !important; margin: 0px -272px -75px 0px !important;"><tbody style="line-height: 1.22em;"><tr style="line-height: 1.22em;"><td width="102" align="left" valign="bottom" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img src="cid:image-11680-21978@rs.firzt.co.za" alt="newrufina.jpg" title="newrufina.jpg" border="0" style="line-height: 1.22em;"></font></p></td><td width="350" align="left" valign="bottom" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font style="line-height: 1.22em;"><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">Rufina Mausenbaum</b></font><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em;">Realtor</font><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em;"><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">C</b></font> <a dir="ltr" href="tel:083%20379%208242" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors-result="1">083 379 8242</a><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em;"><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">T</b></font> <a dir="ltr" href="tel:011%20731%200300" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2/0">011 731 0300</a> <br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em;"><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">F</b></font> <a dir="ltr" href="tel:011%20731%200301" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="telephone" x-apple-data-detectors-result="2/1">011 731 0301</a> <br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em;"><b style="line-height: 1.22em;">E</b></font> <a dir="ltr" href="mailto:rufina@firzt.co.za" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="3/2" style="line-height: 1.22em;">rufina@firzt.co.za</a></font><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em;">Fidelity Fund Ref. No. 675069 </font></span></p></td><td width="230" align="right" valign="bottom" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="rocketseed-strip" src="cid:image-8556-21978@rs.firzt.co.za" height="116" border="0" width="230" style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></td></tr><tr style="line-height: 1.22em;"><td width="682" colspan="3" align="left" valign="top" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img usemap="#imgmap2013118151118" class="rocketseed-strip" src="cid:image-11107-21978@rs.firzt.co.za" border="0" height="51" width="682" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><map id="imgmap2013118151118" name="imgmap2013118151118" style="line-height: 1.22em;"></map></span></td></tr></tbody></table></div><table width="650" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="line-height: 1.22em; width: 414px !important;"><tbody style="line-height: 1.22em;"><tr style="line-height: 1.22em;"><td width="650" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this email are solely those of the author, and Deez Realtors CC t/a Firzt Realty Company, together with its directors and management accepts no liability for such views.<br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Confidentiality Caution: If you have received this communication in error, please note that it is intended for the addressee only, is privileged and confidential and dissemination or copying is prohibited.<br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Please notify us immediately by e-mail and delete the message. 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padding: 15px 0px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Community email addresses:<br style="line-height: 1.22em;">TRANSLATE MESSAGE: http:www.freetranslation.com<br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Portuguese-Jewish History<br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Post message: <a dir="ltr" href="mailto:saudades-sefarad@yahoogroups.com" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="6" style="line-height: 1.22em;">saudades-sefarad@yahoogroups.com</a><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Subscribe: <a dir="ltr" href="mailto:saudades-sefarad-subscribe@yahoogroups.com" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="7" style="line-height: 1.22em;">saudades-sefarad-subscribe@yahoogroups.com</a><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Unsubscribe: <a dir="ltr" href="mailto:saudades-sefarad-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="8" style="line-height: 1.22em;">saudades-sefarad-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com</a><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">List owner:saudades-<a dir="ltr" href="mailto:sefarad-owner@yahoogroups.com" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="9" style="line-height: 1.22em;">sefarad-owner@yahoogroups.com</a><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Shortcut URL to this page:<br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><a href="http://www.onelist.com/community/saudades-sefarad" style="line-height: 1.22em;">http://www.onelist.com/community/saudades-sefarad</a><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Copyright(c) </span></div><div><br></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-14304095733314985762016-07-30T21:04:00.001-07:002016-07-30T21:04:07.519-07:00Accidental Talmudist<div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font color="#000000"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/accidentaltalmudist/photos/a.281229641972168.59006.227905913971208/1002626416499150/?type=3&theater" style="line-height: 1.22em;">https://www.facebook.com/accidentaltalmudist/photos/a.281229641972168.59006.227905913971208/1002626416499150/?type=3&theater</a><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/accidentaltalmudist/photos/a.281229641972168.59006.227905913971208/1002626416499150/?type=3&fref=nf" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: none; font-weight: bold;">Accidental Talmudist</a> (Facebook):<br clear="all" style="line-height: 1.22em;"></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img src="cid:ii_15463512fd718a96" alt="Imagem inline 1" height="147" width="212" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-right: 0px;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></font></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ho Feng-Shan was a mild-mannered diplomat who saved thousands of Austrian Jews between 1938 and 1940.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Born in Hunan province in 1901, Ho’s father died when he w<span class="" style="line-height: 1.22em;">as seven. He attended college in Munich, Germany, receiving a doctorate in political economics in 1932.</span></font></p><div class="" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;">Ho became a career diplomat serving the Republic of China. Ho’s first posting was in Turkey. Next, he was sent to Vienna in 1937. When Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938, Ho was appointed Consul-General to Vienna.</p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;">The violent Kristallnacht pogrom of November 1938 terrified Vienna’s 200,000 Jews <span style="line-height: 1.22em;">and made them desperate to get out. Thousands flocked to Embassy Row, going from one consulate to the next, begging for a visa.</span></p></font></div></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Every country turned them away - until they reached Ho’s door. China’s official position was to turn away all Jews, but Ho started writing visas to Shanghai to every Jew who asked him for one. He continued issuing the Shanghai visas against direct orders.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In Ho's first three months in office, he issued 1200 visas allowing Jews to leave Austria. Many went to Shanghai and from there to Australia. Others never went to Shanghai at all, but simply needed a visa in order to leave Austria.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A thriving community of Jewish refugees developed in Shanghai, because of Ho’s visas.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ho continued issuing visas until he was called back to China in 1940. It is estimated that Ho issued more than 10,000 visas to Jewish refugees.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">After the Chinese Revolution, Ho sided with the Nationalist government and moved to Taiwan. He continued to serve as an ambassador and was posted to Egypt, Mexico, Bolivia, and Colombia.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ho retired in 1973 and moved to San Francisco. He died in 1997, at age 96.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Ho never spoke of his wartime heroism. His family knew nothing about what their father had done to save Jews until survivors started to speak out. Their stories reached Yad Vashem, and in 2000, Feng-Shan Ho was awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">For sticking his neck out to save thousands of lives, we honor Ho Feng Shan as this week’s Thursday Hero at Accidental Talmudist.</font></p><p style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">With thanks to Khy Brochez<br style="line-height: 1.22em;">--------------------------</font></p></div><div style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div class="gmail_signature" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></font></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></font></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><div style="line-height: 1.22em;"></div>Leonor Medeiros<br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></font><div style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="line-height: 1.22em;">Se repassar a mensagem, favor apagar meu endereço. </span></font></div><div style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font style="line-height: 1.22em;">Preserve os endereços dos destinatários. Encaminhe como cópia oculta (Cco ou Bcc).</font></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-71042839613021634612016-07-30T21:00:00.001-07:002016-07-30T21:00:35.147-07:00Bishop Chrysostomos, 1943<div><br></div><div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><p class="AppleTemporaryEdgeToEdgeParagraphElement" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 1em 0px 1px; height: 288px;"><img src="cid:ii_154f319ac76b8f08" alt="Imagem inline 1" style="line-height: 1.22em; right: 0px; width: 374px; position: absolute; left: 0px;"></p><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div class="gmail_signature" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="line-height: 1.22em;">Bishop Chrysostomos, the spiritual leader of the Greek island of Zakynthos, stuck his neck out to save all 275 of the island’s Jews during the Nazi occupation of Greece.</span></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em;">On September 9, 1943, Germany occupied the Italian territories, including Greece. Immediately, the German commander ordered all Greek Jews to be assembled for deportation to Poland. The mayor of Zakynthos, Lucas Carrer, was order</span><span class="" style="line-height: 1.22em;">ed to prepare a list of Jews on the island.<br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Mayor Carrer made the list but before handing it over to the Nazis he went to the local church leader, Bishop Chrysostomos, for counsel. <br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">The bishop told the mayor to burn the list. He then went to the German commander and begged him not to deport the Jews. They were law-abiding citizens with the same rights as all other Greeks. The officer was unmoved and insisted on receiving the list of all Jews on the island.<br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Bishop Chrysostomos took out a slip of paper, wrote his own name on it, and handed it to the German officer. “Here is the list of Jews you required,” he said.<br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">This action confused the Nazi, and gained the bishop and mayor the time they needed.<br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">Together, they warned all the Jews of Zakynthos that their lives were in danger. They urged their Jewish brethren to hide in the mountains, and promised that Greek islanders would provide them with food and shelter.<br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">The people of Zakynthos, led by their brave bishop and mayor, kept their hidden Jews alive until the island was liberated by the Soviet army in late 1944. <br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">In 1978 Bishop Chrysostomos and Mayor Carrer were honored as Righteous Among the Nations by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. <br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;">For their great leadership and courage in saving the lives of 275 Jews, we honor Bishop Chrysostomos and Mayor Carrer of Zakynthos, Greece as this week’s Thursday Heroes at<a href="https://www.facebook.com/accidentaltalmudist/?fref=photo" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.22em; text-decoration: none;">Accidental Talmudist</a>.<br style="line-height: 1.22em;"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></span><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="line-height: 1.22em;">With thanks to Jason VanBorssum</span></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div class="gmail_default" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><font color="#000000"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="x-apple-msg-load://50B197C3-3F27-40FF-BA0E-57B742EFF421/%E2%80%8Bhttps://www.facebook.com/accidentaltalmudist/photos/a.281229641972168.59006.227905913971208/1018763281552130/?type=3&theater%E2%80%8B" target="_blank" style="line-height: 1.22em;">https://www.facebook.com/accidentaltalmudist/photos/a.281229641972168.59006.227905913971208/1018763281552130/?type=3&theater</a><br data="1" style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></font></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><div style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"></span></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="line-height: 1.22em;">Leonor Medeiros</span><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span><div style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="line-height: 1.22em;">Se repassar a mensagem, favor apagar meu endereço. </span></span></div><div style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="line-height: 1.22em; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Preserve os endereços dos destinatários. Encaminhe como cópia oculta (Cco ou Bcc).</span></div></div></div></div></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-71771642736712288062015-11-10T06:46:00.001-08:002015-11-10T06:46:39.167-08:00Rabinos Sefardíes: Rab Shaul HaLevi Mortera (1596-1660)<h2 id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37112" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 5px; margin-bottom: 3px;"><a href="http://esefarad.com/?p=66825" rel="bookmark" title="Enlace permanente a Rabinos Sefardíes: Rab Shaul haLevi Mortera (1596-1660)" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37114" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin-top: 7px; text-decoration: none; border-bottom-color: rgb(51, 51, 51); border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: dotted;"><font id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37327" style="line-height: 1.22em; font-size: 17px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);" color="#000000">Rabinos Sefardíes: Rab Shaul haLevi Mortera (1596-1660)</font></a></h2><div class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37116" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">noviembre 2nd, 2015 |</span></div><div class="" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37120" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37122" class="" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37128" class="" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><img class="" src="http://esefarad.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/rabbi_shaul_halevi_mortera.jpg" alt="rabbi_shaul_halevi_mortera" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37129" data="595c9117-ba77-d10c-4e74-a75be0af933c" height="268" width="176" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 10px auto; padding: 1px; max-width: 586px;"></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37131" class="" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">El Rabino Shaul haLevi Mortera nació en Venecia, Italia, en 1596. Él era descendiente de Judios portugueses. En 1616 escoltó el cuerpo del famoso doctor judío Eliyahu Montalto, médico personal de María de Médicis, desde París hasta Amsterdam. Allí, la nueva comunidad sefardí lo nombró como su nuevo rabino.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37133" class="" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">En Amsterdam, el rabino Mortera continuó sus estudios bajo el Jajam Ytsjaq Uziel de Marruecos. Fundó alli la escuela Keter Torah, donde él dictaba las clases de Talmud y filosofía judia. Después de unos años, fue nombrado como Jefe de la corte rabínica de la comunidad de Amsterdam.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37135" class="" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Más tarde fundó y enseñó en la famosa Yeshiba Ets haHayim. Entre sus estudiantes estaban el rabino Moshe Zacuto, el rabino Abraham Hacohen Pimentel (autor del libro “Minjat Cohen”) y Baruj Spinoza. El Rab Mortera fue uno de los tres dayanim que pronunciaron la excomunicación (herem )de Spinoza <a dir="ltr" href="x-apple-data-detectors://4" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="4" style="line-height: 1.22em;">el 27 de julio</a> de 1656.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37137" class="" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Su libro más famoso es Gib’at Shaul fue escrito en hebreo y publicado en Amsterdam,1645. Es una colección de cincuenta sermones (=derashot) seleccionados de entre más de 500 sermones, sobre las secciones semanales de la Tora .</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37139" class="" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">El Rab Mortera era un experto en religiones comparadas. En esos tiempos muchos judíos que habían vivido bajo la Inquisición durante generaciones comenzaban a acercarse y a practicar abiertamente el judaísmo. Era entonces muy necesario enseñarles a estos “Nuevos Judíos”, la mayoría de los cuales habían sido educados desde pequeños en conventos, los principios del judaísmo y en particular las diferencias entre el judaísmo y el cristianismo. Rabbi Mortera escribió varios libros para estos Yehudim , en portugués y en español. Entre ellos: “El Tratado de la Verdad de la Ley de Moisés”, escrito originalmente en portugués. En esta obra el rab defiende al judaísmo contra los ataques del cristianismo y explica el punto de vista judío sobre el Mesías, la inmortalidad del alma, la revelación de Dios, etc. clarificando cuál es el entendimiento judío de los versículos bíblicos que la Iglesia utilizaba para sostener sus creencias.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37141" class="" align="center" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37143" class="" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37145" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Estos son algunos de los libros que el RAB MORTERA escribió para los “nuevos Judíos” </span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37149" class="" align="left" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37151" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37153" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Preguntas Que Hizo Un Clerigo de Ruan de Francia. </strong>Una respuesta a los ataques de un sacerdote católico contra el Talmud.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37155" class="" align="left" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37157" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37159" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Providencia de Dios Con Israel </strong>¿Por qué Dios eligió al pueblo judío? ¿Cómo se manifiesta esta elección?</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37161" class="" align="left" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37163" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37165" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Relacion Memorable pára confucion de Aquellos Que niegan la providencia divina </strong>La creencia judía en la constante providencia y supervisión (hashagcha) de HaShem.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37167" class="" align="left" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37169" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37171" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Obstaculos y opociciones contra la religión Christiana</strong> Una visión crítica sobre los principios del cristianismo</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37173" class="" align="left" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37175" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><strong id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37177" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">Varios Tratados relativos a la religión judía </strong>Principios básicos del judaísmo para los “nuevos Judios”.</span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37179" class="" align="left" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37181" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><strong id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37183" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">La eternidad de la ley de Mosseh </strong></span><strong id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37183" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">La eterna ley de Moisés, la Torá, no puede ser reemplazada por un nuevo pacto(=Nuevo Testamento).</strong></span></div><div id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37187" class="" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><strong id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37183" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Rab Yosef Bittón</strong></div></div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37189" class="" align="justify" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><strong id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37183" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Fuente: <a dir="ltr" href="http://halaja.org/" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="link" x-apple-data-detectors-result="5" style="line-height: 1.22em;">halaja.org</a></strong></div><div dir="ltr" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37189" class="" align="justify" style="text-align: start; line-height: 1.22em; margin-bottom: 15px;"><strong id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37183" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37399" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37398" class="" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><a href="http://esefarad.com/?p=66825" id="yui_3_16_0_1_1446515246682_37394" style="line-height: 1.22em;">http://esefarad.com/?p=66825</a></span></font><br style="line-height: 1.22em;"></strong></div><div><strong class="" style="line-height: 1.22em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><font class="" face="Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Nimbus Sans L, sans-serif" style="line-height: 1.22em;"><br></font></strong></div></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-7157432431059100422015-07-19T18:04:00.001-07:002015-07-19T18:04:25.325-07:00THE FIRST SYNAGOGUE IN THE AMERICAS – ITAMARACÁ 1634<div><br></div><div><div id="ygrp-mlmsg" style="position: relative;"><div id="ygrp-msg" style="z-index: 1;"><div id="ygrp-text"><hr><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0); font-family: 'Helvetica Neue Light', HelveticaNeue-Light, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;">THE FIRST SYNAGOGUE IN THE AMERICAS – ITAMARACÁ 1634</span><div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default"><div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><br></span></div><div><div style="margin: 0px auto 8px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 474px;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://tokdehistoria.com.br/2015/06/08/the-first-synagogue-in-the-americas-itamaraca-1634/" rel="bookmark" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">08/06/2015</a></span> <span style="margin: 0px 10px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="http://tokdehistoria.com.br/author/tokdehistoria/" rel="author" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">ROSTAND MEDEI</a>ROS</span></span></span></div><div style="margin: 0px 54px 0px auto; padding: 12px 30px 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; max-width: 474px;"><font color="#000000"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/1-79d455b7d1.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><img width="330" height="92" alt="Detail of Vila Velha in 1637 – Frans Post." src="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/1-79d455b7d1.jpg?w=330&h=92" style="margin: 0px; height: auto; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%;"></a>Detail of Vila Velha in 1637 – Frans Post.</span></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The erudite and respected jewish historian Isaac Emmanuel was of the opinion that there was most likely an organised synagogue in Brazil in 1633/34, this conviction was based on the solid evidence of the purchase by Simon Drago of a Sepher Torah, (the holy scroll of jewish law), in Amsterdam on the 10th of June 1633. A Torah Scroll is essential in a synagogue, indeed a synagogue cannot exist without one.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Drago had been living in Brazil for several years as a New-Christian and the historian Emmanuel imagined that the destiny of the Sepher Torah was Recife where it would be used to found a synagogue given the religious tolerance of the Dutch Administration. The prolific brazilian historian José Antonio Gonsalves de Mello held Emmanuel’s opinion with such serious regard that he mentioned the hypothesis in his seminal work “Gente da Nação”, but also stating that they had not found any evidence of the scroll in Recife [1]……………. they were looking in the wrong place !</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Island of Itamaracá is a small island of 65 square kms. situated 50 kms. to the North of Recife in the State of Pernambuco, Brazil, and is connected to the mainland, since 1940, by a single 500 mt. long bridge. The village of Nossa Senhora da Conceição, today Vila Velha, is situated on a hilltop on the southern end of the island and is one of the first, if not the first, european settlements on the american continent, and has been continually populated for at least five hundred years. The village church is the oldest church in Brazil. The area was visited by Gonçalo Coelho and Americo Vespuccio in 1501 and 1503 in the course of their exploratory expeditions which were financed by Fernão de Loronha the wealthy portuguese new-christian financier, and personal friend of Dom Manuel, King of Portugal. In 1502 Loronha was awarded van exclusive crown contract for the exploitation of the resources of Brazil, principally the dyewood “Pau Brasil”,(Caesalpinia echinata), a tree native to Brazil which provided a strong red dye of high value and much in demand in Europe at that time. Interestingly, the wood is prized even today by the bow-makers of stringed musical instruments, and is known by them as “Pernambuco Wood”.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the 17th. century, Brazil was twice invaded by the Dutch West Indies Company, (WIC), the first invasion in 1624 of the city of Salvador, Bahia was of short duration lasting only a year until 1625. The second invasion was in 1630, when the Dutch easily took the city of Olinda including the area that today is the city of Recife in Pernambuco.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Realising the strategic value of the island of Itamaracá the Dutch erected, in 1631, an adobe fort and palisade, Fort Orange, on a sand-bar at the southern entrance to the Canal Santa Cruz, the channel that separates the island from the mainland. Upon hearing of the arrival of the Dutch, Salvador Pinheiro mayor of Vila Velha, ordered earth defences to be raised around the village and had the hillsides surrounding the village made steeper to hinder the invaders, thus delaying the taking of Vila Velha until the 22nd. of May1633 when the village was overrun by the Dutch troops under the command of Sigismund Schkoppe, a German mercenary hired by the WIC. The Dutch remained in possession of the village until 1646 when an uprising by Portuguese Brazilians attacked and retook the village, forcing the Dutch to retire to their nearby Fort Orange, (2.5kms.), this situation continued until 1654 when the Dutch finally left Brazil.</span></p><font color="#000000"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/2-a7d9e557f7.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><img width="330" height="229" alt=" Portuguese map of the island of Itamaracá – João Teixeira Albernaz 1640 " src="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/2-a7d9e557f7.jpg?w=330&h=229" style="margin: 0px; height: auto; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%;"></a><br>Portuguese map of the island of Itamaracá – João Teixeira Albernaz 1640</span></font><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">It is in this thirteen year period that we find evidence for a synagogue in Vila Velha or “Oppidum Schkoppe”, (Schkoppe City), as it was renamed by the Dutch. During the dutch occupation of Vila Velha the village had a resident Rabbi, Jacob Franco Lagarto, (Yahacob Franquo Lagarto), little is known of Rabbi Lagarto and I have been unable to find any alias that he may have used, although there is a suggestion that he was the son of one Simon Lagarto [2]. Egon Wolff, in an article published in the magazine, Menorah, states that Lagarto was the brother of the Hacham Mosseh Raphael de Aguylar, professor in the college Ets Haim in Amsterdam [3] There are multiple references to his having written a book of Talmudic Aphorisms – Tienda de Jacob (Ohel Yaacov or Jacob’s Tent), although no known copies are extant. He is also mentioned as Rabbi of Itamaracá in a poem by the famous “converso” poet Daniel Levi de Barrios. The author Jacob Nachbin claims that Lagarto organised the movement to colonize the far north of Brazil, the Guyanas and the Caribbean Islands on the occasion of the return of Dutch Brazil to the Portuguese in 1654 [4]. Another </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">author, Simon Federbusch, suggests that he was “chief rabbi of all Jewish communities”[5].</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The definitive proof of Rabbi Lagarto’s leadership of the jewish congregation in Itamaracá comes in his own handwriting, in an article, “Hooked On American Jewish History”, published in The Jewish Press in 2006 [6], the author, Dr. Yitzchok Levine mentions that in the Yosef Goldman Collection of American Jewish Books is a book in Hebrew titled “Shefa Tal” printed in Germany in 1612, which contains <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">“a handwritten statement of ownership by a Rabbi Jacob Lugarto of a congregation in Tamarica, Brazil” </span>!</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Despite the scarce information about the life of Rabbi Lagarto, it is nown when and where he died, his grave is to be found in the Sephardi cemetery in Middleburg, Holland. His gravestone, number 24, is inscribed “<em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">DO BEM AVENTURADO HAHAM YAHACOB FRANQUO LAGARTO</em>”, and the date of death as 8 Sebat 5427 (<a href="x-apple-data-detectors://4" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="4">02 February</a> 1667). [7]</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/3-2864cdecf7.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><font color="#000000"><img width="330" height="197" alt="3-2864cdecf7" src="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/3-2864cdecf7.jpg?w=330&h=197" style="margin: 7px auto; height: auto; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%;"></font></a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The records of the Sephardi cemetery, (Bet-Haim), also provide us with some very important information…. <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">the buyer in Amsterdam of the Sepher Torah, Simon Drago, also used the alias of Isaac Franco…… and is mentioned as the son-in-law of the Rabbi Lagarto ! </em></span>[8]</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">This detail seems to have been overlooked by all the historians, the Sepher Torah was purchased in 1633 by an immediate relative of the Rabbi of Itamaracá !</em></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Sadly the records also show the death of the Rabbi’s eight-month old granddaughter in 1640.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">In January of 1634 orders came from the States General of Holland to allow religious freedom for all inhabitants in Dutch Brazil, many New-Christians, Conversos and Crypto-Jews returned to the open practice of Judaism. At that time, on the mainland some 70 kms to the North of Itamaracá in what is today the State of Paraiba, there lived a New-Christian by the name of Antonio Carvalho, (Jewish name – Isaac </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Nunes). As a young man in his native Portugal, Antonio had joined the Catholic Clergy and officiated as a chaplain in the University of Coimbra. In Brazil he lived opposite the Convent do Carmo and sang there in the choir in 1634, the exact date is not known, but Antonio abandoned Paraiba and moved with his family to Vila Velha in Itamaracá. [9]</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">In the same year, 1634, the famous jewish pirate, Moses Cohen Henriques, (the uncle of Jacob Cohen, the financial adviser and personal secretary to Count Maurice of Nassau), wrote a letter on the <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://5" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="5">9th February</a> to the WIC in Amsterdam applying for permission to bring the first large organised group of Sephardi colonists to Brazil. The group arrived in 1635 and settled in Vila Velha on the island of Itamaracá. [10] If they came on one of Moses Cohen’s “pirate” ships which were smaller and more agile than the larger warships, and although there is no known passenger list for the group, an educated guess for their number would be between 100 and 200 souls.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">From the details elaborated above we can see that there were present in Vila Velha in the early part of the period in question, the following; A Rabbi; Jacob Franco Lagarto, A Hazan (Cantor); Antonio Carvalho and a large group of Sephardim, amongst which there were certainly at least ten adult males, all the elements necessary for the formation of a Minyan!</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">If we add to this the possession of a recently purchased Sepher Torah and consider that even before the arrival of the Dutch and the advent of “religious tolerance” the Portuguese New-Christians risked their lives holding secret meetings in their homes to practice Jewish ritual, it is almost impossible to think that given the opportunity, a synagogue was not established.</em></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">It should also be mentioned that until the arrival of Count Maurice of Nassau in January of 1637, Itamaracá was the favoured place for the establishment of the capital of Dutch Brazil, the choice of Recife was a caprice of the Count and against the advice of such eminent councillors as Dr. Servaes Carpentier.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">From The Minute Book discovered in Amsterdam in 1911 of the synagogues Zur Israel and Magen Abraham we know that these two congregations existed in Recife in 1648, Zur Israel in the original part of Recife and Magen Abraham in Mauricia, (Mauristaad), on the nearby island of Antonio Vaz. In 1649 the Mahamad, the Executive Commitee, of Zur Israel declared Magen Abraham to be under their aegis and central control, no other congregation in Brazil being recognised or permitted. Dr. Arnold Witznitzer, in his writings about this Minute Book, deduces that in 1648 there were no other congregations in Brazil, [11] while this is quite likely to be true it does not rule out the existence of other congregations prior to 1648, in fact the necessity of this arbitrary declaration by the Mahamad rather indicates that there had been. <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline;"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-weight: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><em>Could it be that Magen Abraham was founded by the previous congregation of Itamaracá after they were ousted from Vila Velha by the portuguese recovery of the village in 1646? </em></em></span></span><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Although the Dutch retained control of Fort Orange until 1654 it is unlikely that Jewish or Dutch civilians remained on the island. Dr. Wiznitzer also <span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">suggests that the tolerance shown by the Mahamad of Zur Israel towards the jews of Magen Abraham was due to the difficulty of access from Mauricia, (Antonio Vaz), to the synagogue Zur Israel in Recife [12]. A bridge connecting the island of Antonio Vaz to Recife was built by the New-Christian Balthazar de Fonseca and inaugurated in February of 1644, so visiting Zur Israel in 1648 did not present a problem.</span></em></span></p><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; -webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><a href="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/5-b891faf3d6.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><img width="330" height="237" alt="The bridge built by the New-Christian Baltazar de Fonseca, inaugurated in 1644." src="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/5-b891faf3d6.jpg?w=330&h=237" style="margin: 0px; height: auto; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%;"></a>The bridge built by the New-Christian Baltazar de Fonseca, inaugurated in 1644.<p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Obviously all this evidence is of a circumstantial nature, now we will consider the possibility of the existence of physical evidence ………..</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/6-a93019e584.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><img width="302" height="330" alt="6-a93019e584" src="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/6-a93019e584.jpg?w=302&h=330" style="margin: 7px auto; height: auto; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%;"></a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">The above map can be found in the national archives in Holland,[13] it is in itself a mystery, the author is unknown and the annotations are in several languages, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese and French, and the information on it appears to be in the nature of “military intelligence”, showing the positions and numbers of soldiers, defences, officers names and their residences, sources of water etc.. Important information for the planning of an attack by the enemy. I believe this map was produced by spies in the Dutch camp, most probably Jesuit </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">priests, they being versed in several languages, but it was intercepted by the Dutch, thus explaining how it came to be in their possession. This hypothesis is supported by a directive sent to Ippo Eisens, the dutch governor of Itamaracá, that came from the Herren 19, (Directors of the WIC), in Amsterdam <a href="x-apple-data-detectors://8" x-apple-data-detectors="true" x-apple-data-detectors-type="calendar-event" x-apple-data-detectors-result="8">on the 1st. of August</a> 1635 ordering the expulsion of the Jesuits from Vila Velha. Examining the map it can be seen that the Dutch were cautious with their “allies”, the indians that sided with the invaders and fought with them against the Portuguese were quartered outside the protective walls of the village, as can be seen in the top left-hand corner of the map, where theyare referred to as “Brisiliaenses”.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/7-deb3e00300-2.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><img width="330" height="148" alt="7-deb3e00300 (2)" src="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/7-deb3e00300-2.jpg?w=330&h=148" style="margin: 7px auto; height: auto; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%;"></a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">In the top right-hand corner of the map we can see a group of buildings indicated as “Portugees huys”, Portuguese houses, I find it strange that the Dutch would allow some portuguese, ostensibly the enemy, to live so close to the village, unless, of course, they were considered to be allies. Due to the large number of New Christians in Brazil it was common practice at the time to refer to them simply as Portuguese, </span><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Portogalos or Portugals. I believe that the Dutch allowed them to live close enough to be under the protection of the 25 soldiers stationed nearby at the northern entrance to the village, but perhaps they were not trusted enough to be allowed residence inside the village walls.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/7-deb3e00300-11.jpg" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><img width="330" height="77" alt="7-deb3e00300 (1)" src="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/7-deb3e00300-11.jpg?w=330&h=77" style="margin: 7px auto; height: auto; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%;"></a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">After the Dutch definitively left Brazil in 1654, Vila Velha fell into decadence and has remained much as it was four centuries ago up to the present day, the lay-out and number of houses are almost exactly as they were.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">If the hypothesis is correct, and there was indeed a synagogue in Vila Velha, then the area of the “portuguese” houses would be it’s most likely site, and the obvious area for an archaeological survey. At present the area in question is planted with widely spaced coconut palms, and lends itself admirably to an archaeological survey using</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">GPR (Ground Penetrating Radar), the quest being the discovery of a Mikvah, the ceremonial bath that is an essential part of Jewish religious ritual, and undeniable evidence of a synagogue.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">There is some urgency if a survey is to take place, large tracts of land around the village have been bought by speculators and developers, and projects exist that propose construction in the exact area of interest.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Christopher Sellars. 31/05/2014.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="mailto:christopher.sellars@gmail.com" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">christopher.sellars@gmail.com</a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Vila Velha,</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Ilha de Itamaracá,</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Pernambuco, Brazil.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[1] “Gente da Nação” – Page 231</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">José Antonio Gonsalves de Mello.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[2]. “A Odisseia dos Judeus de Recife” – 1979, Page 135.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Egon Wolff & Frieda Wolff.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[3] “Coletanea de Artigos e Conferencias” – IHGB-1991, Page 58.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[4] “Jacob Nachbin” – 1985, Page 249.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Prof. Nachman Falbel.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[5] “World Jewry Today” – 1959, Page 65.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Simon Federbusch.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[6] <a href="http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/front-page/hooked-on-american-jewishhistory/" rel="nofollow" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/front-page/hooked-on-american-jewishhistory/</a></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">2006/12/06/</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[7] <a href="http://www.zeeuwseankers.nl/nl-NL/media/scez_beeldbank-zeeuwsarchief_" rel="nofollow" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.zeeuwseankers.nl/nl-NL/media/scez_beeldbank-zeeuwsarchief_</a></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">HTAM-ALBUM-60-031</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[8] Bet-Haim</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><a href="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/8-fa02cb23e5.png" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><img width="330" height="83" alt="8-fa02cb23e5" src="https://tokdehistoria.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/8-fa02cb23e5.png?w=330&h=83" style="margin: 7px 24px 7px 0px; height: auto; vertical-align: middle; float: left; max-width: 100%;"></a></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[9] “As Comunidades Esquecidas” – 2002. Page 93.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">José Alexandre Ribemboim.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[10] <a href="http://www.nljewgen.org/?s=300+JAAR+HANDEL+IN+SUIKER" rel="nofollow" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.nljewgen.org/?s=300+JAAR+HANDEL+IN+SUIKER</a></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[11], [12] “The Jewish Experience in Latin America” – 1971. Page 238.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Arnold Wiznitzer.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 24px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">[13] <a href="http://www.atlasofmutualheritage.nl/nl/object/?id=8601" rel="nofollow" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; font-style: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">http://www.atlasofmutualheritage.nl/nl/object/?id=8601</a></span></p></em></div></div></div><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);"><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></em></span></div><em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; 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Back<br>
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45270My Sephardic Guilt on Kristallnacht<br>
Renato AthiasNov 11 7:27 AM<br>
My Sephardic Guilt on Kristallnacht<br>
By Rachel Delia Benaim<br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Postcard of Madeira<br>
While other Jewish families suffered unimaginable brutality in the Holocaust, my family lived like royalty in the Portuguese paradise known for its wine, Madeira.<br>
I know: I sound like an entitled, unsympathetic brat. And what I’m trying to say is, I feel guilty about this. I always have.<br>
Every time a Holocaust remembrance day rolls around — like today, Kristallnacht — I feel guilty. Guilty that my family survived, that I can’t relate to the Holocaust on a personal level at all, that Holocaust history is the core of Jewish identity in modern America — and yet I have no part in it.<br>
My family is from Gibraltar (like the straits you learned about in history class), a British territory on the tip of the Iberian Peninsula. In 1940, the civilian population of Gibraltar was evacuated because it was being used as a base for the British Royal Air Force’s, Military’s and Navy’s war efforts. The evacuation moved the entire peninsula’s population well out of harm’s way — and well out of the Holocaust’s scope — to Madeira, where my family went, and Jamaica, another tropical paradise.<br>
My point in highlighting this history is not to brag — just the opposite. I thank God that my family wasn’t subjected to Hitler’s evils, but I feel like the fact that we were so far removed from the horrors carried out by Nazi Germany somehow isolates me from the modern Jewish community and makes my identity less, well, Jewish In my house, we never really talked about the Holocaust. School was different: the Holocaust came up all the time. Sometimes it was in the form of direct history. Sometimes it was in the form of literature: Night, The Diary of Anne Frank, and Number the Stars, among others. I always found it beneficial to hear from survivors. Who better to learn from than them?<br>
But then there were other Holocaust education forums that made me feel like an alien. When I was even younger, before the administration deemed us old enough to hear survivors’ testimonies firsthand, we had a different sort of Holocaust education. During these sessions, our teachers told us facts: there were evil people, the Nazis, who wanted to kill all of the Jews, and they killed six million. Then, we were each invited to tell our family’s story. It was pretty smart, in a way. It was a way to encourage every kid to ask their parents and grandparents about their personal connections to the Holocaust. But I couldn’t help feeling left out.<br>
That’s not to say that Sephardis cannot relate to monstrosities and other hardships. First of all, there were some Sephardic communities, like the one in Greece, that did experience the Holocaust directly. Going back farther, of course, there was the Spanish Inquisition in 1492. There has also been more modern suffering among Sephardis in Arab lands. These are little-known facts that haven’t even permeated mainstream Jewish knowledge or education. Whereas the Holocaust has become intertwined with modern Jewish identity, other major massacres and traumas in recent Jewish history have not.<br>
With the Ashkenazi narrative enshrined as the universal Jewish narrative, where does that leave me, leave us, the Sephardis who did not experience Hitler’s evil?<br>
To me, the Holocaust is an important rallying point for Jewish identity. It’s crucial for understanding the state of modern universal Jewry. But it cannot be the fulcrum of who we are. Trying to make it so reinforces the idea of “Ashkenormativity”, putting the Ashkenazi narrative at the center of Jewish identity. It makes those of us who don’t have a personal connection to it feel less Jewish, in the same way that making full-fledged support for Israel the yardstick for measuring Jewish identity alienates some.<br>
Of course we will never forget. But who are we as a people? Who are we as Jews in the modern world — all of us, not just some of us?<br>
Thinking about these cultural divides makes me that much more appreciative of how I was raised with an emphasis on sacred text. In my house, Jewish identity was based on the Torah and the Talmud. I recognize that is abnormal in the grand scale of American and international Jewry, but perhaps it could be a new rallying point for the Jewish people: a return to text, a return to the roots. We all might have our own interpretations of those texts, but whether we approach them religiously or in other creative ways, they are a heritage that binds all Jews.<br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Read more: http://blogs.forward.com/forward-thinking/208964/my-sephardic-guilt-on-kristallnacht/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Opinion&utm_campaign=Opinion%202014-11-10#ixzz3Im30Eqbn</p>
<p dir="ltr">-- <br>
Renato Athias</p>
<p dir="ltr">http://www.ufpe.br/nepe<br>
http://www.ufpe.br/carlosestevao<br>
http://www.filmedorecife.com.br<br>
http://renatoathias.blogspot.com</p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-38147798272074157172014-06-22T14:09:00.001-07:002014-06-22T14:09:10.480-07:00The Oldest Known Illustration of Circumcision (2400 B.C.E.)
