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![]() By: Dr. Youssef Mroueh
INTRODUCTION
Numerous evidence suggests that Muslims from Spain and West Africa
arrived to the Americas at least five centuries before Columbus. It is
recorded,for example, that in the mid-tenth century, during the rule of
the Ummayyed Caliph Abdul-Rahman III (929-961 CE), Muslims of African
origin sailed westward from the Spanish port of DELBA (Palos) into the
"Ocean of darkness and fog". They returned after a long absence with
much booty from a "strange and curious land". It is evident that people of
Muslim origin are known to have accompanied Columbus and subsequent
Spanish explorers to the New World.
The last Muslim stronghold in Spain, Granada, fell to the Christians in
1492 CE, just before the Spanish inquisition was launched. To escape
persecution, many non-Christians fled or embraced Catholicism. At least
two documents imply the presence of Muslims in Spanish America before
1550 CE. Despite the fact that a decree issued in 1539 CE by Charles V,
king of Spain, forbade the grandsons of Muslims who had been burned at
the stake to migrate to the West Indies. This decree was ratified in 1543 CE,
and an order for the expulsion of all Muslims from overseas Spanish
territories was subsequently published. Many references on the Muslim
arrival to Americas are available. They are summarized in the following
A: HISTORIC DOCUMENTS:
1. A Muslim historian and geographer ABUL-HASSAN ALI IBN AL-HUSSAIN
AL-MASUDI (871-957 CE) wrote in his book Muruj adh-dhahab wa maadin
aljawhar (The meadows of gold and quarries of jewels) that during the
rule of the Muslim caliph of Spain Abdullah Ibn Mohammad (888-912 CE), a
Muslim navigator, Khashkhash Ibn Saeed Ibn Aswad, from Cortoba, Spain
sailed from Delba (Palos) in 889 CE, crossed the Atlantic, reached an
unknown territory (ard majhoola) and returned with fabulous treasures. In
Al-Masudi's map of the world there is a large area in the ocean of darkness
and fog which he referred to as the unknown territory (Americas).(1)
2. A Muslim historian ABU BAKR IBN UMAR AL-GUTIYYA narrated that
during the reign of the Muslim caliph of Spain, Hisham II (976-1009CE),
another Muslim navigator, Ibn Farrukh, from Granada, sailed from Kadesh
(February 999CE) into the Atlantic, landed in Gando (Great Canary islands)
visiting King Guanariga, and continued westward where he saw and named
two islands,Capraria and Pluitana. He arrived back in Spain in May 999 CE.(2)
3. Columbus sailed from Palos (Delba), Spain. He was bound for GOMERA
(Canary Islands)-Gomera is an Arabic word meaning 'small firebrand' -
there he fell in love with Beatriz BOBADILLA, daughter of the first captain
general of the island (the family name BOBADILLA is derived from the Arab
Islamic name ABOU ABDILLA.).Nevertheless, the BOBADILLA clan
was not easy to ignore. Another Bobadilla (Francisco) later, as the royal
commissioner, put Columbus in chains and transferred him from Santo
Dominigo back to Spain (November 1500 CE). The BOBADILLA family was
related to the ABBADID dynasty of Seville (1031-1091 CE). On October
12,1492 CE, Columbus landed on a little island in the Bahamas that was
called GUANAHANI by the natives. Renamed SAN SALVADOR by Columbus.
GUANAHANI is derived from Mandinka and modified Arabic words. GUANA
(IKHWANA) means 'brothers' and HANI is an Arabic name.Therefore the
original name of the island was 'HANI BROTHERS'. (11) Ferdinand Columbus,
the son of Christopher, wrote about the blacks seen by his father in Handuras:
"The people who live farther east of Pointe Cavinas, as far as Cape Gracios
a Dios, are almost black in color." At the same time, in this very same region,
lived a tribe of Muslim natives known as ALMAMY. In Mandinka and Arabic
languages, ALMAMY was the designation of "AL-IMAM"or "AL-IMAMU", the
leader of the prayer,or in some cases, the chief of the community,and/or a
member of the Imami Muslim community. (12)
NOTES
4. A renowned American historian and linguist, LEO WEINER of Harvard
University, in his book, AFRICA AND THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA (1920)
wrote that Columbus was well aware of the Mandinka presence in the New
World and that the West African Muslims had spread throughout the Caribbean,
Central, South and North American territories, including Canada,where
they were trading and intermarrying with the Iroquois and Algonquin Indians.
