QUOTE(Udi John @ 12/07/07 03:28 PM) [snapback]118203[/snapback]
Hi Concheet,
Thanks--you flatter me, my friend! I have had a lot of time to think that one through. Those thoughts had been forming in my mind and bothering for the last 3 years or so, since the radio broadcast of the debate, and I needed to get it off my chest.
Another topic I've been thinking about lately: Israeli/Jewish - Armenian and Israeli/Jewish - Kurdish politics are very complicated. The complications are many and varied...
Pro-Armenian factors:
-Jews and Armenians as fellow "dispora" peoples
-Jews and Armenians as fellow non-Muslim minorities in the Near East
-Social and phenotypical similarities (I've been to the church fair at St. Vartan's many times and am always amazed at how much my friend's aunts and uncles remind me of my own relatives!)
-Jews and Armenians as fellow victims of genocide
-Jews and Armenians as fellow victims of Soviet repression
-Rise of Turkish Islamism cooling Israel-Turkey ties (?)
Anti-Armenian factors:
-Armenian Genocide often raised as political argument against uniqueness of Holocaust as argument against Zionism (not necessarily by Armenians)
-Armenian collaboration with Nazis during WWII (though, to be fair, this was anti-Soviet more than anti-Jewish, and was on a much smaller scale than in Eastern Europe and the Balkans; this issue may well be grossly exaggerated by pro-Turkish sources)
-Armenian/Jewish competition for living space in Old City of Jerusalem (& Israeli government policy vis a vis non-Jews)
-Israeli/Jewish political ties to Turkey as state with ties to Israel
-Israeli/Jewish emotional ties to Turkey as nation which has been "good to the Jews," and still has a substantial Jewish community
Pro-Kurdish Factors:
-Shared antipathy to Iraqi and Syrian Baathist states and Iranian Islamic Republic
-Jews and Kurds as fellow non-Arab minorities
-Sense of Jews being well-treated and well-integrated into Kurdish society (especially compared to Arab societies)
-Strong identification by Kurdish-Jewish Israelis as "Kurds" (Izik Kallah titled his early '90s CD, "Ana Kurdi"-"I am Kurdish")
-History of military collaboration between Israel and Iraqi Kurds
-Prevalence of moderate Islam in Kurdistan
Anti-Kurdish Factors:
-Israeli/Jewish political & emotional ties to Turkey (same as above)
-PKK history of Marxist ideology (seems to be been de-emphasized in favor of ethno-nationalism lately?)
-Existence of military Islamist groups in Kurdistan (e.g., Ansar Al-Islam)
-History of PKK/PLO ties (alleged?)
I've probably missed some. I should clarify that I am speaking mostly of perceptions, which may or may not be based on facts.
Peace,
John
YOU FORGOT ANOTHER TIES BETWEEN TURKS AND JEWS MY FRIEND THE KHAZAR EMPIRE WHO THEIR KING BULAN CONVER TO JUDAISM IN THE 8 CENTURY.I MYSELF ARE THEIR DESCENDANT AND I LIVE IN ISRAEL. WE ARE ETHNIC TURKS AND KEEP JEWISH RELIGION.AND PROUD IN OUR ANCESTORS.