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/the-oldest-known-illustration-of-circumcision-2400-b-c-e.html"><b>The Oldest Known Illustration of Circumcision (2400 B.C.E.)</b></a></p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>in </b></i><a href="http://www.openculture.com/category/art"><i><b>Art</b></i></a><i><b>, </b></i><a href="http://www.openculture.com/category/history"><i><b>History</b></i></a><b> | June 17th, 2014</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://cdn8.openculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Circumcision_Sakkara_3.jpg"><a href="http://cdn8.openculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Circumcision_Sakkara_3.jpg"></a></p>
<p dir="ltr">What do we have here? Just the oldest known illustration of circumcision being performed. Actually, it’s a colorful re-creation of a bas-relief (<a href="http://cdn8.openculture.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Sakkara-Egypt-circumcision-.jpg">see original here</a>) found in an <a href="http://www.ancient-egypt.org/index.html">Egyptian tomb built for Ankhmabor</a> in<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saqqara">Sakkara, Egypt</a>. It dates back to around 2400 B.C.E.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The origins of<a href="http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/circumcision/basics/definition/prc-20013585">circumcision</a> remain unclear. According to this <a href="http://www.nocirc.org/symposia/second/larue.html">online essay</a>, a stele (carving on stone) from the 23rd century B.C.E. suggests that an author named “Uha” was circumcised in a mass ritual. He wrote:</p>
<blockquote><p dir="ltr">“When I was circumcised, together with one hundred and twenty men, there was none thereof who hit out, there was none thereof who was hit, and there was none thereof who scratched and there was none thereof who was scratched.”<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p dir="ltr"><br>
By the time you get to 4,000 B.C.E., you start to find exhumed Egyptian bodies that show signs of circumcision. And then come the artistic depictions. The Sakkara depiction comes with the perhaps helpful written warning,“Hold him and do not allow him to faint.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">via <a href="https://twitter.com/BananaKarenina">Elif Batuman</a></p>
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<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.openculture.com/2013/07/louis-armstrong-plays-trumpet-at-the-egyptian-pyramids-dizzy-gillespie-charms-a-snake-in-pakistan.html">Louis Armstrong Plays Trumpet at the Egyptian Pyramids; Dizzy Gillespie Charms a Snake in Pakistan</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">by <a href="http://www.openculture.com/author/dancolman">Dan Colman</a> | <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/the-oldest-known-illustration-of-circumcision-2400-b-c-e.html#respond">Make a Comment</a>( <a href="http://www.openculture.com/2014/06/the-oldest-known-illustration-of-circumcision-2400-b-c-e.html#comments">10</a> )</p>
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<p dir="ltr"><b>Comments (10)</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Randy says . . .</p>
<p dir="ltr">June 17, 2014 / 7:10 pm</p>
<p dir="ltr">“there was none thereof who hit out, there was none thereof who was hit, and there was none thereof who scratched and there was none thereof who was scratched.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">That suggests that normally there would have been those who had to be forced to submit to mutilation of their genitals, but some factor was causing them to go willingly.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It’s sad to know that after so many millennia, this practice is still going on.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Anon says . . .</p>
<p dir="ltr">June 17, 2014 / 7:23 pm</p>
<p dir="ltr">No, it suggests that in an era long before anesthesia, a ritual surgeon could expect to be the target of reflexive blows by those who were overcome by pain. The images and second inscription make that quite clear.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Uha probably mentioned it as a matter of bragging about his circumcision group’s collective discipline.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Nater says . . .</p>
<p dir="ltr">June 18, 2014 / 1:06 pm</p>
<p dir="ltr">Randy:<br>
Circumcision was beneficiary in this time since sand getting stuck in your foreskin could get you infected and you’d die.<br>
There’s nothing beneficial about circumcision today.<br>
It kills off 2000 nerve endings, can cause damage to your penis, along with impotence and gland issues just from the removal of the foreskin itself.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Buddy says . . .</p>
<p dir="ltr">June 18, 2014 / 2:30 pm</p>
<p dir="ltr">Wrongo, Nater. It is very evident that Circumcision in infants prevents penis cancer and reduces the chances of catching an std.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Stan says . . .</p>
<p dir="ltr">June 19, 2014 / 3:03 am</p>
<p dir="ltr">I can understand a pharmaceutical company, that makes hundreds of millions selling lubricants to return normal function to genitals, being anti-choice – since it;s not reversible. But not a parent. Also, wasn’t it typically an Islamic or Jewish tradition to focus the mind on God?</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ren Kay says . . .</p>
<p dir="ltr">June 19, 2014 / 6:06 am</p>
<p dir="ltr">well, let’s see….what was the purpose in all those rules the Hebrews had? Prophylaxis, survival in the desert. Don’t eat pig, don’t get trichinosis. Have one day a week off, breed and continue to exist. Circumcise the males, don’t get STD’s. Whether it’s God or The Aliens, some sky person told that tribe how to live, and guess what? We’re still here today? Met any Canaanites lately? Duh…</p>
<p dir="ltr">Buddy says . . .</p>
<p dir="ltr">June 19, 2014 / 7:55 am</p>
<p dir="ltr">Good call, Ren Kay. On that topic, it’s interesting how some religions will incorporate practices that make physical sense. This example is a good one, but also, we recently discovered that fasting for 72 hours will cause the body to kill off weak white blood cells and to create new and healthier white blood cells, once eating has resumed. I am not religious at all and humans clearly don’t know everything. But, it’s interesting that we observe practices, or even trends, that yield positive results, sometimes, for whatever reasons, superstitious or otherwise, and then we discover valid and accurate scientific benefits to them later on. With an emphasis on sometimes.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Kelly Carter says . . .</p>
<p dir="ltr">June 19, 2014 / 10:34 am</p>
<p dir="ltr">I think we’re now closer to being able to translate the squiggly lines, snake, and bird symbols coming out of the guy on the right. It’s something like, “Holy f#ck, this $h1t hurts like a m0th3r!!!”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Yahcanon Ben Ysrayl says . . .</p>
<p dir="ltr">June 20, 2014 / 5:42 pm</p>
<p dir="ltr">Gen 17:9 And YAH said to Aḇraham, “As for you, guard My covenant, you and your seed after you throughout their generations.<br>
Gen 17:10 “This is My covenant which you guard between Me and you, and your seed after you: Every male child among you is to be circumcised.<br>
Gen 17:11 “And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall become a sign of the covenant between Me and you.<br>
Gen 17:12 “And a son of eight days is circumcised by you, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with silver from any foreigner who is not of your seed.<br>
Gen 17:13 “He who is born in your house, and he who is bought with your silver, has to be circumcised. So shall My covenant be in your flesh, for an everlasting covenant.<br>
Gen 17:14 “And an uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, his life shall be cut off from his people – he has broken My covenant.”<br>
Curcumcision dates back way longer than that eygptian painting….<br>
Its the bond of the covenant between Abraham seed and YAH.. NOT THE JEWS.. But the HEBREWS..</p>
<p dir="ltr">James says . . .</p>
<p dir="ltr">June 20, 2014 / 7:57 pm</p>
<p dir="ltr">MODERN WHITES IMITATING ANCIENT AFRICANS!</p>
<p dir="ltr">It is the greatest insanity when Judaists and even Christians try to justify this barbaric ritual of male genital mutilation.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Modern whites who invented cars and jet planes cutting off their own bodies because African barbarians did so 4000 years ago! How insane!</p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-18193285474955991992014-06-06T10:26:00.001-07:002014-06-06T10:26:33.371-07:00400 Years After Portugal Inquisition, Avery Unusual Family Comes Together<p dir="ltr"><b>400 Years After Portugal’s Inquisition, a Very Unusual Family Comes Together</b><br></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>The Da Costas' Amazing Sephardic Story</b><br></p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://forward.com/image/2/630/0/5//assets/images/articles/Portuguese_Synagogue_Amsterdamweb.jpg"></p>
<p dir="ltr">WIKIMEDIA COMMONS</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>On Tour</b>: The da Costas visited the Portuguese Synagogue of Amsterdam, the far left building in this 18th century print.<br></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>By </b><a href="http://forward.com/authors/jessica-siegel/"><b>Jessica Siegel</b></a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Published June 01, 2014, issue of <a href="http://forward.com/issues/2014-06-06/">June 06, 2014</a>.<br><br></p>
<p dir="ltr">The scene was that of a typical family gathering at an Amsterdam restaurant in April. Children squatted on their chairs to reach the table, cuddling up to their grandmother, dishes were passed and toasts were made; a pair of sisters talked about old times.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Yet this was no typical family. The da Costas are descendants of four Portuguese Jewish brothers who, with their mother, fled the Inquisition in Portugal in 1614 and made their way to Amsterdam in order to live openly as Jews. The dinner culminated a full day of activities to commemorate that event.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The reunion brought together 55 family members, ranging in age from 4 to 70. And yet, ironically, very few of the da Costas who gathered there — coming from all over the Netherlands and Suriname, the former Dutch colony in South America — were Jewish themselves.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Many of their ancestors converted to Christianity over the years, or simply stopped practicing Judaism. As one participant, Joost da Costa, a retired pediatrician, said the familly’s relationship to Judaism “has to do with the guarding of our history… It is a kind of feeling of where you come from, where you belong.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The commemoration was the brainchild of Marina da Costa, an animated Surinamese Jewish woman who has become a passionate researcher of her family’s history. She leads tours of Jodensavanne, the 17th-century Jewish plantation settlement now in ruins, 35 miles down the Suriname River from Paramaribo, Suriname’s capital city.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Marina da Costa worked for over a year with another distant relative to organize the event, reaching out to family members neither had met. She described the experience as transformative. At the reunion, she said, “you saw people who you know exist but you have never seen them.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The da Costas trace their roots to four brothers: Abraham, Uriel, Joseph and Mordecai, who, with their mother, left Portugal after living as New Christians — Jews forcibly converted to Catholicism by the Portuguese King, Manuel I, in 1497, five years after the start of the Spanish Inquisition. Many Portuguese Jews publicly practiced Catholicism but continued to live as <i>conversos</i>, or secret Jews, and fled, like the da Costas, when they could. Others eventually became true Catholics.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The da Costa reunion began at the Jewish Historical Museum, where Joost da Costa spoke about two key figures in the da Costa family tree: Uriel da Costa and Isaac da Costa. Uriel, one of the four original brothers, convinced his siblings to return to Judaism, which galvanized the family to leave Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Once in Amsterdam, however, he began to question rabbinic authority and later the immortality of the soul, publishing his views in a book. He was excommunicated from the Sephardic synagogue and fled to Hamburg, Germany. He later returned, but was excommunicated again for questioning other Jewish teachings, such as the idea that Moses was given the 10 commandments directly from God.</p>
<p dir="ltr">He eventually recanted, but as punishment for his heretical views, he was forced to lie on the path leading into the synagogue as congregants walked over him. He later took his own life. Over the centuries, Uriel came to be seen as an early free thinker, and by the 19th century had become a central character in several Yiddish theater plays and an operetta. (Two weeks before the reunion, in New York City, Uriel was the subject of a wild, avant-garde production of a new play, “Uriel Acosta: I Want That Man!” with three actors — one a woman — portraying the central character. It also included puppets, projections, artificial smoke and music.)</p>
<p dir="ltr">Joost da Costa also spoke about Isaac da Costa, his great-great-grandfather, a romantic poet and writer, who eventually converted to the Protestant Dutch Reform Church. There were many 19th-century Jews who converted, such as the father of German composer Felix Mendelssohn.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“He followed the stream,” said Joost da Costa of his ancestor. “It was the flow of the time.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Yet Joost da Costa and his family maintain an interest in their Jewish past. In the 1960s, his father, a minister, took the family to Portugal on two different occasions to visit the street where the da Costa house once stood. Joost da Costa himself has been researching the family genealogy since his retirement from medicine five years ago. He has also investigated the life of Joseph da Costa, one of the other original brothers, who lived for several years in New Amsterdam on the southern tip of Manhattan, battling the anti-Semitic Governor Peter Stuyvesant.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Da Costa, a merchant who was a shareholder in the Dutch West India Company, was involved in a number of petitions to the company to grant Jews rights, such as the ability to trade and purchase property. Joseph da Costa eventually returned to Amsterdam and is buried in a Jewish cemetery there.</p>
<p dir="ltr">At the Amsterdam reunion, the extended da Costa family toured the Portuguese Synagogue, also known as the Esnoga, the magnificent house of worship lit by over 1,000 candles in brass chandeliers. The synagogue, which opened in 1675, has a rosewood ark that rises over 26 feet high against one wall.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The floor is covered with sand; some say that this is a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt, while others say it is a throwback to the <i>converso</i> era, when secret Jewish worshippers wanted to muffle the sound of their feet. Since it was the day before Passover, the synagogue had been swept clean of sand.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The group then walked to the Kirchner Bookstore, owned by another da Costa descendant, Frederick Lobbrecht, for drinks and canapés. Overlooking a canal, the bookstore was a treasure trove of books on politics, philosophy, anthropology and religion that could only be found in a European capital like Amsterdam. A large poster for Baruch Spinoza’s “Ethics” featuring the philosopher’s portrait looked down from a wall. The store is around the corner from the Anne Frank House, where every day, rain or shine, a long line of people wait to get in.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For dinner, the group converged upstairs in at Haesje Claes, an old-style Dutch restaurant where the extended family got to know each other and ended the day. Mixed among the toasts were exclamations of “<i>L’chaim</i>” and “<i>Mazel tov.”</i></p>
<p dir="ltr">For Marina da Costa, the reunion was one component of her own return to Judaism. She is the daughter of a Dutch Jewish father and a Christian mother. Her father fought in the resistance movement during World War II and lost his sister, brother-in-law, and their two children in Auschwitz.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The experience caused him to lose his faith, as he questioned the existence of a God who would allow the mass killing of Jews. Neither Marina nor her siblings were raised Jewish. When at 18 she told her father that she wanted to return to his religion, he balked.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“Oh, my girl, what are you doing now? I was the one who made you not Jewish and now you’re going back,” Marina da Costa recounted. “I think you will be the first one they will catch.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Marina da Costa’s mother, on the other hand, was more interested in the family’s Jewish heritage. Though not Jewish herself, Irini da Costa was fascinated by Sephardic Jewish history in Suriname and spent time in the Dutch archives, photocopying letters, birth records, marriage licenses, death certificates, bills of sale, ships manifests and other public records. She even combed the phone book for da Costas, which led to meeting with the distant relative, Lousje da Costa, with whom Marina organized the reunion. In 1973, Irini da Costa founded the Jodensavanne Foundation to help restore the remains of the synagogue of the initial Jewish settlement, long ago swallowed up by jungle.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Marina da Costa eventually did convert. She first pursued conversion in an Orthodox synagogue with her then-husband, a non-Jew, and their four children. But her young daughter’s battle with childhood leukemia arrested the process. After her daughter’s death and her divorce, she and her children completed their conversion through a liberal synagogue.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After living in the Netherlands for 30 years, Marina da Costa is back in Suriname starting a tour company focusing on Jewish sites there. She is also working on a 375th anniversary celebration of the Surinamese Jewish community scheduled for October 2014.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The event will unveil a monument to the 108 Surinamese Jews who died in Europe during World War II, and will also bring together people from the various ethnic groups in Suriname — Maroons (descendants of slaves), Creoles, Chinese, Indonesians, Indians, and of course, Jews — for concerts.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Marina da Costa’s interest in Judaism was born out of her family’s history, she said, but it’s also something more.</p>
<p dir="ltr">“When I read about Uriel da Costa or when I think of Baruch da Costa, the cantor at Jodensavanne, and some of the da Costa women, it’s all part of my family,” she said. “It’s not the rules that make you Jewish, it’s <i>neshama</i>, your soul. It’s being connected to the universe.”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>Jessica Siegel is a freelance journalist who writes about a variety of issues from arts to education. She is working on a book about the history of the Jews in Suriname and the Caribbean.</i><br><br></p>
<p dir="ltr"> <a href="http://forward.com/articles/199161/-years-after-portugal-s-inquisition-a-very-un/?p=all#ixzz33dLvqw8H">http://forward.com/articles/199161/-years-after-portugal-s-inquisition-a-very-un/?p=all</a><a href="http://forward.com/articles/199161/-years-after-portugal-s-inquisition-a-very-un/?p=all#ixzz33dLvqw8H"><u>#ixzz33dLvqw8H</u></a></p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-89369120211759369312014-06-01T21:23:00.001-07:002014-06-01T21:23:19.798-07:00Bibi and the Pope's Awkward Jesus Moment <p dir="ltr"></p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://l1.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/Rzj49pO2mVQfFFp8Cr9C0Q--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTE3MTtxPTc1O3c9MjU2/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/TheDailyBeast/1401598439085.cached.jpg"><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/bibi-pope-awkward-jesus-moment-050632499--politics.html#"></a></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Bibi and the Pope’s Awkward Jesus Moment</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Bibi and the Pope’s Awkward Jesus Moment</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/"><i>The Daily Beast</i></a><i> By Jay Parini 22 hours ago</i></p>
<p dir="ltr">Apart from when Pope Francis stopped to pray at the wall that divides Israel from the West Bank, perhaps the most provocative moment in his whirlwind tour of the Holy Land happened during his interview with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “Jesus was here, in this land. He spoke Hebrew,” said Netanyahu firmly. The Pope looked unhappy, correcting the prime minister.  “He spoke Aramaic, but he knew Hebrew.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Oh, dear. So what language, or languages, did Jesus speak? It’s more than just a small point of historical interest for linguists and historians. There is political content here.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Of course, Netanyahu made his point to emphasize that Jesus lived in the land of Israel over two thousand years ago, when no “Palestinians” were in view.  Many Israelis today don’t like to think of this tiny region between the Mediterranean and Jordan as ever having been called Palestine, though the original word (<i>peleshet</i>) occurs <a href="https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/palname.html">at least 250 times in the Hebrew scriptures</a>. This complex geographical area was certainly called Palestine (in Greek) at least as early as the fifth century B.C.E., when Herodotus used that term.  By the second century before Christ, the Romans widely called the region Palestine, probably in an attempt to undermine the Jewish presence in Jerusalem and neighboring states. The Ottoman Empire (1517-1917) preferred this term for the area during their four centuries of control, and during the British Mandate in the mid-20th century it was always called Palestine. Not until the Jewish state was restored in 1948 did the term Israel come back into active play, with native Arabs from the region demoted to “Palestinians.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">If this seems complicated, think about the languages, and the dispute over what Jesus spoke. Indeed, he would have spoken<a href="http://cal1.cn.huc.edu/aramaic_language.html">Aramaic</a>, as the Pope said. That’s one of many closely related Semitic languages with deep roots in the past, related to Arabic, Hebrew, Ethiopic, and Akkadian (the language of the Babylonians and Assyrians). Hebrew itself, in its written form, uses the original Aramaic script. In the Dead Sea Scrolls, there are many Aramaic texts from the time of Jesus, so one can get a pretty good idea of what the language of Jesus looked liked.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Aramaic had a wide currency among Jews at the time of Jesus, and in most gatherings for worship, scriptural readings occurred in Aramaic snippets in translation (called<i>Targumim</i>). It seems likely that Jesus, being a scholarly young man, learned some Hebrew, but that’s conjecture. It’s more likely that Jesus spoke some Greek, as this language dominated the region after the conquests of Alexander the Great in the fourth century.  Indeed, Alexander brought with him a tidal wave of language and philosophy, including the Platonic notions of body and soul, ideas that Jesus himself would assimilate.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Among the disciples of Jesus, it seems most likely that at least Philip was bilingual in Aramaic and Greek. We read in John 12:20: “Now among those who worshipped at the festival were some Greeks. They came from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, ‘Sir, we wish to see Jesus.’” Bethsaida was a Gentile area, Greek-speaking.  Peter and Andrew also spent time there in their early youths, so they probably spoke Greek, too. It’s also worth recalling that Jesus grew up within a short walking distance of Sepphoris, a magnificent Roman city with a great deal of Greek influence.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The stories about the life and teachings of Jesus were mainly told in Greek, the original language of the gospels. Indeed, the gospel writers often quote the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, known as the Septuagint, incorporating their mistranslations as well (and setting afloat a number of theological confusions, such as those surrounding the Hebrew word <i>almah</i>, or young woman, which in the Septuagint becomes <i>parthenos</i>, or virgin: a verbal sleight of tongue that led to notions about the Virgin Birth).</p>
<p dir="ltr">Needless to say, Palestine in the time of Jesus suffered under Roman rule, administered by local client kings such as Herod the Great or his son, Herod Antipas, who is said to have played a role in the executions of both John the Baptist and Jesus.  The gospels of John and Luke record that the caustic sign above the cross of Jesus was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek. In fact, most legal documents that survive from the Roman period were written in Latin, and archaeological examples from this time, such as the famous Pilot Stone discovered near the ancient port of Caesarea Maritima in 1961, contain inscriptions in Latin. It stands to reason that Jesus might have picked up some Latin in the course of his travels.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In reality, both Netanyahu and the Pope probably made good points. Jesus was indeed a Jew at a time when Israel—or ancient Palestine—was under occupation by Romans who had a deep allegiance to Greek culture. He might well have learned some Hebrew, emphasizing his firm Jewish identity. Yet Aramaic flourished in Galilee, where he lived and taught through much of his life. It’s surely what Jesus “really” spoke.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It’s also worth recalling that Arabic and Hebrew, like Aramaic, are Semitic languages, closely allied in syntax, vocabularies, and grammar.  Jews and Arabs reach back, via philology as well as place of origin, to the same gene pool. Let’s pray—and I do mean pray—that they learn to accept their linguistic and cultural kinship, and to live as cousins—perhaps not kissing cousins, but closely related people.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Jay Parini, a poet and novelist, teaches at Middlebury College.  His most recent book is Jesus:  The Human Face of God.  Follow him on Twitter@JayParini.</p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-78496163052799955612014-06-01T20:43:00.001-07:002014-06-01T20:43:35.758-07:00THE SHI’I CRESCENT’S PUSH FOR REGIONAL HEGEMONY AND THE SUNNI REACTION
Apr 8th, 2014 @ 11:42 am › Elie Elhadj
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.gloria-center.org/2014/04/the-shii-crescents-push-for-regional-hegemony-and-the-sunni-reaction/">THE SHI’I CRESCENT’S PUSH FOR REGIONAL HEGEMONY AND THE SUNNI REACTION</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Apr 8th, 2014 @ 11:42 am › Elie Elhadj</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://cdn.printfriendly.com/button-print-blu20.png"><a href="http://www.gloria-center.org/2014/04/the-shii-crescents-push-for-regional-hegemony-and-the-sunni-reaction/"></a></p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.gloria-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1PDF1.pdf">PDF version available here</a></p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://www.gloria-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/hassan-rowhani.jpg"><a href="http://www.gloria-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/hassan-rowhani.jpg"></a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Hassan Rouhani secured the presidency of Iran with 18 million votes, over 50% of the electorate, running on a campaign of “Hope and Wisdom”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>In response to the September 11 attacks, the United States occupied Iraq. Baghdad effectively ended up in the hands of Iran, thus leading to the formation of the Shi’i Crescent. Riyadh has been leading the Sunni crusade to derail the march of Shi’ism. At the same time, to protect its nuclear facilities, Tehran has made Hizballah its Mediterranean defense line and Damascus its arms courier. The existence of an atomic bomb component in Iran’s nuclear program may be inferred from the enormous cost of the project. If President Rouhani were truly to abandon the bomb, Hizballah’s army would become redundant and must be abandoned.</i></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>INTRODUCTION</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr">In 657, a supreme confrontation erupted on the plain of Siffin, south of al-Raqqah, Syria, between the armies of the Caliph Ali (656-661) and the governor of Syria, Mu’awiyya (661-680).<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn1">[1]</a> Today, Bashar Asad has turned Syria into the supreme battlefield between the Shi’i Crescent’s partisans of Ali and the Sunnis. This article examines both Shi’i and Sunni exploitation of Islam. Since around 60 percent of the world’s 180 million Shi’a are Arabs and Iranians,<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn2">[2]</a> the article’s focus is on the Shi’i-Sunni conflicts between Arabs and Iranians. It is noteworthy that while among the world’s 1.4 billion Muslims the Shi’a represent some 15 percent, the proportion of Shi’a to Sunnis within the combined populations of Iran, the Arabian Peninsula, and the Levant is 55 percent. Excluding Iran, the proportion of Shi’a to Sunnis in the Arab world is a third.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This article addresses the genesis of the Sunni-Shi’i conflict, how the <i>ulama</i> (religious clerics) have imposed the mosque over city hall, and constructed Islamic doctrines that have rendered their followers quietists. It also examines how Sunni regimes use Islam to mistreat Shi’a and Shi’i regimes to mistreat Sunnis. Iran’s ascendancy and Iraq’s possible challenge to Iran for the leadership of the Shi’a–particularly Arab Shi’a–will be raised. The article argues that Wahhabism produced al-Qa’ida, the Taliban, and the September 11 attacks. In response, the U.S. occupied Iraq, and the government in Baghdad effectively ended up in the hands of Iran, thus leading to the formation of the Shi’i Crescent. Also discussed are Iran’s nuclear ambitions and Riyadh’s desperation to derail the march of Shi’ism.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>GENESIS OF THE SUNNI-SHI’I CONFLICT</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Since the dawn of Islam 14 centuries ago, the succession to Muhammad’s authority has spilled rivers of Muslim blood. By invoking monotheism, Muhammad concentrated in his hands the powers of all the Meccan gods. Verse 4:59, and a dozen similar verses, of the Koran orders, “Obey God and obey God’s messenger and obey those in authority.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn3">[3]</a> The caliphs stood to inherit Muhammad’s immense power and wealth; thus, the blood over his mantle.</p>
<p dir="ltr">According to Ali’s partisans, Muhammad had publicly “designated” his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, as his immediate successor. Sunnis, however, reject this claim. Abu Bakr (632–634) was the first caliph, followed by Umar (634–644). Following Umar’s murder, Uthman (644–656) was chosen. He restored to his Umayya clan its former stature, damaged by Muhammad’s condemnation of leading Umayyads for dismissing him as a rebel masquerading in religious garb. Following Uthman’s murder, Ali (656–661) finally became caliph. Yet Mu’awiyya (661–680), the Umayyad governor of Syria, accused Ali of complicity in Uthman’s murder. Ali and Mu’awiyya’s armies met in 657 in Siffin, Syria. Mu’awiyya ushered the Umayyad dynasty (661–750) in Damascus and Ali was killed shortly after Siffin by his former allies, the Kharijites. Ali’s son Husayn was killed in 680 in Karbala, Iraq, while attempting to claim the caliphate from Mu’awiyya’s son, Yazid. To this day, Husayn’s killing has shaken the foundations of Islam. Thus, what started as a dispute over Ali’s caliphate, and later, the martyrdom of Husayn, grew into a doctrinal divide inspiring the creation of dozens of heterodox sects, each outbidding the others in the deification of Ali and his family.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>HOW THE SHI’I AND SUNNI ULAMA BECAME MASTERS OVER MUSLIMS</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>The Shi’i Ulama’s Construction</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Twelver Shi’a, representing the majority of Shi’a today, obey the authority of Muhammad plus the twelve imams, beginning with Ali and his two sons (from Ali’s marriage to Muhammad’s daughter, Fatima). Twelver Shi’a believe that the imams are infallible. They believe in the messianic concept of the return to the earth of the Twelfth Imam, Muhammad al-Muntazar (“the awaited imam”), hidden since disappearing as a small child in 874 but who will reappear someday to restore justice and prosperity.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn4">[4]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">While they believe the Twelfth Imam is in hiding, the senior Shi’i clerics, the ayatollahs, or<i>marja’a taqlid</i> (source of emulation) act as his deputies, revealing to the masses the Hidden Imam’s verdict on all matters. To Sunnis, however, this is sheer blasphemy.</p>
<p dir="ltr">By adapting the messianic concept to the infallible Hidden Imam and appointing themselves as his deputies, the senior Shi’i ulama expropriated the Hidden Imam’s powers, just as Muhammad expropriated the powers of the Meccan gods in the name of monotheism.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>The Sunni Ulama’s Construction</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">When the Muslims fanned out of Arabia to the lands of the Romans and the Persians after Muhammad’s death in 632, they discovered big cities, music, rain, rivers, farms, and different foodstuffs, languages, religions, and laws. To govern, the caliphs needed to expand the Koran’s narrow coverage of legal matters. Of the Koran’s 6,236 verses, Philip Hitti estimated the legislative verses at around 200.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn5">[5]</a> These deal with personal status matters.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Thirteen generations after Muhammad’s death, six scholars<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn6">[6]</a> turned 34,000 of some 600,000<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn7">[7]</a> (including repetitions) Sunna traditions (sayings or Hadith and Sira or acts) out into a source of law equal to the Koran. The task of the collectors was formidable; among the thousands of attributers, there were dubious characters and blatantly partisan attributions. It takes a great act of faith to believe the truthfulness of every single Hadith.</p>
<p dir="ltr">With this development, the introduction of two additional sources of law (analogical deduction and the consensus of the Sunni ulama) as well as the four Sunni rites (Hanafi, Hanbali, Maliki, Shafi’i), which emerged around the same time a thousand years ago, the Sunni ulama completed the construction of their Shari’a. Since that time, they shut the door on philosophical reasoning and further development of Sunni Islam.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>The Conflict Between Shi’a and Sunnis over the Sunna and Other Differences</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Shi’i scholars reject the Sunni Hadith collections. The Shi’a emphasize Muhammad’s alleged naming of Ali as his immediate successor and stress Muhammad’s affection for Ali’s children. Four Shi’i Hadith collections were produced during the late tenth/mid-eleventh centuries as well as three additional collections during the latter part of the seventeenth century.</p>