(13)
B: GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORATIONS:
1. The famous Muslim geographer and cartographer AL-SHARIF AL-IDRISI
(1099- 1166CE) wrote in his famous book Nuzhat al-mushtaq fi ikhtiraq
al-afaq (Excursion of the longing one in crossing horizons) that a
group of seafarers (from North Africa) sailed into the sea of darkness and
fog (The Atlantic ocean) from Lisbon (Portugal), in order to discover what
was in it and what extent were its limits. They finally reached an island
that had people and cultivation...on the fourth day, a translator spoke to
them in the Arabic language. (3)
2. The Muslim reference books mentioned a well-documented description
of a journey across the sea of fog and darkness by Shaikh ZAYN EDDINE
ALI BEN FADHEL AL-MAZANDARANI. His journey started from Tarfaya
(South Morocco) during the reign of the King Abu-Yacoub Sidi Youssef
(1286-1307CE) 6th of the Marinid dynasty, to Green Island in the Caribbean
sea in 1291 CE (690 HE). The details of his ocean journey are mentioned in
Islamic references, and many Muslim scholars are aware of this recorded
historical event..(4)
3. The Muslim historian CHIHAB AD-DINE ABU-L-ABBAS AHMAD BEN FADHL
AL-UMARI (1300-1384CE/700-786HE) described in detail the geographical
explorations beyond the sea of fog and darkness of Mali's sultans in his
famous book Massaalik al-absaar fi mamaalik al-amsaar (The pathways of
sights in the provinces of kingdoms).(5)
4. Sultan MANSU KANKAN MUSA (1312-1337 CE) was the world renowned
Mandinka monarch of the West African Islamic empire of Mali. While travelling
to Makkah on his famous Hajj in 1324 CE, he informed the scholars of the
Mamluk Bahri sultan court (An-Nasir Nasir Edin Muhammad III-1309-1340
CE) in Cairo, that his brother, sultan Abu Bakari I (1285-1312CE) had
undertaken two expeditions into the Atlantic Ocean. When the sultan did
not return to Timbuktu from the second voyage of 1311 CE, Mansa Musa
became sultan of the empire. (6)
5. Columbus and early Spanish and portuguese explorers were able to
voyage across the Atlantic (a distance of 2400 Km's) thanks to Muslim
geographical and navigational information. In particular maps made by
Muslim traders, including AL-MASUDI (871-957CE) in his book Akhbar
az-zaman (History of the world) which is based on material gathered in
Africa and Asia (9). As a matter of fact, Columbus had two captain of
muslim origin during his first transatlantic voyage: Martin Alonso
Pinzon was the captain of the PINTA,and his brother Vicente Yanez Pinzon
was the captain of the NINA. They were wealthy, expert ship outfitters who
helped organize the Columbus expedition and prepared the flagship, SANTA
MARIA.They did this at their own expense for both commercial and political
reasons. The PINZON family was related to ABUZAYAN MUHAMMAD III
(1362-66 CE), the Moroccan sultan of the Marinid dynasty (1196-1465CE).
(10)
C: ARABIC ( ISLAMIC ) INSCRIPTIONS:
1. Anthropologists have proven that the Mandinkos under Mansa Musa's
instructions explored many parts of North America via the Mississippi
andother rivers systems. At Four Corners, Arizona, writings show that they
even brought elephants from Africa to the area.(7)
2. Columbus admitted in his papers that on Monday, October 21,1492 CE
while his ship was sailing near Gibara on the north-east coast of Cuba,
he saw a mosque on top of a beautiful mountain. The ruins of mosques and
minarets with inscriptions of Quranic verses have been discovered in
Cuba,Mexico,Texas and Nevada. (8)
3. During his second voyage, Columbus was told by the indians of ESPANOLA
(Haiti), that black people had been to the island before his arrival.
For proof, they presented Columbus with the spears of these African
muslims.These weapons were tipped with a yellow metal that the indians
called GUANIN, a word of West African derivation meaning 'gold alloy'. Oddly
enough, it is related to the Arabic word 'GHINAA' which means 'WEALTH'.
