Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

EoZ's Psychological History of Palestinian Arabs (2007)

In 2007, I embarked on writing a history of Palestinian Arabs for the blog. I never finished it, but what I did write I am pretty proud of (although some of the links don't work anymore.)

I just posted it as its own page. It is quite long for a blog post - 19,000 words, about a third of the size of many books.

Since I have many more readers today than I did in 2007, I hope that you enjoy it and learn something.

Check it out!

IDF taking DNA samples from 'Awarta in Fogel case

From Ma'an:

The deputy mayor of Awarta and two of his brothers were detained along with dozens of others Tuesday morning by Israeli forces. Officials say the detained men are being given DNA tests and questioned by soldiers.

The detentions come as the investigation into the murders of five Israeli settlers - including two children and an infant - enters its third week. More than 40 have been detained from the village in the course of the investigation, and foreign workers in the settlement were said to have been questioned.

Awarta, the closest Palestinian village to the illegal Israeli settlement of Itamar, where the murders occurred, has been the center of the investigation, and was placed under military curfew twice, the first time for five days.

As my interview with the mayor of Itamar showed:

The IDF saw muddy footprints leading from the massacre scene to 'Awarta.
The IDF found a bulletproof vest stolen from the first, empty home the terrorists entered - in 'Awarta.
It appears that the knife used to slaughter the family was found in the home.
Unlike Ma'an's insinuations that are now all over the Internet, there are no foreign workers in Itamar so there is no doubt that the murderers came from the direction of 'Awarta.

(Ma'an's editor tweeted me that he would run a story that there were no foreign workers in Itamar if I could get an official statement. I immediately got one from a settler leader, over a week ago, but he never published the article as far as I can tell.)

German police take two people displaying Israeli flag into custody

A German blog reports (translation paraphrased):

Once again it has happened. At a demonstration in front of the Berlin Hauptbahnhof on 27 March 2011, that called for a boycott against Israel, police took two men into custody because they refused to cease their peaceful expression of solidarity with Israel by displaying an Israeli flag.

On March 27 2011 there was a demonstration at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof exhibition. The State of Israel was accused of apartheid (an almost racist comparison) and a boycott of Israeli products was demanded. The brutal terrorist acts against Israel, however, have been omitted, downplayed or justified.

At some point two people at the exhibition held up an Israeli flag. That's all they did! They did not interfere, they didn't scream, nor did they riot. Neither did they chant anti-Palestinian slogans, nor did they display any signs with anti-Palestinian views. They only peacefully showed the Israeli flag, to ensure that Israel is not looked upon as the devil, as the Palestinian Hamas claimed, but a lovely country with good and bad sides.

They were thus not so pro-Israel, because to display a flag purely shows that the country has a right to exist, can not really proven to be sign as a special affection. There is no special sign of affection, To say that defense of Israel's right to exist is "pro-Israeli" is as absurd as to assert that one is pro-Jewish by being against Auschwitz and the extermination of Jews. The condemnation of the Holocaust is, of course, not pro-Jewish, but simply pro-human, like the condemnation of the desire for the destruction of Israel nor pro-Israeli but simply is pro-human.

This humanity, however, provoked the pro-Palestinian demonstrators. They went off to the two people. The mere existence of the Israeli flag was already a thorn in their eye,as with Hamas, the mere existence of the State of Israel and Jews is a problem to be solved at all.

When the demonstrators turned to the police, the police did not defend right of two people to hold the flag of a peaceful democratic country, but instead they took down the flag of Israel and took the two people in custody.

The entire post is worth reading, even in autotranslation, as the author is indignant with the direction that Germany is going.

(indirect h/t to Serious Black)

Obama: Call Abbas' bluff; cut off all aid (updated)

From JPost:

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is willing to give up hundreds of millions of dollars of US aid if that is what is necessary to forge a reconciliation deal with Hamas, the Associated Press quoted his adviser as saying on Monday.

Azzam Ahmed stated that "the Palestinians need American money, but if they use it as a way of pressuring us, we are ready to relinquish that aid."