<p dir="ltr">While Sunnis record Muhammad’s Sunna, Twelver Shi’a record Muhammad’s Sunna plus that of the twelve imams. Also, for a tradition to be credible, it must be transmitted through one of the imams. Shi’a curse the first three caliphs along with Muhammad’s companions who supported them.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In addition, Shi’a allow pictures of the imams and Muhammad, while Sunnis do not (for fear of falling into polytheism). Shi’a venerate the imams’ tombs and other religious figures and family members, while Wahhabi Sunnis bury their dead in unmarked tombs. Shi’a permit Mut’a marriage (the woman gets paid for her companionship for a period of time) while Sunnis do not. Sunnis permit Misyar marriage (the couple live apart, with the man visiting the woman at her home without obligation) while Shi’a do not. One might refer to Shi’ism as a Persianized version of Muhammad’s Islam. Shi’ism incorporates the ethnic and cultural differences and rivalries between Arab and Persian and the memories of their wars over the long sweep of history.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>HOW THE MOSQUE BECAME SUPERIOR TO CITY HALL</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">That opposition to the Iranian Supreme Ayatollah means a death sentence to the opponent for undermining the “true Islam” and opposition to the Saudi king means a death sentence for undermining the other “true Islam” shows how the opponents are eliminated in Islamic ruled states. In the case of Syria’s Alawi Asad, however, to pretend to be Shi’i, to embrace his Sunni palace ulama, and simultaneously claim secularism shows how alive and well Machiavellianism is in Damascus.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Shi’i Iran</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">For centuries, Shi’i clerics concerned themselves with the spiritual life of Shi’a. In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini changed that legacy in Iran. As the deputy of the Hidden Imam, Khomeini asserted the right of the senior-most Shi’i cleric to oversee all religious, social, and political affairs in his <i>wilayat al-faqih</i>construction, or the rulership of the specialist in religious jurisprudence.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn8">[8]</a> Important ayatollahs opposed the new doctrine.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>The Arab World</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Arab rulers maintain a symbiotic link with Islam. They project an image of piety in order to demand blind obedience from their subjects. In addition to verse 4:59, Muhammad reportedly said, “Hear and obey the emir, even if your back is whipped and your property is taken; hear and obey.” Belief in predestination, a core Islamic tenet, inspired the palace ulama over the centuries to opine that even tyrannical rulers must be obeyed blindly because God ordains them.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In return for generous rewards, the palace ulama indoctrinate the masses into believing that blind obedience to their benefactors is a form of piety. Arab rulers use Islam as a psychological weapon to suppress political dissent. Whether at home, the school, mosque, work place, or city hall, Islam is at the heart of Arab resistance to religious and democratic reforms.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In non-Arab Muslim Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, and Turkey (60 percent of world Muslims) multi-political parties, democratically elected parliaments, and even women presidents and prime ministers are common. Arabs, however, look down on the Islam of non-Arab Muslims.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Wahhabi Saudi Arabia</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">A cult-like obsession with the intolerant and the violent in the Koran and the Sunna has been the Saudi state’s ideology ever since the kingdom was established in 1932. Wahhabism is<b> </b>based on the teaching of Ahmad bin Hanbal (d. 855). Due to its extremism, Hanbalism never generated serious following. Despite active proselytization, Wahhabis make up only 3 percent of the world’s 1.2 billion Sunnis.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The al-Sauds’ claim to legitimacy does not derive from belonging to Muhammad’s family or tribe. Hanbali doctrinaires like Ibn Jama’a (1241-1333) and Ibn Taymiyya (1263-1328), employees of the Mamluk generals in Egypt and Syria (1250-1517), justified to their benefactors the seizure of power by force.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn9">[9]</a>Riyadh propagates that Islam is more important than life, Wahhabism is the only route to paradise, the al-Sauds are Wahhabism’s staunchest protectors, and that blind obedience to the al-Sauds is an Islamic duty. Political opponents are labeled as “lost deviates” from the “true Islam”–a death sentence in a political system based on religious dogma.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In return for certification that the al-Sauds are great Wahhabis, the palace ulama are allowed a free hand to impose their dictums. A seventh century extremist reading of the Shari’a means a primitive judicial system with a penal code involving public beheadings after the Friday prayers, severing of limbs, and floggings. It also means that women are treated like chattel in order to nullify the political dissent of 50 percent of the society.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn10">[10]</a> Christians, Jews, Shi’a, and other non-Wahhabis are denigrated.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn11">[11]</a> Jihadists are glorified and promised paradise, with <i>huris</i> (beautiful young women, verse 44:54), wine (verse 47:15), gold, silk, and brocades (verse 18:31). Wahhabi clerics preach that Western political systems, political parties, and parliaments interfere with social cohesion, that Westernization promotes misery and suffering, leading to mixing of the sexes, discarding of the veil, opening of nightclubs and movie theaters, charging of interest on bank loans, and celebrating non-Islamic holidays such as Christmas, Mother’s Day, and Labor Day.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn12">[12]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Riyadh fears Saudi youth in the age of the internet might cast away the Wahhabi straightjacket and demand parliamentary democracy and humane Islam<i>.</i><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn13">[13]</a> Sixty-nine percent of the Saudi population is under the age of 30 years,<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn14">[14]</a> and 56 percent is between the ages of 10 and 40 years.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn15">[15]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">To insulate the country from moderate Islam, Saudi Arabia is the sworn enemy of the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood and the advocates of Islamic and democratic reform as it is of Shi’a. Riyadh is behind the radicalization of tens of thousands among the estimated one hundred million expatriate laborers from Bangladesh, Egypt, India, Pakistan, and others who worked in Saudi Arabia since crude oil prices were quadrupled in October 1973.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn16">[16]</a> Wahhabism has also spread through the thousands of Saudi-financed <i>madrassas</i> (religious schools)<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn17">[17]</a> in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan. Today, a Wahhabi Arch is facing the Shi’i Crescent and Sunni democratic aspirations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Hillary Clinton, according to WikiLeaks, wrote in December 2009, “Donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn18">[18]</a> Protected by successive American administrations, Wahhabism produced al-Qa’ida, the Taliban, and the September 11 attacks. That Wahhabism did not contribute to September 11 is propaganda promoted by Riyadh and its Western apologists and business beneficiaries–among them captains of industry, media barons, and former senior politicians–especially in the United States. Religious indoctrination cannot be ignored in human behavior. Notwithstanding oil politics, and Western businesses’ obsession with a good deal, it is, nonetheless, bewildering how Western governments would tolerate the regime that released the Wahhabi genie.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Alawi Syria</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr">A ploy the tiny Asad Alawi minority uses to rule over Syria’s Sunni majority is to exploit verse 4:59. Although most Sunnis do not regard the heterodox Alawites as Muslims,<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn19">[19]</a> Syria’s Sunni palace ulama preach obedience to their Asad benefactor. To remove a constitutional barrier to becoming president in 1970 (Article 3.1 requires the president to be a Muslim), Hafiz al-Asad “persuaded” Musa al-Sadr, head of the Higher Shi’i Council in Lebanon, to opine that the Alawites are a community of Shi’i Islam.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn20">[20]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">The Asads have been playing the Sunni card while also proclaiming secularism. Five decades after Hafiz al-Asad seized power, article 3.2 of the constitution continues to specify that Islamic jurisprudence shall be a major source of legislation.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn21">[21]</a> Also, Shari’a law and courts rule over Muslims’ personal status affairs, and Muslim school children are taught Sunni religious textbooks. In his duplicity, to end the drought in 2010, President Bashar al-Asad ordered all Syrian mosques to perform the rain prayer.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>MISTREATMENT OF SHI’A IN SUNNI ARAB STATES</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">According to the August 2012 Pew Research Center survey, 53 percent of Egyptians and 50 percent of Moroccans consider the Shi’a to be non-Muslims.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn22">[22]</a> Had the same survey been conducted in Saudi Arabia, the percentage would be much higher. The Sunni ulama preach that Shi’ism is a Jewish conspiracy against Islam. As if to improve their Islamic credentials, Arab rulers find it rewarding to marginalize their Shi’i citizens. Sunni-Shi’i hostility is not new. During Ottoman rule (1280–1918), the Shi’a endured second-class treatment.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Not all Sunni clerics condemn Shi’ism. Mahmud Shaltut, Grand Imam of al-Azhar, opined in 1959 that Twelver Shi’ism was of equal status with the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn23">[23]</a> However, this opinion and its author were sidelined. Further, not all Muslims partake in this sectarian divide. Prior to the U.S. occupation, in Baghdad and other cities, it was rather common for Shi’i and Sunni families to intermarry.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The mistreatment of Shi’a in four Arabian Peninsula states–Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and Yemen–will be presented next, to be followed by the mistreatment of Sunnis in the four Shi’i Crescent lands–Hizballah-controlled Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, and Syria.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Bahrain</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Bahrain has a population of 1.2 million. Less than half are citizens and about two-thirds of the citizens are Shi’a. The Sunni al-Khalifa clan has ruled the island since 1783. Bahraini Shi’a are impoverished and marginalized. Of the 29 cabinet ministers, five are Shi’a; of the four deputy prime ministers, one is Shi’a; and of the 40-member appointed Consultative Council, 18 are Shi’a.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn24">[24]</a> Shi’a are not allowed to join the police or the defense establishment. Sunni men from Syria, Pakistan, and Baluchistan are brought in to fill such positions. Together with their families, they are fast-tracked to Bahraini citizenship.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn25">[25]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Seeking equality with Sunnis, Bahraini Shi’a engaged in generally peaceful demonstrations in 2011 and 2012. Human Rights Watch found that Bahrain’s police resorted to beating protesters, in some cases severely, at the time of arrest and during their transfer to police stations.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn26">[26]</a> The Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry, established by King Hamad, issued a 503-page report on December 10, 2011.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn27">[27]</a> The commission found that the government used systematic torture and other forms of abuse on detainees. It rejected the government’s claim that Iran instigated the protests.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Kuwait</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Kuwait’s population is around 3.9 million (1.2 million citizens and 2.7 million expatriate workers).<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn28">[28]</a> About 70 percent of citizens are Sunnis and 30 percent are Shi’a (360,000).<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn29">[29]</a>Among expatriates, 150,000 are Shi’a,<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn30">[30]</a>making the total number of Shi’a around 500,000.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Kuwait’s Shi’a face discrimination. Of the 50-seat parliament, Shi’i candidates won eight seats in the July 2013 elections.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn31">[31]</a> The U.S. State Department’s <i>International Religious Freedom Report for 2012</i> indicates that some textbooks refer to certain Shi’i religious beliefs and practices as heretical, that the government did not permit the establishment of non-Sunni religious training, and that there are no Shi’i professors at the College of Islamic Law at Kuwait University.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn32">[32]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Building a Shi’i mosque is an arduous process. Between 2001 and 2012, six licenses were issued, making for a total of 35 Shi’i mosques.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn33">[33]</a> As for Sunni mosques, there were 1,200 in 2003.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn34">[34]</a> On a per capita basis, there is one mosque for every 15,000 Shi’a compared to one mosque for every 700 Sunnis.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn35">[35]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Saudi Arabia</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Saudi Shi’a live in the towns and villages of the oil-rich Eastern Province. About two-thirds of the estimated 3.9-million<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn36">[36]</a> Saudi nationals (excluding expatriates) in the Eastern Province, or 2.6 million, are Shi’a–representing around 13 percent of a national population of 20 million.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn37">[37]</a> Wahhabi discrimination against Shi’a is fanatical. Of the 20 appointed members to the Council of Senior Ulama, none are Shi’i, 17 are Wahhabis, and three are from the other three Sunni rites. Of the 150-member appointed to the Consultative Council, only five are Shi’i. There are no Shi’i ministers, deputy ministers, governors, deputy governors, or ministry branch directors in the Eastern Province. Shi’a are discriminated against in admission to universities and government jobs, especially the armed forces, the National Guard, and the police.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn38">[38]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Zoning laws in Shi’i neighborhoods are aimed at limiting the density of the Shi’i population.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn39">[39]</a> In 2012, the number of Sunni mosques was 75,000, employing 90,000 staff.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn40">[40]</a> Shi’i mosques are subjected to a lengthy and arbitrary licensing process and unlike the billions of dollars granted annually to Wahhabi mosques, Shi’i mosques are excluded from government support. The legal testimony of Shi’a is either ignored or considered to have less weight than the testimony of Sunnis.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The publication or importation of Shi’i books and the opening of Shi’i schools is tightly controlled. In the heavily Shi’a-populated al-Ahsa, there are no female Shi’i principals in the 200 schools for girls and only 15 male Shi’i principals in the 200 schools for boys.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn41">[41]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Such discrimination is not new. The al-Saud/Abd al-Wahhab’s first rebellion in 1805 (crushed in 1817 by Egypt’s ruler, Muhammad Ali) invaded Karbala and destroyed Husayn’s tomb.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn42">[42]</a> King Abd al-Aziz (1932-1953) imposed on his Shi’i subjects the Islamic <i>jizya</i>(penalty) tax collected from non-Muslims.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn43">[43]</a>Under King Faysal (1964-1975), Wahhabi ulama declared that meat slaughtered by Shi’i butchers was not fit for consumption by Muslims.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn44">[44]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">The Isma’ilis, a Shi’i sect, are concentrated in Najran and Jazan in Southwestern Saudi Arabia, bordering Yemen. Isma’ilis are around 675,000,<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn45">[45]</a> or 3.3 percent of the national population. Isma’ilis and Eastern Province Shi’a represent about 16 percent of Saudi citizens. Isma’ilis suffer as much discrimination as the Shi’a in the east.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Wahhabism raised Sunni antagonism against Shi’ism to previously unknown extremes. The Khomeini wilayat al-faqih construction may be seen as a reaction to Wahhabi enmity. It is a strategy to marshal the powers of the Iranian state in defense of Shi’a everywhere.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Yemen</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Among Yemen’s population of 25 million, Zaydis represent about 35 percent.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn46">[46]</a> Zaydis are the partisans of Zayd, grandson of the third Shi’i imam, Husayn. They occupy the rugged northwestern mountainous region bordering southwestern Saudi Arabia. Huthis trace their roots to Muhammad’s family.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn47">[47]</a> The last imam was overthrown in a military coup on September 27, 1962, after a thousand years rule.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 2004, Husayn al-Huthi led a rebellion against former President Salih (1980–2012). Husayn was killed on September 10, 2004. The Huthis consider Salih an illegitimate ruler, despite being a Zaydi; he is not descended from Muhammad’s family. They accuse Salih of confiscating Huthi mosques, allowing Wahhabi influence on school curricula and state policy, issuance of fatwas by Sunni clerics designating the Huthis as infidels, sanctioning war against them as jihad, and hostility toward Huthi rituals.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn48">[48]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">In February 2010 a ceasefire was reached. However, like previous ceasefires, this proved to be temporary. On March 24, 2011, after the governor fled to San’a, the Huthis declared the creation of their own administration in Sa’da, independent from Yemeni authorities.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn49">[49]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>MISTREATMENT OF SUNNIS UNDER SHI’I RULE</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Shi’i clerics preach that Shi’ism is the “true Islam” and that the Sunnis are usurpers of Muhammad’s mantle. Shi’i parents generally do not name their child after the first three caliphs or Aisha, Muhammad’s young wife who led a revolt against Ali. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the Isma’ilis and the Alawites fought on the side of the Christian Crusaders.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn50">[50]</a> In 1258, Shi’a were allegedly complicit in the Mongols’ killing of the caliph and the obliteration of Baghdad. Sunni historians argue that whereas Baghdad was destroyed, Hilla, the Shi’i center 60 miles away was spared.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn51">[51]</a> The following section describes Shi’i mistreatment of Sunnis in Shi’i Crescent lands: Hizballah controlled Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, and Syria.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Hizballah-Controlled Lebanon</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Lebanon’s Shi’a are estimated to make up around 40 percent of the country’s population of 4 million. For centuries, Lebanon’s Shi’a suffered from poverty, illiteracy, and poor health. Their liberation started in 1959 with the arrival of Musa al-Sadr, an Iranian-born Lebanese cleric. Al-Sadr replaced the self-pity of Lebanon’s Shi’a by a spirit of defiance. In 1974, al-Sadr formed the Movement of the Disinherited, a political movement aimed at social justice. In 1975, the Amal movement, a militia, was formed. After al-Sadr’s disappearance in 1978 during a visit to Libya’s Qaddafi, Hizballah was established.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Hasan Nasrallah uses the gun to control Lebanon. When Sunni Prime Minister Fuad Siniora shut down Hizballah’s telecommunications network in May 2008, Hizballah’s militia forced Siniora after four days of fighting to revoke the decisions.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn52">[52]</a> On May 21, 2008, in Doha, Qatar, an agreement was reached between the government and Hizballah representatives to increase Hizballah-led seats in the cabinet from 6 to 11 out of 30 seats, in addition to granting veto power over future cabinet decisions.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn53">[53]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Hizballah is Iran’s military base on the Mediterranean. Nasrallah’s order to capture two Israeli soldiers in July 2006 and the war that followed was conducted on behalf of Iran for three reasons. The first was to divert attention from Iran’s maneuvering with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn54">[54]</a>The second reason was to warn Iran’s adversaries of the havoc Hizballah, Iran, and Syria can cause. The third was to endear Nasrallah to the Arab street. The Mediterranean military base has worked. Threats from Israel and the United States over the past five years came to naught, while the nuclear program continues unabated.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Five years later, Nasrallah launched an all-out defense of the Asad regime. Hizballah’s army is in an existential fight in Syria. Without Asad, it would be strangled. To camouflage his domestic and regional strategies, Nasrallah sugarcoats the bitter pill most non-Shi’i Lebanese cannot swallow with the typical Arab cliché that the target is Israel.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Iran</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Iran’s population is around 80 million, 89 percent of which are Shi’a and 9 percent Sunnis.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn55">[55]</a> The <i>International Religious Freedom Report for 2012</i> of the U.S. Department of State reveals that provinces with large Sunni populations suffer discrimination, lack of basic services, and poor infrastructure. It also reports that Sunnis are underrepresented in government-appointed positions in the provinces where they form a majority, such as Kurdistan and Khuzestan. In addition, Sunni religious literature and teachings in public schools are banned even in predominantly Sunni areas; Sunnis may not build new schools or mosques; and, despite the presence of more than one million Sunnis in Tehran, there is not a single Sunni mosque.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn56">[56]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Iraq</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Iraq’s population is around 32 million, of which Shi’a represent around two-thirds.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn57">[57]</a> The two parliamentary elections in 2005 and 2010 in Iraq’s parliament and cabinet made the Shi’a the dominant force. Sunnis report being subjected to marginalization, unequal distribution of wealth, harassment, illegal searches, arbitrary arrest, torture, and abuse (including women).<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn58">[58]</a> Sunnis are effectively excluded from national decisionmaking. Sunnis resent Iran’s influence over the Iraqi government.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The constitution, crafted under ayatollah Ali al-Sistani’s guidance and approved in the December 15, 2005, referendum specifies in Article 2 that Islam is the official religion of the state, that it is a fundamental source of legislation, and that no law that contradicts the established provisions of Islam may be enacted.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn59">[59]</a> Sunnis worry that the “established provisions of Islam” will be determined by the senior ayatollah. Sunnis believe their marginalization conceals revenge for centuries of privilege.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Syria</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b> </b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr">The Alawites are a minority of around 12 percent of Syria’s population of 23 million.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn60">[60]</a>Until the early 1960s when the Ba’th Party seized power, the Alawi mountainous region was poor and destitute. However, all that changed with Hafiz al-Asad’s seizure of power in 1970. He quickly pretended to be Shi’a, wore the Sunni hat, and embraced the secular Ba’th Party’s ideological trinity: Arab unity, liberty, and socialism. He forged a strategic alliance with Iran–notwithstanding the ideological contradiction between the Ba’th Party’s Arab unity and the ayatollahs’ Shi’i unity. He also sided with non-Arab Iran in its war against fellow Ba’thi Iraq (1980–1988).</p>
<p dir="ltr">Asad’s rule is a family business akin to the Mafia. At the core are Anisa–Hafiz al-Asad’s widow–and their two sons. Shielding the core are loyal nephews, cousins, uncles (except the likes of brother Rifa’t, who attempted a coup against Hafiz in 1983), and trusted Alawi soldiers. Opportunistic non-Alawi soldiers and hangers-on form an outer protective ring.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Breaking the law with impunity and siphoning off illicit commissions on government contracts is the glue that keeps this group together.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn61">[61]</a> The regime might count on the support of about a quarter of the population.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn62">[62]</a> The six referendums since 1970 in which the two Asads consistently won more than 95 percent of the votes were fraud.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1980, Hafiz al-Asad machine-gunned hundreds of Muslim Brotherhood inmates in the Tadmur prison. He demolished the city of Hama in 1982 over the heads of its inhabitants, killing many thousands of civilians and Brotherhood fighters. Son Bashar inherited a police state with myriad blood curdling and “Abu Ghraib”-type dungeons manned by sadistic torturers. A million spies snoop everywhere. Victims–often innocent–are arrested and tortured–sometimes to death–without a trace. It is not surprising that three former war crime prosecutors reported on January 21, 2014, “There is clear evidence that Syria has systematically tortured and executed about 11,000 detainees since the start of the uprising.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn63">[63]</a> The Asads’ tyranny has been the norm for 50 years.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Bashar al-Asad killed unarmed demonstrators from the first day of the March 18, 2011, popular revolution. He opened the door to Islamist terrorists, some of whom were his own men sent to Iraq to kill Americans following the 2003 occupation. Absence of serious Western military support for Syria’s democratic opposition led to Islamist terrorists dominating the uprising. As Asad’s tattered forces suffered defections and losses, fighters from Iran, Iraq, and Hizballah came to the rescue.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Asad’s use of horrific weapons against mostly civilian men, women, and children killed more than 150,000 citizens, injured several times that number, destroyed entire cities, and turned millions into hapless refugees within Syria and in neighboring countries. Most of those killed, injured, tortured, and the refugees are Sunnis.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Asad turned Syria into the supreme battlefield between Shi’a and Sunnis since the armies of Ali (656-661) and Mu’awiyya (661-680) confronted each other in Siffin, Syria in 657. The indiscriminate destruction of life, property, and social fabric of a conservative society on such a scale ranks Bashar al-Asad among the world’s worst, most monstrous killers since the end of the Second World War. Hafiz Asad and his son embroiled the Alawi minority–and Shi’a in general–in a long-term battle with the Sunnis. The rule of a 12 percent minority over the 75 percent majority is unsustainable, particularly when the regime is tyrannical.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>IRAN’S ASCENDANCY</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">On April 9, 2003, the United States won the battle against Iraq. Yet Iran, without firing a shot, won the war for Iraq–possibly Shi’ism’s greatest moment since Saladin destroyed the Shi’i Fatimid rule in Cairo in 1171 and converted the population to Sunnism. On December 15, 2005, Iraq’s Shi’a controlled the first democratically elected parliament and cabinet. The 2001 elimination of the Wahhabi Taliban in Afghanistan and Saddam’s regime in 2003 allowed Iran regional dominance. With the departure of American forces from Iraq, Tehran’s grip over Iraq tightened further.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As a 15 percent minority among the world’s Muslims, Shi’a feel empathy toward each other. They share cultural and religious ties. Najaf–where Ali is presumably buried–and Karbala–where Husayn is buried–are the holiest shrines. Others in central Iraq include the tombs of the seventh and the ninth imams in Kazimayn, just outside Baghdad. In nearby Samarra, there are the tombs of the tenth and the eleventh imams plus the Mosque of the Occultation. In the cemeteries of Najaf and Karbala, illustrious clerics are buried. In Mashhad, Iran, the eighth imam is buried. For centuries, millions of Shi’a visited these shrines. Some remained near the shrines to live and die, establishing over the generations a colorful tapestry of ethnicities in southern Iraq, fusing Arab and Persian culture through marriage and trade.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn64">[64]</a> Iran’s connection to Muslim Iraq is as old as Islam. Hitti wrote that Arab Islam was influenced and changed by the Persians, and that the caliphs adopted Persian titles, wines, wives and mistresses, songs, ideas, and thoughts.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn65">[65]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i><b>Iran’s Nuclear Bomb</b></i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Iran’s nuclear bomb ambitions exacerbate Shi’i-Sunni conflicts and worry Israel. The existence of an atomic bomb component in Iran’s nuclear program may be inferred from the enormous cost of the project. Hizballah’s army is integral to Iran’s atomic bomb program. It exists to attack Israel in case Israel and/or the United States attack Iran. Without the bomb, Iran’s assistance to Lebanon’s Shi’a would be schools and hospitals, not soldiers and missiles.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Since the early 2000s, the costs of Hizballah’s army and its weapons courier regime in Damascus, of UN and U.S. sanctions, as well as the lost opportunity of the resources diverted from economic and social development to the bomb project must add up to hundreds of billions of dollars. To believe Tehran’s claims that these vast sums are for electricity and medical research is naïve–Iran is home to the world’s fourth largest crude oil reserves (155 billion barrels) and the world’s second largest natural gas reserves (1,187 trillion cubic feet).<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn66">[66]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">To derail Iran’s nuclear project, three strategies might be envisioned. The first is expensive; bomb the nuclear facilities. In retaliation, Iran might close the Strait of Hormuz, order Hizballah to attack Israel, and bomb Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) oil installation and desalination plants. The second is for the Rouhani regime truly to agree with the P5+1 on confining Iran’s nuclear activities to peaceful purposes. However, since Iranian scientists have already acquired bomb-making know-how, Iran could restart the bomb program anytime. As a test of his commitment, Rouhani must sever the symbiotic link between Iran’s atomic bomb and Hizballah’s army. Otherwise, this would be but a ruse, with the P5+1 acquiescing to Iran’s regional hegemony. The third strategy is to overthrow the Asad regime. A secular anti-Iranian democratic government in Damascus would emasculate Hizballah’s army, break-up the Shi’i Crescent, and contain Tehran.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>IRAQ’S POTENTIAL CHALLENGE TO IRAN</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Iran’s strategic interest in Iraq need not necessarily be more successful in controlling Iraq’s government under a Shi’i government than it had been under the four centuries of Sunni Ottoman sultans or the Sunni governments since the end of the First World War. Loyalty to Iran by Arab Shi’a should not be exaggerated. Arab Shi’a are more likely to favor Iraq. There are the deeply rooted differences in language, ethnicity, and culture between Iran and Arab societies. The spiritual heart and soul of the Shi’a is in Iraq, not Iran: The twelve imams are all Arab, and seven of Shi’ism’s holiest mosques are in central Iraq (four in Medina and only one in Iran). Moreover, Iraq is rich. As of January 2013, it had 141 billion barrels in proven oil reserves, 85 billion of which are located in the Shi’i south.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn67">[67]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Badr al-Din al-Huthi, the 83-year-old Yemeni Zaydi leader, reportedly sent in May 2005 an appeal to Iraq’s Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and to the Muslim Council of Najaf asking them to intervene and support the Zaydi sect, which he claimed was the victim of “genocide.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn68">[68]</a> He also sought the intervention of the Arab League and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn69">[69]</a> Significantly, he did not seek help from Iran’s ayatollahs.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A future government in Baghdad might reverse Nouri al-Maliki’s obsequiousness toward Iran. In the 2010 Iraqi parliamentary elections, Maliki almost lost the premiership to Iyad Allawi, the secular Shi’i former prime minister (2004-2005). Allawi won two seats more than Maliki,<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn70">[70]</a> and Maliki spent eight months cobbling together a ruling coalition.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>THE MARCH OF SHI’ISM</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Iraq connected the Shi’i Crescent from Iran to Hizballah. The Shi’i Crescent poses a great threat to the GCC states. Aside from its nuclear ambitions, Iran emboldens the Shi’a in the Arabian Peninsula to demand justice, if not representative democracies, let alone constitutional monarchies, self-rule, or independence. In Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, turned the country into an Iranian vassal state. He is the leader of the Islamic Da’wa Party (Proselytizing Party). Established in 1958 by Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr, Da’wa was the first Shi’i party in Iraq. Da’wa envisioned a generation of revolutionaries who would one day seize power to establish a Shi’i theocratic state. The Khomeini regime supported Da’wa. Maliki spent two decades in exile during Saddam’s regime, at first in Iran, then mainly in Syria.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn71">[71]</a> Riyadh believes Maliki is an Iranian agent.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn72">[72]</a> The Saudi king even refused to receive him in May 2007.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn73">[73]</a> Da’wa activists are thought to have helped build Lebanon’s Hizballah in the early 1980s. Iyad Allawi told the Washington Times on March 22, 2012, that Iran was “swallowing” Iraq and that some U.S. officials “concede secretly” that “Iran won, got the best advantage of what happened in Iraq.