Columbus brought some GUANINES back to Spain and had them tested. He
learned that the metal was 18 parts gold (56.25%), 6 parts silver (18.75%)
and 8 parts copper (25%), the same ratio as the metal produced in
African metalshops of Guinea. (14)
4. In 1498 CE, on his third voyage to the new world, Columbus landed in
Trinidad. Later, he sighted the South American continent, where some of
his crew went ashore and found natives using colorful handkerchiefs of
symmetrically woven cotton. Columbus noticed that these handkerchiefs
resembled the headdresses and loinclothes of Guinea in their colors,
style and function. He refered to them as ALMAYZARS. ALMAYZAR is
an Arabic word for 'wrapper','cover','apron' and/or 'skirting' which was
the cloth the Moors (Spanish or North African Muslims) imported from
west Africa (Guinea) into Morocco, Spain and Portugal. During this voyage,
Columbus was surprised that the married women wore cotton panties
(bragas) and he wondered where these natives learned their modesty.
Hernan Cortes, Spanish conqueror, described the dress of the Indian
women as 'long veils' and the dress of Indian men as 'breechcloth painted
in the style of Moorish draperies'. Ferdinand Columbus called the native
cotton garments 'breechclothes of the same design and cloth as the shawls
worn by theMoorish women of Granada'. Even the similarity of the children's
hammocks to those found in North Africa was uncanny.(15)
5. Dr. Barry Fell (Harvard University) introduced in his book 'Saga
America-1980' solid scientific evidence supporting the arrival,
centuries before Columbus, of Muslims from North and West Africa. Dr. Fell
discovered the existence of the Muslim schools at Valley of Fire, Allan
Springs, Logomarsino, Keyhole, Canyon, Washoe and Hickison Summit Pass
(Nevada), Mesa Verde (Colorado), Mimbres Valley (New Mexico) and Tipper
Canoe(Indiana) dating back to 700-800 CE. Engraved on rocks in the arid
western U.S, he found texts, diagrams and charts representing the last
surviving fragments of what was once a system of schools - at both an
elementary and higher level. The language of instruction was North
African Arabic written with old Kufic Arabic scripts. The subjects of
instruction included writing, reading, arithmetic, religion, history, geography,
mathematics, astronomy and sea navigation. The descendants of the
Muslim visitors of North America are members of the present Iroquois,
Algonquin, Anasazi, Hohokam and Olmec native people..(16)
6. There are 565 names of places (villages, towns, cities, mountains,
lakes, rivers,.. etc. ) in U.S.A. (484) and Canada (81) which derived
from Islamic and Arabic roots. These places were originally named by the
natives in precolumbian periods. Some of these names carried holy
meanings such as: Mecca-720 inhabitants (Indiana), Makkah Indian tribe
(Washington), Medina-2100 (Idaho), Medina-8500 (N.Y.), Medina-1100,
Hazen-5000 (North Dakota), Medina-17000/Medina-120000 (Ohio),
Medina-1100 (Tennessee), Medina-26000 (Texas), Medina-1200 (Ontario),
Mahomet-3200 (Illinois), Mona-1000 (Utah), Arva-700 (Ontario)...etc. A
careful study of the names of the native Indian tribes revealed that many
names are derived from Arab and Islamic roots and origins, i.e. Anasazi,
Apache, Arawak, Arikana, Chavin, Cherokee, Cree, Hohokam, Hupa, Hopi,
Makkah, Mahigan, Mohawk, Nazca, Zulu, Zuni...etc..
Based on the above historical, geographical and linguistic notes, a
call to celebrate the millennium of the Muslim arrival to the Americas, five
centuries before Columbus, has been issued to all Muslim nations and
communities around the world. We hope that this call will receive
complete understanding and attract enough support.