What Ahmed is saying is that the Palestinian Authority would not be pretending to be moderate if it wasn't for American money - they would happily go publicly closer towards Hamas' extremism in the interests of "unity."

Abbas' condemnations of terror - as Arafat's before him - have never been sincere. They are part of the deal, the facade they must maintain in order to continue to get US and EU aid. If they were left to their own devices, the PA would cheer today's terrorist attacks in exactly the same way they cheer yesterday's attacks, naming institutions in honor of bloodthirsty murderers. Is there any moral difference between Samir Kuntar's bashing in the skull of a four year old girl and the vicious stabbing of the Fogel children? Yet Kuntar is a hero, a person that Abbas specifically went out of his way to meet in Lebanon.

If the PLO and PA need to be bribed to act like peaceful human beings, then what more do you need to realize that any peace agreement with them would be a sham? Perhaps one can argue that an artificial peace meant to pacify the West is better than none, but it is not a peace that Israel should be forced to give tangible concessions for.

In other words, a sham peace by the PLO must be reciprocated with a similar peace from Israel: a detente where there is no shooting but where Israel does not give anything permanent upin exchange for mere words.

So President Obama should call Abbas' bluff. Cut off the funds and see how peaceful he acts. If he immediately goes to Iran via Hamas to make up his budget shortfall, then the US will know exactly how pro-West the PA really is. And the true obstacle to peace will be revealed to the world.

(h/t David G)

UPDATE: See also Khaled Abu Toameh on a similar theme.

PA leadership considering formally abandoning Oslo in September

A member of the PLO Executive Committee, Hanna Amira, has told Al Quds Al Arabi Monday that the Palestinian leadership is considering throwing out their agreements with Israel, according to the Oslo accords, in September.

"There are proposals on the table for discussion, including the abandonment of the PLO of its obligations under the agreements signed and implemented", he said, stressing that the situation will not remain as it is now, and said, "things after September will be as they were before."

The PLO has been planning to declare itself a state in September.

He also said that the PLO is planning to hold meetings in Arab capitals to prepare for September.

The Palestinian Authority reports to the PLO, and the PLO is in charge of all non-domestic issues.

Of course, this means that Israel can start building settlements outside the boundaries of existing communities as it has been for years, and can ignore the Areas A, B and C that have been created during the Oslo process. The IDF should be prepared to re-enter Ramallah and Nablus in September. After all, if one party abrogates an agreement, then the other is not bound by it either - that's what an agreement means.

Israel should make that clear today, and the Quartet should tell the PLO that unilateral actions on their part that destroy the existing agreements with Israel will not be rewarded.

Not that the Quartet ever had strong words for the PLO and its already existing violations of Oslo.

Let's talk about Israeli - and Palestinian Arab - music

A disturbing story from TheJC:

Israel boycotters have declared a "victory" after organisers of an Israeli music conference assured them that the event would have no Israeli government funding.

Campaigners from British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP), Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG) and the Boycott Israel Network (BIN) threatened to picket "Arts Music of Israel" which is being organised by the Jewish Music Institute at SOAS next week.

Organisers turned down a grant from the British Israeli Arts Training Scheme, after deciding they did not want political connections with the conference. JMI director Geraldine Auerbach said no money had been received from the Israeli government, and a £1,500 grant from BI-ARTS had been turned down.

This week, BRICUP published the correspondence it had with Ms Auerbach, which said: "I confirm that there is no funding directly or indirectly from the Israeli government or institutions." BRICUP also claim Ms Auerbach told them that the event would no longer be promoted via the Israeli embassy.

A trustee of the Jewish Music Institute has expressed his anger and frustration that the organisation turned down Israeli funding for a conference under pressure from boycotters.

David Mencer, a former director of the Labour Friends of Israel, attacked the "appalling lack of judgment and moral character in [the JMI's] distancing itself from Israel."

He said the trustees had not been consulted by JMI director Geraldine Auerbach over the decision. Mr Mencer said he believed the organization had "submitted to blackmail and given the Israel boycotters and Israel haters an unnecessary victory.

