Kurdistan will be the second home for Jews after Israel

Kurdish people believe that Jewish people are part of the Kurdish nation. Kurds always have been treating Jews as equal partner In Kurdistan since the Median Empire. It is may be because Abraham the forefather of Jewish nation was an Indo-Europeans Kurd instead of African Semite like the Jewish scholars have been claiming after Moses came back from Egypt. Or large segment of Kurdish populations are the descendent of lost ten Jews tribe in Kurdistan after they were deported by Assyrian Empire to Kurdistan. What ever the reasons are the Kurdish populations are treating Jews equally with other Kurds even Islamic religions are encouraging them to treat Jews people differently.

Kurd can absorb millions of Jews in opposite of Israel because Kurdistan is large territory and in need of Jews knowledge. Jews and Kurds can be the blessing for one another and live in peace and prosperity for generations to come.

Kurdish large cities can take in millions of Jewish business man and technical oriented Jews. They can teach, build companies and do commerce in the cities. Kurdistan with its natural resources and weather can be built as haven of Mesopotamia and world.

Israel and Jew world wide should help Kurds to establish democratic system like Israel. I hope they are going to stop helping families like Barzani and Talabani to be dictators in Kurdistan. The people’s life under dictatorship is useless no matter who the dictators are. Israel and Jews should know that Barzani and Talabani family are abusing Kurdish populations now.

Kurdish people love Jewish people. So to not disappoint them stop helping dictators in Kurdistan. Creating small country for Barzani, Talabani and others is going to divide Kurdistan to small hells for Kurdish people.

Israel Support of people like Barzani and Talabani is meaning that Israel is Imperialist not friend of Kurdish people. They are only after raw material that is why supporting dictators. England and France operated in the region with the same policy before. The people hate UK and France for that policy.

Kurd wants Jews to come home to Kurdistan. They want them to build Kurdistan to have democratic Government and rule of laws. You can see what the Kurdish dictators are doing now in Kurdistan. Few Jews will make very good money for the cooperation’s with dictators like Barzani and Talabani but the Kurdish populations will turn around and join Islamic extremist because of the dictator’s policy. It is hard to leave in peace under Barzani and Talabani dictatorship Government. Majority of young Kurds are running overseas because of Barzani and Talabani family abuses.

To build free Kurdistan for the people, you have to have freedom in the country. The system of Government must be fully democratic system based on the rule of laws. The world and Kurdish people by now knows that Barzani and Talabani rulers of South Kurdistan are dividing that small area to two countries. They are practicing thee most outdated nomadic rule to run the life of the Kurdish people. The Kurdish country under such rulers never will see progress. They are restricting every freedom from the populations.

The political leaders starting with KDP, PUK, Islamist, Change and others do hate Kurds from Europe and America because those Kurds are learning what democratic systems means. The change parliament members are against the Kurdish people overseas. I know some of them and understand their opinion toward the Kurds from EU and USA.

Barzani, Talabani, Islamist and Nawshirwan Mustafa are in agreement to fight Kurdish populations from Europe and America except people who are in pay row of Barzani and Talabani family. It is just like old days when religious Sheik, land lord used to keep Kurdish population uneducated so they can abuse them and take their wealth. Today the leaders in south Kurdistan are against Kurds from overseas unless that Kurds are the sale out and partner in the oil deals. In other word the only Kurd get along with Barzani,www.ekurd.netTalabani and others in Kurdistan are the Kurd from overseas who are involved in the corruptions with those Kurdish leaders from south Kurdistan.

The Kurdish leaders are trying to fight Kurds from Europe and America so they can continue to run Kurdistan under dictatorship like Barzani and Talabani family does. Change is fighting to replace Barzani and Talabani, they are not fighting to serve Kurdish people otherwise why they do hate Kurds from Europe and America.

For the Kurd to have Kurdistan as a country like modern states of the USA and European countries they must fight dictatorship of Kurdistan. For Jews to have second home after Israel they must help Kurdish people to establish Kurdistan as a modern state.

Israel and Jews must not allow Massoud Barzani dictatorship even they are saying he is from Jews origin or allowing Qubad Talabani to be dictator in Kurdistan after his father goes to hell because he is married to the American Jewish girl.

Kurdish people want Kurdistan to be one country and be ruled by laws. They want Kurdistan to be democratic system based on free elections. So the Kurdistan citizens will choice Governments rulers. Kurd hates Barzani, Talabani, Change and others dictatorship as a rulers.

Kurd wants to be free from occupiers and internal dictators like Barzani and Talabani families. They want to be free at last. They pay with the blood to get full freedom not they fought to be free from occupiers and be ruled by dictators like Barzani and Talabani family members.

