Thought on Israel and the World

March 16, 2016

Israel As Part of a Broader African Dynamic

“Israel is coming back to Africa; Africa is coming back to Israel,” Dore Gold said, quoting the Prime Minister Netanyahu during a recent launch of the Knesset’s new Africa Caucus. Gold said his words to a visiting delegation of African Muslim leaders from the Republic of South Sudan, Zambia, Cameroon, Kenya, Rwanda and Ethiopia.

The increased awakening of the Israeli government and the populace to the natural ties between Africa and Israel is something of a turbo-charged realization that Israel and Africa share far more in common than Israel does with its counterparts in the Middle East.

These relationships can be traced back to Biblical times when the Kings of Israel had ongoing relationships with the Kings of Egypt, Kush, and what became known as Axum, better known by its modern name Ethiopia. Trade and military partnerships became the norm after the King of Kush sent his army to defend the Judean King Hezekiah from the Assyrians. For whatever reason the Kings of Judah felt far more comfortable in dealing with their African counterparts than their Semitic cousins in the Middle East.

Roman Conquest of Judea sets the beginning of the Slave Trade on the African Continent

When the Romans finally crushed the Judean revolt as well as subsequent Jewish revolts around the Empire, they sold the Judeans into slavery. Judean slaves were sold into Africa and Europe. The Jews that remained in Israel suffered under persecution and physical threats.

The war against Judah morphed into a religious struggle as the Roman Empire adopted Christianity, a small Jewish sect and warped it, cutting it off from its root. The Jewish exile swung into full force and oppression as the Jews that had now been scattered became second class citizens under both Christian Europe and the Islamic Middle East.

Within a short time these two colonial forces borrowing religious motifs from the crushed Judean culture undertook a continuance of their expansion past Israel into the heartland of Africa itself. It is not surprising that expulsions and forced slavery ensued over the centuries in Africa much the same way it began in Israel since the latter was seemingly an extension of the former.

The clear connection between Israel’s suffering and African suffering at the hands of European Christians and Arab Muslims is made that much more powerful by the fact that Israel is actually part of the African continent. The African plate’s Northernmost part ends in Northern Israel and runs along the Jordan River to the South. Looking at Israel in this light makes the Judean expulsion the beginning of Africa’s colonial period.

Israel is clearly in the North Eastern part of Africa

1948 Reversed the 2000 Year Struggle Against Colonialism in Africa

When Jewish sovereignty returned to the Land of Israel in 1948, it marked the beginning of the end of Western and Middle Eastern colonialism on the African continent. The fact that the country that had been the location of the first Western colony in Africa, marked what would become the beginning of the end of colonial control over the continent. From Kenya to Ghana, Zimbabwe to Tanzania, the colonial powers began to pull back granting freedom to their former holdings across Africa.

With the increased relations between many Sub-Saharan African countries and Israel, there is a quiet realization that something quite natural is in fact taking place. Despite years of Pro-Palestinian rhetoric, Africans are recognizing that they share far more commonality with Jews and Israelis than Palestinians and Arabs. This realization is more than religious, it is borne out of a parallel journey through exile, Western Colonialism, and the fact that faith and determination brought both sides the independence they desired and deserved.

Going Forward

Israel must continue to strengthen its partnership and friendship with like minded African countries. Sub-Saharan African countries provide Israel with more than just friendly business partners, they represent the hope that together former Western colonies can in fact break free of the past and work together to build self sufficient countries that can change the world.

Israel can start do this now by redefining itself as a Semitic African Nation; one that was exiled and has come home. After all, the Torah is clear that while the Patriarchs traveled from Mesopotamia to the Land of Israel, the Nation of Israel was borne out of servitude in Egypt. It was there that it became a Nation and in Sinai where it received its National ethos by way of the Torah.

Ironically speaking, the 21st Century may be defined as the century where the Western World’s former colonies became the World’s next leaders. That would be a profound miracle, but one that may actually happen if Israel’s African shift continues to play out.

