Today is Friday, June 4th, 2010 and it is now 232PM here in San Franz, Mindanao, Philippines.
I get a suprising amount of PMs here on BL from members curious about Israel, Israelis and to a degree, about Jews in general. For a while now I have been planning to iniate a series of entries on those subjects so that anyone who cares might learn a bit about my nation, and its culture(s).
"MISCONCEPTIONS"
I) "Israelis are Jews."
Israel IS the "Jewish State," the homeland of the Jewish People but less than 80% of Israelis are Jews. Like any nation Israel has minorities. In this case these minorities are ethno-religious in nature.
The lagest minority are the "Israeli-Arabs." I will get into the history as to how Arabs and Jews came to exist on the same piece of land in later entries. Sufficient to say that "Israeli-Arabs" are those Arabs that were living on the land in 1948, when Israel hained statehood, as well as their descendants.
Conversely, "Palestinians" are those Arabs who were living there in 1948 and who fled, along with THEIR descendants, as well as Arabs living in Gaza, the so called "West Bank" and what is now Jordan.
Ergo, "Israeli-Arabs" and "Palestinians" are the exact same "People" except for border demarcations and slightly different post-1948 narrative.
Israeli-Arabs can be found in ALL parts of Israel but are extremely concentrated in the far north of Galilee, a region we call the "Arab Triangle." The main town is Umm al Fahm.
Then there are the "Bedua," or as they are known in English, "Bedouin." Bedua are Arabs but with a highly different culture and a very different form of the Arabic language. There is practically no intermarriage between Israeli-Bedua and no political alliances between the 2 as well.
Another major difference is that Israeli-Arabs rarely serve in the IDF, the Bedua often do.
Another minority that serves in the IDF are the Circassians. Circassians are Slavs and Central Asians from what is the Former Soviet Union. They were brought to the region as military slaves of the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the 19th Century.
Though they are Muslim, and speak Arabic, they do not intermarry with other groups and have their own distinct culture and customs. Many are typically Slavic in appearance (blonde hair, blue eyes), which is another thing that sets them apart.
Another minority, related to the Circassians, and sometimes confused by foreigners to be one and the same are the "Chechens," who were also imported as Ottoman military slaves in the same era as the Circassians. They are also Muslim and also serve in the military.
Both Chechens and Circassians live in very small segregated villages (by choice) in Galilee. There are also communities in Jordan and Syria.
The Druse (Druze) are a religio-ethnic group from northern Israel. Once a sect of Islam, they are members of a religion founded in Egypt nearly 1000 years ago that blends Islam with Christianity as well as Greek Philosophy and other esoteric elements.
There 2 castes in Druse society, one has no responsibility for the faith, and really doesn't even worship (and is not even allowed to study it) while the other is heaviliy involved in religious affairs. With the exception of a single Druse town they serve in the IDF (Cheruv Battalion) and are among the best soldiers Israel has.
They can be found in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria though they are no longer found in Egypt. Speaking Arabic, they do not consider themselves to be Arabs at all. Their own traditions hold that they originally came from Persia (Iran) but there is absolutely nothing to suggest that.
There are "Alawi" (Alawaites), who follow synchrestic religion similar to the Druse and whose members in Syria rule that nation...
I will continue...
I get a suprising amount of PMs here on BL from members curious about Israel, Israelis and to a degree, about Jews in general. For a while now I have been planning to iniate a series of entries on those subjects so that anyone who cares might learn a bit about my nation, and its culture(s).
"MISCONCEPTIONS"
I) "Israelis are Jews."
Israel IS the "Jewish State," the homeland of the Jewish People but less than 80% of Israelis are Jews. Like any nation Israel has minorities. In this case these minorities are ethno-religious in nature.
The lagest minority are the "Israeli-Arabs." I will get into the history as to how Arabs and Jews came to exist on the same piece of land in later entries. Sufficient to say that "Israeli-Arabs" are those Arabs that were living on the land in 1948, when Israel hained statehood, as well as their descendants.
Conversely, "Palestinians" are those Arabs who were living there in 1948 and who fled, along with THEIR descendants, as well as Arabs living in Gaza, the so called "West Bank" and what is now Jordan.
Ergo, "Israeli-Arabs" and "Palestinians" are the exact same "People" except for border demarcations and slightly different post-1948 narrative.
Israeli-Arabs can be found in ALL parts of Israel but are extremely concentrated in the far north of Galilee, a region we call the "Arab Triangle." The main town is Umm al Fahm.
Then there are the "Bedua," or as they are known in English, "Bedouin." Bedua are Arabs but with a highly different culture and a very different form of the Arabic language. There is practically no intermarriage between Israeli-Bedua and no political alliances between the 2 as well.
Another major difference is that Israeli-Arabs rarely serve in the IDF, the Bedua often do.
Another minority that serves in the IDF are the Circassians. Circassians are Slavs and Central Asians from what is the Former Soviet Union. They were brought to the region as military slaves of the Ottoman Empire in the middle of the 19th Century.
Though they are Muslim, and speak Arabic, they do not intermarry with other groups and have their own distinct culture and customs. Many are typically Slavic in appearance (blonde hair, blue eyes), which is another thing that sets them apart.
Another minority, related to the Circassians, and sometimes confused by foreigners to be one and the same are the "Chechens," who were also imported as Ottoman military slaves in the same era as the Circassians. They are also Muslim and also serve in the military.
Both Chechens and Circassians live in very small segregated villages (by choice) in Galilee. There are also communities in Jordan and Syria.
The Druse (Druze) are a religio-ethnic group from northern Israel. Once a sect of Islam, they are members of a religion founded in Egypt nearly 1000 years ago that blends Islam with Christianity as well as Greek Philosophy and other esoteric elements.
There 2 castes in Druse society, one has no responsibility for the faith, and really doesn't even worship (and is not even allowed to study it) while the other is heaviliy involved in religious affairs. With the exception of a single Druse town they serve in the IDF (Cheruv Battalion) and are among the best soldiers Israel has.
They can be found in Lebanon, Jordan and Syria though they are no longer found in Egypt. Speaking Arabic, they do not consider themselves to be Arabs at all. Their own traditions hold that they originally came from Persia (Iran) but there is absolutely nothing to suggest that.
There are "Alawi" (Alawaites), who follow synchrestic religion similar to the Druse and whose members in Syria rule that nation...
I will continue...