FOOTNOTES:
(1)See ref 4
(2)See ref. 9
(3)See ref. 3
(4)See ref. 1, 2 and 5
(5)See ref. 6
(6)See ref. 14
(7)See ref. 21 and 22
(8)See ref. 15
(9)See ref. 4
(10)See ref. 15
(11)See ref. 15
(12)See ref. 6
(13)See ref. 20
(14)See ref. 16
(15)See ref. 7
(16)See ref. 10 &12
REFERENCES:
1. AGHA HAKIM, AL-MIRZA Riyaadh Al-Ulama(Arabic),Vol.2 P.386/Vol.4
P.175
2. AL-AMEEN, SAYED MOHSIN Aayan Ash-Shia(Arabic),Vol.7 P.158/Vol 8
P.302-3
3. AL-IDRISSI Nuzhat Al-Mushtaq fi Ikhtiraq Al-Afaaq(Arabic)
4. AL-MASUDI Muruj Adh-Dhahab (Arabic), Vol. 1, P. 138
5. AL-ASFAHANI, AR-RAGHIB Adharea Ila Makarim Ash-Shia,Vol.16,P.343
6. CAUVET, GILES Les Berbers de L'Amerique,Paris 1912,P.100-101
7. COLUMBUS, FERDINAND The Life of Admiral Christopher Columbus,Rutgers
Univ.Press, 1959, P.232
8. DAVIES, NIGEL Voyagers to the New World,New York 1979
9. ON MANUEL OSUNAY SAVINON Resumen de la Geografia Fisica...,Santa
Cruz
de Tenerife, 1844
10. FELL,BARRY Saga America, New York 1980
11. FELL,BARRY America BC, New York 1976
12. GORDON,CYRUS Before Columbus,New York 1971
13. GYR,DONALD Exploring Rock Art,Santa Barbara 1989
14. HUYGHE,PATRICK Columbus was Last,New York 1992
15. OBREGON ,MAURICIO The Columbus Papers,The Barcelona Letter of 1493,
The Landfall Controversy, and the Indian Guides, McMillan Co.,New York
1991
16. THACHER,JOHN BOYD Christopher Columbus,New York 1950,P.380
17. VAN SETIMA,IVAN African Presence in Early America,New Brunswick,NJ
1987
18. VAN SETIMA,IVAN They Came Before Columbus,New York 1976
19. VON WUTHENAU,ALEX Unexpected Facts in Ancient America,New York 1975
20. WEINER,LEO Africa and the Discovery of America,Philadelphia,
1920,Vol.2 P.365-6
21. WILKINS,H..T. Mysteries of Ancient South America,New York 1974
22. WINTERS,CLYDE AHMAD Islam in Early North and South
America,Al-Ittihad,July 1977,P.60
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FYI
![]() ![]() ![]()
![]() Nazi propaganda? http://www.propaganda101.com/
here it is Date: 18 Oct 2001 00:11:20 -0700 From:
Cary Fisher sent these Links
somewhere in the the ufo community site is a link to steve neil's site .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _________________________________________________________________
SCIENCE NEWS ONLINE
The Best of SCIENCE NEWS April 29, 1995
ANTHROPOLOGY AND ARCHAEOLOGY
African finds revise cultural roots
By BRUCE BOWER
New evidence indicates that people living in Africa 90,000 years ago carved barbed bone points to
spear fish and even organized annual fishing expeditions.
This discovery challenges the widely accepted theory that the complex thinking and
behavior necessary for major cultural changes arose in Europe no earlier than 35,000
years ago.
"What's exciting is that we're seeing strategic planning for subsistence by people who lived so long
ago," says Alison S. Brooks, an archaeologist at George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
"Humans in Africa invented sophisticated [tool] technologies long before their European counterparts,
who have often been credited with initiating modern culture." Brooks and John E. Yellen, an
archaeologist at the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va., directed excavations between1986
and 1990 at a location in eastern Zaire called Katanda.
Work there yielded eight barbed bone points, three unbarbed bone points, and a dagger-shaped
bone, Brooks and her colleagues report in the April 28 Science.
These artifacts were made by grinding a rib or limb bone from a large mammal on a stone anvil
or with a stone grinder, the researchers hold.
Prehistoric Katanda toolmakers cut a row of three-edged barbs on one side of a bone point and
carved rings around the base so that it could be fastened to a wooden shaft. Comparable bone
implements in Europe date only to 14,000 years ago, Brooks says.
Excavations also unearthed the bones of many animals. Remains of large catfish turned up in
particular abundance. These fish spawn in shallow water during the rainy season, which is
probably when the Katanda people made visits to the area, armed with bone-tipped spears,
Brooks argues.
Clusters of artifacts and animal bones at Katanda resemble the debris produced by modern
hunter-gatherer families living in the same area, she notes. Current residents still fish, although
they now use boats. At other archaeological sites, evidence for organized fishing extends back
no earlier than 20,000 years ago. Brooks and her colleagues assign an age of at least 89,000
years to the Katanda finds, based on analyses of uranium content and breakdown in several
mammal teeth and measurements of the stored radiation dose in quartz sand just above the artifacts.
"This is a highly significant discovery," asserts Jack W. K. Harris, an archaeologist at Rutgers
University in New Brunswick, N.J., who directs an Ethiopian excavation (SN: 4/15/95, p.237).
"Technologica innovations that gave people a reliable food source occurred much earlier than
we thought -- and in Africa rather than Europe." An early form of sedentary living may have emerged
at Katanda around 90,000 years ago, with settlements set up during annual periods of intense
fishing, Harris contends.