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn74">[74]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Another member of the Shi’i Crescent is the sectarian, dysfunctional Lebanon, where Hasan Nasrallah rules with the gun. Nasrallah turned Lebanon into an Iranian vassal state. A strong religious bond between Iran and the Shi’a of Lebanon was established five centuries ago. In 1502, Shah Isma’il found it profitable to introduce religious zeal into the conflicts Persia had with Sunni Ottoman sultans (1280-1918). In an act of mass conversion, the Shah made Shi’ism the religion of the Safavid dynasty (1502-1737). Lacking the clerics to teach the Shi’i ways, scholars from Lebanon were invited to establish schools and train Persian clerics. Thus, a bridge between Iran and Lebanon was established through marriage and religious affinity.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As for the Alawi member of the Shi’i Crescent, the Asads turned Syria into the third Iranian vassal state. While Iraq and Hizballah are of strategic importance to Iran, Syria’s relevance is as the mule that delivers Iranian weapons to Hizballah. Iran pays heavily for this service: First, the Asad regime is an economic and military burden on Tehran. Second, the Alawites are a minority of 12 percent with dubious religious connection to Shi’ism. Third, Syria has little religious significance to Shi’a, save for the alleged burial place of Zaynab, sister of Husayn, near Damascus (Zaynab’s tomb might be in the mosque that bears her name in Cairo).</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>SAUDI DETERMINATION TO DERAIL THE MARCH OF SHI’ISM</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr">Riyadh has vigorously opposed Khomeini’s revolution from its inception. In May 1981, the Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) was created in order to contain Iran. The Saudis also helped finance Saddam’s war against Iran (1980-1988) with $25.7 billion.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn75">[75]</a> Riyadh has also been lobbying Washington to destroy Iran’s nuclear sites. As the EU imposed oil sanctions on Iran in January 2012, Saudi Arabia quickly responded by increasing its oil production.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 2011, the Saudis sent 1,000 soldiers to Bahrain as a part of a GCC deployment to help the al-Khalifa clan crush Shi’i demonstrations.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn76">[76]</a> Yemen’s Huthi uprising poses a threat to Riyadh, with Zaydi “heresies” and by providing arms to the Isma’ilis in nearby Abha, Jazan, and Najran. Until 1934, the area was Yemeni territory. On November 5, 2009, the Saudi air force bombed Huthi strongholds.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn77">[77]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">In Lebanon, fearing the rise of Shi’i power under Musa al-Sadr, Riyadh invested in Rafiq al-Hariri. He moved to Saudi Arabia in 1965, swiftly rising from rags to riches. After his assassination on February 14, 2005, his family reportedly inherited $16.7 billion.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn78">[78]</a> Hariri crafted the 1989 Ta’if Accord, which ended Lebanon’s civil war (1975-1990) and made him prime minister (1992-1998 and 2000-2004). With his assassination, Riyadh lost most of its investment in Lebanon.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In Iraq, with help from its lobbyists, the Saudis managed to keep Saddam Hussein in power for 24 years. In 1991, following the expulsion of Saddam from Kuwait, the U.S. army did not go to Baghdad. However, during the weeks leading up to the 2003 American invasion of Iraq, the al-Sauds could not save Saddam. They were more concerned with saving themselves by staying away America’s crosshairs in the aftermath of September 11 than with whether Baghdad would be Shi’i or Sunni-ruled.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A decade later, the al-Sauds managed to deflect Wahhabi culpability for September 11. With its renewed self-assurance, Riyadh rejected in October 2013 membership in the United Nations Security Council in protest at the Council’s failure to end the war in Syria and other regional issues.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn79">[79]</a> With a $657 billion reserve fund (December 31, 2012),<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_edn80">[80]</a> Riyadh has been leading the Sunni crusade against the Shi’i Crescent. In Syria, the Saudis have been supporting the war against the Alawi regime. A new regime in Syria is the key to breaking up the Shi’i Crescent, emasculating Hizballah, removing the ayatollahs from the Levant, and containing Iran.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Wahhabism rendered the Sykes-Picot configuration unworkable. It replaced what was in the 1920s a relatively peaceful existence among ethnic and sectarian groups with hatred and bloodshed. Western inaction in Syria since the start of the March 2011 revolution allowed Bashar al-Asad to transform a peaceful uprising against tyranny into a regional existential conflagration between Shi’a and Sunnis.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Western inaction in Syria might suggest a shift in U.S. strategy from protecting the al-Sauds and GCC shaykhs to engagement with Tehran. This shift could lead to a separate Alawi state along the Mediterranean coast linked to a Shi’i-dominated Lebanon, which combined with Shi’i-dominated Southern Iraq would confirm Iran as the region’s superpower. Wahhabis and GCC money would then continue to pay Islamists to undermine Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq, and the Arab inhabited oil-producing Khuzestan province in Southern Iran. The Huthi rebellion in Yemen would intensify and Bahraini Shi’i protests would become lethal, spilling over to Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This war will last for decades. Regardless of who eventually prevails, and despite the fact that the war is ridding the world of Islamist terrorists of the nastiest kind, hoards of hardened terrorists will metastasize to fight another day.</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>* Elie Elhadj, born in Syria, is a veteran international banker. He was Chief Executive Officer of the Arab National Bank in Saudi Arabia during most of the 1990s. After retiring, he received his Ph.D. from London University’s School of Oriental and African Studies.</i></p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>NOTES</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref1">[1]</a> Philip Hitti, <i>History of the Arabs, </i>10<sup>th</sup> edition (London: MacMillan Press Ltd., 1970), p. 180.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref2">[2]</a> Mid-2009 Shi’i population estimate: Iran: about 68 million; Arab countries: roughly 38 million (Iraq: 20.5 million; Lebanon: 1.5 million; Syria: 3.5 million; Bahrain: 0.45 million; Kuwait: 0.6 million; Saudi Arabia: 3 million; Yemen: 9 million). 68 million + 38 million = 116 million out of 180 million of the world’s Shi’a population = 60 percent. See: The Pew Forum,<i>Mapping the Global Muslim Population</i> hangers-on, October 7, 2009,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/">http://www.pewforum.org/2009/10/07/mapping-the-global-muslim-population/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref3">[3]</a> Verses 2:285, 3:32, 3:132, 4:59, 4:66, 4:81, 5:92, 8:1, 8:20, 8:46, 24:54, 47:33, 64:11. See IslamiCity.com,<a href="http://www.islamicity.com/QuranSearch/">http://www.islamicity.com/QuranSearch/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref4">[4]</a> The chief of staff to Iran’s former PresidentAhmadinejad proposed building a major thoroughfare to prepare for the arrival of the Twelfth Imam, “Esfandiar Rahim Mashaei, Iran’s Next President?” <i>PBS</i>, March 31, 2011,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/03/esfandiar-rahim-mashaei-irans-next-president.html">http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/tehranbureau/2011/03/esfandiar-rahim-mashaei-irans-next-president.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref5">[5]</a> Hitti, <i>History of the Arabs, </i>pp. 396-97.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref6">[6]</a> Al-Bukhari (d. 870): 7,397 traditions; Muslim (d. 875): 7,563 traditions; Bin Majah (d. 886): 4,341 traditions; Abu Dawud (d. 888): 5,274 traditions; Al-Tirmithi (d. 892): 3,956 traditions; and Al-Nasai (d. 915): 5,761 traditions. It takes a great act of faith to believe that every tradition was authentic. In addition to the great Arab conquests during the 13 generations between Muhammad’s death and the collection of the Hadith, there were four major Muslim civil wars, seven state capital cities, and numerous violent political and religious rebellions.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref7">[7]</a> Hitti, <i>History of the Arabs, </i>p. 395.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref8">[8]</a> The roots of <i>wilayat al-faqih</i> can be found in the work of the Najaf Ayatollah Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr. In his 1975 book, <i>Islamic Political System,</i> al-Sadr formulated his political ideology in four principles: Absolute sovereignty belongs to Allah; Shari’a is the basis of all legislation; the jurist holding the highest religious authority in the state is the representative of the Hidden Imam; the people, as vice-regents of Allah, are entrusted with executive and legislative powers. To give executive and legislative actions legality, the jurist must confirm these actions. As such, Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr constructed the wilayat al-faqih concept as the basis for Shi’i governance. In 1979, the Khomeini revolution in Iran was born.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref9">[9]</a> Albert Hourani wrote of Badr al-Din bin Jama’a (1241-1333), “an official apologist of the Mamlukes.” He advocated that the ruler is “the shadow of God on the Earth…. The community must accept him whoever he be…. The imam can either be chosen or can impose himself by his own power, and, in either case, he must be obeyed. If he is deposed by another, the other must equally be obeyed… We are with whoever conquers.” On Taki al-Din bin Taymiyya (1263-1328), Hourani wrote, “an official of the Mamluke sultans.” He believed that the essence of government “was the power of coercion…. The ruler…. could demand obedience from his subjects, for even an unjust ruler was better than strife and dissolution of society.” See Albert Hourani, <i>Arabic Thought in the Liberal Age 1789-1939 </i>(Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1997), pp. 14, 18-19. These men were the product of not only the era of the Mamluk soldiers but also of the traumatic era of Mongol’s destruction of Baghdad and the caliphate (1258) and the rise of Ottoman rule (1280-1918).</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref10">[10]</a> Among other examples, a man can marry four wives simultaneously and divorce any of them without giving cause, <i>misyar</i> marriages are permitted, and two women equal one man in legal testimony and inheritance. In addition, every woman must have a guardian (father, husband, brother, or son) responsible for her actions. She cannot travel without his written permission, stay in a hotel alone, engage in business, or be treated in a hospital. Women are prohibited from driving cars, for fear of damaging their ovaries, warned a leading Wahhabi cleric. See: “Saudi Cleric Says Driving Risks Damaging a Woman’s Ovaries,” <i>BBC News</i>, September 29, 2013,<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24323934">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24323934</a>. Women must be segregated from men outside the home and covered in public from head to toe in a black garment. A brutal religious police enforces these rules. Further, there is the Saudi common saying that women are light on brains and religious belief. Muhammad reportedly said that most of those in hell were women (according al-Bukhari, Muslim and al-Tirmithi) and that women’s “lack of intelligence” is  the reason a woman’s testimony in an Islamic court of law is equal to half that of the testimony of the Muslim male (al-Bukhari; al-Tirmithi). Moreover, the alleged reason women are prohibited from praying and fasting during menstruation is due to their being “deficient in religious belief” (al-Bukhari; al-Tirmithi).</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref11">[11]</a> Intolerance toward Christians and Jews is found in the following verses, among others: 2:65, 2:120, 5:51, 5:60, 5:78 and the first part of 5:82. Violence against non-Muslims appear in, for example, verses 2:191, 2:193, 2:116, 8:60, 9:5, and 9:29.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref12">[12]</a> Madawi Al-Rasheed, <i>A History of Saudi Arabia</i> (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2003), p. 191.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref13">[13]</a> Elie Elhadj, “The Arab Spring and the Prospects for Genuine Religious and Political Reforms,” <i>Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA)</i>, Vol. 16, No. 3 (Fall 2012),</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.gloria-center.org/2012/11/the-arab-spring-and-the-prospects-for-genuine-religious-and-political-reforms/">http://www.gloria-center.org/2012/11/the-arab-spring-and-the-prospects-for-genuine-religious-and-political-reforms/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref14">[14]</a> <i>Saudi Arabian Central Bureau of Statistics and Information,</i><a href="http://www.cdsi.gov.sa/english/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=31&Itemid=1%2013">http://www.cdsi.gov.sa/english/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=31&Itemid=1 13</a>. 11.458 million out of 16,527 million = 69.3 percent, Table no. 2, p. 47.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref15">[15]</a> Ibid; 9.235 million out of 16.527 million = 56 percent.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref16">[16]</a> Assuming 10 million expatriates from 1993 to 2013 and 5 million during each of the preceding 20 years since 1973 = 300 million. Assuming that the average worker stays for three years, the average number of expatriates would be around 100 million. If 1 percent was radicalized, the number of Islamists would be one million.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref17">[17]</a> Prior to its banning by the United Nations Security Council Committee on January 26, 2004, (see<a href="http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/NSQE10304E.shtml">http://www.un.org/sc/committees/1267/NSQE10304E.shtml</a>), the al-Haramain Foundation claimed to have built 1,300 mosques in Muslim and non-Muslim countries, sponsored 3,000 preachers, and produced 20 million religious pamphlets from the time of its formation in the early 1990s until its closure. See “Saudis to Sue Senior US Officials,” <i>al-Jazeera</i>, May 15, 2005,<a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2005/05/200849145739118333.html">http://www.aljazeera.com/archive/2005/05/200849145739118333.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref18">[18]</a> Declan Walsh, “WikiLeaks Cables Portray Saudi Arabia As a Cash Machine for Terrorists,” <i>The Guardian</i>, December 5, 2010,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding">http://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/dec/05/wikileaks-cables-saudi-terrorist-funding</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref19">[19]</a> Syria’s Sunnis are aghast at the Asad regime’s open blasphemy. Following the death of Hafiz al-Asad’s son Basil in a racing car accident in 1994, government employees and school children in the coastal city of Latakia were ordered by government officials to dress in black and demonstrate, chanting, “Oh God, oh God, it is about time You step aside and let Basil sit in your place” (“<i>Ya Allah hallak hallak wa Basil </i><i>ya’akhaz</i><i> mahallak</i>”). When Hafiz died in 2000, the same performance was repeated for three months, replacing the name Basil with Hafiz, and this time with visits to Hafiz’s mausoleum in Qardaha, the Asad clan’s hometown.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref20">[20]</a> Patrick Seale, <i>Asad: The Struggle for the Middle East</i> (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), p. 173.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref21">[21]</a> International Labor Organization, <i>The Syrian Arab Republic Constitution of 2012, Arabic</i></p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.ilo.org/aids/legislation/WCMS_201343/lang--en/index.htm">http://www.ilo.org/aids/legislation/WCMS_201343/lang–en/index.htm</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref22">[22]</a> The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, <i>The World’s Muslims: Unity and Diversity,</i>August 9, 2012.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref23">[23]</a> BBC, <i>Religions, Sunni and Shi’a</i>, August 19, 2009,<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/subdivisions/sunnishia_1.shtml">http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/islam/subdivisions/sunnishia_1.shtml</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref24">[24]</a> U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Bahrain,” <i>International Religious Freedom Report for 2012</i>,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208398#wrapper">http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208398#wrapper</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref25">[25]</a> “Bahrain Emerging As Flashpoint in Middle East Unrest,” <i>Christian Science Monitor</i>, February 15, 2011,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0215/Bahrain-emerging-as-flashpoint-in-Middle-East-unrest">http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2011/0215/Bahrain-emerging-as-flashpoint-in-Middle-East-unrest</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref26">[26]</a> Human Rights Watch, <i>Bahrain: Police</i><i>Brutality, Despite Reform Pledges, Minors Regularly Beaten; Impunity Remains Key Problem</i>, April 29, 2012,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/04/29/bahrain-police-brutality-despite-reform-pledges">http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/04/29/bahrain-police-brutality-despite-reform-pledges</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref27">[27]</a> <i>Report of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry,</i> December 10, 2011,<a href="http://files.bici.org.bh/BICIreportEN.pdf">http://files.bici.org.bh/BICIreportEN.pdf</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref28">[28]</a> Kuwait’s Public Authority for Civil Information, <a href="http://www.paci.gov.kw/en/">http://www.paci.gov.kw/en/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref29">[29]</a> U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Kuwait,” <i>International Religious Freedom Report for 2012,</i></p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208398#wrapper">http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208398#wrapper</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref30">[30]</a> Ibid.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref31">[31]</a> BBC, <i>Kuwait election: Shia Candidates Suffer at Polls, </i>July 28, 2013,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23469630">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23469630</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref32">[32]</a> Ibid.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref33">[33]</a> Ibid.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref34">[34]</a> U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, <i>Country Reports on Human Rights Practices–2003</i>, Kuwait,<a href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27931.htm">http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/hrrpt/2003/27931.htm</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref35">[35]</a> U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Kuwait,” <i>International Religious Freedom Report for 2012</i>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref36">[36]</a> According to the 2004 census, Saudi nationals in the Eastern Province numbered 2.6 million (Table 1, p. 46) and the rate of Saudi nationals’ growth was 2.5 percent (p. 23). The Province’s population ten years later, in 2014, could be estimated at 3.9 million. See <i>Saudi Arabian Central Bureau of Statistics and Information,</i><a href="http://www.cdsi.gov.sa/english/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=31&Itemid=113">http://www.cdsi.gov.sa/english/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=31&Itemid=113</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref37">[37]</a> Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), <i>The World Factbook</i>,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.cdsi.gov.sa/english/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=31&Itemid=113">http://www.cdsi.gov.sa/english/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=31&Itemid=113</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref38">[38]</a> U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Saudi Arabia,” <i>International Religious Freedom Report for 2012</i>,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208398#wrapper">http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208398#wrapper</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref39">[39]</a> Ibid.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref40">[40]</a> Ibid.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref41">[41]</a> Ibid.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref42">[42]</a> Joshua Teitelbaum, “The Shiites of Saudi Arabia,”<i> Current Trends in Islamist Ideology</i>, Vol. 16, August 21, 2010,<a href="http://www.currenttrends.org/research/detail/the-shiites-of-saudi-arabia">http://www.currenttrends.org/research/detail/the-shiites-of-saudi-arabia</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref43">[43]</a> Al-Rasheed, <i>A History of Saudi Arabia</i> p. 89.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref44">[44]</a> Ibid., pp. 146-47.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref45">[45]</a> According to the 2004 census, Saudi nationals in the Najran Province made up 349,000 (Table 1, p. 46), and the rate of population growth was 2.5 percent (p. 23). The population in Najran ten years later, in 2014, could thus be estimated at roughly 500,000. Since it is well known that the majority of Najran’s population is Isma’ili, assuming a 75 percent majority, the estimated size of Najran’s Isma’ilis would be around 375,000. Further, there are Isma’ilis in the nearby Jazan Province. Jazan’s Saudi population was estimated in 2004 at 994,000 (Table 1, p. 46) with a growth rate of 2.5 percent (p. 23). It could thus be estimated that the Jazan population ten years later, in 2014, at around 1.5 million. At an Isma’ili proportion of 20 percent, the Isma’ilis in Jazan could be around 300,000. Thus, in Najran and Jazan, the Isma’ilis could number around 675,000.See<i>Saudi Arabian Central Bureau of Statistics and Information,</i><a href="http://www.cdsi.gov.sa/english/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=31&Itemid=113">http://www.cdsi.gov.sa/english/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=31&Itemid=113</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref46">[46]</a> U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Yemen,” <i>International Religious Freedom Report for 2012</i>,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208398#wrapper">http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208398#wrapper</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref47">[47]</a> Fethullah Guler, <i>Zaydiyya and Its Conflict with the Salafiyya in Yemen</i>, January 1, 2013,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.academia.edu/3091599/Zaydiyya-Salafiyya_Conflict_in_Yemen">http://www.academia.edu/3091599/Zaydiyya-Salafiyya_Conflict_in_Yemen</a>, p.1.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref48">[48]</a> “A Lasting Peace? Yemen’s Long Journey to National Reconciliation,” <i>The Brookings Doha Center Analysis Papers</i>, No. 7, (February 2013),</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2013/02/11%20yemen%20national%20reconciliation%20sharqieh/bdc_yemen%20national%20reconciliation_sharqieh.pdf">http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2013/02/11%20yemen%20national%20reconciliation%20sharqieh/bdc_yemen%20national%20reconciliation_sharqieh.pdf</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref49">[49]</a> “Houthi Group Appoints Arms Dealer as Governor of Sa’ada Province,” March 27, 2011,<i>Yemen Post</i>,<a href="http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=3336">http://yemenpost.net/Detail123456789.aspx?ID=3&SubID=3336</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref50">[50]</a> Momen, <i>Introduction to Shi’i Islam</i>, p. 93.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref51">[51]</a> Ibid., pp. 91-92.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref52">[52]</a> “Hezbollah to End Beirut Seizure,” <i>BBC</i>, May 10, 2008,<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7393982.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7393982.stm</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref53">[53]</a> “Lebanon Rivals Agree Crisis Deal,” <i>BBC</i>, May 21, 2008,<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7411835.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7411835.stm</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref54">[54]</a> “Short History of Nuclear Talks with Iran,” American Foreign Policy Project, November 9, 2009,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://americanforeignpolicy.org/the-nuclear-file/short-history-of-nuclear-talks">http://americanforeignpolicy.org/the-nuclear-file/short-history-of-nuclear-talks</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref55">[55]</a> CIA, “Iran,” <i>The World Factbook</i>,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html">https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ir.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref56">[56]</a> U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Iran,”<i>International Religious Freedom Report for 2012</i>,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208398#wrapper">http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/religiousfreedom/index.htm?year=2012&dlid=208398#wrapper</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref57">[57]</a> U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, “Iraq<i>,</i>”<i>International Religious Freedom Report for 2012</i></p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref58">[58]</a> Ibid.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref59">[59]</a> For the full text of the constitution:</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101201450.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/12/AR2005101201450.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref60">[60]</a> CIA, <i>The World Factbook</i>,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html">https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sy.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref61">[61]</a> Aside from the Asad family, among the top families that moved from rags to riches are: Duba, Khuli, Makhluf, Mamluk, Nasif, Shalish, and Akhras, Khaddam, Shihabi, Tlas.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref62">[62]</a> Eighty percent of Alawites who represent about 12 percent of Syria’s population = 9.6 percent, or 10 percent + two-thirds of Christians who represent some 6 percent of the population = 4 percent + 10 percent of Sunnis, who represent 75 percent of the population, = 7.5 percent, or 8 percent. The total would be 10 percent + 4 percent + 8 percent = 22 percent.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref63">[63]</a> “Syria Accused of Torture and 11,000 Executions,”<i> BBC</i>, January 21, 2014,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25822571">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-25822571</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref64">[64]</a> Some of the most prominent Shi’i ulama families in Najaf (such as Sahibuljawahir, Ashshaykh Radi, Bahrululum, al-Jawahiri, and Tabatabai al-Hakim) and Karbala (such as al-Hujja al-Haeri, Tabatabai al-Haeri, Tabatabai Burujurdi, and Shahrastan) trace their genealogical roots to long lines of intermarriages with illustrious Iranian families in Burjurid, Isfahan, Kirmanshah, and Tehran. For a lineage tree showing intermarriages among Shi’i ulama families in Iran and Iraq from the late seventeenth to the early nineteenth centuries, see Momen, <i>An Introduction to Shi’i Islam</i>, pp. 132-34.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref65">[65]</a> Hitti<i>, History of the Arabs</i>, p. 294.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref66">[66]</a> U.S. Energy Information Administration, Iran, March 28, 2013,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=IR">http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=IR</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref67">[67]</a> US Energy Information Administration, “Iraq,” April 2, 2013,<a href="http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=IZ">http://www.eia.gov/countries/cab.cfm?fips=IZ</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref68">[68]</a> “Yemeni Religious Scholars Reject Repression Charges of Zayidis,” <i>Gulf News</i>, May 8, 2005,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemeni-religious-scholars-reject-repression-charges-of-zaidis-1.286981">http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/yemen/yemeni-religious-scholars-reject-repression-charges-of-zaidis-1.286981</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref69">[69]</a> Ibid.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref70">[70]</a> “Analysis: Defining Iraqracy,” <i>Globalpost</i>, March 29, 2010,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/100329/election-results">http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/worldview/100329/election-results</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref71">[71]</a> Juan Cole, “Saving Iraq: Mission Impossible,” <i>Salon</i>, May 11, 2006,<a href="http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/05/11/maliki/index_np.html">http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/05/11/maliki/index_np.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref72">[72]</a> Helene Cooper, “Saudis’ Role in Iraq Frustrates U.S. Officials,” <i>New York Times</i>, July 27, 2007,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/world/middleeast/27saudi.html?pagewanted=1">http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/world/middleeast/27saudi.html?pagewanted=1</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref73">[73]</a> Robin Wright, “Saudi King Declines to Receive Iraqi Leader,” <i>Washington Post</i>, April 29, 2007,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/28/AR2007042801163.html">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/28/AR2007042801163.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref74">[74]</a> Ben Birnbaum, “Allawi Cites ‘Dictatorship,’ Iranian Control in Iraq,” <i>Washington Times</i>, March 22, 2012,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/22/allawi-cites-dictatorship-iranian-control-iraq/?page=all">http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/mar/22/allawi-cites-dictatorship-iranian-control-iraq/?page=all</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref75">[75]</a> According to King Fahd, al-Rasheed, <i>A History of Saudi Arabia</i>, p. 157.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref76">[76]</a> “Gulf States Send Forces to Bahrain Following Protests,” <i>BBC</i>, March 14, 2011,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12729786">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12729786</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref77">[77]</a> “Saudi Jets Bomb Yemeni Houthis,” <i>al-Jazeera</i>, November 5, 2009,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2009/11/20091151323886933.html">http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2009/11/20091151323886933.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref78">[78]</a> “Rafik al-Hariri,” <i>Lebanon-Today.com</i>,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.lebanon-today.com/content/view/2070/43/">http://www.lebanon-today.com/content/view/2070/43/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref79">[79]</a> “Saudis Reject Security Council Seat, Angry over Mideast Inaction,” Reuters, October 18, 2013,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/18/uk-saudi-securitycouncil-idUKBRE99H06Q20131018">http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/10/18/uk-saudi-securitycouncil-idUKBRE99H06Q20131018</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Elhadj-revised1-YA-au1.doc#_ednref80">[80]</a> CIA, “Saudi Arabia,” <i>The World Factbook</i>,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html">https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sa.html</a>.</p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-56835466841130104252014-06-01T19:36:00.001-07:002014-06-01T19:36:16.869-07:00THE ISSUE OF THE RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AS A POLITICAL PHENOMENON
Apr 8th, 2014 @ 12:05 pm › Emil Souleimanov and Maya Ehrmann
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.gloria-center.org/2014/04/the-issue-of-the-recognition-of-the-armenian-genocide-as-a-political-phenomenon/">THE ISSUE OF THE RECOGNITION OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE AS A POLITICAL PHENOMENON</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Apr 8th, 2014 @ 12:05 pm › Emil Souleimanov and Maya Ehrmann</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://cdn.printfriendly.com/button-print-blu20.png"><a href="http://www.gloria-center.org/2014/04/the-issue-of-the-recognition-of-the-armenian-genocide-as-a-political-phenomenon/"></a></p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.gloria-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Souleimanov-Ehrmann-YA-au1PDF1.pdf">PDF version available here</a></p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://www.gloria-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/798px-2012_Brussels_commemoration_of_the_Armenian_Genocide.jpg"><a href="http://www.gloria-center.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/798px-2012_Brussels_commemoration_of_the_Armenian_Genocide.jpg"></a></p>
<p dir="ltr">2012 Brussels commemoration in front of the Memorial for the Armenian Genocide</p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>This article focuses on the current perceptions of the Armenian genocide in the various countries involved, specifically within the EU, Armenia, and Turkey, in order to explore the political rationale behind the commitment of some states to recognize the historical events of 1915 as an act of genocide or the commitment of other states to refute this. A brief historical overview is followed by a discussion of internal EU perceptions of the essentiality of Armenian genocide recognition primarily contingent to Turkey’s accession efforts. The article also focuses on the internal Armenian and Turkish discourses, with the ultimate goal of unearthing the rationale behind Yerevan’s encouragement of genocide recognition and Ankara’s unwillingness to recognize the genocide as well as the political implications.</i></p>
<p dir="ltr">The dilemma of what is termed by some the Armenian genocide remains a key political topic, which separates Armenia–a post-Soviet country in the South Caucasus–and the Turkish Republic, causing tension in the entire region. Through their European communities, particularly the Armenian diaspora, the issue has also entered the European domain becoming even more controversial as Turkey is in the process of its hotly contested European Union (EU) accession talks. The Armenian genocide issue has resulted in icy diplomatic relations between France (along with Austria, traditionally the most skeptical state when it comes to Turkey’s prospective EU accession) and Turkey, as well as between Turkey and a number of other countries that have formally recognized the genocide.<b> </b>Besides France traditionally being skeptical of Turkey’s EU accession, recognition of the Armenian genocide has regularly been a contested issue for France due to its<b> </b>large Armenian (and Turkish) diaspora, and especially since France’s 2001 formal recognition of the genocide.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Moreover, on January 23, 2012, French lawmakers ratified a bill (overturned by the French Constitutional Council in late February 2012) making the denial of the Armenian genocide a criminal offense punishable by a one-year prison sentence and a 45,000 euro fine. This propelled France and Turkey into a new stage of diplomatic uncertainty, as Turkey has threatened to impose permanent sanctions and cut diplomatic and strategic ties with France.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn1">[1]</a> This development illustrates that the question of Armenian genocide recognition has long surpassed its purely moral and historical context, becoming a highly politicized and current issue with significant ramifications in the sphere of regional and–to some extent–global politics.<b> </b>In addition, although the issue of the Armenian genocide has been researched quite extensively from a historical perspective, no study has as of yet been produced to address the (geo)political implications of the formal (non)recognition of the events that took place during the final years of the Ottoman Empire as an act of genocide or as the inadvertent effects (massacres and deportations) of war.</p>