"JMI have refused to accept a donation from the representatives of the democratically elected government of the State of Israel for an event about the music of Israel.

"We have made it even more difficult for other organisations trying hard to promote UK - Israel ties by setting this precedent.

"I am sure that I am not alone in wanting to distance myself from this decision. Perhaps most importantly of all, this decision will also have mortally damaged any future attempt to fundraise from the Jewish community, thus jeopardising the future of the organisation."

In this case, it is a big victory for the BDSers. They forced weak-willed British Jews to distance themselves from Israel, as if taking money from Israel would impugn an Israeli music conference.

But did this pacify the Israel-haters? Of course not!

Campaigners say they still plan to hand out leaflets outside the conference, claiming it would be "impossible" to hold a conference on Palestinian music.

Because of that statement, I did a little research into "Palestinian" music and came up with an unconsciously illuminating article, a book review of "Palestinian Arab Music: A Maqam Tradition in Practice".

For a musicology researcher, the book is a treasure trove. The appendices alone (about one-quarter of the large book) contain transcripts and classifications of 28 songs, representing the repertoire of the region, including musical notation, Arabic text, transliteration and translation. For fans of the mathematical analysis of maqam tetrachords, this is a must-read. Discussed genres include shruqi, zajal, mijana, ‘ataba, mu’anna, haddadi, dabke and mhorabe. The authors have beautifully catalogued rhythmic and modal organizations. Famous documented performers include Hikmat Shaheen (father of Arab-American composer Simon Shaheen), Muhammad Abd al-Qader and Yousef Majadeli. When available, the authors even added an update of where the artists had settled decades after the initial research was conducted.

So there does exist at least one, comprehensive, scholarly book on Palestinian Arab music that could certainly be the basis of a conference.

The Arab book reviewer mentions an interesting fact, as an aside:

The book’s stated objective is to document the vocal music of a specific, defined group – the Palestinian Arabs in Israel. Although a worthy dissertation topic, the research was conducted at a time when the target group was still the first generation and had not developed as a defined group or even considered themselves as such. They had lived under the Ottoman Empire and a brief British Mandate during which they traveled, traded and exchanged culture with their fellow Arabs in Greater Syria and Egypt. It was not until a few decades later that there was a group defined by political isolation from its brethren.

Notice the bolded parts. The Arab book reviewer is stating what is obvious to even the Arab world: there was no Palestinian people until recently, and they were defined by the "political isolation" from their "brethren." In other words, they are essentially an artificial construct that was created by the Arab world, not an inherently cohesive and historic group.

And, by the way, who wrote this definitive book on Palestinian Arab music theory?

Dalia Cohen and Ruth Katz, two researchers at Hebrew University.

Wednesday is Buy Israeli Goods Day (updated)

Wednesday, March 30, is Buy Israeli Goods day, a day set aside to counter an annual BDS day of action for that same date.

There is a webpage set up to help you find where in your area you might be able to find Israeli items.

Make sure to let the store-owners know that you are looking for, and willing to pay for, Israeli products!

You can read more about the campaign at StandWithUs.

UPDATE: Here's an incredibly cheesy video to promote BIG:

More on Korean Talmud studies - not quite as it was reported

As a follow-up to this post, I just spent a bit of time puzzling out Korean auto-translations from Google, and I have discovered that in no way are Koreans "studying" the Talmud.

When they say they are studying it, they mean that they have taken a small number of proverbs and Rabbinic stories that have been translated and they are reading and discussing just those stories. .

The Korean Talmud webpages I have seen treat the Talmud the same way one treats Aesop's Fables, as a shorthand way to gain insights into morality and how to live as well as plain entertainment. The bulk of the Talmud - as a basis for an all-encompassing legal system - is not mentioned.

I cannot find any indication of any real Talmud study. I can't find any translations of Talmud into Korean, nor any indication of scholarly study of the Aramaic/Hebrew original by Korean students. And in no way are the Koreans taking advantage of the parts of the Talmud that have sharpened the minds of Jews for centuries - the intricate pilpul, the careful reading of texts for legal ramifications, the hours it takes to reconcile two seemingly opposing source-texts.