The Kurds are expecting that Jews in the world will help them for the establishment of free country. Free from Kurdish dictators. Free from occupiers. Free from religious dictatorship too. Separations’ of religion and politics are the demand of the majority of Kurdish populations.

Published by Hamma Mirwaisi on ekurd.net. He is the author of the book, « Return of the Medes ». Born in Kurdistan, he is a US citizen and has lived in the US for over 35 years. He currently works as a speaker and business consultant for the Middle East region where he hopes to some day aid in the establishment of an “Economic Union” in the area spanning from Pak to Turkey and from Kurdistan to the former Soviet Union. He can be reached at hmirwaisi@gmail.com. 

Kurdish Jewish Community in Israel

An ancient tradition relates that the Jews of Kurdistan are the descendants of the Ten Tribes from the time of the Assyrian exile (6th century BCE). The first to mention this was Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, the 12the century traveler who visited Kurdistan in about 1170 and found more than 100 Jewish communities who still spoke Aramaic. The traveler Benjamin the Second, who visited Kurdistan in 1848, also mentioned this tradition and added that the Nestorian (Assyrian) tribes were also descendants of the Ten Tribes and that they practiced some Jewish customs. During the Second Templeera, the kingdom of Abiabene was situated in this region; its inhabitants, together with their king, Monobaz, and his mother Helena, converted to Judaism in the middle of the first century, and it is likely that some Kurdish Jews today are descendants of these proselytes. In recent centuries, the economic situation of Jews in Kurdistan was difficult and their living conditions highly instable. They were largely cut off from the outside world, but were known for their strength and sturdiness. Those living in cities engaged in commerce and crafts, while those dwelling in the mountains engaged in farming. Their religious life was centered around the synagogue and talmud torah (religious school). Like the Nestorians in the area, they spoke an Aramaic spiced with Turkish, Persian, Kurdish, Arabic and Hebrew words, which they called “the language of the Targum” (the Aramaic translation of the Bible) and which the Arabs call jabali, or “the language of the mountains.” In the 20th century, the urban Jews of Kurdistan adopted Arabic as their principle language, but those in the mountains continued to use Aramaic. Immigration to the Land of Israel began as early as the 16th century, with the first immigrants from Kurdistan settling in Safed. In the 20th century, Kurdish immigrants arrived in the 1920s and 30s and by 1948 there were some 8,000 Kurds in the country. After the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, almost all the Jews of the Iraqi Persian and Turkish parts of historic Kurdistan were airlifted to the new state in 1950-51 in an operation known as “Magic Carpet.” They settled in many towns and villages, with the largest number living in and around Jerusalem. Few had any formal education; many continued to engage in agriculture. Initially they had a rather low public image and there were the brunt of many jokes. Today, the Kurdish Jewish population in Israel is over 150,000, with the largest concentration in and around Jerusalem. The immigrants in the early days of the state were largely traditional, as there had been no process of secularization in Kurdistan. Today, the majority of young Kurdish Jews are educated and secular, define themselves as “Israeli” rather than Kurdish, and have abandoned many traditional Kurdish customs. Only the elderly still speak Aramaic and/or Arabic, while the younger generations have adopted Hebrew as their principal language. Fifty years ago most of the Kurdish Jews in Israel married within their community; today most young Kurds marry members of other ethnic Jewish communities. In recent years, many Kurdish Jews have achieved high positions in the army and civil service, among them the former Minister of Defense, Yitzhak Mordechai. One tradition that many Kurds, including many young people, still maintain is the celebration of the Saharana. Although the central focus of this uniquely Kurdish festival is the transition from winter to spring, only the Iranian Kurds hold their Sharana celebrations in the spring during the intermediate week of Passover. All the others celebrate in the intermediate week of Sukkoth, which is in the fall. Kurds from all over the country gather in one village and spend an entire day in nature, dancing, singing, drinking and consuming great quantities of traditional Kurdish dishes, including kubah, chicken stuffed with minced meat, grape leaves and lentils.