March 15, 2016

[Podcast] Israel Doctrine: The Expanding Israelite Consciousness

I had the opportunity to speak to Carl Albert, the CEO and Founder of Israel Doctrine. Carl is one of the many African Americans that have begun to connect to the Hebrew Roots of the Bible and attach themselves with the G-d of Israel. We discussed the Hebrew Israelite Movement, Kemetic thought, and why Israelite is not about skin tone, but rather following the word of the Almighty.

March 15, 2016March 15, 2016

Response to “Jews are NOT indigenous”

In response to an article by Donny Fuchs in The Jewish Press, titled “Jews are NOT indigenous,” attacking those of us advocating the Jewish people’s indigenous status in the Land of Israel I say:

Jews are indeed indigenous to the Land of Israel. Eretz Yisrael is the place where our people, culture, language, and deep spiritual worldview developed. It’s the cradle of Hebrew civilization. Although I’ve also noticed a recent increase in professional Israel advocates employing an indigenous argument as a tactic for promoting Jewish rights and justifying Israel’s existence (sadly without internalizing what it really means to be indigenous), Jewish indigeneity wasn’t recently invented by these people. For thousands of years, Jews have self-identified as indigenous, referring to Israel as “admat avoteinu” — “the land of our forefathers,” and even non-observant Jews were willing to die fighting the British in order to liberate what they viewed as their ancestral homeland from foreign occupation.

“The Canaanites”

As for the biblical historiographic claim regarding the “Canaanites” (who no longer exist as a self-identified people), it should first be noted that the Ramban explains the journey of Avraham’s family to the Land of Canaan as a return to their own homeland. According to the Ramban, Ur Kasdim had been a foreign country that the family had previously migrated to. And on the verse Fuchs cites at the top of his article — “Avram passed through the land… the Canaanites were then in the land” (Genesis 12:6-7), Rashi states that when Avraham arrived, the Canaanites had been trying to conquer the country, but God desired to give the land to Avraham, in accordance with Noah’s division in which the Land of Israel fell to Avraham’s ancestor Shem and his descendants (our Sages, in both talmudic and midrashic literature, unanimously identify Malkitzedek — the king of Jerusalem in Avraham’s generation — with Shem).

In their attempt to explain the word “אז” (“then” or “at that time”), other commentators, such as Ibn Ezra, also mention that the Canaanites were only in the land at the time when Avraham arrived, but not previously. The fact that our Sages and teachers are even discussing these issues reveals that the concept of indigineity isn’t foreign to our authentic culture or identity. And when Yosef later tells Pharaoh that he had been “stolen from the Land of the Hebrews,” it’s clear that Canaan had been known by this name in ancient Egypt.

Moreover, even if the author’s claim were to be correct, Jews would still easily be considered indigenous. A few days after Fuchs published his article, the Jerusalem Post published the discovery of a 2,500-year-old seal from First Temple period with the Hebrew name “Elihana bat Ga’el.” The fact that this land holds the cultural and traditional genesis of our entire civilization is more than enough to be considered indigenous, irrespective of any previous Canaanites (although a country can have more than one indigenous population). The fact that when young Jews run around the Judean mountains, they relate to the earth under their feet as the same ancient ground walked by their ancestors and ancient national heroes is all that is needed.

“Racist and messianic”

The author claims that the notion of indigeneity is based on “racist, blood-based theories”. Of course, there is nothing racist about qualifying as indigenous. In fact, according to the UN’s definition, one must not even be linked by ancestry in order to be considered indigenous. Therefore, “converts” (an English mistranslation for those who naturalize into our people) are also indigenous by definition, as they join the Tribes of Israel and therefore become part of our collective story.