As far as I can tell, the Koreans think that the brief snippets of translation they have access to is the Talmud. They do not seem to understand what the Talmud really is, hence the confusion about so many Korean people think they own copies of the Talmud.

So while it is still a fascinating topic, YNet seems to have overblown it a bit.

Request for help

The main issue with making good posters is finding the best pictures.

One of the best sites for hasbara is Israel21c.org where they have a large archive of stories that tell the good news about Israel. I contacted them to see if they have higher resolution photographs of their stories, and they responded that they often do, and which stories am I interested in?

Here's where I need your help. There are hundreds of stories at that site. If you could go through it in some random order and comment here with the URL of the stories you think would make good posters, a brief description of the story, and whether there was a good photo in the story itself, I would appreciate it!

And you won't regret spending the time at that site, either. You will learn a lot.

Thanks!

Update: "Resistance is a legitimate right" is on official Fatah website

I reported yesterday that

Fatah spokesman Osama Qawasmi said "resistance is a legitimate right of the Palestinian people for liberation from Israeli occupation for and achieving their goal of independence and the establishment of a Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem."

I wasn't sure if this was a PA or Fatah statement, but now I found it on the official Fatah Media website.

The site says the same words pretty explicitly elsewhere, for example it has a history of Fatah that says:

Fatah is characterized by its flexibility and pragmatism, adopting armed struggle when needed, and political action when necessary.

That same document sure makes it sound like the goal is still to destroy Israel, although I'll need a native Arabic reader to confirm that to me. (For example, it seems to have a problem with Jews settling in - the Negev.)

Some links

Hamas is beating women reporters. Ho-hum.

Roger Simon points to an Iranian-produced movie about the Last Mahdi, and has some very good comments on it.

Just Journalism shows us a Turkish hypocrite.

Yaacov Lozowick on Jeffrey Goldberg on J-Street.

My Tenth Intifada Facebook page is still out there - join in the fun!

(h/t Folderol)

Tallit chic?

Remember a year or two ago when keffiyehs were considered chic?

Well, H&M seems to think that tallitot (Jewish prayer shawls) are the next big thing. Check this out:

Commenter Kramerica wonders if this is H&M's sly way to get back at BDS advocates who were upset that H&M is opening stores in Israel.

IDF captain on Al Jazeera on Hamas rockets (video)

Captain Avichai Adra'i is not only impressive in what he says, but in how he says it. He knows that his audience - the entire Arab world - respects forceful speech more than the namby-pamby words given to Western reporters and diplomats.

And he lets them have it:

(h/t Alex)

UPDATE: Challah Hu Akbar points out that this is from 2009.

Lebanese political parties really hated Hezbollah during 2006 war

The Lebanese al Akhbar newspaper has been revealing a large number of Wikileaks cables from the 2006 Lebanon war, and they seem to show one overriding theme: Lebanese political parties really didn't support Hezbollah's kidnapping of Israeli soldiers and its subsequent war.

NowLebanon has an analysis:

Indeed, several of the cables, written by the former US ambassador to Lebanon, Jeffrey Feltman, show not Hezbollah’s enemies, but its allies expressing discomfort, or displeasure, with the party. They include two parliamentarians from Michel Aoun’s bloc, Farid el-Khazen and Ibrahim Kanaan, and the former health minister, Muhammad Jawad Khalifeh, who is close to the parliament speaker, Nabih Berri (and who described Berri’s anger with Hezbollah)

The links to the cables, and excerpts, can be seen here:

06BEIRUT2390 (July 14, 2006) |Subject: HIZBALLAH’S RECKLESSNESS SPLITS AOUN’S ADVISORS

“Aounist advisor MP Ibrahim Kanaan expressed frustration and deep concern over the present course of events in Lebanon and said he has advised his party leader General Michel Aoun to put distance between himself and Hassan Nasrallah. Kanaan is convinced that Hizballah, with “its extreme overconfidence,” will soon lose control over the rapidly escalating hostilities. In his view, the resulting loss of life and stability will produce a severe backlash in Christian, and possibly Sunni, communities that could destroy Aoun’s Free Patriotic Movement, since it is currently viewed as a Hizballah ally. Kanaan suggested, however, that the current crisis may offer an opportunity for Aoun and PM Siniora to form a pro-reform “partnership.” Senior Aoun advisor Gebran Bassil, on the other hand, defended Hizballah’s actions and said Siniora’s government was merely reaping the whirlwind created by its passivity and refusal to share power. Moderate Aounist MP Farid el-Khazen, meanwhile, split the difference: strongly criticizing Hizballah’s duplicity and recklessness, while recommending aloofness from the star-crossed Siniora government.”

“In a July 13 discussion with poloff, MP Ibrahim Kanaan, who is frequently used as an intermediary and spokesperson by Free Patriotic Movement (FPM) leader Michel Aoun, said that FPM’s association with Hizballah has been a mistake. Declaring that Michel Aoun did not have the slightest idea that Hizballah was planning such a provocative act, Kanaan professed deep concern that Hizballah was now effectively steering the ship of state. When asked if he thought Hassan Nasrallah was acting like a Minister of Defense, Kanaan retorted, “no, no, much more than that.”

“Kanaan half-heartedly defended the troublesome February 6 compact between the FPM and Hizballah, saying it originally held the promise of bringing Hizballah into Lebanon’s political mainstream. But he conceded that the previous day’s “reckless” ambush in Israeli territory is threatening to completely undo Lebanon’s struggling democracy and threatens to deliver the country back into the tender mercies of Syria.”

06BEIRUT2403 (July 17, 2006) | Subject: LARSEN TO PROPOSE HANDOVER OF ISRAELI SOLIDIERS TO GOL…

“Mid-way through the meeting three visitors arrived at Larsen’s room unannounced. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt, Minister of Telecommunications Marwan Hamadeh, and Minister of Information Ghazi Aridi entered the room in good humor and indulged in generous orders to room service with the others present. The three Lebanese politicians reacted positively to Larsen’s proposal to call for a transfer of the Israeli soldiers to the GOL…”

“Over a glass of red wine, a large bottle of vodka (the quality of which sparked a long exchange between Jumblatt and the startled room service waiter), and three bottles of Corona beer, Jumblatt gave a briefing on the thinking of the March 14 coalition which had met that evening. Jumblatt noted the heavy destruction of Lebanese infrastructure but bemoaned the irony that Hizballah’s military infrastructure had not been seriously touched. Jumblatt explained that although March 14 must call for a cease-fire in public, it is hoping that Israel continues its military operations until it destroys Hizballah’s military capabilities.”

“Responding to Jumblatt’s complain that Israel is hitting targets that hurt the GOL while leaving Hizballah strategically strong, the Ambassador asked Jumblatt what Israel should do to cause serious damage to Hizballah. Jumblatt replied that Israel is still in the mindset of fighting classic battles with Arab armies. “You can’t win this kind of war with zero dead,” he said. Jumblatt finally said what he meant; Israel will have to invade southern Lebanon. Israel must be careful to avoid massacres, but it should clear Hizballah out of southern Lebanon. Then the LAF can replace the IDF once a cease-fire is reached. A defeat of Hizballah by Israel would be a defeat of Syrian and Iranian influence in Lebanon, Hamadeh added. For emphasis, Jumblatt said that the only two outcomes are total defeat or total success for Hizballah.”

06BEIRUT2443 (July 23, 2006) | Subject: AMINE GEMAYEL SAYS CEASE-FIRE SHOULD SECURE BORDER FIRST…

“Gemayel said Aoun had cooperated with Mossad through the duration of Lebanon’s civil war, and said he allied himself with Syria and Hizballah now because he believed they offered him the best chance at winning his long coveted seat in Baabda Palace.”