<p dir="ltr">To fill this gap, the present article shall focus on the current perceptions of the Armenian genocide in the various countries involved, specifically within the EU, Armenia, and Turkey in order to explore the political rationale behind the commitment of some states to recognize the aforementioned historical events as an act of genocide or the commitment of other states to refute the fact of genocide. Initially, a brief historical overview of the 1915 events is provided, followed by a discussion of internal EU perceptions of the essentiality of Armenian genocide recognition primarily contingent to Turkey’s accession efforts. The focus then shifts to the internal Armenian and Turkish discourses with the ultimate goal of unearthing the rationale behind Yerevan’s encouragement of genocide recognition and Ankara’s unwillingness to recognize the genocide as well as the political implications of recognition or denial of the Armenian genocide. The various positions of Armenia and Turkey on this issue will be analyzed as well as the reasons and effects of recognition or denial of the Armenian genocide in both the local and the international arenas.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>HISTORICAL CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ARMENIAN GENOCIDE</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">The tragic events that are sometimes referred to as the first genocide of the twentieth century took place on Ottoman Empire territory in 1915-1916. The roots of the problem lay in economic disputes between the Armenian settlers<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn2">[2]</a> and nomadic Kurds. East Anatolian Armenian farmers, who were often attacked by Kurdish tribes and were required to pay a “protection” tax<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn3">[3]</a> to Kurdish tribal leaders, organized a series of de-facto anti-Kurdish riots toward the end of the nineteenth century. They appealed to the Ottoman emperor to relieve the Christians of their Kurdish “protection” and assume direct rule in the East Anatolian region. However, their pleas fell on deaf ears. Istanbul feared a repetition of events in the Balkans, where the other European powers intervened in interior Ottoman state issues to protect local Christians, and therefore decided to punish the Armenians instead by initiating the massacres. Semi-military Kurdish units, who received minimal supervision from the central power, along with the Ottoman Army were said to have carried out the killings. Approximately 250,000 Armenians<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn4">[4]</a> lost their lives during these riots, which took place in 1894-1896.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As a result of these events, Armenian demands became politicized, and the conflict began to take on an ethnic and partially religious facet. In some circles–especially in the diaspora–people even appealed for the annexation of the West Armenian territories by the Russian Empire. Radical Armenian intelligence gradually turned into a separatist (or rather irredentist) organization. Soon the stereotypical image of a “Kurdish robber and hijacker” (which was wide-spread among Armenian farmers in Eastern Turkey) morphed into a highly politicized picture of a “Turkish murderer.” Thus, the “Armenian question” as a phenomenon of the European political scene at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century was born. Muslim-Armenian antagonism peaked during World War I, when the governing Turkish party ordered organized deportations and–according to some sources–massacres of the Armenian population, guised as protection of the Eastern borders. According to estimates, between 800,000 to 1.5 million Armenians died as a result.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn5">[5]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">The Armenian genocide decisively ended the existence of an ancient West Armenian culture in Eastern Anatolia and influential Armenian diaspora in various Ottoman cities. It provoked a mass exodus of those who survived the deportations, mainly to Western Europe, Russia, and the Americas. Armenian refugees from the Ottoman Empire formed a new diaspora (in contrast with the classic old diaspora dating back to the Middle Ages), and their lobbies still represent a significant political force on the international scene, especially in Russia, France, and the United States.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Armenian diaspora and the government in Yerevan have demanded that the current Turkish government recognize the Armenian genocide. The historic massacre as well as the violent conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn6">[6]</a>deepened the Armenian mistrust of the Turkish (and perhaps also of the Azerbaijanis, who are often compared with the Turkish in Armenian national consciousness due to their ethnic and linguistic similarities). As a result, Turkey is deemed by Armenia as a practically unacceptable partner in dialogue. Diplomatic relations have become more than icy, and attempts to conduct academic analysis of the genocide are also failing.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>WAS IT GENOCIDE? OVERVIEW OF EUROPEAN PERCEPTIONS OF THE 1915 EVENTS</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">In most of Western Europe, for various reasons, a formal Turkish recognition of the Armenian genocide is considered an essential condition for European Union (EU) accession. The list of European states officially recognizing the Armenian genocide, including France, Belgium, Italy, and the Netherlands, is lengthy,<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn7">[7]</a>indicating a clear emphasis on the importance attributed to the genocide recognition.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn8">[8]</a> Official statements by several nations, and especially by the European Parliament, indicate that while recognition of the Armenian genocide is not an <i>official</i> precondition for EU accession, it is deemed essential. In 2000, the Swedish Foreign Ministry proclaimed:</p>
<p dir="ltr">An official statement and recognition of the Genocide of the Armenians is important and necessary… The Standing Committee [on Foreign Affairs] is of the opinion that the greater openness Turkey demonstrates, the stronger Turkey’s democratic identity will be… It is of great importance that an increasing openness and historical understanding of the events of 1915 and thereafter be developed.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn9">[9]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Although this statement by the Swedish Foreign Ministry does not indicate that an official statement of recognition by the Turkish government is necessary as a <i>direct</i>precondition for EU accession, it indicates that recognition of the Armenian genocide by Turkish authorities is necessary in order to establish Turkey‘s viability as an open (more transparent) and “strong” democracy; accordingly, democratic values and transparency are profound values of the European Union.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn10">[10]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">In 2006, The Welsh government issued a statement urging “…the UK Government to call on the European Union to make official Turkish recognition of the 1915 Assyrian and Armenian genocide one of the pre-conditions for Turkey’s membership of the EU.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn11">[11]</a> Thus, in this example, the Welsh government directly mentions recognition of the Armenian genocide by Turkey as essential for Turkey’s accession to the EU and encourages the European Union to make such recognition an official precondition.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Not only have a plethora of states called upon Turkey to recognize the Armenian genocide (some having emphasized the importance of this recognition as a condition of Turkey’s accession to the EU), but European Union bodies have also highlighted the importance of Turkey recognizing the Armenian genocide. In 2006, the European Parliament stated, “MEPs nevertheless stress that, although the recognition of the Armenian genocide as such is formally not one of the Copenhagen criteria, it is indispensable for a country on the road to membership to come to terms with and recognize its past.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn12">[12]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">The European Parliament reiterates, as have many European nations, that recognition of the Armenian genocide is a <i>favored</i>–yet not an officially required–pre-condition for Turkey’s accession to the EU. However, with the official recognition of the Armenian genocide by many EU member states and Turkey’s need to secure the support of EU member states in hopes of gaining membership, Ankara’s unwillingness to recognize the 1915 events as genocide presents a hindrance to the ideological support of these EU member states toward Turkey and, in turn, a stumbling block toward its accession to the EU.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>GENOCIDE RECOGNITION: THE ARMENIAN VIEW</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Aside from the moral and ethical arguments, specific internal and external political factors can help explain the behavior of the current Armenian government. The revival of the Armenian genocide issue can fortify societal unity, which has been somewhat shaken by the victory in Nagorno-Karabakh due to the “economic, demographic, and political crises”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn13">[13]</a> in Armenia following the conflict. Foremost, the constant maintenance of anti-Turkish (as well as anti-Azerbaijani) sentiment engenders the high levels of social cohesion necessary in the case of further armed conflicts. In this sense, social cohesion is dependent upon the establishment and maintenance of a common enemy.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Accordingly, the Armenian victory and, with it, a less immediate enemy threat, somewhat decreased the Armenian sense of solidarity. Also, some Armenian intellectuals assert that “if by that stage [early 1990s] Turkey had recognized its responsibility in the destruction of the Anatolian Armenians, the political conflict over Karabakh might in principle have been solved in a non-violent way.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn14">[14]</a>Intellectuals here try to draw a connection between the 1915 events and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, an assumption that places Turkey as the antagonizer and, consequently, strengthens anti-Turkish sentiment. Anti-Azerbaijani and anti-Turkish sentiments are evident in official Armenian government statements. Armenia’s Foreign Ministry states:</p>
<p dir="ltr">Azerbaijan, distorting the nature and main reasons of the consequences of the conflict… continues sending money from oil revenues to increase the military budget and to the acquisition of large number of offensive armaments, grossly violating a number of agreements and obligations in the sphere of security and political-military sphere.…. Azerbaijan’s attempts to get unilateral concessions by the threat of use of force continue to be the main obstacle for the settlement through compromise… Azerbaijan refuses to establish diplomatic and good-neighbourly relations with Armenia.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn15">[15]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">This statement is clearly critical of Azerbaijan and highlights the official position that there is a true threat of armed conflict. This perceived threat strengthens the perception of Azerbaijan as a common enemy. The lingering enmity toward Azerbaijan reinforces negative sentiments toward Turkey, which sided with Azerbaijan in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Also, the maintenance of Turkey as a common enemy is reinforced through attempts to draw links between the Armenian genocide and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Armenian Foreign Ministry further claims, “Since 1991, attempts have been made to normalize the bilateral relations, which ended unsuccessfully because of Turkey’s position.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn16">[16]</a> Both statements reveal that Armenia’s official position toward Azerbaijan and Turkey is icy and places the blame for stagnation of diplomatic relations solely upon them (Azerbaijan and Turkey). The development and maintenance of such sentiments are critical in creating social cohesion. Anti-Turkish sentiment over the Armenian genocide is reinforced through the Nagorno-Karabakh issue. Social cohesion is crucial, for without rallying against a common enemy, the chance of victory in case of an armed conflict and the success of preventative measures for the possibility of such a conflict are less likely.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Moreover, the internal image of the enemy should consolidate Armenians in the republic as well as in the diaspora, since there are twice as many Armenians living abroad than in Armenia itself. The significant number of Armenians residing overseas makes them a crucial component to Armenian national unity and, in some ways, a powerful instrument for the Armenian Republic in its fight for Armenian genocide recognition. An especially significant rallying point for Armenians is against Turkey and against Armenian genocide denial. Armenian communities abroad hold a significant role, as they have and continue to press local governments to recognize the Armenian genocide and to pressure Turkey to do so as well.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn17">[17]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Furthermore, a segment of Armenian politicians and intellectuals both within Armenia and outside the country believe that the genocide trauma and effort to rectify the historical wrongs as central points of Armenian nationalism will slow the assimilation of young generations living in the diaspora and strengthen their sense of solidarity and belonging to their homeland.<b> </b>Scholars, such as Anny Bakalian, have claimed, “The Armenian genocidal experience, ‘being hated to death,’ has become the fundamental experience that today defines and unites all Armenians in the diaspora, and to some extent even in Armenia.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn18">[18]</a> Memories of the genocide and advocacy for genocide recognition are elements encouraging and upholding the social cohesion of the Armenian people. Likewise, social cohesion enables youth in the diaspora to establish a sense of solidarity and belonging to their homeland. During the annual award “for notable contribution to the preservation of the Armenian identity,” the Armenian Ministry of Diaspora’s stated, “By advancing, receiving knowledge about those trials and tribulations… the youth form their own view of the world and value system. Each youth views the homeland in his way, and these studies serve as a wonderful opportunity for the youth to recognize the homeland through their eyes…”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn19">[19]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">This statement reveals the position that the difficulties faced by the Armenian people, among them the genocide, are unifying factors. While postulating that each youth attaches his or her own significance to the homeland, the use of the term “homeland” rather than “Armenia” to refer to the Republic of Armenia creates a tie between Armenians in the republic and those in the diaspora. Bakalian concludes that<b> </b>“… even the great-grandchildren of the immigrant generation, continue to maintain high levels of Armenian identity, fierce pride in their ancestral heritage, and a strong sense of we-ness or peoplehood.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn20">[20]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">This policy of strengthening social cohesion has resulted in growing financial support for the Armenian Republic from Armenian communities that have been established abroad. The influence of powerful Armenian lobby groups focused mainly on the issue of genocide recognition has increased the significance of the Armenian diaspora in Armenian foreign policymaking.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn21">[21]</a> Overseas communities backing the current governmental position on the genocide question and the Karabakh conflict may also, to a certain extent, legitimize the governmental elites surrounding President Serzh Sargsyan (many of whom have been involved in nefarious affairs, but still continue in their positions) in the eyes of the public and suppress any possible opposition.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Last, Armenian intellectuals (and some politicians) advocate for genocide recognition in order to prepare for either financial reparation from Turkey or the claim over the territory of Western Armenia in case of Turkey’s prospective collapse following the escalation of Turco-Kurdish anxiety.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn22">[22]</a> Genocide recognition is essential for financial reparation of Armenian property confiscated or lost due to the 1915 events.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn23">[23]</a> Armenian sources claim, “The formal recognition of the Armenian Genocide is a condition sine qua non for any attempt or process aimed at restoration of justice.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn24">[24]</a> However, some may argue that fear of territorial and financial loss is precisely what deters Turkey from officially recognizing the Armenian genocide.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn25">[25]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Besides financial considerations, Armenian demands for international recognition of the 1915 massacres as genocide also include a significant international political subtext. The return of historical Armenian lands (commonly referred to in Armenia as West Armenia), which are currently a part of East Turkey, has been discussed more and more frequently since the 1990s. The reason for speculation could be the possible break-up of the Turkish Republic, which has been touched upon by a number of political commentators. This is based on the ever-increasing antagonism between the Turks and the Kurds. News sources site an “escalation in fighting between Turkey and the Kurdish separatists PKK.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn26">[26]</a> This antagonism could further escalate if the number of ethnic Turks and the demographically strong Kurdish population become equal. Given current population growth statistics, this could happen within approximately two generations. Kurdish nationalism and even separatism in Turkey are growing in response to the creation of a semi-independent Kurdish unit in northern Iraq and the pressure from the European Union for Ankara to recognize Kurdish ethnic and linguistic rights. One can conclude from this information that, under certain circumstances, the break-up of Turkey might not be so farfetched.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn27">[27]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>GENOCIDE REFUSAL: THE TURKISH VIEW</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">As aforementioned, the hotly debated Turkish EU membership has, again, made Armenian genocide recognition a prominent issue. Some countries have officially recognized the Armenian massacres; others still hesitate or even refuse to do so. The unresolved “Ottoman past” related to the fate of the Armenian population stands in the way of Turkish EU membership. A public reference to the Armenian genocide in Turkey is considered “an attempt to denigrate Turkish national identity” and is punishable by imprisonment, in accordance with the well-known article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A major source of debate over recognition of the genocide stems from the disagreement over the definition of genocide itself as well as whether this term can be attributed to the 1915 events. “The issue is whether the Turkish Government manifested the intent, through word or action, to commit atrocities against its Armenian population that today would be considered genocide.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn28">[28]</a> There is no globally acceptable scholarly definition of “genocide,” a term coined in 1944 by Raphael Lemkin.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn29">[29]</a> The legal definition of genocide was established in the 1948 United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (CPPCG), which defines genocide as:</p>
<p dir="ltr">…actions committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: killing members of the group; causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life, calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part; imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group children of the group to another group.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn30">[30]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">A common perception in Turkey is that the legal term of genocide was coined following the 1915 events, and that a legal term cannot be used retroactively. This argument often relies upon the claim by the International Center for Transitional Justice which states, “International law generally prohibits the retroactive application of treaties unless a different intention appears from the treaty or is otherwise established. The Genocide Convention contains no provision mandating its retroactive application.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn31">[31]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Furthermore, some sources claim that the UN CPPCG clause about the “intent to destroy” cannot be proven in the case of the 1915 events. Former Turkish politician, Mumtaz Soysal, stated:</p>
<p dir="ltr">This key-description [intention to destroy] helps to differentiate between genocide and other forms of homicide, which are the consequences of other motives such as in the case of wars, uprisings etc…. one must study the facts objectively in order to prove if this intention exists, even in an implicit manner… this tragedy cannot be called genocide because it lacks the essential element of the qualification of genocide, that is the intention to destroy the Armenian ethnic group as such. It is a question of wartime action, decided upon in an atmosphere of armed conflict, in the heart of a dying Empire beset by disorder and disorganization. The relocation of the Armenian element obviously had consequence that at first glimpse may fulfill the conditions set out by the 1948 Convention.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn32">[32]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Thus, Soysal argues that while deaths due to relocation may have occurred, whether due to irresponsibility of certain Turkish troops or whether due to extreme climate conditions, there was no coherent “intention” to destroy the Armenian population.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In addition, pressure to recognize the Armenian genocide, especially from some EU states, is perceived rather negatively in Turkey and is considered to be just another artificially created obstruction to EU accession plans from the enemies of Turkey. Turkish historian Taner Akcam has commented that “there are forces which continually seek to disperse and destroy us, and it is necessary to defend the state against this danger.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn33">[33]</a> This perception, often dubbed as “Sèvres Syndrome,” describes a perceived threat that “foreign governments are continually attempting to take over Turkish lands, exploiting ethnic divisions where possible.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn34">[34]</a> Some scholars have noted that this perception has played an integral role in Turkish foreign policy.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn35">[35]</a> Accordingly, as a result of the introduction of the recent bill in France, Turkey has hinted at this standpoint. Erdogan has claimed that the bill represents “… politics based on racism, discrimination and xenophobia… It raises concerns regarding these issues not only in France but all over Europe.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn36">[36]</a> In an official statement in January 2012, Turkey further stated, “Turkey is determined to take every step required against this unjust action, which disregards basic human values and public conscience.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn37">[37]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">The issue of Armenian genocide recognition, therefore, is a determinant catalyst of an internal perception in Turkey of “us” versus “them.” As aforementioned, although recognition of the Armenian genocide is not an official precondition for EU accession, it has certainly been widely advocated by EU states, leading to a resulting perception by Ankara that this issue is a significant deterrent to Turkey’s chances for EU membership. Thus, fundamental disagreement over France’s January 2012 bill coupled with Turkey’s unwillingness to recognize the 1915 events as genocide not only create tension between Turkey and those states–among them EU members, who officially recognize the Armenian genocide–but also contribute to the Turkish perception that the issue of Armenian genocide recognition is being utilized as an obstruction to its EU accession plans.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Moreover, lack of information–both due to self-censorship and a general reluctance to present or recognize events that are not officially supported<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn38">[38]</a>–fundamentally influence the view of the Turkish public about the Armenian massacres that occurred at the beginning of the twentieth century. To add to this information vacuum, before being amended in 2008, Article 301 made insult to “Turkishness,” a component of which was advocacy of Armenian genocide recognition, a punishable offense.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn39">[39]</a> However, besides clear legal deterrents for Armenian genocide recognition, the official position of Ankara is one of general reluctance to recognize the Armenian genocide. A recent statement by Ankara claimed, “We will continue to strongly use our right to defend ourselves on a legitimate basis against unfair allegations.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn40">[40]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Another important factor in genocide denial is the position of the high-ranking officials in the Turkish army, who cannot stand insults to the army, the guardian of the secular form of Turkish statehood. In recent years, the country has experienced a staggering growth of Turkish nationalism. The rejection of “Armenian lies,” as the Armenian genocide is called among local right-wing groups, is slowly becoming a part of modern Turkish identity. The Turkish army has been considerably weakened at the hands of the AKP, which has–according to some sources–used the ongoing Ergenekon investigations as a tool to weaken any opposition.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn41">[41]</a> As part of these investigations, many scholars, academics, and military officers have been imprisoned–a factor leading to the assumption that not only is a decrease in the army’s influence taking place but also, as part of the process of elimination of opposition, a strengthening of Turkey’s right-wing nationalists who oppose recognition of the Armenian genocide.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Furthermore, the rejection of desired membership in the European Union would most probably be interpreted as a failure of the pro-Western legacy of the founder of Turkey’s modern republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Turkey has been formally leaning towards the West since the 1920s, and it filed an EU application in 1987. However, it was accepted as a candidate state only in 1999, with accession talks beginning six years later. The Turkish population would most probably blame the possible EU rejection on the current government. The failure of the “European project” in Turkey could–from a long-term perspective–depreciate the reputation of Kemalism as a state-making doctrine. Since the 1920s, the number one goal for Kemalists has been Westernization. Despite this goal, Turkey has faced rejection by the EU, thereby undermining Kemalism’s agenda. The army institution is considered a prominent and worthy state tool by Kemalists. Therefore, recognizing the 1915 events as genocide would be a slap in the face for this institution and would be considered largely unacceptable–also as military authorities are among the strongest opponents of Armenian genocide recognition. As a result of the decrease of Kemalism and the army’s influence in Turkish society, extreme right-wing and Islamist groups could become more popular, which could result in a change of regime. Political Islamism has already gained a stronger role in Turkish society given the growing influence of the AKP.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn42">[42]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">Furthermore, the current Turkish government does not have a unified official standpoint on the Armenian issue, which has moved to the center of social discourse under pressure from the EU public. However, the popular Turkish viewpoint is that the events of World War I must be perceived as a mere deportation of the Armenian population who collaborated with the Russians during the invasion of the Anatolian territory. With Russia’s declaration of war against the Ottoman Empire, the Dashnak Society declared, “The Armenians have taken their place on the side of the Entente states without showing any hesitation whatsoever; they have placed all their forces at the disposition of Russia; and they also are forming volunteer battalions.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn43">[43]</a>Armenian collaboration with Russian forces, as mentioned in the Dashnak Society’s statement , has been and continues to be a focal point of Turkey’s argument that “the measures adopted regarding the Armenians in Eastern Anatolia was merely a replacement in another region within the Empire for security reasons.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn44">[44]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">According to Turkish officials, the deportations were solely an interior issue of the Ottoman Empire and a necessary military measure. The Turkish side does admit that tens of thousands of Armenians perished (reports state up to 300,000 people); however, it categorically refuses to recognize that the events were part of a wider premeditated and deliberate plan to exterminate an entire ethnic minority (an essential component of the legal term of genocide). They claim that during the civil war, famine, and epidemics in 1914-1918, hundreds of thousands of Muslims also lost their lives.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn45">[45]</a> In addition, the official decree of the Ottoman Council of Ministers is often used to support the argument that there was no deliberate, preconceived intention to massacre the Armenian population: “When those of the Armenians resident in the aforementioned towns and villages who have to be moved are transferred to their places of settlement and are on the road, their comfort must be assured and their lives and property protected.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn46">[46]</a></p>