Iraq says Turkey rejects to extend Kurdistan pipelines without Baghdad’s permission

 BAGHDAD,— Turkey has told Iraq it will reject any extension of oil and gas pipelines from Kurdistan without the approval of the Baghdad government, Iraq's oil minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi was quoted as saying by the state media network on Monday. Iraq's Arab-led central government and the Kurdistan regional government (KRG), run by ethnic Kurds, are in a long-running dispute over how to exploit the country's crude reserves and divide the revenues. Baghdad says it alone has the authority to control export of the world's fourth largest oil reserves, while the Kurds say their right to do so is enshrined in Iraq's federal constitution, drawn up following the U.S.-led invasion of 2003. "Turkey has officially informed Iraq it rejects extending oil and gas export pipelines from the Kurdistan region to pass through Turkey without approval from federal government," the network quoted the minister as saying. The Turkish energy ministry declined to comment on the statement. Kurdistan's Minister for Natural Resources Ashti Hawrami said earlier this month the autonomous region was pressing ahead with plans to build its own oil export pipeline to Turkey,www.ekurd.net despite objections from the United States, which fears the project could lead to the break-up of Iraq. Resource-hungry Turkey has heavily courted Iraqi Kurds, straining ties with the Iraqi central government. Prime Minister Nuri al Maliki's media advisor Ali al-Moussawi said Turkey's rejection of the pipeline would help enhance bilateral relations between Ankara and Baghdad, which have deteriorated over the past year. "The government welcomes Turkey's move, which will significantly help to stabilize the region and also strengthen relations between central government and Kurdish region,"" Ali al-Moussawi added. Ankara has been locked in a war of words with Maliki, a Shi'ite, since December 2011, when he ordered the arrest of his Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who took refuge in Kurdistan before fleeing to Turkey. GAS LICENSE DELAY Iraqi Kurdistan halted oil exports through the Baghdad-controlled Iraq-Turkey pipeline in December in a dispute over payments to oil companies operating in the autonomous region. In early January, Kurdistan began exporting crude oil directly to world markets through Turkey, further angering Baghdad, which threatened action against the region and foreign oil companies working there to stop "illegal" crude exports. A broad energy partnership between Turkey and Iraqi Kurdistan ranging from exploration to export has been in the works since last year. Amid uncertainty over the detail and timing of the deal, Turkey's energy watchdog EPDK on Friday again delayed a decision on whether to award a license for Turkish firm Siyah Kalem to import gas from Kurdistan. Siyah Kalem had sought extra time from Turkey's Energy Market Regulatory Authority (EPDK) for its application due to difficulties in reaching agreement with the northern Iraqi administration. It was given until the end of 2013. Turkish officials initially indicated that they thought a purchase agreement signed with the KRG was legally sufficient to allow imports into Turkey. But officials later confirmed any such agreement would need to be approved by Baghdad. By Ahmed Rasheed, Reuter

Kurdistan's Peshmerga: We need the same quality weapons as Iraqi army

 ERBIL-Hewlêr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq',— Ministry of Peshmerga in Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) announced on Saturday, that three brigades of the federal police carried out the functions of protecting Iraq's borders from Khanaqin south to Zakho in the far north, indicating the need for same weapons possessed by the Iraqi army. The spokesman of Kurdistan leadership of Peshmerga forces , lieutenant general, Jabbar al-Yawar said that "We need to the same quality of weapons needed by the Iraqi army to carry out our duties in defending the sovereignty of Iraq and protect its borders." "We need all types of usual weapons used in the armies of the world starting from guns, pistols to tanks and heavy guns, because we are a part of the defense system of Iraq”. He added that "if there was any movement, how can Peshmerga forces defend the region, which is a part of Iraq?”. The head of Kurdistan Region, Massoud Barzani held last week, talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin that has addressed strengthening economic cooperation between Russia and Kurdistan Region,www.ekurd.net according to Russian sources. Barzani initiated his first official visit to Russia to visit the house in which his late father the late leader, Mullah Mustafa Barzani used to live in Moscow during his exile years to the former Soviet Union in mid-forties of the last century, as he talked about memories of his father residency with the area residents and officials in its municipality.

Jewish buildings in southern Kurdistan

One of the few original buildings in the Jewish quarter in Silêmanî (Sulaimaniyah), iraqi Kurdistan

Near Zarvia Dji, "The Land of the Jews" - outside Akre.

