Dear friends,
As we struggle for the right of entry, return and life, this news story is surreal.
Sad. So sad,
Sam
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Lost Tribe of Jews Migrates from India to Israel
Achal Narayanan
Religion News Service
CHENNAI, India (RNS) A group of 218 people belonging to an Indian tribe recently recognized as "lost descendants of ancient Israelites" will soon be welcomed to their new homes in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The emigrants are members of the Bnei Menashe tribe living and practicing Judaism in northeast India. The Bnei Menashe believe they are descended from one of the 10 lost tribes of Israel who were exiled when Assyrians invaded the northern kingdom of Israel in the 8th century B.C.
Many of the exiled Israelites made their way across the "silk route", ending up in China. The Shinlung tribe, as they were also called in China, eventually migrated to Myanmar and northeast India, losing many of their Jewish customs along the way.
There are more than 300,000 Bnei Menashes in the state of Manipur, but most of them follow Christianity. Only around 6,000 have converted to Judaism — many in the 1970s. The rabbis sent to Manipur and Mizoram states by the chief rabbi of the Sephardic Jews, Shlomo Amar, declared the converts "descendants of the Jewish people."
Bnei Menashe members welcomed the announcement, saying they could now "go to the Promised Land." Michael Freund, founder of Shavei Israel, an association assisting "lost Jews" to return to Israel, described the proposed relocation by the 218-strong Bnei Menashe group as "a turning point."
"This is a major historical event," he said, "because these members of a lost tribe of Israel can return home after 27 centuries."
Copyright 2006 Religion News Service.
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/200/story_20072_1.html
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Sam Bahour is a Palestinian-American business consultant, writer, and commentator based in Al-Bireh/Ramallah, Palestine. He is the principal of Applied Information Management (AIM), a consultancy specializing in business development and startup advisory services.
Bahour was instrumental in establishing two of Palestine’s publicly traded companies: the Palestine Telecommunications Company (PALTEL) and the Arab Palestinian Shopping Centers (APSC). He co-founded Americans for a Vibrant Palestinian Economy (A4VPE), of which he is now an emeritus member, and served as an independent director on the board of Arab Islamic Bank P.L.C. from 2004 to 2025. He currently serves on the board of Just Vision and The Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute (MAS).
He frequently gives talks to delegations visiting Palestine on the subjects of Palestine’s political economy, Palestinian Politics 101, and a general orientation to the state of affairs under Israeli military occupation.
A prolific writer on Palestinian affairs, Bahour has been published in major international outlets including The New York Times, The Guardian, Haaretz, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, the Los Angeles Times, Al Jazeera America, Le Monde diplomatique, Al-Monitor, +972 Magazine, The Hill, and Arab News. He has appeared as a commentator on NPR, CNN, BBC, and other broadcast media.
Bahour is the co-editor of Homeland: Oral Histories of Palestine and Palestinians (Olive Branch Press, 1993) and was profiled in the bestselling anthology Kingdom of Olives and Ash, edited by Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, in a chapter authored by Chabon titled “The Tallest Man in Ramallah.” He holds an Associate’s and Bachelor’s degree in Computer Technology from Youngstown State University, and a Kellogg-Recanati International Executive MBA — a joint program of the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Recanati Business School at Tel Aviv University.
He tweets at @SamBahour, blogs at www.epalestine.ps, and may be reached at sbahour[AT]gmail[DOT]com.
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