06BEIRUT2513 (August 1, 2006) | Subject: MP BOUTROS HARB: NASRALLAH CANNOT BECOME REGION’S RAMBO
Quote: “[Harb] recommended that a strong Israeli advance that completely controls the Hizballah strongholds of Maroun El Ras and Bint Jbeil would provide a chance for the U.S. impose a ceasefire while showing that Hizballah has been overpowered… He also stressed that Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, a reluctant Hizballah ally, will become the political victim of Hizballah.”

Lebanese support for Hezbollah today seems to be more because it is the "strong horse" and not because anyone is particularly supportive of the group. .

Iranians demand Czech hotel remove Israeli flag - hotel refuses

From YNet:

On Wednesday the Iranian embassy in Prague organized an event at a well-known hotel in the Czech capital. Prior to the event, a senior embassy official was shocked to see an Israeli flag flying high at the head of a line of flags situated near the entrance to the hotel.

The diplomat spoke to the hotel manager and demanded that the Israeli flag be taken down, but the manager, an Arab-Israeli from Nazareth, rejected the request.

"The (Israeli) flag will remain at the front of the hotel always," the manager told the Iranian official. "If you don’t like it, you are welcome to hold the event at another hotel."

The angry Iranian diplomat had no choice but to accept the hotel's position, and the event was held as scheduled.

According to a Czech site, the Iranians were celebrating Nouroz, the Persian new year, on the spring equinox.

Hamas getting cozy with new Egyptian leaders

Palestine Today (Islamic Jihad) reports that Hamas officials are optimistic that Egypt will re-open their embassy in Gaza.

The embassy was closed after the Hamas coup in Gaza.

Embassy to Cairo in the Gaza Strip.

Dr. Mohamed Awad, Hamas minister of foreign affairs said Hamas had applied to the Egyptian government to reopen its embassy in the Gaza Strip, saying that "the government is waiting for the Egyptian response to the request" and saying that there are "positive signs" in that direction.

He said that Egyptian-Palestinian relations "has improved markedly and were better than in the past".

In a related story, Hamas leader Mahmoud al Zahar was scheduled to meet with Egyptian intelligence head Murad Muwafi and Assistant Foreign Minister Nabil Arabi on Sunday, marking the first time Hamas officials have met officially with the new Egyptian government.

Looks like Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood are getting quite cozy in this new Egyptian "spring" and that Hamas is trying to be recognized as the official Palestinian Arab government to Egypt.

It also means that the Egyptian revolution may have destroyed the "peace process." Egypt was an important intermediary between Israel and the PA, and that seems to be gone now. Not only that, but by strengthening Hamas politically, it puts the idea of unity between the PA and Hamas that much further away, and any unity government would be much more extremist making peace with Israel even less likely.

Not that you will find any Western media noticing that. Because how can they admit that two things they wanted so badly are incompatible with each other?

Rumors: Syria targeting Latakia to kick out Palestinians

Over the weekend, Syrian riots have spread to the coastal town of Latakia. From BBC:

Syrian troops have deployed in force in the northern city of Latakia, where at least 12 people have died in a wave of unrest that has shaken the regime.

Officials blamed foreign forces for the violence, but residents said pro-government gangs started the clashes.

Syrian troops are now in control of Latakia, 350km (220 miles) north-west of the capital Damascus, our correspondent says.

The government says 12 people were killed during clashes on Friday and Saturday, but residents say the number could be higher.

The streets of Latakia, home to 450,000 people, were completely deserted on Sunday and all shops remained closed.

AP adds:

A Latakia resident says the streets are mostly deserted on Monday after unidentified men carrying sticks and hunting rifles pulled over cars and asked for IDs on Sunday and through the night. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal.

I had mentioned that Syria had earlier blamed "Palestinian extremists" for the unrest when it was just starting, and an advisor to President Assad has made the same accusation about Palestinian Arabs who live in the unofficial Latakia "refugee" camp.

Now a new conspiracy theory is making the rounds.

According to Palestine Press Agency, the person behind the Latakia escalation is Assad's cousin Rami Makhlouf. For two years, Makhlouf has been trying to move the entire Latakia Palestinian Arab camp elsewhere - because they are on valuable beach property and he wants to turn that area into a resort.