While Fuchs dismisses the United Nations definition as being foreign to our own culture and rightfully claims that the “Balfour Declarations and U.N. votes are of zero worth for the Torah Jew,” he oddly fails to recognize that it is our own culture that very much recognizes ancestry, lineages, tribalism, communal hierarchy and many other notions foreign to Western democracies, but very much in alignment with indigenous peoples. Do we not attempt to preserve the lineages of the Kohanim (and who does Fuchs think they are descendants of if not the Levite sub-tribe that lived here long ago)? Does Ezra not speak of “the holy seed” of Israel that must be preserved? Ezra’s concept wasn’t race-based (a concept foreign at that time), but a spiritual concept embedded in reality, like all Torah ideals, and in this case through tribal lineages and ancestry.

As for the claim that “some of these indigenous rights activists have alliances and friendships with missionary groups and prominent messianic personalities” — I can’t speak for all Jews who identify as indigenous, but the LAVI movement with which I am associated not only opposes any cooperation or alliances with Christian groups, but also views missionary activity as a form of cultural colonization that we as an indigenous people must resist.

“Divine right only”

In the author’s opinion, the only claim to be advocated is our God-given right to the land. This may be a legitimate outlook, yet I fail to see how Divine inheritance negates our qualification as indigenous. While we do not require an indigenous claim to justify our Divine inheritance, we certainly do classify as such. And the same God who granted us this land also authored history in such a way to provide us with an indigenous claim to it. And I for one believe that we are obligated to use all tools available in advancing our Divine mission. In fact, assuming Fuchs agrees that Israel’s Divine mission requires us to maintain political independence in our land, I’d like to ask if he thinks we better serve our God by putting forward biblical arguments only few can appreciate (most notably the Christian Zionists he fears) or by asserting indigenous rights that communicate our story in a language the outside world can understand?

I also find it interesting that the author does not seem to be as troubled by countless other non-Divine-inheritance-based advocacy claims, such as by those who claim we have a right to be here, “because we need security/because Europe hates us/because we’re technologically developed/because Tel-Aviv has gay parades.” One must question why then does the author only choose to attack those of us who proudly state that we actually belong here, that our people are deeply rooted here, that this is our ancestral homeland and that this is the only country our people have ever called home?

The fear of advocating Jewish indigeneity

Although the article was titled “Jews are NOT indigenous,” a possibly more appropriate title might have been “My FEAR of advocating Jewish indigeneity.” The author’s real concern, which by the very nature of semi-conscious fears — was presented only as a sideline issue to the “stupid” notion that Jews are indigenous, is that identifying as indigenous would open a “dangerous” Pandora’s box.

Of course, Jewish activists haven’t recently opened any box. Some of us have simply stopped ignoring the issue that has been at the center of this conflict for years. As Fuchs seems to acknowledge, Palestinians have been claiming indigeneity for decades. In fact, indigeneity is the base on which all other Palestinian claims are built upon. Palestinian indigeneity isn’t something that might be suddenly acknowledged if Jews advocate our own indigenous status; it is something that almost everyone outside of the pro-Israel choir already take for granted, while our roots here are being denied (and easily so, as we have failed to speak of them for so long). All claims against Jews and Israel are based on the notion that Jews are foreign colonialists with no real historical or cultural connection to this land. Israel advocacy professionals have for years been avoiding the indigenous issue, in hopes that Bar Rafaeli and Tel Aviv beaches would be enough to make our national case.

And so instead of continuing to ignore the issues underpinning the conflict, we have taken the stage and decided to speak up and assert the fact that Eretz Yisrael is first and foremost the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people, irrespective of security issues, not as a tactic against Palestinian claims but as an historic truth central to the story of our people.

You might claim indigeneity to be “un-Jewish” Mr. Fuchs but nothing feels more natural for me than to declare myself a Jew indigenous to the Land of Israel.