<p dir="ltr">The work of a number of Turkish intellectuals–mainly historians living in Western Europe who speak of the need to recognize the genocide formally and legislatively–is currently very important in Turkish social discourse.<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn47">[47]</a>However, activism among Turkish intelligentsia for formal recognition of the Armenian genocide is often illustrated as unnationalistic, treacherous, and un-Turkish. Recognition of the Armenian genocide thus remains socially and politically unacceptable and in opposition to Turkish nationalists who are still majorly supported. The discouragement for recognition of the genocide is enhanced by the growing realization by Turkish academia that “[t]he more foreign parliaments insist that our forebears committed crimes against humanity, the less likely anybody in Turkey is to face up to the hardest moments in history.”<a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_edn48">[48]</a> Still, liberal Turkish scholars and sociologists have expressed the perception that a membership or prospective membership in the European Union may enable the possibility for more open discussion of the Armenian tragedy and a post-nationalist attitude toward this chapter in history.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b> </b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>CONCLUSION</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Despite recent attempts, it has not been possible to improve Turkish-Armenian relations. The opening of borders and establishment of diplomatic relations between Yerevan and Ankara, which was anticipated as a result of the signing of Turkish-Armenian Protocol in 2009, did not happen due to hesitations on both sides and pressure on Turkey from Baku. Recognition of the genocide from the Turkish government is still unrealistic and has a number of potential risks. After such a long and insistent denial, some question whether it is even viable for the Turkish government to recognize the genocide. Such admittance could be seen as yielding to anti-Turkish interest. In this respect, a reversal of policy may be impossible. Any movement forward will therefore depend on the interior political development in Turkey, the pressure from the EU member states, and the general development of Armenian-Turkish relations. In the end, Turkey may have to choose between gains in the international arena through EU accession or maintenance of its domestic power through a refusal to recognize the genocide.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The issue of recognition of the Armenian genocide is a significant component of the internal political discourses both within Turkey and within Armenia and has implications for the national identities of both nations. Recognition of the genocide in Turkey has been illustrated as being considered socially and politically unacceptable. Among Armenians, however, the advocacy of genocide recognition and the awareness of this common tribulation is an essential component of Armenian national identity and contributes to the maintenance of a high degree of social cohesion among Armenian populations in the republic and those in the diaspora Due to the large number of Armenians residing abroad, this unifying element is critical and is achieved not only through the maintenance of a common image of the enemy (in this sense, Turkey) but also through a unified sense of belonging to the “homeland“ (the Republic of Armenia or–according to some–what is known as Western Armenia). Furthermore, for some Armenian politicians and intellectuals, genocide recognition is seen as a means for achieving financial and territorial reparation through the return of confiscated property and the possible return of Western Armenia in the case of Turkey’s collapse–as speculated by some Armenians–in light of the escalating conflict between the Turkish and Kurdish populations.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In Turkey, unwillingness to recognize officially the Armenian genocide has often been viewed as one of the prominent factors behind Turkey’s unsuccessful EU accession efforts. Also, the growing disillusion with Kemalism as a state-making doctrine and the decline of army’s influence upon Turkish society, due both to the decline of Kemalism and to the growing influence of the AKP, has given rising strength to right-wing nationalists and political Islamists who vehemently oppose genocide recognition. Moreover, the popular viewpoint in Turkey is that the events of 1915 were simply the attempted relocation of the Armenian population due to security reasons, the most important of which was Armenian collaboration with the invading Russians. However, Turkey has witnessed the changing perceptions of intellectuals who not only sometimes advocate genocide recognition but also speculate on whether EU membership or the attempt at accession may lead to more open discussion in Turkey of the 1915 events and perhaps, eventually, recognition by Turkey of the Armenian genocide.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Might Turkey revise its official standpoint on the issue in light of its efforts to gain EU membership or might accession to the EU possibly lead, consequently (and due to pressure by member states), to more open discussion in Turkey about the Armenian tragedy? The answer to this deliberation depends upon Turkey’s advancement toward EU accession. The tension between France and Turkey over Armenian genocide recognition illustrates that this issue continues to be contentious for Turkey and a significant rallying point for Armenia and the Armenian diaspora. From around the early 2000s, as part of reconciliation efforts, a reconciliation movement has emerged that advocates forgetting about the past and focusing, instead, on the future. Perhaps forgetting about the past and moving forward is a plausible solution for improving Armenian-Turkish relations, yet in the international arena, Turkey’s unwillingness to recognize the Armenian tragedy as genocide continues to enforce turbulent relations between Turkey and several other nations, including France, and is an ideological stumbling block toward EU accession. Thus, recognition of the Armenian genocide continues to remain a hotly debated topic both within Armenia and within Turkey. While internal societal perceptions of the 1915 events and of the issue of recognition are largely shaped by internal tensions and debates in Armenia and Turkey, the issue of recognition of genocide is contested and holds political significance in the international arena as well.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>*Emil Souleimanov is associate professor of Russian and East European Studies at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic.</i></p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>*Maya Ehrmann is </i><i>a graduate of government, diplomacy, and strategy from the Interdisciplinary Center in Israel. This study was carried out in the framework of the Research Project of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Charles University in Prague, entitled </i>P17 Science on Society, Politics, and Media.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>NOTES</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref1">[1]</a> Angelique Chrisafis Nick Hopkins, “Turkey Freezes All Political Relations with France over Genocide Row,” <i>The Guardian</i>, December 22, 2011,<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/22/turkey-france-freeze-relations-over-genocide">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/22/turkey-france-freeze-relations-over-genocide</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref2">[2]</a> Western Turkey, or rather Anatolian Armenia, until 1915 was mainly inhabited by an Armenian population–approximately 1,200,000 people from the 1,800,000 of all Ottoman Armenians (other sources cite up to 2,100,000).</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref3">[3]</a> As Christians, the Armenians had no right to carry weapons, ride horses, etc. in the Ottoman Empire. The same was not true for Muslim Kurds.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref4">[4]</a> For further reading on Armenian-Kurdish relations, see Ronald Grigor Suny, <i>Looking Toward Ararat: Armenia in Modern History</i>(Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press 1993), pp. 100-106.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref5">[5]</a> Henry Morgenthau, <i>Ambassador Morgenthau’s Story</i> (New York: Doubleday, 1918).</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref6">[6]</a> Nagorno-Karabakh is a region in the South Caucasus. While it is internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, its status as part of Azerbaijan, Armenia, or an independent state has been contested. Reports show that during the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Azerbaijan received substantial military aid from Turkey.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref7">[7]</a> For a list of European countries officially recognizing the Armenian genocide, please see: “The White House and State Department Have Once Again Shown Their Fear of Turkey” Armenian Genocide Blog, March 4, 2010,<a href="http://armeniangenocideblog.wordpress.com/tag/list-of-countries-officially-recognizing-the-armenian-genocide/">http://armeniangenocideblog.wordpress.com/tag/list-of-countries-officially-recognizing-the-armenian-genocide/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref8">[8]</a> Non-European countries recognizing the Armenian genocide include Australia, Canada, Argentina, Lebanon, Vatican City, United States, Uruguay, Chile, and Venezuela. See “Genocide Recognition,” Armenian National Assembly of America, 2012,<a href="http://www.anca.org/genocide_resource/recognition.php">http://www.anca.org/genocide_resource/recognition.php</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref9">[9]</a> Armenian National Institute, INC, “Sweden Parliament Report,” March 29, 2000,<a href="http://www.armenian-genocide.org/Affirmation.165/current_category.7/affirmation_detail.html">http://www.armenian-genocide.org/Affirmation.165/current_category.7/affirmation_detail.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref10">[10]</a> European Union, “A More Transparent and Democratic Europe,” 2012,</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref11">[11]</a> Armenian National Institute, INC, “Wales National Assembly Resolution,” 1951,<a href="http://www.armenian-genocide.org/Affirmation.370/current_category.158/affirmation_detail.html">http://www.armenian-genocide.org/Affirmation.370/current_category.158/affirmation_detail.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref12">[12]</a> European Parliament, “European Parliament Critical of Slowdown in Turkey’s Reform Process,” 2006,<a href="http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=en&type=IM-PRESS&reference=20060922IPR10896">http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?language=en&type=IM-PRESS&reference=20060922IPR10896</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref13">[13]</a> Galib Mammadov, “Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict: Armenia’s Victory or Nightmare?”<i>Foreign Policy Journal</i>, October 13, 2011,<a href="http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/10/13/nagorno-karabakh-conflict-armenias-victory-or-nightmare-2/">http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2011/10/13/nagorno-karabakh-conflict-armenias-victory-or-nightmare-2/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref14">[14]</a> Vicken Cheteryan, “Armenian Genocide and Turkey: Then and Now,” <i>Opendemocracy</i>, April 24, 2010,<a href="http://www.opendemocracy.net/vicken-cheterian/armenian-genocide-and-turkey-then-and-now">http://www.opendemocracy.net/vicken-cheterian/armenian-genocide-and-turkey-then-and-now</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref15">[15]</a> Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, “Nagorno-Karabakh Issue,” 2012,<a href="http://www.armeniaforeignministry.am/en/artsakh/">http://www.armeniaforeignministry.am/en/artsakh/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref16">[16]</a> Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Armenia, “Bilateral Relations,” 2012,<a href="http://www.armeniaforeignministry.am/en/country-by-country/">http://www.armeniaforeignministry.am/en/country-by-country/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref17">[17]</a> Armenian National Committee, “Welcome to ANCPAC,” 2012, <a href="http://ancpac.org/">http://ancpac.org/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref18">[18]</a> Dennis R. Papazian, “The Struggle for Personal and Collective Identity: The Ukrainian and Armenian Experience in America,” 2004,<a href="http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/papazian/rusyn.html">http://www.umd.umich.edu/dept/armenian/papazian/rusyn.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref19">[19]</a> “Preservation of Armenian Identity Is Encouraged,” <i>Project of the Armenian Ministry of Diaspora</i>, 2012,<a href="http://en.hayernaysor.am/1318509166">http://en.hayernaysor.am/1318509166</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref20">[20]</a> Anny Bakalian, <i>Armenian Americans: From Being to Feeling Armenian</i> (London: Transaction Publishers, 1993).</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref21">[21]</a> Due to the strong lobbying of Armenian diasporas, the following countries have recognized the genocide since 1998: Belgium (1998), France (1998), Sweden (2000), Lebanon (2000), Italy (2000), Canada (2002), Argentina (2003), Switzerland (2003), Uruguay (2004), Slovakia (2004), the Netherlands (2004), and others. Further information is available on the Armenian Foreign Affairs Ministry website,<a href="http://www.armeniaforeignministry.am/fr/genocide/current_status.html">http://www.armeniaforeignministry.am/fr/genocide/current_status.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref22">[22]</a> See, for instance, Elena Petrosyan, “<i>Genotsid armyan: voprosy vozmeshcheniya materialnogo ushcherba (reparatsii i kompensatsii)</i>” [“The Armenian Genocide: The Questions of Compensation of the Material Loss (Reparations and Compensations,”],<a href="http://www.spbivesep.am/genocid.htm">http://www.spbivesep.am/genocid.htm</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref23">[23]</a> Raffi Bedrosyan, “Special Report: What Is Turkey Returning to Armenians,” <i>The Armenian Weekly</i>, August 31, 2011,<a href="http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/08/31/property-return/">http://www.armenianweekly.com/2011/08/31/property-return/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref24">[24]</a> “Aram I Calls for Return of Stolen Armenian Churches,” <i>Public Radio of Armenia</i>, 2012, <a href="http://www.armradio.am/eng/news/?part=soc&id=22143">http://www.armradio.am/eng/news/?part=soc&id=22143</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref25">[25]</a> George S. Yacoubian, “Financial, Territorial, and Moral Reparations for the 1915 Armenian Massacres,” <i>War Crimes, Genocide, & Crimes Against Humanity</i>, Vol. 4 (2010),<a href="http://urartu.sdpa.org/local-docs/Financial,%20Territorial,%20and%20Moral%20Reparations%20for%20the%201915%20Armenian%20Massacres.pdf">http://urartu.sdpa.org/local-docs/Financial,%20Territorial,%20and%20Moral%20Reparations%20for%20the%201915%20Armenian%20Massacres.pdf</a>, pp. 59-98.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref26">[26]</a> Pelin Turgut, “Why Turkey’s Kurdish Conflict Is Making a Worrying Comeback,” <i>Time World</i>, August 19, 2011,<a href="http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2089602,00.html">http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2089602,00.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref27">[27]</a> For more details, see: Emil Souleimanov, “The Politics of France’s Genocide Denial,”<i>Central Asia and the Caucasus Analyst</i>, October 18, 2006,<a href="http://www.cacianalyst.org/publications/analytical-articles/item/11150-analytical-articles-caci-analyst-2006-10-18-art-11150.html">http://www.cacianalyst.org/publications/analytical-articles/item/11150-analytical-articles-caci-analyst-2006-10-18-art-11150.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref28">[28]</a> Yacoubian, “Financial, Territorial, and Moral Reparations for the 1915 Armenian Massacres,” pp. 59-98.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref29">[29]</a> James J. Martin, “Raphael Lemkin and the Invention of ‘Genocide’: <i>The Journal of Historical Review</i>, Vol. 2, No. (1981), pp. 19-34.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref30">[30]</a> United Nations, “United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide,” 1948,<a href="http://www.un.org/millennium/law/iv-1.htm">http://www.un.org/millennium/law/iv-1.htm</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref31">[31]</a> ICTJ, “Legal Analysis on Applicability of UN Convention on Genocides Prior to January 12, 1951,” 2002,<a href="http://ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Turkey-Armenian-Reconciliation-2002-English.pdf">http://ictj.org/sites/default/files/ICTJ-Turkey-Armenian-Reconciliation-2002-English.pdf</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref32">[32]</a> Republic of Turkey Ministry of Foreign Affairs “Testimony of Professor Mumtaz Soysal [at the Orly Trial]: Ankara University,” 1985,<a href="http://www.mfa.gov.tr/data/DISPOLITIKA/ErmeniIddialari/Soysal.pdf">http://www.mfa.gov.tr/data/DISPOLITIKA/ErmeniIddialari/Soysal.pdf</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref33">[33]</a> Taner Akçam, <i>From Empire to Republic: Turkish Nationalism and the Armenian Genocide</i>(London: Zed Books, 2004), p. 230.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref34">[34]</a> William Hale, <i>Turkish Foreign Policy</i>(London: Frank Cass, 2000), p. 1,<a href="http://host2.pait.dk/damaskus.dk/fileadmin/PDFer/Turkish_Foreign_Policy_and_the_Middle_East_-_Explanations__Assessments_and_Questions_2.pdf">http://host2.pait.dk/damaskus.dk/fileadmin/PDFer/Turkish_Foreign_Policy_and_the_Middle_East_-_Explanations__Assessments_and_Questions_2.pdf</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref35">[35]</a> Dietrich Jung, “The Sèvres Syndrome: Turkish Foreign Policy and Its Historical Legacies,” <i>Foreign Service Despatches and Periodic Reports on U.S. Foreign Policy</i>, August 2003,<a href="http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2003_07-09/jung_sevres/jung_sevres.html">http://www.unc.edu/depts/diplomat/archives_roll/2003_07-09/jung_sevres/jung_sevres.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref36">[36]</a> Chrisafis and Hopkins, “Turkey Freezes All Political Relations with France over Genocide Row.”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref37">[37]</a> “Turkey Condemns French Senate’s Adoption of Armenian “Genocide” Bill: Statement,” <i>English.news.cn</i>, January 24, 2012,<a href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/24/c_131375506.htm">http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/24/c_131375506.htm</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref38">[38]</a> For more information, see: Nazan Maksudyan, “Walls of Silence: Translating the Armenian Genocide into Turkish and Self-Censorship,” <i>Critique</i>, Vol. 37, No. 4 (December 2009), pp. 635-49.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref39">[39]</a> Richard Lea, “In Istanbul, a Writer Awaits Her Day in Court,” <i>The Guardian</i>, July 24, 2006,<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/jul/24/fiction.voicesofprotest">http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2006/jul/24/fiction.voicesofprotest</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref40">[40]</a> “Turkey Attacks France over Armenian ‘Genocide’ Bill,” <i>The Telegraph</i>, January 24, 2012,<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9034755/Turkey-attacks-France-over-Armenian-genocide-bill.html">http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/9034755/Turkey-attacks-France-over-Armenian-genocide-bill.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref41">[41]</a> Claire Berlinski, “Ergenekon: Turkey’s Conspiracy to End Them All,” <i>First Post</i>, November 13, 2008,<a href="http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45872,features,ergenekon-turkeys-conspiracy-to-end-them-all-claire-berlinski">http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/45872,features,ergenekon-turkeys-conspiracy-to-end-them-all-claire-berlinski</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref42">[42]</a> For more details, see: Emil Souleimanov, “The <i>Security Aspects of</i> Turkey’s Perspective EU Membership,” <i>Central European Political Studies</i>, Vol. 8, Nos. 2-3 (Spring-Summer 2006).</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref43">[43]</a> “Armenian Rebellion and the Relocation in 1915,” <i>Armenian Genocide Facts</i>, 2012,<a href="http://armeniangenocidefacts.com/armenian-rebellion-and-the-relocation-in-1915/">http://armeniangenocidefacts.com/armenian-rebellion-and-the-relocation-in-1915/</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref44">[44]</a> “What Is Genocide,” <i>Forsnet</i>, 2001,<a href="http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/intro/genocide.html">http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/intro/genocide.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref45">[45]</a> For an analysis of the Turkish popular standpoint, see the <i>Sözde Ermeni Soykirimi </i>[The Alleged Armenian Genocide]<i> </i>website. The website has de facto been initiated by the government. The website contains links and references to a number of sources claiming that the genocide never really happened:<a href="http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/intro/index.html">http://www.ermenisorunu.gen.tr/english/intro/index.html</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref46">[46]</a> Council of Ministers Decrees, Prime Ministry’s Archives, Istanbul, Volume 198, Decree 1331/163, May 1915.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref47">[47]</a> To mention but a few: Orhan Pamuk, Taner Akçam, and Fikret Adanir. Incidentally, Orhan Pamuk, Nobel Prize for Literature laureate (2006), was accused of treason in 2005 by a number of lawyers lobbying for the military’s interest due to his writing recognizing the ethnic cleansing of Armenians during the First World War. Soon thereafter, the Turkish justice cleared him of the accusations.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="file:///C:/DropBox/IDCGloria/MERIA/v18n1/Souleimanov%20&%20Ehrmann-YA-au1.doc#_ednref48">[48]</a> Bruce Clark, “Turkey’s Armenia Dilemma,”<i>BBC News</i>, February 27, 2007,<a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6386625.stm">http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6386625.stm</a></p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-10961168266114315512014-05-30T15:31:00.001-07:002014-05-31T17:50:58.284-07:00Yom Yerushalayim http://www.jewishisrael.org/yom-yerushalayim-shmuel-sackett/?utm_source=Moshe%20Feiglin%20and%20Shmuel%20Sackett%20Inspire%20for%20Jerusalem&utm_campaign=update&utm_medium=emailAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-58681216840634874382014-05-20T07:24:00.001-07:002014-05-20T07:24:31.973-07:00Judíos por Elección <p dir="ltr">JEWS BY CHOICE …. Sorry is in spanish</p>
<p dir="ltr"> </p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Judíos por Elección</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Judíos por Elección</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Por Yossy Goldman</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://w1.chabad.org/images/1/global/toolbar/comment_icon.gif"><a href="http://m.es.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/673373/jewish/Judos-por-Eleccin.htm#comments"></a><a href="http://m.es.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/673373/jewish/Judos-por-Eleccin.htm#comments"> hablar de (44)</a></p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://w3.chabad.org/media/images/74/CRYW742636.jpg">¿Los conversos son ciudadanos de segunda en el judaísmo? ¿La conversión a nuestra fe es algo que aceptamos a regañadientes? Lamentablemente, a lo largo de mi vida escuché muchas frases derogatorias sobre este tema, irónicamente, de gente que no se considera observante, como: "La mona vestida de seda, mona queda" y más por el estilo, pero fuera de lo que algunos individuos puedan pensar ¿Qué piensa el Judaísmo?</p>
<p dir="ltr">La respuesta simple es la vieja y clásica definición sobre quién es judío "Aquel nacido de madre judía o convertido acorde a la Halajá (Ley judía)" Entonces, si la conversión fue hecha y supervisada por un Beit Din (Tribunal Rabínico), el converso es tan judío como cualquier judío de nacimiento. Aquellos que miran con desdén a los conversos deben recordar que muchos de nuestros grandes Sabios fueron descendientes de conversos, incluido el legendario Rabí Akiva.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Más todavía, el Midrash menciona que un converso genuino es mas preciado a los ojos de Di-s que un judío de nacimiento ¿Por qué? Porque el que nació de madre judía no tuvo elección. Si tu madre es judía, tú eres judío, y listo. No puedes renegar de tus orígenes. Te guste o no, es un hecho biológico y espiritual que marca tu vida. Puedes tratar de convertirte a otra religión pero el judaísmo no reconoce estas alteraciones artificiales. Un judío es judío, y queda judío. Si naciste judío morirás judío.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Pero un converso no debía convertirse al Judaísmo. Nadie lo forzó. Al contrario, aquellos que eligen el judaísmo están al tanto de lo que llamamos Antisemitismo. ¿Para que necesitan esto en sus vidas? ¿Son suicidas o simplemente estupidos? ¿Puede alguien cuerdo buscar deliberadamente <i>Tzores</i>(Sufrimientos)? El Midrash dice que alguien que toma esta decisión en forma consciente, y deliberadamente abraza la fe de los hijos de Abraham, sabiendo la impopularidad y el rechazo que ellos sufren, es alguien que merece el amor de Di-s. Un judío por elección es un judío cien por cien.</p>
<p dir="ltr">.</p>
<p dir="ltr">No obstante, queda por dilucidar un pasaje talmúdico complicado que dice "¡Los conversos son para Israel como la plaga!" No es muy agradable la definición. Una explicación simple puede ser que cuando un converso no es sincero y no está dispuesto a vivir una vida judía plena (quizás se convirtió al judaísmo por motivos ajenos, como casarse con un judío) entonces su mal desempeño en el cumplimiento de los preceptos desmorona al judaísmo y tiene un efecto negativo en los otros judíos.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Pero, existe otra interpretación de este texto. Algunos entiendes que decir que los conversos son una plaga para Israel se refiere a que los conversos dejan mal parados a los judíos de nacimiento. ¿Por qué? Porque comúnmente los conversos son más aplicados en el compromiso con la fe. Es posible ver que los conversos son más observantes y apasionados en el cumplimiento de las mitzvot que aquellos que nacimos judíos. "Una plaga para Israel" se refiere entonces a que este entusiasmo y profundo compromiso nos avergüenza al resto.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Esta semana leemos la <i>Tojaja</i> – el reproche. Una serie de graves advertencias al pueblo judío de no alejarse de los caminos de Di-s y una variedad de maldiciones si lo hacemos – la Tojaja la leemos siempre poco antes de Shavuot, la fiesta de la entrega de la Tora. Ese momento en la montaña, cuando todos estuvimos parados en Sinaí frente a la gran Revelación, escuchando los Diez Mandamientos fue el momento que nos convertimos en un pueblo. En Shavuot dejamos de ser una familia (hijos de Abraham, Isaac, Iaacob, Sara, Rivka, Rajel y Lea) para convertirnos en un pueblo. Ese día todos nos convertimos al Judaísmo. Todos nos hicimos judíos en Sinai.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Entonces, todos los años leemos el solemne reproche preparándonos para revivir este histórico evento en el que nos "convertimos", y podemos de esta forma ser parte del pacto con Di-s sincera y genuinamente, con reverencia y temor.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Seamos todos, tanto aquellos que nacieron como aquellos que se convirtieron, verdaderos judíos sinceros con nuestra fe, nuestra Tora y nuestra Tradición. Que podamos aceptar la Tora nuevamente con el celo y la pasión de quien tomó esa decisión, la decisión de ser judíos.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>POR YOSSY GOLDMAN</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://w3.chabad.org/media/images/691/diKs6914140.jpg"></p>
<p dir="ltr">El rabino Yossy Goldman nació en Brooklyn, New York en el seno de la comunidad de Jabad. En 1976 fue enviado por el Rebe de Lubavitch para servir como Shaliaj en la comunidad de Johannesburg, South Africa. Es el rabino principal de la sinagoga Sydenham Highlands North Shul desde 1986, Y presidente de la South African Rabbinical Association.</p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-80295853805416940642014-05-12T22:17:00.001-07:002014-05-12T22:17:04.950-07:00A Synopsis of the History of the Jews in Portugal
<p dir="ltr">http://www.shavei.org/communities/bnei_anousim/articles-bnei_anousim/a-synopsis-of-the-history-of-the-jews-in-portugal/?lang=en</p>
<p dir="ltr">shaveiisrael<br>
31/12/1969</p>
<p dir="ltr">To understand the relevance of the Jewish presence in Portugal, we must recall the antiquity of the Jews in the Iberian Peninsula and the roots of Portugal as a nation.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The truth is that we don’t have any written evidence of the time and circumstances of the arrival of the first Jews to the territory that was to be Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There are several legends spread about Jews arriving as settlers or merchants, with the Phoenician ships, from Sidon and Tyre, or with the ships that King Salomon, an ally of the Phoenicians, has built in Etzion-Gaber, near Eilat of today. Or they may have come as fugitives, and prisoners, at the time of the destruction of the first and second temples of Jerusalem, respectively by the Babylonians and the Romans.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Curiously enough, at a certain time, the Jews of Spain and Portugal have claimed that they could not be accused of the death of Jesus, because they were already here at the time. This happened 2000 years ago!</p>
<p dir="ltr">When threatened with expulsion they alleged their right to live in a land that was inhabited by their ancestors for so many centuries.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Written documents regarding the existence of Jews in the peninsula date from the 3rd. Century BCE, and specifically in the area where Portugal is today, from the 6th Century CE.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The late is an epitaph found in the Algarve.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The identity of Portugal as an independent country dates from the 12th century.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Thus the existence of Jewish communities in Portugal precedes Portugal’s own origins.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Therefor we must look at whole picture of the Iberian Peninsula, during the Reconquista from the Moors. From the Jewish point of view, this period can be divided in two quite different stages.</p>
<p dir="ltr">During the first stage the three ethnical communities, Christians, Jews and Arabs lived together in mutual acceptance of their different cultures (convivencia).</p>
<p dir="ltr">Thinks changed when the Christians had already recovered from the Arabs most of the territory of the Peninsula. In this second stage they were engaged in the dissemination of the Christian religion as the sole true belief. Then the infidels – Arabs and Jews – were merely tolerated.</p>
<p dir="ltr">During the first stage Jews lived in the cities held by Christians as well in those ruled by the Moslems. The fights between those two peoples were not always exempt of momentary alliances between Christian and Arab rulers, in collusion to overthrow rival leaders.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Jews were instrumental in many diplomatic missions as much as they were later associated in the building of the new cities and the new states that emerged from the final victory of Christians.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A nobleman from Burgundy, France, had come to the Peninsula, to help the Christians in their Reconquista wars against the Arabs (Moors).</p>
<p dir="ltr">In recompense the King of Castile, Afonso VI, gave his daughter, Tareja (Teresa) in marriage to this nobleman, Henry of Burgundy and granted him the earldom of Portucale, a tiny territory whose name derived from its main city Porto (port, sometimes called Oporto in English) and Cale, a fortified island situated in front of the city, in the Douro River.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After the death of Count Henry (Henrique), his young son Afonso Henriques rebelled against his grandfather and proclaimed the independence of Portugal, of which he became the first king in 1140..</p>
<p dir="ltr">After many bloody battles, Castile finally recognized the independence of Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Don Afonso Henriques started then his own Reconquista, aiming at enlarging his kingdom at the expenses of the Arab rulers, south of Oporto to southern shores of the Algarve.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The most important adviser to the Portuguese King in the conquest of new territories from the Moors, was the Jew Don Yahia ibn Yahia (or Ibn Ya’ish).</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Ibn Yahia’s, like the Abrabanel’s, both prominent Jewish families even today, are considered by family tradition, to descend from King David himself, by two sons of the exiliarch (Reish Galuta) Hizkiahu.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In the social structure of the society in the Middle Ages the Jews, as the Moors, were considered an entity apart, in fact owned by the king.</p>
<p dir="ltr">D. Dinis, the forth king of Portugal, referred in the official documents, to his Jewish subjects as “meus judeus” (my Jews). He could impose on them whatever duties, restrictions, missions or taxes, as he might want.</p>
<p dir="ltr">D. Afonso Henriques, the first King, established the base for a Jewish administrative structure of the country, parallel with the administrative structure of the rest of the population. Special legislation applied to the Jews, thus treating the Jews as legal and social exceptions.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The country was divided in seven districts, each one having his own Jewish ouvidores (magistrates) which administrated justice to their fellow Jews.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In each district the Jews were organizes in communities – named the comunas – each having its own arrabi (rabbi) and its officers, both for synagogue service and for their own prisons, hospitals, etc.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Upon all the rabbis and ouvidores was the Arrabi-Mor (the Chief Rabbi), a high officer, appointed by the King, and bearing his own seal. He had the supreme authority over the Jews in the whole kingdom.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Apart from administrating justice the Arrabi-Mor was also in charge of protecting the Jews under his jurisdiction against local hostility.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Arrabi-Mor used his own influence with the king in many circumstances, an important weapon since the legal situation was defined by the exclusive will of the monarch who solved all problems according to the balance of power and not according to the law.</p>
<p dir="ltr">When the Jews received the king’s protection, it was by grace and mercy and not by right.</p>
<p dir="ltr">They had to live in separate quarters, called the Judiarias, from where they could not be out after the hour of the Ave Maria, the Hail Mary.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The special legislation for the Jews included such measures as to prevent contact (conversaחדo) between Jews and Christians.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Obviously some of the laws were so impractical that the kings had to grant, from time to time, both collective and individual exceptions.</p>
<p dir="ltr">All those exceptional grants are recorded in the Chancelarias, the books of records of the Kings of Portugal, kept at the National Archives (ANTT) in Lisbon. Those are important sources for research on the Jewish life in Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Because of the importance of the Jews to the Kingdom, both professionally and as counselors and ministers to the Kings, their situation has known ups and downs, but was bearable until the end of the 15th century.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1492 there were approximately 80,000 Jews living in Portugal. This was also the time when the Portuguese seamen were most busy in discovering new lands and new paths in the sea.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Portuguese Jews were very much involved not only in the scientific element of the discoveries, but also in the financing of the same.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This was also the year when the Jews from Spain have been put in face of the dilemma: convert or leave Spain.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There were about 300,000 thousand Jews in Spain. There are no exact figures, but it has been estimated lately by some historians, that one third managed to migrate to other countries, less than one third converted, and about 120,000 came across the frontier to Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This has been negotiated with the Portuguese King, John II. They had to pay a tax per head and they were to leave Portugal in one-year time or become slaves to the king.</p>
<p dir="ltr">At that time most of the Peninsular Jews believed that there were signs that the Messiah was about to come and they would be liberated. This might have been the reason why so many preferred not to go further than Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Most of them could not leave the country in one year – eventually did not want either – and they became slaves to the King of Portugal. John II took some cruel measures against them. One of those was sending 2000 Jews children to the island of S. Tome, in Africa, then not inhabited, and was popularly known as the island of the crocodiles. We don’t know for sure what was the fate of those children.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After the death of John II, the new king, Manuel the first, used of mercy with the Jews, canceled the situation of slavery and, as a matter of fact, used their skills and money for the expansion of the discoveries.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1496, thou, the King contracted his own marriage with the eldest daughter of Fernando and Isabella. The catholic sovereigns put as a condition for the marriage that the kingdom should be clean of Jews.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Manuel hoped, with this marriage, to inherit the throne of Spain and therefore unit the all Peninsula.</p>
<p dir="ltr">He accepted the challenge, but conceived a Machiavellian plan to supposedly expel the Jews and yet keep them in his Kingdom.</p>
<p dir="ltr">On the 5th of December 1496 he issued a decree that all the Jews of Portugal must convert to Christianity or leave the country until October 1497.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For those wishing to leave he promised to provide ships.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Most of the Jews decided to leave… but the ships were not provided. During the ten months that followed the King tried all possible trickeries to compel them to convert. One of those was again taking from then the children younger than 14 years and have them be raised by Catholic families in their religion.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In May 1497 he issued a new decree granting to all Jews that converted a period of 10 years, during which no inquires would be made to their religious practices at home, so that they might adapt themselves at pace to the new religion.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This decree is very important for two reasons – one for it was later extended to 50 years during which there was no Inquisition in Portugal – and second because it gave the Jews the opportunity to organize themselves in secrecy to continue their religious practices.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Eventually this was the main cause for the persistence of so many Catholic communities in Portugal, that kept secretive Jewish rituals during five centuries – half a millenium, an amazing phenomena in the history of the Jews in this country.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As the time approached, the Jews demanded from the King to keep his promise – to provide them with ships in order to escape the conversion.</p>
<p dir="ltr">They were ordered to converge to Lisbon, were they received temporary shelter in the Palace of Estaos, a kind of hostel, located then in the Rossio square, where the National Theater of D. Maria stands today.</p>
<p dir="ltr">From there, in October 1497, they were dragged to a nearby church and forced to take the water of the baptism. The same thing happened all over the country.</p>
<p dir="ltr">All religious books in Hebrew were burned and the synagogues became Christian churches.</p>
