Ok this is a legit question, not trying to troll or bait… Are there African or east Asian jews? Like Jewish communities in Ghana or Thailand for example?
Indian Jews are also the only ones amongst Jewish communities who haven’t faced any discrimination. Despite their presence in India for around 2,000 years.
“Jewish” gets used with the loose definition of “people who have been expelled from their homeland.”
Judaism is the religion formed by the people who were expelled from Egypt. They left Egypt to settle in Israel and establish Judaism.
Over the years, Christianity and Islam gained a foothold in the region, until the UN shoved the inhabitants of Israel into Palestine.
Arguably, modern Palestinians, who largely practice Islam, are Jews.
This leads me to the question, is the term “antisemitic” specific to Judaism or does it cover other types of Jews?
Depending on the answer, you can call modern Israel antisemitic against Palestinian Jews, who want their homeland back, or at the very least to stop being oppressed in the place that they were exiled to. This would make anyone who supports Israel antisemitic.
Edit: Bonus funfact, there is almost perfect overlap on how “Jew” gets used and how “Gypsy” get used. The key difference is that Jews TEND to move from an origin to a destination. Gypsies TEND to have an era of transience. Some Jews get displaced more than once before they can lay down roots. Some Gypsies get displaced so many times that they just go full on nomad/caravan lifestyle and never really stop moving around.
“Gypsy” and “Jew” don’t have hard universally accepted definitions, and both of them are derogatory terms. People who identified with (or who were identified as) either of the 2 were targeted equally during the Holocaust, Gypsies were just more efficient at getting the fuck out before being loaded into the trains.
You should never say “I really got Jewed/Gypped by that guy.” Both are EXTREMELY offensive terms, and people got sent to ovens over those words being used on them. The Holocaust was not all about Judaic Jews.
That person really doesn’t seem to know what they’re talking about (Jews did not originate in Egypt, the UN didn’t “shove” anyone to the land, Jewish settlement has been continuous in the region, and after decades of pogroms which culminated in the Holocaust, many who were in the diaspora ended up returning since they didn’t feel safe anywhere else, but more importantly, like so many fleeing war and genocide today - were simply not welcomed by the “allies”. There is also no such argument that anyone who lives on that land qualifies as Jewish, that’s not how Judaism works, there are Israelis and Palestinians of all and no religion), I recommend reading some actual sources for yourself if you want to know more:
And of course I have to defend myself in advance - despite all of the above, I am not denying that the state of Israel is occupying some lands illegally, and is oppressing and ethnically cleansing Palestine.
Both peoples have a rightful claim to parts of that land (and will, eventually, have to share other parts, or all die trying to be the only ones in control), and all deserve to live peacefully side by side on their homelands.
Like I said I asked the question in good faith and did not mean anything negative. It was out of pure ignorance and the desire to correct that ignorance.
I think the prime example of your point of “being on this land doesn’t make you Jewish” is the hagie sophiea. It’s a ancient place of worship that has been “owned” by multiple religions over the years.
Ok this is a legit question, not trying to troll or bait… Are there African or east Asian jews? Like Jewish communities in Ghana or Thailand for example?
Yup.
Ethiopian Jews, Indian Jews, and tiny communties of Chinese and Japanese Jews.
Edit: There are more, but those are mostly Jews that ran away / were expelled from other countries.
Like Jews in Thailand who fled Russia and Iran.
Interesting, I only hear of American, European or Middle East jews.
Indian Jews are also the only ones amongst Jewish communities who haven’t faced any discrimination. Despite their presence in India for around 2,000 years.
There are East Asian Jews https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaifeng_Jews
First thing coming to mind are the Jews in Ethiopia.
“Jewish” gets used with the loose definition of “people who have been expelled from their homeland.”
Judaism is the religion formed by the people who were expelled from Egypt. They left Egypt to settle in Israel and establish Judaism.
Over the years, Christianity and Islam gained a foothold in the region, until the UN shoved the inhabitants of Israel into Palestine.
Arguably, modern Palestinians, who largely practice Islam, are Jews.
This leads me to the question, is the term “antisemitic” specific to Judaism or does it cover other types of Jews?
Depending on the answer, you can call modern Israel antisemitic against Palestinian Jews, who want their homeland back, or at the very least to stop being oppressed in the place that they were exiled to. This would make anyone who supports Israel antisemitic.
Edit: Bonus funfact, there is almost perfect overlap on how “Jew” gets used and how “Gypsy” get used. The key difference is that Jews TEND to move from an origin to a destination. Gypsies TEND to have an era of transience. Some Jews get displaced more than once before they can lay down roots. Some Gypsies get displaced so many times that they just go full on nomad/caravan lifestyle and never really stop moving around.
“Gypsy” and “Jew” don’t have hard universally accepted definitions, and both of them are derogatory terms. People who identified with (or who were identified as) either of the 2 were targeted equally during the Holocaust, Gypsies were just more efficient at getting the fuck out before being loaded into the trains.
You should never say “I really got Jewed/Gypped by that guy.” Both are EXTREMELY offensive terms, and people got sent to ovens over those words being used on them. The Holocaust was not all about Judaic Jews.
Thank you for the knowledgeable and helpful post
That person really doesn’t seem to know what they’re talking about (Jews did not originate in Egypt, the UN didn’t “shove” anyone to the land, Jewish settlement has been continuous in the region, and after decades of pogroms which culminated in the Holocaust, many who were in the diaspora ended up returning since they didn’t feel safe anywhere else, but more importantly, like so many fleeing war and genocide today - were simply not welcomed by the “allies”. There is also no such argument that anyone who lives on that land qualifies as Jewish, that’s not how Judaism works, there are Israelis and Palestinians of all and no religion), I recommend reading some actual sources for yourself if you want to know more:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origins_of_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_and_Judaism_in_the_Land_of_Israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora
And of course I have to defend myself in advance - despite all of the above, I am not denying that the state of Israel is occupying some lands illegally, and is oppressing and ethnically cleansing Palestine.
Both peoples have a rightful claim to parts of that land (and will, eventually, have to share other parts, or all die trying to be the only ones in control), and all deserve to live peacefully side by side on their homelands.
Like I said I asked the question in good faith and did not mean anything negative. It was out of pure ignorance and the desire to correct that ignorance.
I think the prime example of your point of “being on this land doesn’t make you Jewish” is the hagie sophiea. It’s a ancient place of worship that has been “owned” by multiple religions over the years.