(This article originally appeared on Times of Israel)

March 13, 2016March 13, 2016

Pashtuns and Pashtunwali

Pashtun is a Central Asian nation that lies between the rivers Oxus and Indus. Pashtun is also known as Afghan, Pakhtun and Pathan; the latter name, however, is construed as offensive by the Pashtun people because, it is said, that the name ‘Pathan’ was given to the Pashtun by the British during their rule in India. The land of Pashtun is called Loy Afghanistan, Pashtunistan and Pashtunkhwa. Since Pashtuns of Pashtunkhwa or Pakhtunkhwa were fighting for their freedom against the British Imperial might, they had a great contempt for the colonizers and everything about them. It is also said that the word ‘Pathan’ is actually derived from ‘Fatey-Heen’ meaning ‘conquerors’, as the Afghans came to India as conquerors where the word ‘Fatey-Heen’ was mistakenly pronounced as ‘Pathan’ by the British.

The Pashtun social life has an unwritten code of ethics known as Pashtunwali. Every Pashtun is expected to abide by Pashtunwali, which is based upon centuries of collective wisdom of the Pashtun. Pashtunwali consists of important principles that guide social and individual life such as:

Melmastiya– which means an open-hearted hospitality; Pashtuns are famous for their hospitality.

Nang– means chivalry, a moral and social virtue or a noble deed. To stand up for the weak is the very essence of Nang.

Nanawatey– is derived from the verb meaning “to go in”. This is used for the protection given to a person, who requests it, against his/her enemies. The person is then protected at all costs. It can also be used when a vanquished party is prepared to go in to the house of the victors and ask their forgiveness. This is a peculiar form of “chivalrous” surrender, in which an enemy seeks “sanctuary” at his enemy’s house.

Badal– defines an obligation to seek revenge by retaliation although the performance of Nanawatey means one can obtain forgiveness in his enemy’s house. Through the tradition of Nanawatey, a typical Pashtun will always forgive the killer of his dear ones in the presence of a Jirga.

Jargah or Jirga– a council of Pashtun elders through which justice is sought. Settling disputes through negotiation is the basic objective of Jargah: in other words, Jargah is a form of direct democracy in Pashtun society, where every individual has the right to speak.

Namoos– the respect of women, country, and property.

Attan - Pashtun Women Dancing — Attan – Pashtun Women Dancing

Attan– is an Afghan national dance, performed before war and after the victory. It is also performed at various cultural celebrations in Pashtun society. Every Pashtun man and woman is trained to dance the Attan as well as being the best in playingRabaab and singing Tapa – a typical Pashto song.

Pashto or Pakhto is not only a language in Pashtun society, but is synonymous with the Pashtun code of life – Pashtunwali (the Pashtun values). Pashtuns love their mother tongue Pashto and claim that in paradise they will speak Pashto instead of Arabic; it is pointed out that according to the teachings of Islam, Arabic is the only language that will be

spoken in the world hereafter. However, a well-known Pashto poet, Hamza Khan Shinwari (Hamza Baba), in one of his poetic verses responding to the teachings of Islam and Mullahism, says:

“The rivals (Mullahs) name Pakhto as the tongue of hell,

But I (Hamza) will go to paradise with Pakhto.”

(Hamza Baba)

Ghani Khan, the great Pashto poet of 20^th century, is of the view that “a typical Pashtun is kind and gentle but hates to show it. He loves fighting but hates to be a soldier. He loves his new
rifle and his old wife. He will

forgive you anything, if you do it bravely enough. In a historical perspective the Pashtun bears close resemblance to the people of great civilizations. His villages have Greek names. His tribes have Greek customs. Like the Greek he is a great poet and a great warrior and like the Greeks, almost all his wars are over women.”

Pashtuns are basically a proud people, as former British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, in his book ‘The Malakand Field Force’, says, “Any poor Pathan (Pashtun) here is ready to look into the eyes of the Queen of England and say, I am no less than you”.

