Comments on: Joseph Massad’s ignorance of Arab Jewry

By: Tizz Al Nabi

Tizz Al Nabi — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 08:01:05 +0000

I love Lucy

By: Samuel Tell

Samuel Tell — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 14:42:07 +0000

An excellent article to add to a unified narrative. Thank you.

By: Ravi Singh

Ravi Singh — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:37:54 +0000

You are part of the human race….. all descendants of Lucy

By: Aurora Carlson

Aurora Carlson — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 12:31:48 +0000

Shayna Zed, and Moriel Rothman, you should meet each other if you havent already…Come over for Shabbat sometime

By: Moriel Rothman

Moriel Rothman — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 10:35:12 +0000

This is a thoughtful, well-reasoned critique of Massad's polemic in which he seems to severely downplay the situations faced by Arab Jews in their former homelands. It is also refreshingly non-zero-sum, in that the author shows genuine recognition of the injustice suffered by Palestinians and includes that in her article's argument. Worth reading.

By: Eliyahu Ben Abraham

Eliyahu Ben Abraham — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 01:38:24 +0000

Moreover, the Luria family, that of the ARI [= Ashkenazi Rav Yits'haq] lived in Egypt in the 16th century.

By: Eliyahu Ben Abraham

Eliyahu Ben Abraham — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 01:36:05 +0000

Ms Zamkanei errs herself by accepting the false notion of a ""palestinian people" that never existed in history. Further, she strangely expresses resentment of "powerful" Ashkenazi & Sefardi families that arrived in Egypt around 1900. But were these families "powerful" when they arrived in Egypt or only after they built up businesses there? Further, I know of powerful & wealthy Sefardi families there –Cattauis, Mosseris, etc– but not Ashkenazi families. As a matter of fact, there were Ashkenazim in Egypt in the Middle Ages. We know this because of Yiddish writings found in the Cairo Genizah, the earliest Yiddish manuscripts.

By: Shayna Zamkanei

Shayna Zamkanei — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:53:02 +0000

Binyamin, if "there are no "Arab Jews" but Jews from Arab countries" because "we were never Arabs, we were even there before they arrived," then wouldn't Jews still be considered Egyptian?

By: Shayna Zamkanei

Shayna Zamkanei — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:42:42 +0000

Perhaps, but I can't prove that. My concern is addressing the effects of his message, and not divining his motives.

By: Shayna Zamkanei

Shayna Zamkanei — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:40:09 +0000

Thank you for reading.

By: Shayna Zamkanei

Shayna Zamkanei — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:39:21 +0000

Binyamin, if "there are no "Arab Jews" but Jews from Arab countries" because "we were never Arabs, we were even there before they arrived," then wouldn't Jews still be considered Egyptian?

By: Shayna Zamkanei

Shayna Zamkanei — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:34:59 +0000

Thank you, PoNR. The Egyptians with whom I spoke in New York defined themselves as Arab, so I feel comfortable using this term in reference to them…so, too, did the Israeli government in documents that can be found in the Israeli State Archives.

By: Shayna Zamkanei

Shayna Zamkanei — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:28:46 +0000

There are many Jews who define themselves as Arab Jews, beyond Ella Shohat, Yehuda Shenhav, Sasson Somekh, etc. I had some heard some Maghrebian Jews protest being called Arab, but I have also heard Maghrebian Muslims and Christians say the same.

By: ישראל בן ראובן

ישראל בן ראובן — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 00:25:29 +0000

saying that we are goyim isn't Jewish at all, really.

By: Michael Harris

Michael Harris — Tue, 08 Jan 2013 23:15:36 +0000

aren't you being far too gentle on Massad? You're merely accusing him of being ignorant. Many would go further and state that he– quite deliberately– is an out and out liar. Most likely he is completely aware of the facts, he just chooses not to acknowledge them.