Pictures: Kurdistan Adventures

Beware Turkish Hypocrisy

Recent Turkish pressure on France and Germany regarding accession to the European Union heighten the need to question Turkey's strategic intentions and political identity. Is Turkey a moderate, pro-Western democracy? Or is it run by Islamists embracing policies and regimes hostile to the West? Turkey wants to be treated as a member of the West, calls itself "European," and expects EU membership alongside its NATO credentials. But Turkey has dissented on key policy issues like Iran sanctions, antagonized the only Middle East country with Western values (Israel), and -- until the Arab Spring ruined relations with Syria -- courted many regimes dangerously opposed to the West. The Syrian war has undermined Turkey's "no-problems-with-neighbors" strategy and exposed its bluster. In August 2011, Turkey threatened military action against Syria but only if other nations joined it. In June 2012, Syria shot down a Turkish warplane over the Mediterranean. The Turkish response: consultations with NATO followed by much sound and fury. So when Israeli warplanes allegedly attacked Syrian military targets earlier this month, one would have expected Turkey to praise tiny Israel for taking risks to address a regional threat that the much bigger Turkey has found too daunting to confront alone. Instead, according to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu urged Syria to attack Israel, suggested that Assad's inaction was due to "a secret agreement" with Israel, and vowed that Turkey would not sit still in the face of an Israeli attack on any Muslim country. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Not to be outdone by his foreign minister, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the Israeli airstrike in Syria "state terrorism." Does Erdogan call the countless Turkish airstrikes into Iraq "state terrorism?" What about airstrikes by the international force that Turkey would presumably join if the West ever mustered the courage to intervene in Syria? Any sane observer must wonder if Erdogan and Davutoglu know how absurdly inconsistent they sound or if they actually believe their own propagandist drivel. A sober look at Turkey's past and present reveals a darker side that the EU is trying to overlook -- presumably for the economic benefits of Turkish EU membership and the hope that such membership will reform Turkey. The past: the Ottoman Turks slaughtered approximately 1-1.5 million people in the Armenian Genocide almost a century ago. Rather than apologize and make reparations à la Germany, Turkey has whitewashed history and used Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code prohibiting "insulting Turkishness" to silence those brave enough to speak out about the issue, such as journalist Hrant Dink (who was assassinated in 2007 for doing just that). Indeed, today's Turkish democracy falls short of EU standards. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Turkey is the "the world's leading jailer" of reporters. Dissidents are jailed under vague anti-terror laws, and human rights organizations have documented many other abuses (often relating to the Kurdish conflict), including extrajudicial killings, "disappearances," torture, and restrictions on free speech. Turkey's war with the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) completely discredits Turkish denunciations of Israeli conduct towards Palestinian terrorist organizations. According to figures released by the Turkish military and reported in the Hurriet, from 1984 to 2008, the conflict has killed about 32,000 PKK members. That 24-year total dwarfs the number of Palestinians killed in Israel's 65-year struggle with terrorism. Thus, when Erdogan debased the Davos World Economic Forum to score cheap populist points by excoriating President Shimon Peres for Israel's 2009 war on the Gazan terrorists attacking Israeli civilians, he obviously forgot his own country's record. Erdogan's constant condemnation of Israel's presence in the West Bank would suggest that Turkey profoundly respects the territorial integrity of its neighbors. Yet Turkey has illegally occupied Cyprus since 1974 - an occupation recognized by no country, compelled by no significant security concerns, and, according to the European Commission of Human Rights, rife with human rights abuses. Turkey has also tried to block Israeli participation in NATO exercises, even though NATO benefits substantially from IDF expertise (so much that NATO may have finally secured Israel's 2013 participation in exchange for granting Turkey's request for Patriot missile defense systems). And Turkey recently resumed the trial in absentia of former Israeli military commanders for the 2010 events on the Mavi Marmara. If Turkey's sailors boarded an Israeli ship carrying supplies for Kurds and violating a Turkish naval blockade, and the Israeli passengers lethally attacked those sailors, how would the Turks have reacted? Rather than acknowledge both sides of the story in that unfortunate incident, Turkey has used it to deepen its diplomatic rift with Israel. The irony is that -- until Erdogan's premiership -- Israel and Turkey were extremely close allies. That Erdogan ruined the relationship is hardly surprising: as mayor of Istanbul in June 1997, he said, "The Jews have begun to crush the Muslims of Palestine, in the name of Zionism.... Today, the image of the Jews is no different from that of the Nazis." Birikim, a Turkish socialist culture magazine, reported this statement by Erdogan, which no Western newspaper covered. The unfortunate reality may be that Turkey can pivot back towards the West only after the Islamists currently running the country are replaced by more moderate secularists (like Turkey's pre-Erdogan leaders). Until then, the EU should continue to ask about Turkey's troubling past and present. By Noah Beck American ThinkerBeware Turkish