Back to Editor's Picks Listing HOME FEATURES SHOP FEEDBACK SEARCH!
SCIENCE NEWS copyright 1996 Science Service, Inc. http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_edpik/aa_2.htm
(2 of 2) [09/06/2001 5:35:14 PM]
________________________________________________________________
BLACK HEBREW ISRAELITES
Black Hebrews?
The very words cause many people to grin at what appears to be simply a play on
words. No one reads about such people in European authored history books and
there are only a few references to "Ethiopian Jews" in white Jewish sources.
Yet Black Hebrews have existed since biblical times. In fact, they are the original
or proto-typical Hebrews.
Their story begins with the Patriarch Abraham (2117-1942 B.C.), a native of the
Sumerian city of Ur in ancient Mesopotamia. [present day Iraq Ed.]
Archaeological discoveries have proven that the earliest inhabitants of southern
Mesopotamia were members of the "Brown Race," i.e., the Negroid branch of
humanity.
It has been confirmed that the ancient Sumerians were akin to the modern Black
Dravidians of India.
The Sumerians also had an affinity with a people known as the Elamites, the very
first Semitic group mentioned in the Bible (Gen. 10:22). The Elamites were a black-
skinned and woolly-haired people as the colorful glazed artwork on the royal palace
walls of the ancient Persian city of Susa clearly show.
Thus Abraham, the native of Sumeria and the founding father of
the Israelite nation, was a black man.
The black racial origins of the Patriarchs is not based on mere
conjecture, it is in complete agreement with the picture one gets
from examining the identity of the earliest inhabitants of southern
Mesopotamia.
This truth is grossly neglected, suppressed, and distorted in most European
and American historical texts which are flavored with race prejudice.
Fortunately, however, there are enough well authored and highly researched works
by Black historians that challenge the Eurocentric revisions of history and correct
the various erroneous views regarding the ethnic identity of the Hebrews.
Biblical history relates that the descendants of Abraham, namely Jacob (Israel) and
his twelve sons and their wives, 70 in all, migrated from Canaan to Egypt around the
year 1827 B.C. During their sojourn in Egypt the Children of Israel multiplied from
being a family of 70 souls to a nation of over 3 million people at the time of the
Exodus which took place in 1612 B.C.
This astounding number of people in so short a time can only be adequately
explained by intermarriage between the family of Jacob and the native Egyptian
populace.
It is an established fact that the ancient Egyptians were a black African
people. Thus, even if the Hebrews were not black before they arrived in
Egypt, which is unlikely given Abraham's background, they were definitely
black by the time they left Egypt under Moses
The biblical Hebrews were indistinguishable from native Egyptians and Ethiopians.
The Bible is full of examples which demonstrates this, and even ancient secular
historians remarked of the physical appearances of the Hebrews. The historian
Tacitus, for example, stated that it was a common opinion among the Romans that
the Jews "were an Ethiopian race." In Roman times Palestinian Israelites were
classed among Black Africans because it was almost impossible to tell them apart.
Hence, the Eurocentric notion of the Black
Hebrew as a kind of Johnnie-come-lately
in Hebraic history does not accord with the
facts.
On the contrary, the historical record is abundantly
clear that the majority of white European Jewry are
not Hebrews in the biological sense but are actually
the descendants of converts to Judaism during
Greco-Roman and Mediaeval times.
Professor Roland B. Dixon states emphatically that: "The great majority of all
Jews [Ashkenazi] to-day are 'Semites' only in speech, and their true ancestry goes
back not so much to Palestine and Arabia as to the uplands of Anatolia and Armenia,
the Caucasus and the steppes of Central Asia, and their nearest relatives are still to
be found in these areas to-day" (Racial History Of Man, p. 175).
Caucasian Jews are not the lineal descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Nor do they constitute a separate race but rather a religious fraternity which
adheres to the ethnic tradition of a people whose origins are inextricably linked
to Black Africa.
But if the original Hebrews were black where are their descendants in the world
today? Are all black people Hebrews? The answer to the latter question is obviously
no. The Israelites were only one of several black people existing in ancient the ancient
world. Nevertheless, it is certain that the ancient Hebrews customs and practices
who's legacy orginated in Africa, were adopted by that of white Jews in Europe. Very
little is heard about the hundreds of thousands of Black Hebrews living in various
parts of the world such as Africa, Asia, India, Arabia, the Caribbean islands, South
America, and North America.
The history of Black Hebrews in North America is perhaps one of the
most important chapters in US history which has yet to be fully written.