Pashtuns have a great love for Pashtunkhwa which is their historical land, but unfortunately, British-India occupied part of it and later, in 1893, divided it by drawing a line, called the Durand Line, through its centre, effectively cutting the Pashtun nation in half. With the withdrawal of the British from the subcontinent, the land came under the jurisdiction of Pakistan in 1947. To date, Pashtuns in Pashtunkhwa are occupied by Pakistan, but the spirit of freedom among the Pashtuns will never die. Yes, it can be weakened by fate and time, but stays always strong in will. Expressing love for the land of Pashtunkhwa, Ahmad Shah Abdali, the founding father of the modern state of Afghanistan, spoke in his poetry in 1760, “I forget my Delhi throne when I recall the mountain peaks of my beautiful Pashtunkhwa. If I conquer the whole world, even then I can never forget thy beautiful gardens.”

Now the Pashtun land is divided into many parts and almost all occupied by their neighbors. The Durand Line is considered with hate, dividing the Pashtun as once the Berlin Wall divided Germany. Now, it will not be wrong to say that Pashtun cannot be called a nation, but rather groups that are divided and scattered and the uneducated Pashtuns, are unable to realize the dilemma of their disintegration. In Pakistan, Pashtuns are not taught their own history, but that of the Indo-Pak and Jihad in Islam. The Pashtuns are indoctrinated into the belief that they are born to fight against infidels, for the sake of Allah and Islam. In Pakistan, the Pashtuns are appreciated for their fighting skills but not for their intellectual abilities. Their language Pashto has been replaced by Urdu and as a result the majority of the Pashtuns living under the jurisdiction of Pakistan, cannot read or write their own Pashto language and only a few are able to understand news bulletins in the original and pure Pashto. The Pashtuns are being pushed into darkness and ignorance by the Pakistani establishment. By doing so, Pakistan can easily use the Pashtun for their own purposes, especially for proxy wars in the name of Islam, proclaiming that Islam is in danger. As a result, Pashtun society is falling apart politically, socially and economically.

Historically speaking, the Pashtuns, as individuals or a people, are a great people having done great deeds, but Pashtun as a modern nation has failed and for centuries, they have done nothing to forward a collective national cause.

Pashtuns will always have a dynamic character with a great zeal for music and dance, poetry and art, but in contrast to his poetic nature, the Pashtun is a warrior too. The best example of this contradiction is the great Khushal Khan Khattak.

At the present time Pashtuns are unfortunately the most unfortunate people because they live in a society where

religious Mullahs have dominated all the powers in the name of Islam, and have declared love, art and music as taboos. But if one looks through the pages of Pashtun’s history, they will find a culture full of creativity and art of any kind was not considered a taboo. In Pashtun society there is an institution known as ‘Hujra’, the essential symbol of Pashtunwali. Hujra is the site of great learning, for the promotion of art, poetry, music and culture in the Pashtun society. It is a common sitting or sleeping place for men in the villages, as Pashtuns are basically people of villages rather than cities, and guests and unmarried young men (bachelors) would sleep there. The Rabab and Mangay are two old Pashtun musical instruments and the real ornaments of Hujra and it is a well-established custom among the Pashtun to welcome guests with music. Hujra is also the decision-making forum of the villagers and provides vivid picture of the real Pashtun society and traditions. Today, the Hujra tradition is on the verge of disappearing, constituting a great loss for the culture. Although one can still see Hujra in some parts of Pashtun society, it exists in a very wretched form. Due to the dominance of the Mullah, Hujra has lost its important significance and the decision making process now takes place in the mosque instead. The mosque and the persons connected to the mosque are at full gallop to grab away the powers of Hujra.

The Rabab and Mangay in Hujra actualize the Pashtuns’ basic love of art, music and poetry that the

religious Mullah has declared taboo in the name of Islam. With the banning of love, art and music in Pashtun society, religious extremism has been increased and the society altogether looks orthodox. This is not only a threat to all liberal Pashtuns but also an attack on the cultures throughout the rest of the world as the religious extremism benefits Mullahs in the recruitment of Mujahideen (Jihadists). Yet there is a group of cultured and progressively-minded Pashtuns who prefer Pashtunwali – the Pashtun code of life, to religious law ‘Shari’a’ for the conduct of matters. Such liberal people strongly proclaim that first, they are Pashtuns and then, Muslims.