<p dir="ltr">From there on, they become Christians who had to show ostensibly that they went to the churches and they kept all the commandments of the Christian faith. At home, however, most of them continued to follow the religion of Moses.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There were several instances when they were persecuted because of this double existence, in one of which, during Passover of 1506, more than 2,000 Jews, or New-Christians as they were called then, were slaughtered in the streets of this city.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1538 the Holy Tribunal of the Inquisition was established in Portugal, obviously not against the Jews, because there were no more Jews as such in Portugal, but against the heretics New-Christians.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The population was encouraged to denounce any suspicion of Judaism. There was a list of such sins, and it would be enough to abstain from eating pork, or changing his own shirt on Friday, or even washing oneself too many times, to have all one’s belongings seized, to be put in prison, being tortured, and eventually, if the person would not show signs of sincere repentance, he would be burned during a most impressive ceremony called the auto-de-fי , an act of faith.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The same National Archives, mentioned above, the Arquivo nacional da Torre do Tombo, hold circa 44,000 well documented files from the proceeds of the Inquisition, including detailed description of the tortures and of the auto-de-fי.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Jews – as such – were not allowed to live in this country until the beginning of the 19th century.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It is said that at that time prince Pedro of Portugal visited the British colony of Gibraltar. He was surprised to be introduced to people, mainly businessmen, whose names sounded very Portuguese to him, such as Cardoso and Pinto.</p>
<p dir="ltr">They explained to him that those were Jews families that had been able to escape from Portugal after the forced conversion.</p>
<p dir="ltr">When the prince asked why they did not return then to Portugal he was told that the law in Portugal had banned the Jews from living there.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Five years later, when the prince became King Pedro I, he officially invited the Jews from Gibraltar and Morocco to come and live in Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">About 80 families came and established themselves in Lisbon, the Algarve and some of the Portuguese colonies. However the decree that forbid the Jews to live in Portugal was not abolished until the end of the century. Until then, the Jews were only tolerated.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1910, with the abolition of the monarchy and the advent of the republican regime, the religion was separated from the state and all religions have been permitted since.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As explained, the first settlers of this modern Jewish community were Sephardis from Gibraltar and Morocco.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The first Ashkenazi, or Central European, Jews arrived in the second decade of this century.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The first was Wolf Terlo, an expert in the wine industry from Russia, and after him, Samuel Schwarz, a mine engineer from Lodz, in Poland. Both came for professional reasons.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Samuel Schwarz was the first person to contact the secret Jews – New-Christians or Marranos – in the north of Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After them, there was a wave of immigration from Europe. Mostly persons that hoped to reach the Americas from here and found that they could make a living in Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">During the war tens of thousands of Jews refugees passed through Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The dictator, Salazar, himself of supposed Jewish ancestry, had decided to admit any Jewish refugees into Portugal.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Pursuing a precarious line of political neutrality between his</p>
<p dir="ltr">fascist counterparts in Germany, Italy and Spain, and the centuries old alliance between Portugal and Britain, he predicted that if the Jewish refugees who flew ahead of the German Army to the South of France, would cross the Pyrenees, the Gestapo would follow them.</p>
<p dir="ltr">This would put an end to Portugal’s neutrality.</p>
<p dir="ltr">However, a Portuguese Consul in Bordeaux, Aristides de Sousa Mendes, south of France, defied the specific orders of Salazar, and granted Portuguese visas to circa 40 thousand refugees.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Mendes was brought back to Portugal, punished and discharged from his diplomatic carrier. In spite of all the possible financial help from the Jewish community of Lisbon, Consul Sousa Mendes died in poverty and misery.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Today the Lisbon Jewish Community has about 500 member, half of which are really temporary residents on business or professional ground.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Most of those temporary residents, in the resort area known as Linha do Estoril (the 25 km railway from Lisbon to Estoril and Cascais) are affiliated to the Lisbon community but have organized socially as the Jewish Linha Club.</p>
<p dir="ltr">One crypto-Jewish community, in Belmonte, has returned openly to mainstream Judaism and a synagogue has been built in the village.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A small group of crypto-Jews residing in Lisbon, have either joined to Jewish community there or created a minyan of their own at the premises of an Ashkenazi shtibl that subsisted from the time of the ^”of their ow</p>
<p dir="ltr">In Oporto, the Community created by Captain Barros Basto – to learn more about him click here – has known ups and downs. Today it has about 40 members, which pray at the synagogue erected by the efforts of the unfortunate captain.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Temporary Jewish residents of the Algarve have also created a social organization at Portimao.<br>
Inacio Steinhardt – June 2000<br>
This paper is based mostly on the following books:<br>
Lipiner, Elias – “Two Portuguese Exiles in Castile” – (in English)Hispania Judaica, The Magnes Press, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem 1997 – ISBN 965-223-964-X (chapter I)</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ginio, Alisa Meyuhas – “Krovim u-Rehokim” (Together Yet Apart) Jews and Christians in the Medieval Iberian Peninsula (in Hebrew)– Tel Aviv University Publishing Projects – Tel Aviv 1999 – ISBN 965-372-041-4</p>
<p dir="ltr">Kayserling, Mayer – “Geschichte der Juden in Portugal” (in German)– Oscar Leiner, Leipzig 1867<br>
of which there is a Portuguese translation by</p>
<p dir="ltr">Novinski, Anita (translation and notes) – “Historia dos Judeus em Portugal” (in Portuguese)– Livraria Pioneira Editora – Sao Paulo 1971</p>
<p dir="ltr">Freire, Joao Paulo (Mario) – “Os Judeus e os Protocolos dos Sabios de Siao” (in Portuguese)– Lisbon 1938 – published by the author – volume III</p>
<p dir="ltr">(this is not an anti-Semitic work as the title might suggest. Curiously, in the original edition, there was a paragraph in pages 421-2 claiming the Jewish origins of the dictator Salazar. Eventually the volume has been forbidden by the political censorship. Then iit was seized by the police from the bookstores and from public and some provate libraries. The “infamous page” was cut out and a new page – without the refference to Salazar – was glued in his place. I own a copy of each print).</p>
<p dir="ltr">(Reprinted, with the author’s permission, from the site<a href="http://www.geocities.com/beithakfar">www.geocities.com/beithakfar</a>)<br></p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-69011094138920928412014-04-30T16:19:00.001-07:002014-04-30T16:19:47.114-07:00What does a jewish name means? <p dir="ltr">http://www.haaretz.com/mobile/.premium-1.584816?v=01614CD686690B56B027D440D01D2176</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>mean?</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>For most millennia, Jews had no surnames other than '</b><b>ben</b><b>'. Now, thanks to Spanish inquisitors starting the trend, they do.</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.586314.1397900979!/image/2349077637.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_640/2349077637.jpg">Many Jews stayed away from surnames until the late 18th century, when Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II forced German surnames on all... / Photo by Wikimedia Commons</p>
<p dir="ltr">By Elon Gilad</p>
<p dir="ltr">Published 01:40 22.04.14</p>
<p dir="ltr">There are a lot of myths and fairy tales out there about Jewish family names — where they came from and what they mean, to name but two issues that often get mangled. Here we set the record straight.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For millennia, Jews contented themselves with a given name and when needed, tacked on the names of their fathers, for example Shmuel Ben- (“son of”) Avraham. That’s how people were named in the Bible, the Mishnah, the Talmud and the rabbinic writings of the Middle Ages and the early modern period.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The process by which Jews took on surnames was gradual and varied from place to place. Some Jews continued to go just by given names well into the 20th century.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Spinoza of Espinosa</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain in 1492 were the first to assume last names en masse.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As they settled in their new homes, they often affixed the names of their old hometowns to their given names, thus creating last names. The surname of Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, for instance, harkens back to his family’s origins in either the town of Espinosa de los Monteros or Espinosa de Cerrato. Members of the Batsri family can know their forefather lived in the Iraqi city of Batsra.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Such names, derived from locations, are called "toponyms." Toponyms aren't always taken from people's places of residence, though, other associations with a places, say through trading, can be enough.</p>
<p dir="ltr">From the 1500s, Jews in Central Europe and Italy slowly began adopting last names from other sources. The “Rothschild” name, for instance, comes from the German for “red sign.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Most other Jews stayed away from surnames until the late 18th century, when, as part of a modernization process, Austrian Emperor Joseph II forced surnames on all his subjects to help account for them. He decreed the names had to be German.</p>
<p dir="ltr">At the time, much of Eastern Europe was under Austrian control, and many Jews who didn’t know a word of German acquired Germanic names.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The process of surnaming the Jews, often resented or ignored by its targets, continued into the 19th century and spread to other countries, such as France and Russia, where non-German names were given.</p>
<p dir="ltr">From the second half of the 19th century, masses of Jews emigrating from Europe to the United States changed or anglicized their names. Zonszeins became Sunshines, and so on.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A small number of Eastern European Jews migrated to Palestine where, as a part of the Zionist movement and the rebirth of the Hebrew language, some translated their names to Hebrew. Or they just took on Hebrew names that either sounded like their old names, or didn’t. This process was actively encouraged by the government in Israel’s first decades.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Game of the name</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Jewish names can be filed under seven categories: Lineal, patronymic, matronymic, toponymic, artificial, nicknames and Hebrew names. Here is a list explaining the categories and providing some of the most common names in each of them.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Note that many names appear in more than one category: The same name can originate in different ways. For example, in some cases, the name Goldberg is simply ornamental, meaning “gold mountain”; but in others, it's a toponym related to the town of Goldberg, Germany, or Silesia, Poland — called Goldberg in German.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Lineal names</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">The two most common Jewish names are Cohen and Levi.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Cohens descend from the priestly caste — Cohen is the Hebrew word for "priest." Levis descend from the priestly tribe of Levi. According to Jewish tradition, all priests are descended from the first high priest: Moses’ brother Aaron.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There are many variations on “Cohen”: Kogan, Kahane, Koren, Kahaneman, Kaplan — and the acronyms Katz ("kohen zedek," or "true priest") and Maze, ("mezera Aharon Hakohen, or "from the seed of Aaron the Priest).</p>
<p dir="ltr">The name Levi also has many variations, such as Levin, Levine, Levitt, Levinsky, Levinson and Lewinsohn.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Patronymic names</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Basing family names on fathers' given names is very common among Jews and gentiles alike. Practically every Jewish given name has been used as a surname in this way — sometime as is and sometimes by adding the Hebrew word for son — "ben" — before it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It is also common to add a suffix indicating “son of” or “of,” as in the Germanic: "-son," "-sohn"; the Slavic "-ich," "-off," "-ov," "-sky," and "-owitz," and the Persian "-zada." Patronyms use Hebrew names; their Yiddish, Arabic, Russian or other-language equivalents, or animal names that have become synonymous with Jacob's sons. In the Book of Genesis 49:1-27, the patriarch <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blessing_of_Jacob">blesses</a> his sons, in some cases mentioning animals. Hence, Juda is a lion (Löwe), Naphtal is a deer (Hirche), Benjamin is a wolf (Wolf) and Issachar was a donkey, but due to the low regard for donkeys in Europe, later became a bear (baer).</p>
<p dir="ltr">Here are some of the most common patronyms arranged by the Hebrew given name of the father:</p>
<p dir="ltr">Jacob: Jacobson, Yaacov, Yankel, Koppel, Yanko, Yankels, Yankelevich, Koppels, Koppelmann, Cooperman, Kopelovich, Kopf, Kauffman, Ya’akovi or Yakovitch</p>
<p dir="ltr">Abraham: Abramovich, Abramson, Avraham, Aknin, Vaknin, Abrahams, Abrams, Abramoff, Abramsky, Ben Avraham, Avrahami or Abramzada</p>
<p dir="ltr">Naphtali: Naphtali, Hirsch or Hershkovich</p>
<p dir="ltr">Isaac: Isaacson, Isaac, Isakovich or Itzhak</p>
<p dir="ltr">Meir: Meir, Meirson, Meirovich or Meiroff</p>
<p dir="ltr">Judah: (Leib, or "lion"): Yehudah, Leib, Leibovitch, Leibeles, Laybl or Liebenson</p>
<p dir="ltr">Issachar(Baer, or "bear"): Dov, Baermann, Baer or Berkovich</p>
<p dir="ltr">Benjamin(Wolf): Benjamin, Binyamin, Ze’ev or Woolf</p>
<p dir="ltr">Solomon(Frid, or "peace"): Freed, Freedman, Solomon, Shlomo, Frid, Friedman or Shalom</p>
<p dir="ltr">Moses: Moshe, Ben Moshe or Mosenson</p>
<p dir="ltr">Menachem: Mendel, Mendelson, Mendelevich or Mendeloff</p>
<p dir="ltr">Simon: Shimon, Simon, Bensimon or Shimoni</p>
<p dir="ltr">Mark: Markov or Markovich,</p>
<p dir="ltr">Haim: Haimov, Haimovich, Hemo, Yehiya, Ben Haim, Haim, Avidan,Biton, Ohayon, Fiszman, Fishman, Fisch or Fiser</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ephraim: Fiszman, Fishman, Fisch or Fiser</p>
<p dir="ltr">David: David, Davidov, Davidovitch, Davidson or Ben David</p>
<p dir="ltr">Reuben: Rubenstein, Robin or Roby</p>
<p dir="ltr">Hemo: Ben Hemo</p>
<p dir="ltr">Malka: Melekh or Malka</p>
<p dir="ltr">Frank: Frenkel</p>
<p dir="ltr">Other common patronyms include: Baruch, Asher, Harari, Menashe, Peretz, Mordechai, Becher, Hillel, Maor, Ovadia, Yifrah, Barzelay or Peri</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Matronymic names</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Some Jewish surnames derive from women’s given names, either a mother or a wife. In some cases when the wife’s name is used, the suffix "–man" is affixed to the end to the wife’s name.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Bluma: Blum or Blumstein</p>
<p dir="ltr">Sarah: Soros or Sorotskin</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rachel: Richles</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shifra: Sprinzak</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rebecca: Rivlin or Rivkin</p>
<p dir="ltr">Goldie: Goldman</p>
<p dir="ltr">Bella: Beilin</p>
<p dir="ltr">Pearl: Perlman or Margolis</p>
<p dir="ltr">Lea: Laikin</p>
<p dir="ltr">Haya: Haikin</p>
<p dir="ltr">Mira: Mirkin</p>
<p dir="ltr">Esther: Esterman</p>
<p dir="ltr">Zipora: Zipkin or Zipres</p>
<p dir="ltr">Edel: Edels</p>
<p dir="ltr">Hana: Ohanna</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shoshana or Rosa: Shushan, Sasson, Ben Sasson or Rosenberg</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Occupational names</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Another common naming pattern among Jews and gentiles alike is based on occupation. Sometimes, the name of a tool or material is used instead.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Tailor: Hayat, Schneider, Portnoy, Kravitz, Nudel, Needleman, Fudem, Fingerhut, Scherman, Schneidman, Hefter, Demsky, Talisman or Bouskila.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Smith: Schmidt, Haddad, Schlosser, Blechman, Koval, Sayag, Goldschmidt, Zlotnick or Argentero</p>
<p dir="ltr">Scribe: Sofer, Schreiber, Schreiberman or Sas (an acronym of "sofer stam," or "a writer of religious texts")</p>
<p dir="ltr">Synagogue attendant: Shamash</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rabbi: Rabin, Rabinowitz, Rabiner, Rabi, Hacham or Lamdan</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ritual slaughterer: Shohet , Schecter, Shub Treiber or Menaker</p>
<p dir="ltr">Scholar: Zehnwirt, Talmud or Mishnayos</p>
<p dir="ltr">Synagogue administrator: Shames, Gabbai, Shkolnik, Parnas or Nagid</p>
<p dir="ltr">Cantor: Cantor, Chazzan, Hassan, Singer, Zinger, Schulzinger, Meshoyrer, Soloway or Soloveitchik</p>
<p dir="ltr">Teacher: Melamed, Lehrer, Mualem, Morenu, Mor, Mula; Darshan, Maggid, Belfer or Behelfer</p>
<p dir="ltr">Henna merchant: Ohanna</p>
<p dir="ltr">Baker: Becker or Habaaz</p>
<p dir="ltr">Builder: Bauman or Amar</p>
<p dir="ltr">Glazier: Glazer, Glassman or Sklarsky</p>
<p dir="ltr">Money changer: Halfan or Wexler</p>
<p dir="ltr">Miller: Milman or Melnik</p>
<p dir="ltr">Carpenter: Najaar, Tishcler, Zimmerman, Stoler, Plotnick or Nagar</p>
<p dir="ltr">Soap maker: Zeifer, Saban or Midler</p>
<p dir="ltr">Merchant: Tajjar, Hendler, Kremer, Wazaan, Kupietz or Kaufmann</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shoemaker: Schuster, Schumacher or Ciubotaru</p>
<p dir="ltr">Dyer: Sebag or Farbiarz</p>
<p dir="ltr">Painter: Dahan, Farber, Mahler or Sabag</p>
<p dir="ltr">Doctor: Rofe, Tabib, Hakim, Doctor or Arzt</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shepherd: Schaeffer</p>
<p dir="ltr">Fisherman or fishmonger: Fiszman, Fishman or Fisch</p>
<p dir="ltr">Tent maker: Elkayam</p>
<p dir="ltr">Drum maker: Abutbul</p>
<p dir="ltr">Yuke maker: Buzaglo</p>
<p dir="ltr">Translator: Tujeman</p>
<p dir="ltr">Butcher: Szechter, Boucher or Shochet</p>
<p dir="ltr">Wheat dealer: Weitzman, Koren or Korn</p>
<p dir="ltr">Farmer: Bauer, Feld, Feldman or Hoffmann</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Artificial</b> <b>names</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Artificial or ornamental names indicate nothing except for the fact that their bearers are Ashkenazi Jews. The names were mostly given to Jews by government officials of the Austrian Empire in the late 18th and early 20th centuries. The officials used a small bank of German words, either alone or in pairs, sometimes with the suffix "-man."</p>
<p dir="ltr">In some cases, the names predate this forced naming, which usually indicates they are derived from medieval house signs. A prominent example is the Rothschild family, whose name, as we said, means “red sign.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">There are too many ornamental names to list. So, instead, here are their components.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Colors: Green, Grun, Grin, Gruen ("green"), Roth, Roit ("red"), Weiss ("white"), Schwarz ("black"), Gel, Gelb, Geller ("yellow"), Blau or Blaub ("blue").</p>
<p dir="ltr">Materials: Gold ("gold"), Zilber, Silver ("silver"), Kupfer, Copper ("copper"), Eisen ("iron"), Holtz ("wood"), Gluz, Glas ("Glass") or Stein ("stone")</p>
<p dir="ltr">Gems: Diamante ("diamond"), Rubin ("ruby"), Sapir or Saphir ("sapphire")</p>
<p dir="ltr">Plants: Boim, Bau ("tree"), Blatt ("leaf"), Blum, Bloom, Blit ("flower"), Boz, Roiz or Ros ("rose")</p>
<p dir="ltr">Places: Wald ("forest"), Thal ("valley"), Berg ("mountain") or Feld ("field")</p>
<p dir="ltr">Drinks: Wasser ("water") or Wein ("wine")</p>
<p dir="ltr">Animals: Löwe ("lion"), Baer, Ber ("bear"), Fouks ("fox"), Adler ("eagle") or Fisch ("fish")</p>
<p dir="ltr">Others: Stern ("star") or Perl ("pearl")</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Toponyms</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Toponymys come from geographic locations: towns, cities, districts, countries or regions. Often people can trace their ancestry to their namesakes, especially with Spanish toponyms. But sometimes the names only mean the people who received them were associated with places, say by having relatives there or trading with them on a regular basis.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Horovitz or Gorovitz: Horovice, Czech Republic</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ginsberg or Gunzburg: Günzburg, Germany</p>
<p dir="ltr">Deutsch: Germany</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ashkenazi: France or Germany</p>
<p dir="ltr">Polak: Poland</p>
<p dir="ltr">Goldberg: Goldberg, Germany or Silesia (Goldberg), Poland</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shapira, Sapir, Saphirson, Saphir, Shapiro or Shefer: Speyer, Germany</p>
<p dir="ltr">Kadis: Cádiz, Spain</p>
<p dir="ltr">Berenstain: Pełczyce (Berenstain), Poland</p>
<p dir="ltr">Pinto: Pinto, Spain</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ravinsky: Rawicz, Poland</p>
<p dir="ltr">Denino: Doñinos de Salamanca, Spain</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rosenthal: Rosenthal, Germany (there are many); Rožmitál pod Tremšínem, Czech Republic; Bartoszyce (Rosenthal), Poland, or Rožna Dolina (Rosenthal), Slovenia</p>
<p dir="ltr">Iloz or Illuz: Iloz, Spain</p>
<p dir="ltr">Lugassy: Lugas, Spain</p>
<p dir="ltr">Dreyfus: Trier, Germany</p>
<p dir="ltr">Libowitz, Lipman, Lifman, Lifszyc: Liben, Czech Republic; Lubomierz, Poland, or Liebenwalde, Germany</p>
<p dir="ltr">Deri or Edry: The Daraa Valley, Morocco</p>
<p dir="ltr">Eisen or Barzelay: Eisenstadt, Austria</p>
<p dir="ltr">Weinberg: The region of Mt. Weinberg in Westphalia, Germany; Weinberg, Germany; the Weinberg suburb of Gdansk, Poland, or Weinberg, Czech Republic</p>
<p dir="ltr">Epstein: Ebstein, Austria or Epstein, Germany</p>
<p dir="ltr">Alfasi: Fez, Morocco</p>
<p dir="ltr">Zarfaty: France</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shushan, Sasson or Ben-Sasson: Susa, Iran</p>
<p dir="ltr">Dadon: Ouled Daoud, Morocco</p>
<p dir="ltr">Vaez or Baez: Baza, Spain</p>
<p dir="ltr">Spharadi or Spharad: Spain</p>
<p dir="ltr">Assouline: The Ait Tizguin Assouline tribe, Morocco; Derb Assoul in Marrakech, Morocco; or Azoulin in Coilo, Morocco</p>
<p dir="ltr">Greenberg: Grünberg, Germany or Zielona Góra (Grünberg), Poland</p>
<p dir="ltr">Maman or Ben-Maman: Miaman, Spain</p>
<p dir="ltr">Sharabi: Sharab, Yemen</p>
<p dir="ltr">Rosenberg: Rosenberg, Germany; Sosz (Rosenberg), Poland; Olesno (Rosenberg), Poland, or Rožmberk nad Vltavou, Czech Republic</p>
<p dir="ltr">Suisa: Sous, Morocco or Suesa, Spain</p>
<p dir="ltr">Becher: Becher Luxembourg</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ohanna: Kasba des Bo Hana, Morocco</p>
<p dir="ltr">Azulay: Asilah, Morocco</p>
<p dir="ltr">Elbaz: the Albisin neighborhood in Granada, Spain or the Jewish neighborhood of Albaz in Ghararah, Algeria</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ohana: Ifrane, Morocco</p>
<p dir="ltr">Mizrahi: “The East”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Malka or Melekh: Malaga, Spain</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Nicknames</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Sometimes called "eke-names," nicknames describe some personal characteristic of their bearers.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Brave: Shitrit</p>
<p dir="ltr">Dear man: Lieberman</p>
<p dir="ltr">Nice: Harosh</p>
<p dir="ltr">Good: Gottman, Bueno, Gutman, Almalih or Almaleh</p>
<p dir="ltr">Devote: Heilig, Gottesman or Kadosh</p>
<p dir="ltr">Sweet: Matuka, Halu or Zuessman</p>
<p dir="ltr">Happy, lucky, relaxed or slow: Maymon</p>
<p dir="ltr">Tall: Lang, Gross or Tawil</p>
<p dir="ltr">Short: Klein, Kurtz, Katan or Malik</p>
<p dir="ltr">Redheaded or red bearded: Roth, Geller</p>
<p dir="ltr">Redheaded or blonde: Shukrun</p>
<p dir="ltr">Dark haired or dark complexioned: Schwarz, Negarin, Shakhor, Braun or Brown</p>
<p dir="ltr">Pretty or handsome: Shein, Shen or Yaffe</p>
<p dir="ltr">Pot-bellied or scarred: Buchbut</p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Hebrew names</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">As part of the Zionist movement, many Jews who settled Palestine in the late 19th century and the early 20th century adopted Hebrew names. The names were either translations of former names, sounded like the old names but were Hebrew or were biblical toponyms.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For example, Eliezer Ben-Yehuda, the father of modern Hebrew, was originally named Perlman. He could have translated his name to the Hebrew Pnina or Margalit, both of which mean "pearl." Or he could have taken a name that sounds sort of like his former name — say the very odd name Par Limon (lemon bull). Instead, he chose Ben-Yehuda ("son of Judea").</p>
<p dir="ltr">Kaspi: of silver</p>
<p dir="ltr">Zehavi: of gold</p>
<p dir="ltr">Paz: gold</p>
<p dir="ltr">Even or Tzur: stone or flint</p>
<p dir="ltr">Kokhavi: star</p>
<p dir="ltr">Vardi or Vered: rose</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shoshan: Lilly, but often used for rose</p>
<p dir="ltr">Dagan: wheat</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shani: red</p>
<p dir="ltr">Golan: toponym</p>
<p dir="ltr">Gilad: toponym</p>
<p dir="ltr">Zion: toponym</p>
<p dir="ltr">Hen: beauty</p>
<p dir="ltr">Tal: dew</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shalom: peace</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shachar: dawn</p>
<p dir="ltr">Israel: toponym</p>
<p dir="ltr">Lev: heart</p>
<p dir="ltr">Gal: wave</p>
<p dir="ltr">Keren: horn</p>
<p dir="ltr">Avital: biblical name</p>
<p dir="ltr">Dvir: the Holy of Holies</p>
<p dir="ltr">Shamir: dill</p>
<p dir="ltr">Ron: song</p>
<p dir="ltr">Raz: secret</p>
<p dir="ltr">Nir: plowed field</p>
<p dir="ltr">Dekel: palm tree</p>
<p dir="ltr">Gil: joy</p>
<p dir="ltr">Haaretz would like to thank Beit Hatfutsot - The Museum of the Jewish People in Tel Aviv, and especially Haim F. Ghiuzeli, the director of the museum’s database department for their help.</p>
<p dir="ltr">If you’d like to receive more information on any particular last name or check a name that isn’t mentioned in this article, you may contact the museum, which will gladly send you any information on file. The museum's<a href="http://www.bh.org.il/database-about.aspx?database-familynames"> database</a> of surnames will be online and available to the public this summer.</p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-48130380385308437882014-04-29T01:18:00.001-07:002014-04-29T01:23:18.777-07:00Where was god during the holocausthttp://unitedwithisrael.org/where-was-god-during-the-holocaust/Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-60798730746799396992014-04-24T13:24:00.001-07:002014-04-24T13:24:10.259-07:00Islam’s Religious War with Everyone
By Daniel Greenfield, FPM
http://www.israpundit.com/archives/63595920Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-65871079070799154092014-04-23T02:27:00.001-07:002014-04-23T02:27:05.210-07:00Islam's Tenuous Connection to Jerusalem<p dir="ltr"><b>Jerusalem is Never Mentioned in the Quran and</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Mohammed Never Set Foot on Its Soil</b><br><br></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>22 April 2014 | Eli E. Hertz</b></p>
<p dir="ltr">Despite 1,300 years of Muslim Arab rule, Jerusalem was never the capital of an Arab entity, nor was it ever mentioned in the Palestine Liberation Organization’s covenant until Israel regained control of East Jerusalem in the Six-Day War of 1967. Overall, the role of Jerusalem in Islam is best understood as the outcome of political exigencies impacting religious belief.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Mohammed, who founded Islam in 622 CE, was born and raised in present-day Saudi Arabia and never set foot in Jerusalem. His connection to the city came years after his death when the Dome of the Rock shrine and the al-Aqsa mosque were built in 688 and 691, respectively, their construction spurred by political and religious rivalries. In 638 CE, the Caliph (or successor to Mohammed) Omar and his invading armies captured Jerusalem from the Byzantine Empire. One reason they wanted to erect a holy structure in Jerusalem was to proclaim Islam’s supremacy over Christianity and its most important shrine, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.</p>
<p dir="ltr">More important was the power struggle within Islam itself. The Damascus-based Umayyad Caliphs who controlled Jerusalem wanted to establish an alternative holy site if their rivals blocked access to Mecca. That was important because the <i>Hajj</i>, or pilgrimage to Mecca, was (and remains today) one of the Five Pillars of Islam. As a result, they built what became known as the Dome of the Rock shrine and the adjacent mosque.</p>
<p dir="ltr">To enhance the prestige of the ‘substitute Mecca,’ the Jerusalem mosque was named al-Aqsa. It means ‘the furthest mosque’ in Arabic, but has far broader implications, since it is the same phrase used in a key passage of the Quran called “The Night Journey.” In that passage, Mohammed arrives at ‘<i>al-Aqsa</i>’ on a winged steed accompanied by the Archangel Gabriel; from there they ascend into heaven for a divine meeting with Allah, after which Mohammed returns to Mecca. Naming the Jerusalem mosque <i>al-Aqsa</i> was an attempt to say the Dome of the Rock was the very spot from which Mohammed ascended to heaven, thus tying Jerusalem to divine revelation in Islamic belief. The problem however, is that Mohammed died in the year 632, nearly 50 years before the first construction of the <i>al-Aqsa</i> Mosque was completed.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Jerusalem never replaced the importance of Mecca in the Islamic world. When the Umayyad dynasty fell in 750, Jerusalem also fell into near obscurity for 350 years, until the Crusades. During those centuries, many Islamic sites in Jerusalem fell into disrepair and in 1016 the Dome of the Rock collapsed.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Still, for 1,300 years, various Islamic dynasties (Syrian, Egyptian and Turkish) continued to govern Jerusalem as part of their overall control of the Land of Israel, disrupted only by the Crusaders. What is amazing is that over that period, not one Islamic dynasty ever made Jerusalem its capital. By the 19th century, Jerusalem had been so neglected by Islamic rulers that several prominent Western writers who visited Jerusalem were moved to write about it. French writer Gustav Flaubert, for example, found “ruins everywhere” during his visit in 1850 when it was part of the Turkish Empire (1516-1917). Seventeen years later Mark Twain wrote that Jerusalem had “become a pauper village.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Indeed, Jerusalem’s importance in the Islamic world only appears evident when non-Muslims (including the Crusaders, the British and the Jews) control or capture the city. Only at those points in history did Islamic leaders claim Jerusalem as their <i>third</i> most holy city after Mecca and Medina. That was again the case in 1967, when Israel captured Jordanian-controlled East Jerusalem (and the Old City) during the 1967 Six-Day War. Oddly, the PLO’s National Covenant, written in 1964, never mentioned Jerusalem. Only after Israel regained control of the entire city did the PLO ‘update’ its Covenant to include Jerusalem.</p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-26628568012104696062014-03-23T21:35:00.001-07:002014-03-23T21:35:59.113-07:00Was Esther Bossy? Purim occurs amidst “Ban Bossy” Campaign
Posted by: Princella Smith March 19, 2014 , 1:17 pm
Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12481/esther-bossy-purim-occurs-amidst-ban-bossy-campaign/#jDjAqrft3qDSrCLd.99<p dir="ltr">Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, wants to ban the use of the word “bossy” as it pertains to young girls. She feels that it affects their desires to want to lead in the future. According to Sandberg, by the time these young ladies reach puberty, they are less and less likely to assert themselves or to aspire to lead because they do not want to be labeled negatively as an overbearing female.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Sandberg is no stranger to success. In 2013, she was ranked #8 on <i>The Jerusalem Post</i>’s  list of “The World’s 50 Most Influential Jews.” She has also been named one of <i>Time Magazine</i>’s 100 most influential people in the world, and is one half of a true power couple as her husband is David Goldberg, the current CEO of SurveyMonkey.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Sandburg clearly is no weak woman and overcame the label “bossy” which was applied to her during her ascent to the upper echelon of society.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Considering Sandberg’s impressive history, it is a curious notion that she selected this approach to empowering young women. It appears that addressing the root of the problem of young women’s lack of confidence in themselves would go much deeper than the use of such a petty adjective like “bossy”.</p>
<p dir="ltr">While the underlying premise of Sandberg’s campaign is both admirable and necessary, banning a common word is not the answer. In fact, it trivializes the larger issue with the negative psychology on our young women which can be loosely summed up by saying that even though women around the world are climbing the corporate ladder, becoming elected officials, and leading on the international stage in foreign affairs, there is still a strong undercurrent of pop culture which seemingly overpowers these advances by telling young women that their worth still boils down to a bottom line of how physically attractive they are.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It is sad but true that our young women are regularly inundated with the words “bitch,” “trick,” “hoe,” and “scandalous,” which are used as normal lexicon in music and movies. “Rape jokes” have an amazingly high popularity in their favorite comedies.</p>
<p dir="ltr">One wonders if Sandberg celebrated the Purim holiday as a child and if her family continues to celebrate it now. Queen Esther’s timeless story of standing in the gap for her people to prevent genocide at the hand of Haman will forever serve as an inspiration to Christians and Jews as it is a pivotal story in the Tanakh and the Christian Bible.</p>
