[bagster]

It seems most everyone HATES the KURDS! Even more than Israel.

Why is that? I don't know the history of the Kurds. Are they not moslem enough? The wrong kind of moslem? Non moslem? Were they naughty during the Ottoman Empire days? Are they part Armenian?

What???

Bagster

The Lesser Oracle

[STARLIT]

I'll investigate when I return from church. They are a VERY large population and fourth largest ethnic group in West Asia after the Arabs. I'll finish studying and reporting back later.

[meyer]

The Kurds were more or less allies in the Gulf war. So yeah, they were not Moslem enough apparently.

[Dawggie]

“Are they part Armenian?”

Hardly. When the Turks went after the Armenians some Kurds jumped on the the bandwagon while other helped hide Armenians.

[little jeremiah]

Some Kurds are mohammedans, some are the traditional Kurdish religion that somoehow involves peacocks, and some are, IIRC, Christian. Even the mohammedan ones are (IIRC) not the rabid kind.

[tang-soo]

The Kurds are believed to be descendants of the Meades. It was a combined army of the Meades and Persians - led by Cyrus who defeated the Babylon Empire. The 5th Chapter of Daniel tells the story of the "Writing on the Wall" when King Belshazzar (grandson of Nebuchadnezzar) loosed his loins (ie crapped his pants) out of fear, and Daniel was called upon to translate. The story happened on the same night and was prophecised about 150 years earlier by The Prophet, Isaiah as related in the second half of Chapter 44 and the first half of Chapter 45 of his book.

Note that even though wrote this passage a century and a half earlier, he named names - ie Cyrus, His Anointed, who would defeat the Babylonians. It's believed it was this revelation that convinced Cyrus that the Hebrew People who God's Chosen and convinced him to release the Israelites, and give them protection and supplies to return to their homeland and rebuild The Temple - told in the beginning of the Book of Ezra. Read it and noticed that his submissive language is not that of a general who just defeated a mighty empire, rather a wise man who recognized the Power of God.

This act also satisfied another prophecy that they would be held in captivity for 70 years, then return home. So the Meades have a rich and powerful history. By the way, this storyline also folds into the Prophecy of Daniel's 70 Weeks, but I will leave that for another time :).