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Op-Ed: World Jewry: India's Perception of the Jews and Israel
Arutz Sheva ^ | 17/10/12 | Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld

Posted on 10/17/2012 6:05:21 PM PDT by Eleutheria5

Many people in India know that, according to their narrative, Jews have lived in their country for two thousand years. They are very proud of the fact that Jews have lived there for so long without experiencing indigenous anti-Semitism. It supports their self-perception as an extremely tolerant and welcoming society to foreign religious minorities.

"The fact that Jews lived in India without experiencing persecution is part and parcel of contemporary Hindu identity. This is especially significant for Indians as tensions with Muslims become stronger and friction with Christian missionaries is highlighted in the world press. Indians want to be able to say: 'We are a tolerant society. Look at our Jews who have lived here so long and so happily.'”

Nathan Katz, a Research Professor of International and Public Affairs at Florida International University, has specialized in the study of Jewish communities in South Asia over the past thirty-five years. He is a pioneer and leading academic in the field of Indo-Judaic studies, as well as a South Asia specialist, holding the Bhagwan Mahavir Professorship in Jain Studies.

"Many Indians are aware that what they’ve learned about Judaism largely originates from Christian missionary schools, or comes from Marxist or Shakespearian anti-Semitism, or worse, from anti-Semitic tracts being promulgated by some Muslim groups. Marxist ideology also has a disproportionate influence on campuses.

"We have to contend with these various anti-Semitic traditions, a big challenge, but these views are not so deeply ingrained in Hindu and Indian culture as they are in European or Middle Eastern societies.

“Most Indians are informed enough to grasp that anti-Semitic claims come from distorted perspectives. They realize that authentic knowledge of Judaism and the Jewish people can only come from direct interaction between Jews and Indians. This is an excellent starting point.

.....

(Excerpt) Read more at israelnationalnews.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Israel; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: hinduism; india; islam; southasia

1 posted on 10/17/2012 6:05:27 PM PDT by Eleutheria5
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To: Eleutheria5

“The Indian relationship to Israel is also influenced by the havoc Muslims caused many centuries ago in their country. Even if this happened five or six hundred years ago, Hindus remain very sensitive about it. When they see a mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, there is a deep resonance with their culture. Indians often ask Jews: ‘How can you allow these buildings to remain on this place which is so sacred to you?’

“Their perception was sharpened by terrorism. On November 26, 2008 for instance, Muslim terrorists attacked a number of iconic sites in Mumbai, especially the Taj Hotel and Victoria Railway Station, as well as the Chabad House. One hundred and sixty-eight people were killed and more than 300 wounded.

“Indians also admire Israeli fortitude against the Arab enemy. An important field of Indian-Israeli cooperation is security. Indians are also victims of terror. The Hindi word for violence in Kashmir is ‘intifada.’ Many perceive Palestinian violence as another head of the same jihadist dragon.


2 posted on 10/17/2012 6:21:11 PM PDT by James C. Bennett (An Australian.)
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To: Eleutheria5

Really?
What about Gandhi’s support of the NAZI program and what Hitler was doing to the Jews?


3 posted on 10/17/2012 6:25:55 PM PDT by Ghost of Philip Marlowe (Prepare for survival.)
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe

The guy who assassinated Gandhi was a Hindu nationalist who perceived Gandhi to have conceded too much to Muslims. If you can add two and two, you will understand the relationship between the assassination and this article.

Also, IIRC, Gandhi reneged his views of Hitler after news of the pogrom in Germany began to leak. Until that happened, many American companies, most notably Ford, were still dealing with Germany of the time.

Gandhi also supported the Indian war effort against the Axis - the Indian contingent was the largest all-volunteer force during WW-2, a fact which escapes most Americans unless they have seen war memorials commemorating this in Italy, France, Singapore, Burma, Africa and Britain itself.


4 posted on 10/17/2012 6:33:03 PM PDT by James C. Bennett (An Australian.)
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To: Eleutheria5

The only Indian-Jewish politician I know of, Jacob-Farj-Rafael “JFR” Jacob, is a member of the Hindu Nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. General Jacob was a hero of the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971, liberating half of Bangladesh by bluff. (Jacob is also well regarded in Bangladesh, although he is despised by Islamsts). After retiring from the army, General Jacob became the BJP governor of Goa and then Punjab.


5 posted on 10/17/2012 6:37:24 PM PDT by rmlew ("Mosques are our barracks, minarets our bayonets, domes our helmets, the believers our soldiers.")
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To: Ghost of Philip Marlowe

You are right about that. Gandhi’s blood libel of “eye for eye makes the world blind” is the hypocrisy of his anticolonial stance which itself was based in historicism and distrust of the British.

