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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: skinowski who wrote (120536)	11/27/2003 2:15:55 AM
From: Larry Loeb	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 281500

Jews, OTOH, were always an ethnic group, not only religious. Jews were *treated* as an ethnicity. During the earlier years of the Diaspora (post 70 AD) Jews, like most immigrant groups, tended to stay together. This was further enhanced by the dictates of Shabbat (you must be within walking distance to the Synagogue because taking a conveyance would fall under the definition of work - and therefore a violation of the Sabbath). This is a long and complex subject (why Jews were treated as an ethnicity), but it doesn't change the fact that it is a religion. Islam is a religion. Arabs are an ethnicity (distinct from Persians and, if my recollection is correct, Egyptians). Jews are said to have descended from Abraham, as are the Arabs. Since you can convert to Judaism, however, it is the souls of converts that are said to have descended from Abraham. Saying that having a Jewish soul makes you part of a certain ethnicity is an argument that I haven't heard before. I don't think that it works, since there are Arab Jews, Asian Jews, and African Jews. Just figured I'd toss that in.