Amarijit Singh wrote:
Nearly 2 decades ago, | wrote a series of letters to you (Editor of Dalit Voice) pointing out that you had certain misunderstanding regarding the history of the Jewish people in the West. It appeared that you had taken note of what | had said (at least that is what Dr. Nagin Srinivasan informed me at the time, if my memory serves me right — perhaps Dr. Srinivasan can correct me). After those certain references to the Jewish people stopped in Dalit Voice. After some time, some of these started again e.g., comparison of the Jews to Brahmins of India. | am not a professional historian, but | do believe that you are wrong in this comparison.
Jews & Brahmins: | am sorry to but again, | must comment upon the comparison of Jews and Brahmins. This is probably as wrong as it can get. If anything, the Jews in Europe compared to Dalits rather than Brahmins. This certainly goes for the period from late antiquity till the middle of the 19th century, when Jews finally were emancipated — at least for a short-while — before the last great persecution started. During the period before that, most Jews were poor people, living in separate villages or parts of town, in many countries denied the right to own land. There was a small group of Jews who were rich traders and < moneylenders, and these often-received favourable treatment by kings and princes because their services were so valuable. Nevertheless, even the rich Jews were not socially accepted by the Christians, and Christians would not normally befriend Jews. After their emancipation, however, many Jews made considerable progress. They not only participated in business, where they played an important part in the modernisation of the European economies but they also developed a class of educated professional people that were instrumental in modernising the way Europeans and Americans think: e.g., Einstein was a Jew, there were many other Jewish scientists, writers, painters and musicians who contributed to cultural life in a decisive manner. But that hardly makes them the “Brahmins” of Europe. For 1,500 years Jews were on a regular basis subjected to all sorts of pogroms, persecutions, social discrimination and humiliation in the Christian societies where they lived. Very much the opposite of what has happened to Brahmins.
Don’t falsify Jewish history: As for Arab “research institutions” and their view on Jews, it is wise to remember that Arabs and Jews (or rather Israelis) have been involved in a long and bitter conflict to which there seems to be no end. Arab views on Jewish history and Jeswin general are like to be propagandistic, badly informed, and intended to stir up anger and hatred against Jews in general. There are serious reasons for critizing Israeli politics against the Palestinians, and the Palestinians do happen to have a case, but it is not helpful to falsify Jewish history to “get at” Israel. The conflict in Palestine/ Israel is a tragedy, and it should be possible to feel sympathy for the Palestinians without losing sight of the realities of Jewish history.