A crackdown in Latakia that blames Palestinian Arabs could be the excuse he needs to set up his cream project.

Makhlouf is reportedly a billionaire and one of the most powerful men in Syria.

His name seems to be coming up in many demonstrations as a symbol of Syrian corruption.

The Latakia camp is not an official UNRWA camp but was set up in 1955. Its residents are said to mostly have originated in Jaffa.

Palestinian Arab leaders in Syria have been trying very hard to distance themselves from the demonstrators.

EoZ is up against 7 Agorot in the first round of the quarter-finals of the Pro-Israel Blog-Off.

I was really busy when asked to submit an article and pretty much picked an article I had written that day which didn't even get that much traction here, but which I thought was important.

Last time I took a chance and submitted a cartoon, and while I lost the popular vote (35% of the total score) the judges liked mine the best and my post won.

So go to Israellycool, read both articles, and vote for which you think is best.

Koreans love studying Talmud!

From The Muqata, translated from YNet:

Close to 50 million people live in South Korea, and everyone learns Gemara (Talmud) in school. "We tried to understand why the Jews are geniuses, and we came to the conclusion that it is because they study Talmud," said the Korean ambassador to Israel. And this is how "Rav Papa" became a more well known scholar in Korea than in Israel.

It is doubtful if the Amoraic scholars, Abbaye and Rava imagined their discussions of Jewish law in the Beit Midrash in Babylon would be taught hundreds of years later in East Asia. Yet it turns out that the laws of an "egg born on a holiday" ("ביצה שנולדה ביום טוב") is actually very interesting to the South Koreans who have required that Talmud study be part of their compulsory school curriculum.

Almost every home in South Korea now contains a Korean-translated Talmud. But unlike in Israel, the Korean mothers teach the Talmud to their children. In a country of close to 49 million people who believe in Buddhism and Christianity, there are more people who read the Talmud - or at least own their own copy at home - more than in the Jewish state. Much more.

"So we too will become geniuses"

"We were very curious about the high academic achievements of the Jews," explains Israel's ambassador to South Korea, Young Sam Mah, that was a host on the program "culture today."

"Jews have a high percentage of Nobel laureates in all fields: literature, science and economics. This is a remarkable achievement. We tried to understand what is the secret of the Jewish people? How they - more than other people - are able to reach those impressive accomplishments? Why are Jews so intelligent? The conclusion we arrived at is that one of your secrets is that you study the Talmud."

"Jews study the Talmud at a young age, and it helps them, in our opinion, to develop mental capabilities. This understanding led us to teach our children as well. We believe that if we teach our children Talmud, they will also become geniuses. This is what stands behind the rationale of introducing Talmud Study to our school curriculum."

Young says that he himself studied the Talmud at a very young age: "It is considered very significant study," he emphasized. The result is that more Koreans have Talmud sets in their homes than Jews in Israel.

"I, for example, have two sets of the Talmud: the one my wife bought me, and the second was a gift from my mother."

Koreans don't only like the Talmud because they see it as promoting genius, but because they found values that are close to their hearts.

"In the Jewish tradition, family values are important," explains the South Korean Ambassador.

"You see it even today, your practice of the Friday evening family meal. In my country we also focus on family values. The respect for adults, respect and appreciation for the elderly parallels the high esteem in my country for the elderly."

Another very significant issue is the respect for education. In the Jewish tradition parents have a duty to teach their children, and they devote to it lots of attention. For Korean parents, their children's education is a top priority. (YNET)

I thought this was a Purim joke...but it's not.

Here's an article in the Korean Herald about a rabbi who teaches Talmud in Korea.

Here's a message board posting from 2005 in a Christian forum where a visitor to Korea is trying to figure out why all Korean kids are learning Talmud.

Here's a Korean website filled with Talmudic sayings and stories.

And, most convincing to me...pictured here is a Korean children's book called "Splash Into the World of Talmud". I found other books filled with Talmudic stories for kids.

If only Jewish parents would be as interested in teaching Judaism to their kids as Koreans are!

UPDATE: The story is not exactly what it seems.