(This article originally appeared in The Pashtun Times)

March 10, 2016

Insecurity is not inevitable

The primary responsibility of every government is to provide security for its citizens so they can go about their daily business without fear of death or injury. When this security is fundamentally lacking, we are no longer talking about a society going about its normal business, but about a state of anomaly, whether the society and its government explicitly recognizes this or not. This means that the basic, most fundamental pact between the government and its citizens lies in tatters.

Israel is living in a state of anomaly. Those who will say that it has always been so — that the current state of unceasing terror in which more than 30 people have been killed and almost 400 injured in terror attacks since September is no different — are dangerously missing the point. Those who come up with a world of excuses as to why the situation cannot be remedied and daily security on the streets reinstated are even more off target. The only question that matters from the point of view of Israelis who are performing their civic duties — serving in the army or sending their children to do so, paying their taxes, being law-abiding citizens — is why the other half of this societal contract, their right to physical security, is not being upheld. One has a fundamental right to go about one’s daily life without fear of being shot, stabbed, rammed by a car, or hit with a rock.

The answer to this question can never be that the international community may not like the measures needed for the government to provide such security. Physical security is every human’s primary right. Nothing can stand above it. Besides, the international community, or what passes for an “international community” these days, has already proved beyond all doubt that it cares nothing for Israeli lives. The European Union keeps pumping millions of euros into the Palestinian Authority, despite the fact that the PA is an authoritarian and undemocratic regime that ceaselessly indoctrinates its own citizens to murder Israelis and ruthlessly abuses and brainwashes its own children in the process.

The international community does not care about Israeli lives, but it cares tremendously about Israeli houses. It spends endless hours debating “settlements” and the soil on which these “settlements” rest. It is Jewish houses, sheds and vegetables, not knives and guns and the Arab terrorists who wield them, that the civilized Western nations have a problem with. How many more decades do we need to learn that crucial lesson?

At least one person was killed and more than a dozen were wounded in a series of terrorist attacks across Israel on Tuesday. The next morning, two terrorist attacks occurred in Jerusalem, with one Israeli critically injured. What is there left to debate? There have been dozens of stabbings, shootings and vehicular attacks to date. This is not normal. This is not something we should accept. This is sheer insanity.

And yet Israeli society goes on every day, almost as if nothing abnormal is happening. Because we have to, because we are tough, and “life must go on.”

But there is a tremendous fallacy in this. It endows the status quo with a dangerous legitimacy, as if we have all collectively told ourselves that such is our fate and that there is no other way. Why? Because the world might not like it if our government used harsher measures that would effectively root out the terror from our streets? The economy might — or might not — suffer if we were to care less what our trade partners think of our security policies. Personally, I would much rather suffer with a bad economy than with an anomalous and horrific security situation.

Perhaps millennia of exile and political anomaly — living without our own state or the possibility for self-determination and consequently being subjected to the whims and mercy of foreign rulers — has settled in the Israeli genome, leading even the most patriotic Israelis to unwittingly and subconsciously believe that this kind of security situation, unlike that of any other civilized nation on earth, is just the “Jewish normal.” It is not, and if we wish to be a full-fledged state, respected by other states in the world, it can never be the “Jewish normal.” Strength is the only thing that garners respect. And strength means upholding one’s most basic and fundamental rights.

Every Israeli has a fundamental and inherent right to physical security, but we seem to have forgotten this and dangerously accepted that this is how it is, that we always have to watch our backs, our children, our supermarkets and our doorways for Arabs with knives and guns. We must understand that it does not have to be this way. Such a disastrous and anomalous situation is not inevitable. It is one that we have chosen and continue to choose, every single day, for as long as we allow ourselves to be stabbed, shot, rammed by cars, and showered with rocks while we go about our business as if it were normal.

This article was originally published on Israel HaYom.