Hypocrisy Posted GMT 2-23-2013 17:12:42 Recent Turkish pressure on France and Germany regarding accession to the European Union heighten the need to question Turkey's strategic intentions and political identity. Is Turkey a moderate, pro-Western democracy? Or is it run by Islamists embracing policies and regimes hostile to the West? Turkey wants to be treated as a member of the West, calls itself "European," and expects EU membership alongside its NATO credentials. But Turkey has dissented on key policy issues like Iran sanctions, antagonized the only Middle East country with Western values (Israel), and -- until the Arab Spring ruined relations with Syria -- courted many regimes dangerously opposed to the West. The Syrian war has undermined Turkey's "no-problems-with-neighbors" strategy and exposed its bluster. In August 2011, Turkey threatened military action against Syria but only if other nations joined it. In June 2012, Syria shot down a Turkish warplane over the Mediterranean. The Turkish response: consultations with NATO followed by much sound and fury. So when Israeli warplanes allegedly attacked Syrian military targets earlier this month, one would have expected Turkey to praise tiny Israel for taking risks to address a regional threat that the much bigger Turkey has found too daunting to confront alone. Instead, according to the Turkish daily Hurriyet, Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu urged Syria to attack Israel, suggested that Assad's inaction was due to "a secret agreement" with Israel, and vowed that Turkey would not sit still in the face of an Israeli attack on any Muslim country. Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Not to be outdone by his foreign minister, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan called the Israeli airstrike in Syria "state terrorism." Does Erdogan call the countless Turkish airstrikes into Iraq "state terrorism?" What about airstrikes by the international force that Turkey would presumably join if the West ever mustered the courage to intervene in Syria? Any sane observer must wonder if Erdogan and Davutoglu know how absurdly inconsistent they sound or if they actually believe their own propagandist drivel. A sober look at Turkey's past and present reveals a darker side that the EU is trying to overlook -- presumably for the economic benefits of Turkish EU membership and the hope that such membership will reform Turkey. The past: the Ottoman Turks slaughtered approximately 1-1.5 million people in the Armenian Genocide almost a century ago. Rather than apologize and make reparations à la Germany, Turkey has whitewashed history and used Article 301 of the Turkish Penal Code prohibiting "insulting Turkishness" to silence those brave enough to speak out about the issue, such as journalist Hrant Dink (who was assassinated in 2007 for doing just that). Indeed, today's Turkish democracy falls short of EU standards. According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, Turkey is the "the world's leading jailer" of reporters. Dissidents are jailed under vague anti-terror laws, and human rights organizations have documented many other abuses (often relating to the Kurdish conflict), including extrajudicial killings, "disappearances," torture, and restrictions on free speech. Turkey's war with the Kurdistan Worker's Party (PKK) completely discredits Turkish denunciations of Israeli conduct towards Palestinian terrorist organizations. According to figures released by the Turkish military and reported in the Hurriet, from 1984 to 2008, the conflict has killed about 32,000 PKK members. That 24-year total dwarfs the number of Palestinians killed in Israel's 65-year struggle with terrorism. Thus, when Erdogan debased the Davos World Economic Forum to score cheap populist points by excoriating President Shimon Peres for Israel's 2009 war on the Gazan terrorists attacking Israeli civilians, he obviously forgot his own country's record. Erdogan's constant condemnation of Israel's presence in the West Bank would suggest that Turkey profoundly respects the territorial integrity of its neighbors. Yet Turkey has illegally occupied Cyprus since 1974 - an occupation recognized by no country, compelled by no significant security concerns, and, according to the European Commission of Human Rights, rife with human rights abuses. Turkey has also tried to block Israeli participation in NATO exercises, even though NATO benefits substantially from IDF expertise (so much that NATO may have finally secured Israel's 2013 participation in exchange for granting Turkey's request for Patriot missile defense systems). And Turkey recently resumed the trial in absentia of former Israeli military commanders for the 2010 events on the Mavi Marmara. If Turkey's sailors boarded an Israeli ship carrying supplies for Kurds and violating a Turkish naval blockade, and the Israeli passengers lethally attacked those sailors, how would the Turks have reacted? Rather than acknowledge both sides of the story in that unfortunate incident, Turkey has used it to deepen its diplomatic rift with Israel. The irony is that -- until Erdogan's premiership -- Israel and Turkey were extremely close allies. That Erdogan ruined the relationship is hardly surprising: as mayor of Istanbul in June 1997, he said, "The Jews have begun to crush the Muslims of Palestine, in the name of Zionism.... Today, the image of the Jews is no different from that of the Nazis." Birikim, a Turkish socialist culture magazine, reported this statement by Erdogan, which no Western newspaper covered. The unfortunate reality may be that Turkey can pivot back towards the West only after the Islamists currently running the country are replaced by more moderate secularists (like Turkey's pre-Erdogan leaders). Until then, the EU should continue to ask about Turkey's troubling past and present. By Noah Beck American Thinker

Israel Kurdistan Network