<p dir="ltr">As was custom in those days, no one spoke to the king unless they were summoned or spoken to first—especially a woman, but Esther knew that she had to speak up to save her people. It is certain she did this with a level of finesse and grace that moved the king. Whether she was a man or a woman addressing the king at that point, it would have been important that the words said were succinct, strong, measured and controlled—not demanding, rattling, or “bossy”.  There is a real difference in being bossy and being a leader.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Both bossy men and bossy women are off-putting. The exercise of leadership is not only being courageous enough to take a stand but attentive enough to surroundings and details of a situation to know how to approach a situation. This should be taught to our young boys and young girls alike with an effort to revert back to raising young gentlemen and young ladies as opposed to today’s popular brand of “I’m brash, bold, and in your face.” Nothing—nothing AT ALL—can take the place of the charm and grace of a well-mannered, even-spoken young man or young woman.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Katie Rogers and Ruth Spencer wrote an interesting piece for <i>The Guardian</i> in which they interviewed parents on the topic. Here are excerpts from the most interesting quotes:</p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>“… In my experience, the people who I’ve admired were leaders, not bosses. They were empathetic and listened to the people they were leading. That’s what I want my daughter and son to do, and that’s why I’m still OK with telling them not to be bossy. I understand that there is a lot of nuance associated with the word, which is why when I use a word like “bossy” with my children, I take the time to discuss the positive attributes I want them to demonstrate.”</i> — Naama Bloom, age 41 and CEO of Hello Flo</p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>“…[My daughter] can choose what she wants to wear and eat even at her young age. I want her to have her own opinion and be her own person. But sometimes she is bossy. What do I mean by that? She demands and does not ask. She gives orders instead of participating in the conversation – and I have flat out-looked at my daughter and said ‘don’t be bossy’. I’m not trying to take away her opinions, or stifle her in any way, but like every other person on the planet (no matter their sex), she needs to learn to be polite. And teaching her how to be articulate – and express herself in an appropriate way – will only help her be a successful, independent woman when she grows up. People will respect her opinions and not deem her as ‘bossy’ since she will be able to communicate what she thinks while respecting others… I will continue to tell my daughter when she is being bossy in hopes that she learns how to be assertive while also being respectful to others.”</i> –Natascha Hainsworth, age 30, Runs a theatre company.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>“Banning a word like bossy isn’t the answer. For some reason, as society progresses, we are failing our kids by not teaching them how to deal with adversity. As parents, part of our job is to help prepare our children for when they embark on their journey without us. If we try to simply remove struggle from their lives, and shelter them from what this world – positive or negative – might have in store for them, it is a disservice to our children…This is not a perfect world – by far – and utopia is but a dream. I am not saying we should crush all things that are positive, but learning to deal with some of the negative is a necessary component somewhere.”</i> — From Brandon-Regina Payne-Hilton, Parents responding on Twitter</p>
<p dir="ltr">March is Women’s History Month. At the heart of women’s history is one brave young Jewish woman named Esther whose great stand has been characterized as leadership—not bossiness.<br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Read more at <a href="http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12481/esther-bossy-purim-occurs-amidst-ban-bossy-campaign/#jDjAqrft3qDSrCLd.99">http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12481/esther-bossy-purim-occurs-amidst-ban-bossy-campaign/#jDjAqrft3qDSrCLd.99</a></p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-26801942926090011582014-03-23T21:23:00.001-07:002014-03-23T21:23:01.881-07:00Cunningly, Christ Being Used to Thwart Support for Israel
Posted by: Earl Cox March 19, 2014 , 1:17 pm
Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12478/cunningly-christ-used-thwart-support-israel/#voAAXfsS7SwowCwI.99<p dir="ltr">This article is sure to push the hot button of many, even my Christian brothers and sisters who have, despite facts, made up their minds that Israel is the aggressor and guilty of oppressing the poor Palestinians along with other non-Jews.  Because many have been duped and brainwashed into believing this absolute lie, anti-Semitism is alive and spreading throughout the world.  If there is anyone out there who does not know what it is, it is the hatred of the Jews and is diametrically opposite of our Christian belief.  To the modern mind, the phrase “anti-Semitism” generally conjures up images of goose-stepping Nazis, Germany and the Holocaust.   These very caricatures are what cause many today to miss the new and subtle anti-Semitism message catching hold everywhere at an alarming rate of speed.</p>
<p dir="ltr">When otherwise decent westerners, particularly church-going Christians, equate the phrase “anti-Semitism” with Nazis, Germany and the Holocaust only, we fail to recognize and accept our own guilt thus making us blind to the rising tide of anti-Semitism that has been slowly flooding our local churches, communities, families and even our own hearts and minds.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Anti-Semitism is an ancient evil that can be found in writings as far back as 270 B. C. and its basis is in religion.  Modern anti-Semitism stems from a concern for social or moral justice, but does not exclude the religious element.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In truth, most Christians did not participate in the pograms (massacres) of the past that caused the slaughter of countless Jews.   It was only a handful that actually participated, but this is fact:  a huge portion of society became convinced of the validity of the pograms and of Jewish guilt; these pograms were allowed to take place because the vast majority remained silent.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The new face of anti-Semitism in today’s world and today’s Church must be recognized.  The Muslim Brotherhood has been working patiently and quietly under the radar screen for years.  They have been infiltrating and embedding themselves into positions of influence in countries throughout the Middle East, Europe and, yes, even America.  So too, are they and other nefarious groups, working under the guise of the Christian faith, to influence the Christian Church in America and around the world to adopt a pro-Palestinian stance.  This Palestinian stance, of course, translates into anti-Israel bias.  They are targeting other arenas, such as the universities, but we as Christians are a huge target because American Christians have historically been pro-Israel.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Anti-Israel groups are subtle, sly operators and very patient.  Also there is a general ignorance of history on the part of the American public combined with their failure to recognize when they are being manipulated.  These groups often work through those who claim to be Arab Christians who have obtained places on the speaking circuit addressing church congregations and university students across America. Beware of these wolves in sheep’s clothing – as warned in God’s Holy Word – who will deceive even the elect.  They begin by talking about how we should love one another, followed by a subtle shift in the monologue.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Without a discernible transition, the talk becomes about how the poor Palestinians are suffering in refugee camps and how it is all because of Israel.  The thought of this injustice fills the audience with righteous indignation.  The speakers omit the fact that Palestinians are being used as spawns by Arab nations.  They are keeping them in squalor as refugees and this serves to keep the Palestinians stirred up so as to keep pressure on Israel.  The people then sympathize with the Palestinians and hate Israel and the Jews.  While these people claim to be Christians, the truth is their nationalism has been placed above their love for Christ.  Am I guilty of Judging?  No, I am just a simple fruit inspector and the Lord says we will know our Christian brothers and sisters by their fruit.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Many devout Christians <a href="http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12281/evangelical-conference-in-israel-twists-truth/">visit Israel</a> and the Palestinian territories on a regular basis.  They care deeply about the world we live in and have a genuine desire to make a positive contribution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.  Innocent, people-loving tourists believe all tour guides are created equal, that they provide their services without personal, social or political agendas and that they will provide just the history and the facts.  These tour groups often innocently hire tour-guide services (licensed by the State of Israel) that indeed have an agenda to slant participants against Israel and in favor of the Palestinians.  Unless tour participants have their antennas tuned to be on guard against all forms of subtle manipulation, they will be duped.  After all the guide is licensed by the State of Israel so what they say about Israel must be the truth.</p>
<p dir="ltr">It is important to know that not all Arab Christians are cut from the anti-Israel/anti-Jewish cloth.  Many, many Arab Christians know and understand the Bible and the significance of Israel and the Jews.  Yes, they, too, suffer severe persecution for their faith, even to the point of death.  They suffer discrimination, harassment, loss of income, physical assaults and death.  Yet they have remained faithful.  This persecution was not at the hands of Israel or the Jewish people.  The perpetrators were Arab Palestinians, their own people.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Many today are being taught “Replacement Theology” which has pulled the wool over the eyes of many.  This theology teaches that where the Bible talks about Israel and the Jews, it is today referring to Christians and the church.  It also teaches that God is through with the Jews.  They are no longer His chosen people. ”After all,” some say, “Didn’t the Jews kill Jesus?”  The answer to that question is, “NO!”  The Bible, in the New Testament, clearly teaches that Jesus suffered on the cross to pay the price for the sins of all mankind.  In the New Testament in the Book of Romans the Bible emphatically teaches that Christians are only branches grafted onto the natural olive tree (the Jews) and that we (Christians) should be careful never to think ourselves “as supporting the root” but rather to be mindful that it is the root (the Jews) which supports us.  Remember we Christians worship a Jewish Messiah.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Be vigilant my brothers and sisters.  Recognize what is happening right before our eyes.  In a famous quote attributed to George Santayana he said, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.”  God promised He will bless those who bless Israel.  We must not be ignorant of foundational Truth and we must possess knowledge of history, otherwise the doors are wide open for the enemy to manipulate the hearts, minds, souls and spirits of all—especially those who claim the name of Christ.  The Bible clearly states that the Jews are God’s chosen people and Israel is His special land.  It is the only land in the world whose surveyor was God Himself.  The Bible warns us about touching the ’apple of His eye’ and we must not take this lightly.</p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="http://blogs.jpost.com/content/cunningly-christ-being-used-thwart-support-israel"><i>Reprinted</i></a><i> with author’s permisison</i><br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Read more at <a href="http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12478/cunningly-christ-used-thwart-support-israel/#voAAXfsS7SwowCwI.99">http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12478/cunningly-christ-used-thwart-support-israel/#voAAXfsS7SwowCwI.99</a></p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-77078471346456545452014-03-23T21:17:00.001-07:002014-03-23T21:17:06.296-07:00The Ever-Elusive Peace: A History of Rejection
Posted by: Yonina Pritzker March 20, 2014 , 9:21 am
Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12490/ever-elusive-peace-history-rejection/#gVigFEgUb4E4ACdw.99<p dir="ltr">As pressure to reach a peace agreement mounts, strong voices urge Israel to relinquish the land that has borne the name and history of the Jewish people for four millennia.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Chaim Weizman, the first President of Israel, was once asked, “Why don’t you just accept the offer to establish a Jewish State in Uganda?” He answered, “That’s like me asking why you drove 50 miles to see your mother when there are so many other nice old ladies so much closer to your home.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Land of Israel is the Jewish National Homeland. The history, faith, religion, culture, and identity of the Jewish people has been, is, and forevermore will be, tied to this land which bears their name, from its ancient name of Judea, to its modern name of Israel.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Jewish nation lived and worshipped as a free and sovereign nation in the Land of Israel, from the time Joshua re-entered the land with the Israelites, until the Babylonians destroyed the holy Temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE.  Seventy years later, the Jews rebuilt this Temple, which then stood for centuries until the Romans destroyed it in the year 70 CE. The Temple Mount in the holy city of Jerusalem remains the holiest place within Judaism, and unto this day, every Jew turns towards the Temple Mount to pray.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Throughout the centuries, many conquerors tried to incorporate the Land of Israel into their own empires: the Babylonian empire, Persian and Greco-Assyrian, Roman, Byzantine, Arab Caliphates, Turkish, Crusader, Ayyubid, Mameluke, and Ottoman.</p>
<p dir="ltr">But despite these attempts, Israel remained the country of the Jewish people, where they have lived continuously since ancient times; and Jerusalem has served as the capital of only one nation: the Jewish nation.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Through every banishment and forced exile, the Jewish people looked to their ancient homeland, prayed to return to their land, included the mention of Israel and Jerusalem in daily prayers, and imbued each life-cycle celebration and festival gathering with the yearning for <i>Shivat Tzion</i>, for a return to the land of their ancestors.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Wherever a Jew was, his heart was always in Jerusalem. When he sat by the waters of Babylon, he wept as he remembered Zion. “If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its cunning. May my tongue cleave to its palate… if I put not Jerusalem above my highest joy” (Psalm 137). From Spain in the 12th century, Yehuda HaLevi cried “<i>Libi B’Mizrach, Va’Ani b’sof ha’Ma’arav;</i>” “My heart is in the east, though I am at the ends of the west.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">In the modern era, the historical and religious rights of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel were codified in international law at the San Remo Conference of 1920, a meeting of the Allied Powers of WWI to decide the future of the former territories of the Ottoman Empire. At this conference, a binding agreement was enacted between these world powers “to reconstitute the ancient Jewish State within its historic borders.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">At the same time, Arab national entities were designated for other areas of the former Ottoman Empire. Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and ultimately, Jordan were all established out of what had been provinces of the Ottoman Empire.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For the Jewish National Homeland, this international forum in San Remo allocated all the land that is between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, as well as, the land that currently comprises the country of Jordan, along with the Golan Heights, and Gaza. They allocated these regions of the former Ottoman Empire for the Jewish homeland in recognition of the fact that these were the areas where the Jewish people lived, where the history of the Jewish nation took place, and where the prophets of Israel delivered their message.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In these regions, we find Hebron which was the first capital of Israel, burial place of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs of Israel. Here we also find Bethlehem, the city where the Matriarch Rachel is buried, where Jews visited and prayed through the centuries. In 1830 the Turks issued a royal decree recognizing Jewish rights at this Jewish holy site. The governor of Damascus instructed the Mufti of Jerusalem that “the tomb of esteemed Rachel…they (the Jews) are accustomed to visit it from ancient days; and no one is permitted to prevent them or oppose them (from doing) this.”</p>
<p dir="ltr"><img src="http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/Hebron-HonoraryCitizen-600WIDE.jpg"></p>
<p dir="ltr">Shechem was the capital of the Northern Kingdom of Israel. It is the city where Joseph is buried. Shiloh, the city of Priests, housed the holy Tabernacle before it was brought to Jerusalem. We read of Joshua in Jericho, Amos in Tekoa, Jeremiah in Anatot, and Jacob in Beit El. These regions of Shomron (Samaria) and Yehuda (Judea) constitute the Jewish spiritual heartland which is steeped in Jewish history dating back to Biblical times.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The word “mandate” means trust. As stated in Article 6 of the Mandate, the British were entrusted with assuring the “close settlement of the Jews on the land.” This was in keeping with a unanimous vote of the League of Nations which wanted to restore the Jewish people to their native land, thereby correcting an historical injustice. The British affirmed the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel, stating unequivocally that the Jewish nation was in this land “as of right and not on sufferance.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The British, nonetheless, went on to violate their obligations under these binding acts of international law by giving 77% of the lands allocated exclusively for the Jewish homeland, to create the Arab country of Jordan, or Transjordan, as it was initially called. The British gave away these areas that were steeped in Jewish history, areas where the tribes of Israel had made their homes, thereby leaving only the land that was between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River for the Jewish National Homeland. The Jewish right to settle anywhere between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea remains enshrined in international law to this day.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Additional attempts to wrest the Jewish homeland away from the Jewish people have continued throughout the decades since San Remo. And we are seeing the current rendition today, as once again, pressure is being brought to bear on the Jewish nation to forfeit its legacy in order to appease those who reject her right to exist.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Peel Commission advanced another such attempt. In 1937, it proposed a partition of the 23% of remaining Mandate land, after the British withheld 77% of the Mandate to create Transjordan. The Arabs rejected the proposal of the Peel Commission, just as they would reject every proposal that included a Jewish state within any borders. Instead, the Arab Bludan Conference, in September of 1937, proposed a boycott of “all Jewish goods and activities,” a tactic often used to criminalize the Jewish presence in the region. It is a tactic that is being utilized against the State of Israel again today.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Partition Plan was yet another attempt to wrest away from the Jewish people additional portions of the Jewish homeland. Ironically, this November 29, 1947, vote of the General Assembly of the United Nations on Resolution 181 which, similar to the Peel Commission, tried to partition the remaining 23% of the land allocated for the Jewish homeland, has often, erroneously been viewed as the legal basis for the modern State of Israel. In fact, this Partition Resolution, which reserved for the Jewish State only 17% of the original Mandate, in illegal abrogation of Jewish rights to this land, was true to its name: it was yet one more attempt to subdivide the Land of Israel in order to appease those who have repeatedly rejected the right to sovereignty and self-determination for the Jewish people in their ancestral homeland.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The San Remo Conference along with various treaties following World War I succeeded in establishing independent countries sought by the Arab nationalists: the country of Iraq gained full independence in 1932, the country of Lebanon was established in 1943, and the country of Syria attained their independence in 1946. Nonetheless, when the modern State of Israel similarly exercised its sovereign right and formally declared statehood in 1948, the Arab armies of Egypt, Lebanon, Transjordan, Syria, and Iraq immediately attacked the nascent state. Azzam Pasha, Secretary-General of the Arab League announced: “It will be a war of annihilation. It will be a momentous massacre in history…”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Then, in 1949, when the Armistice Demarcation Lines were drawn, this line, which is commonly called “The Green Line,” and which many today attempt to reinvent and claim as borders – namely, so called “’67 borders” – was rejected vehemently by Syria, Jordan, and Egypt as delineating any type of border. The Armistice agreement with Egypt stated,</p>
<p dir="ltr">“The Armistice Demarcation Line is not to be construed in any sense as a political or territorial boundary…”</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Armistice agreement with Jordan included the following statement:</p>
<p dir="ltr">“The provisions of this article shall not be interpreted as prejudicing, in any sense, an ultimate political settlement between the Parties to this Agreement. The Armistice Demarcation Lines defined in Articles v and vi of this Agreement are agreed upon by the Parties without prejudice to future territorial settlements or boundary lines or to claims of either Party relating thereto.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">And Syria was adamant that there be no misunderstanding, stating,</p>
<p dir="ltr">“It is emphasized that the following arrangements for the Armistice Demarcation Line between the Israeli and Syrian armed forces and for the Demilitarized Zone are not to be interpreted as having any relation whatsoever to ultimate territorial arrangements affecting the two Parties to this Agreement.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">These agreements were emphatic in ensuring that the Armistice line would not be considered a formal boundary, once again, rejecting a Jewish state within any borders.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Whether by further subdivision of the land, or through boycotts to criminalize the Jewish State, these tactics stem from the ongoing rejection of the Jewish people’s right to sovereignty and self-determination in their ancestral homeland. And while much attention is focused on the years of 1948 and 1967 as the lynchpins for strife in the region, in fact, attempts to rid the land of the Jewish people, as well as, violent attacks on Jews, were as clear before these dates as they were after these dates.</p>
<p dir="ltr">There was the Hebron massacre of 1929, when Arabs slaughtered their Jewish neighbors who had resided in Hebron for, literally, thousands of years. There was no “Green Line” at this time; there was no modern State of Israel at this time.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1938, in Tiberius, terrorists went from house to house killing parents and children. Again, there was no “Green Line,” no Jewish State.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1954, in Scorpion’s Pass (Maale Akrabim), 11 men and women were murdered as their omnibus travelling from Eilat to Beersheba was attacked. This was long before the 6 Day War of 1967.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1956, in Shafrir, terrorists fired on a synagogue full of children and teenagers.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1972, Israeli Olympic athletes were killed in Munich, Germany.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In 1974, schoolchildren on a field trip from Tzfat were executed in Ma’alot in northern Israel:</p>
<p dir="ltr"><i>Time’s David Halevy was among the first to enter. “…The movement of stretchers seemed endless.” The carnage, once the shooting ended, included 17 teen-agers dead and 70 wounded.</i> (<i>Time Magazine</i>; Monday, May. 27, 1974).</p>
<p dir="ltr">On June 1, 2001, a terrorist detonated a bomb while standing in a crowd of mostly teenagers outside a discotheque in Tel Aviv. Twenty one people were killed and 120 were wounded.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Year after year, there have been terrorist incidents, too numerous to mention here.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The message has been consistent: it is the absolute rejection of the right of the Jewish people to security, to self-determination, and to peace.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The right of the Jewish people to live in their historic homeland of Israel was rejected before 1948, and after the reestablishment of the modern State of Israel in 1948; before 1967, and after 1967, when, besieged by hostile Arab armies, Israel recovered those lands that had been internationally mandated and guaranteed to the Jewish people at San Remo; and this basic right is still being denied today.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In fact, after the war in 1967, Israel attempted to make peace with her neighbors. But, similar to every previous rejection of a Jewish state within any borders, the Arabs rejected Israel’s desire to negotiate peace, and instead, issued the “The Three No’s” of Khartoum, namely, no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, and no negotiations with Israel. This resolution prompted Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban to declare, “This is the first war in history which has ended with the victors suing for peace and the vanquished calling for unconditional surrender.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Had the neighboring countries and peoples ever offered Israel any kind of reciprocity, any acknowledgement of the rights of the Jewish nation to a sovereign state in her ancestral homeland; any recognition that the Jews, like the Arabs, were entitled to self–determination in their own homeland carved out of the vanquished Ottoman Empire; had they welcomed, or at least, tolerated, the Jewish people’s right to their sliver of the Middle East, the right to one Jewish state amidst 21 Arab states – there would be peace.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Read more at <a href="http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12490/ever-elusive-peace-history-rejection/#gVigFEgUb4E4ACdw.99">http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12490/ever-elusive-peace-history-rejection/#gVigFEgUb4E4ACdw.99</a></p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-54989437126403137502014-03-23T18:24:00.001-07:002014-03-23T18:24:09.112-07:00Allah's Sword Of Terror Posted by: Raymond Ibrahim March 17, 2014 , 9:56 am
Read more at http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12364/allahs-sword-terror/#5Yvo5jA5EEOtURc2.99<p dir="ltr">The first time I heard about Khalid bin al-Walid—the 7<sup>th</sup> century Muslim jihadi affectionately known in Islamic history as “The Sword of Allah”—was when I was in college researching for my MA thesis on the Battle of Yarmuk, when the Muslims, under Khalid’s generalship, defeated the Byzantines in 636, opening the way for <a href="http://www.raymondibrahim.com/islam/the-historical-reality-of-the-muslim-conquests/">the historic Islamic conquests</a>.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Nearly a decade and a half later, Khalid, that jihadi par excellence, has come to personify a dichotomy for me—how the jihad is understood in the West and how it really is: officially, Western academia, media, and politicians portray it as defensive war to protect Muslim honor and territory; in reality, however, jihad is all too often little more than a byword to justify the most primitive and barbaric passions of its potential recruits and practitioners.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Based on the English language sources I perused in college, Khalid was a heroic, no-nonsense kind of jihadi—fierce but fair, stern but just. He was the champion of the Apostasy Wars, when he slaughtered countless Arabs for trying to leave Islam after the death of Muhammad.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Modern day Muslims writing about Khalid—see for example Pakistani army lieutenant-general A.I Akram’s <i><a href="https://ia601605.us.archive.org/0/items/KhalidBinAl-waleedSwordOfAllah.pdf/KhalidBinAl-waleedSwordOfAllah.pdf">The </a></i><i><a href="https://ia601605.us.archive.org/0/items/KhalidBinAl-waleedSwordOfAllah.pdf/KhalidBinAl-waleedSwordOfAllah.pdf">Sword of Allah</a></i>—had naught but praise for him, the scourge of infidels and apostates.</p>
<p dir="ltr">But as years went by, I came across more arcane and Arabic sources telling of the “darker side” of The Sword—a depraved and sadistic side.</p>
<p dir="ltr">For example, only recently I came across a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ0GsyLnsxM">video</a> of a modern-day Egyptian Salafi explaining how Khalid raped Layla, the wife of Malik bin Nuwayra—but only after he severed her husband’s head, lit it on fire, and cooked his dinner on it.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Khalid was recalled and questioned by the caliph—not because he killed and dined on an apostate’s head and “married” his wife, but because some believed that Malik was still Muslim, not an apostate to be treated so, and that Khalid killed him on the accusation of apostasy only as a pretext to take possession of his wife, whose beauty was renowned.</p>
<p dir="ltr">In the words of Ibn Kathir’s authoritative historical tome, <i>The Beginning and the End </i>(<i>al-bidaya we al-nihaya</i>), “And he [Khalid] ordered his [Malik’s] head and he combined it with two stones and cooked a pot over them. And Khalid ate from it that night to terrify the apostate Arab tribes and others. And it was said that Malik’s hair created such a blaze that the meat was so thoroughly cooked.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">More eye-opening is the way the videotaped Egyptian cleric recounts this whole narrative with awe and admiration—boasting, for example, how that when Khalid entered the caliph’s tent for questioning he was “wearing armor all soaked and rusted from blood [of his enemies], with arrows sticking out of his turban.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">As for the near-cannibalistic meal that the Sword of Allah ate, the cleric complained that “People wonder how our lord Khalid could have eaten from such meat? Oh yes—he ate from it! Our lord Khalid had a very strong character, a great appetite, and everything! All to terrorize the desert Arabs [apostates]. The matter requires determination; these matters require strength—terrorism.”</p>
<p dir="ltr">Of course, all this accords with the Koran’s many commands to “strike terror” into the hearts of disbelievers, be they born infidels or apostates (see Koran 3:151, 8:12, 8:60).</p>
<p dir="ltr">Now, let us fast-forward to the modern era’s “Arab Spring” and U.S. support for “freedom-fighters” trying to “liberate” Syria (the official, Western narrative of the jihad), and let us reflect on its true nature—from a jihadi (ironically named “Khalid”) <a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/05/13/303319/syria-rebel-cuts-eats-soldiers-heart/">biting into the heart of a soldier</a> (and thus striking terror into the hearts of Assad’s “apostate” regime) to Islamic clerics justifying rape and prostitution to gratify the many swords of Allah.</p>
<p dir="ltr">And at last, let us understand that the heartbeat of the jihad—sex, violence, and rapine—has scarcely changed in nearly fourteen centuries.<br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Read more at <a href="http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12364/allahs-sword-terror/#5Yvo5jA5EEOtURc2.99">http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/12364/allahs-sword-terror/#5Yvo5jA5EEOtURc2.99</a></p>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-72117242132193971602014-03-15T17:46:00.001-07:002014-03-15T17:46:18.285-07:00The Black Hitler of Harlem http://sultanknish.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-black-hitler-of-harlem.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed:+FromNyToIsraelSultanRevealsTheStoriesBehindTheNews+(from+NY+to+Israel+Sultan+Reveals+The+Stories+Behind+the+News)&m=1Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02393310291979696519noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4098270523302295421.post-48685569106578841142014-02-15T19:29:00.001-08:002014-02-15T19:29:02.025-08:00Sheikh Ahmad Adnan- "There Is No Such Thing as 'Palestine" <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ourholyland/message/61809;_ylc=X3oDMTJydjhicWRoBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE1BGdycElkAzYyMTA4MDEEZ3Jwc3BJZAMxNzA1MTcxNDc3BG1zZ0lkAzYxODA5BHNlYwNkbXNnBHNsawN2bXNnBHN0aW1lAzEzOTIyODA4MjY-"><b>: Sheikh Ahmad Adwan - "There Is No Such Thing as 'Palestine"</b></a></p>
<p dir="ltr"><b>Wed Feb 12, 2014 2:16 am (PST) . Posted by:</b></p>
<p dir="ltr"><a href="mailto:borntolose3@att.net?subject=Re%3A%20Fw%3A%20Sheikh%20Ahmad%20Adwan%20-%20%22There%20Is%20No%20Such%20Thing%20as%20%27Palestine%22"><b>"Robert Hand" borntolose3@att.net</b></a><br><br></p>
<p dir="ltr">----- Forwarded Message -----<br>
From: Americans For a Safe Israel <<a href="mailto:afsi@rcn.com">afsi@rcn.com</a>><br>
To: borntolose3@<a href="http://att.net/">att.net</a> <br>
Sent: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 5:24 PM<br>
Subject: Sheikh Ahmad Adwan - "There Is No Such Thing as 'Palestine&quot;<br><br><br></p>
<p dir="ltr">Americans for a Safe Israel <br>
  <br>
February 11, 2014 <br>
    <br>
  <br>
JORDANIAN SHEIKH: <br>
ALLAH GAVE THE LAND OF ISRAEL TO THE JEWS <br>
Sunday, February 02, 2014 <br>
  <br>
Al Quds and other Arab media outlets published this amazing article late Jan./early Feb.  <br>
Sheikh Ahmad Adwan, who introduces himself as a Muslim scholar who lives in Jordan, said on his personal Facebook page that there is no such thing as "Palestine&quot; in the Koran. Allah has assigned the Holy Land to the Children of Israel until the Day of Judgment (Koran, Sura 5 - "The Sura of the Table", Verse 21), and "We made the Children of Israel the inheritors (of the land)" (Koran, Sura 26 - "The Sura of the Poets", Verse 59). </p>
<p dir="ltr">"I say to those who distort their Lord's book, the Koran: From where did you bring the name Palestine, you liars, you accursed, when Allah has already named it "The Holy Land" and bequeathed it to the Children of Israel until the Day of Judgment. There is no such thing as 'Palestine&#39; in the Koran. Your demand for the Land of Israel is a falsehood and it constitutes an attack on the Koran, on the Jews and their land. Therefore you won't succeed, and Allah will fail you and humiliate you, because Allah is the one who will protect them (i.e. the Jews)."</p>
<p dir="ltr">The sheikh added: "The Palestinians are the killers of children, the elderly and women. They attack the Jews and then they use those (children, the elderly and women) as human shields and hide behind them, without mercy for their children as if they weren't their own children, in order to tell the public opinion that the Jews intended to kill them. This is exactly what I saw with my own two eyes in the 70's, when they attacked the Jordanian army, which sheltered and protected them. Instead of thanking it (the Jordanian army), they brought their children forward to (face) the Jordanian army, in order to make the world believe that the army kills their children. This is their habit and custom, their viciousness, their having hearts of stones towards their children, and their lying to public opinion, in order to get its support."</p>
<p dir="ltr">It is worth mentioning, that the above mentioned sheikh visited Israel and met Jewish religious scholars. The "Israel in Arabic" site conducted an interview with him, in which he said that the reason for his openness towards the Jewish people "comes from my acknowledgment of their sovereignty on their land and my belief in the Koran, which told us and emphasized this in many places, like His (Allah's) saying "Oh People (i.e the Children of Israel), enter the Holy Land which Allah has assigned unto you" (Koran, Sura 5 - "The Sura of the Table", Verse 21), and His saying "We made the Children of Israel the inheritors (of the land)" (Koran, Sura 26 - "The Sura of the Poets", Verse 59) and many other verses.</p>
<p dir="ltr">He (Adwan) added: "(The Jews) are peaceful people who love peace, who are not hostile and are not aggressors, but if they are attacked, they defend themselves while causing as little damage to the attackers as possible. It is an honor for them that Allah has chosen them over the worlds - meaning over the people and the Jinns until the Day of Judgment. I made the reasons for Allah's choice clear in my books and pamphlets. When Allah chose them, He didn't do so out of politeness, and He wasn't unjust other peoples, it is just that they (the Jews) deserved this." <br>
  <br>
The Israel in Arabic site, which appears to be an Israeli site, has a much fuller interview in Arabic.</p>
<p dir="ltr">When Adwan visited Safed (Tzfat), it was covered by Israel's Orot TV.</p>
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