That being said, Indians are smart enough to hate Gandhi because this Obama like demagogue got them to lose Pakistan and saddled India with surrenderist traditions with respect to Islam and red China ever since.

It’s only the western elite which thinks that Hindus follow Gandhi. No, it’s us and not them who follow this known antisemite. We simply assume that Indians are great people because of Gandhi alone, and not their culture which Gandhi hated. All this humble garments drama gandhi plaid was PR BS from him.

Thus there is a sizable leftist view in India which is political and compares Israel to South Africa’s apartheid. They hate Israel more than they hate muslims.

However, in general, they too are smart enough to stay away from Nazi revisionism altogether. Let us not forget that Gandhi talks in his book or story about how he was treated in South Africa and how it shaped his mind. This is where all the BS and greed for the gold and diamonds starts, at this feminist bipolar imperialistic feeling and hypocrisy.


6 posted on 10/17/2012 6:45:33 PM PDT by JudgemAll (Democrats Fed. job-security Whorocracy & hate:hypocrites must be gay like us or be tested/crucified)
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To: rmlew

Hmmm. And just how did Goa change hands?


7 posted on 10/17/2012 6:50:56 PM PDT by Darteaus94025
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To: rmlew

Hmmm. And just how did Goa change hands?


8 posted on 10/17/2012 6:51:22 PM PDT by Darteaus94025
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To: Darteaus94025
Hmmm. And just how did Goa change hands? India took back Goa from Portugal in the 1960s.
9 posted on 10/17/2012 7:10:15 PM PDT by rmlew ("Mosques are our barracks, minarets our bayonets, domes our helmets, the believers our soldiers.")
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To: Darteaus94025; ravager
Hmmm. And just how did Goa change hands?

In the most beautiful manner imaginable.

10 posted on 10/17/2012 7:59:34 PM PDT by James C. Bennett (An Australian.)
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To: Eleutheria5

Christianity was around before Islam. The anti Jewishness of Christian Missionaries and of Shakespeare is rooted in the anti Jewishness in the Christian New Testament. As interpreted by Christians. Hence the persecution of Jews in Europe over the past 1,900 years. The New Testament has Jesus saying that he came not to abolish the Law, what Law? The Torah. The 5 Books of Moses the Prophet of God. And these books say that God will not replace the Torah. Yet Christians then renamed the Torah as “old”, ie replaceable, and indeed replaced, it with a man-made “new” version. Man-made? Read the Gospels to witness the contradictions between them, describing the same events. The Gospels would be dismissed in a man-made court system of law, never mind a Divine one. Read Acts to witness the numerous contradictions between Acts and Genesis,bearing in mind that Genesis preceded Acts, therefore Acts should not contradict Genesis yet it does and is thus not a Divine document at all. Christians then used this “new” man-made script to persecute the Jews. This did not happen in India where Hinduism reigned and where Hinduism did not try replace the Torah and did not preach anti Jewish sermons.


11 posted on 10/17/2012 11:59:06 PM PDT by Scubes
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To: Scubes

Leave me out of this, please.


12 posted on 10/18/2012 1:52:13 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (End the occupation. Annex today.)
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To: JudgemAll

“That being said, Indians are smart enough to hate Gandhi because this Obama like demagogue got them to lose Pakistan and saddled India with surrenderist traditions with respect to Islam and red China ever since.”

I don’t think it would be wise to allow yourself to be overheard comparing Obama to Gandhi. I’ve spoken to people who were part of the Satyagraha movement in India and fell out with him over Pakistan, so I understand he was not the great messianic figure he’s made out to be in the movie. But in the US, this comment comparing Obama to Gandhi on Freep will be milked.


13 posted on 10/18/2012 3:11:34 AM PDT by Eleutheria5 (End the occupation. Annex today.)
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To: Scubes

I have to say, I think modern Jews are in no position to talk about “man made” laws. When they get back to following the law of Moses instead of the law of the Rabbis, then maybe I’ll pay attention.


14 posted on 10/18/2012 6:20:18 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: blasater1960

Of interest ping.


15 posted on 10/18/2012 7:17:10 AM PDT by James C. Bennett (An Australian.)
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Comment #16 Removed by Moderator

To: Yehuda

No, I’m not.


17 posted on 10/18/2012 11:50:58 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Berosus; bigheadfred; Bockscar; ColdOne; Convert from ECUSA; ...

Thanks Eleutheria5.


18 posted on 10/18/2012 5:17:53 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (https://secure.freerepublic.com/donate/)
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To: Darteaus94025

“And just how did Goa change hands?”

In which of the instances - India to Portugal or Portugal to India?


19 posted on 10/18/2012 8:11:35 PM PDT by mikeIII
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