Free Republic

During the 1990s, Welsh professor Tudor Parfitt, known around the world as the “British Indiana Jones,” discovered evidence that the Lemba tribe in central Zimbabwe and northern South Africa has Jewish roots. He identified a genetic element in the male chromosomes of the tribe that comes from the Kohanim, the Jewish priestly line. This year, Dr. Parfitt published his latest of 25 books, Black Jews in Africa and the Americas. He also joined the faculty of Florida International University (FIU) and led an expedition to Papua New Guinea to visit the Gogodala tribe, which like the Lemba claims to be...

For archaeologists and historians interested in the ancient politics, religion and language of the Indian subcontinent, two UCLA professors and their student researchers have creatively pinpointed sites that are likely to yield valuable transcriptions of the proclamations of Ashoka, the Buddhist king of northern India's Mauryan Dynasty who ruled from 304 B.C. to 232 B.C. In a study published this week in Current Science, archaeologist Monica Smith and geographer Thomas Gillespie identified 121 possible locations of what are known as Ashoka's "edicts." First they isolated shared features of 29 known locations of Ashokan edicts, which were found carved into natural...

They have adopted mehendi and haldi ceremonies from Indian weddings, they speak fluent Marathi and many of them have enrolled their children in Marathi medium schools. As fond as they are of their adoptive home, the 250-odd members of the Bene Israel community in the city were pleasantly surprised to open the Sunday Times of India on July 21. An STOI exclusive report highlighted the results of four-year-long DNA tests in London which confirms their genetical link to the "original children of Israel" (literal translation of Bene Israel), who are said to have migrated to this country 2,000 years ago....

Asoka's edicts are to be found scattered in more than thirty places throughout India, Nepal, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Most of them are written in Brahmi script from which all Indian scripts and many of those used in Southeast Asia later developed. The language used in the edicts found in the eastern part of the sub-continent is a type of Magadhi, probably the official language of Asoka's court. The language used in the edicts found in the western part of India is closer to Sanskrit although one bilingual edict in Afghanistan is written in Aramaic and Greek. Asoka's edicts, which...

Every Friday night observant Jews bless their sons by saying, "may you be like Manasseh and Ephraim," the two sons of the biblical Joseph, who were the first Jews, born outside of the Holy Land. The blessing expresses the hope that, just like Joseph's sons, today's Jewish sons will hold fast to their religion despite the fact they live in the diaspora. Manasseh and Ephraim are two of the famous lost ten tribes, who were carted away into exile more than 2,500 years ago. Descendants of the tribe of Manasseh have been found living in India, and many of them...

   Home |Archives |Report #676 Antisemitism Documentation Project     March 13, 2011 Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No.676 Pakistan's Jewish Problem By: Tufail Ahmad* A Jewish family in Karachi, circa: unknown (Image courtesy: Dawn.com)Table of Contents Introduction I. Brief Historical Background: The Jews and Pakistan II. Main Characteristics of Antisemitism in Pakistana) Antisemitism in Pakistan is Interconnected with Pakistan's Other Perceived Enemies: The "Three Satans" – India, the U.S. and Israel (i.e. Hindus, Christians and Jews)b) Antisemitism is Used Instrumentally by the Pakistani Military c) Antisemitism is Used to Designate Threats to Pakistan, Such As the TalibanIII. Range of...

What follows is initial evidence that links some people groups in Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Israel. It is thought provoking. HOWEVER, IN POSTING THIS, LET ME ENCOURAGE THE INTERESTED TO GO TO THE WEBSITE AND READ "OVERVIEW" IN WHICH THE CASE AGAINST THE TEN LOST TRIBES IS PRESENTED. Also, note that the "people of the book" as Mohammed called them (Christians or Jews), who converted to Islam, were considered by him to be totally Moslem and totally acceptable. The two sections below deal with Afghanistan and Kashmir. The Ten Lost Tribes: Afghanistan The Bible mentions the city of Medes as one ...

Did Israel's Lost Tribes end up in Afghanistan? By Tom Heneghan KABUL, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Considering all they shunned and shattered in their quest for pure Islam, Afghanistan's now vanquished Taliban seem to have overlooked the awkward legend that they were descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel. The Pashtun tribes that produced the Taliban, one of the most zealous sects the Muslim world has ever seen, have traditionally traced their roots to the Jews who disappeared after the Babylonian Captivity in the sixth century B.C. The legend, which seems bizarre in light of Jewish-Muslim tensions since the creation ...