The ancestors of African Americans came from West Africa during the
era of slavery. That particular region of Africa was once home to a number
of Black Hebrew tribes that migrated from North and East Africa over
many centuries.
![]() Dr. ben-Yochannan http://www.google.com/search?q=Dr.+ben-Yochannan&btnG=Google+Search
These African Jews, as all other Romanized-African of this era, were caught in a
rebellion in Cyrene (Cyrenaica) during 115 C.E. against Roman imperialism and
colonialism. This rebellion also marked the beginning of a mass Jewish migration
southward into Soudan (Sudan or West Africa) along the way of the city Aer (Air)
and into the countries of Futa Jalon and Senegal (Sene-Gambia) which lie below the
parabolic curve of the Niger River's most northern reaches, where the City of Tumbut
(Timbuktu, Timbuctoo, etc.), Melle (Mali) presently stands." ("African Origins of the
Major Western Religions," 1970, p. 76).
Dr. Ben goes on to relate that Black Israelite immigrants from northern and eastern
Africa merged with indigenous groups in western Africa to become the Fulani of Futa
Jalon, Bornu, Kamen, and Lake Chad. They also formed the parent-stock of groups
such as the Ashanti, the Hausa, the B'nai Ephraim (mentioned in earlier posts), and
the Bavumbu (Mavumbu or Ma-yomba). All of these groups suffered tremendous
population decreases during the years the Atlantic slave trade was in operation,
others were completely eliminated.
Thus, every so-called African American has Israelite ancestry in their family tree
whether he or she knows it or not. Even in the very crucible of slavery the
descendants of West African Hebrew captives in America struggled to keep their
heritages from being obliterated by forced assimilation and acculturation. Their
distinctive traditions became submerged in Christianity but always remained a part of
the oral tradition via the so-called Negro Spirituals which praise the memory of
ancestors and kinsmen like Moses, David, Joshua, and Daniel.
Since the African-American conviction of having Israelite ancestry antedates the Civil
War it is not surprising that the earliest Black Hebrew congregation to be established
in North America was founded in the 1880s in Chattanooga, Tennessee by F. S.
Cherry (the group later moved to Philadelphia). Cherry was a railroad worker and
seaman who was fluent in both Yiddish and Hebrew. He adamantly preached that
so-called American Negroes are really the lost sheep of the House of Israel whose
true legacy was stolen from them during slavery. He urged his hearers to investigate
their history in order to rediscover this truth and reclaim their heritage.
In 1896, a man by the name of William S. Crowdy established another Hebrew
congregation in Lawrence, Kansas. In 1899, Leon Richlieu established the Moorish
Zionist Temple in Brooklyn. To date there are literally hundreds of uncharted Black
Hebrew congregations in North America. They do not exist because of an aversion
for mainstream American Protestantism or an attraction to white Jewish culture. As
stated earlier, Black Hebrews have always been in the world; and they repudiate the
notion that they are usurpers of the heritage of white Jews.
The great proliferation of Black Hebrew groups occurred after World War I during
the Great Migration of Blacks from rural areas in the South to urban centers in the
North. There were at least nine Black Hebrew congregations in New York in the early
1900s, one of which was founded by a West Indian named Arnold Josiah Ford called
"Beth B'nai Abraham Congregation." In 1918, another West Indian born Israelite
named Wentworth Arthur Matthews founded the "Commandment Keepers," and
emerged as one of the leading Black Israelite rabbis in Harlem. Born in 1892 of
African Hebraic parentage in Lagos, West Africa, Matthews moved with his family
to St. Kitts in the West Indies before coming to America in 1911.
Branches of the "Commandment Keepers" exist in many American cities such as
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Cincinnati, Chicago, Ohio, Virginia, and New
Jersey. In 1965, the "House of Judah" was founded by William Lewis in Wetumpka,
Alabama. The group later purchased a twenty-acre tract near Grand Junction,
Michigan where they practice a communal life-style. Black Hebrews feel that by
reclaiming their Israelite identity they have also recovered an important part of their
ancestral heritage. They hold to the conviction that their "Hebrewness" is directly
traceable to their African forebears of Israelite extraction who were brought to this
country during slavery. They are cognizant and proud of their non-Hebrew African
heritages but like many other people with mixed backgrounds they opt to give certain
of their forebears a more pronounced place in their identity.
Black Israelite groups in America are decentralized and varied in ideology.Unlike
white Orthodox Jews, Black Hebrews reject the Talmud, a collection of commentaries,
as being on a par with the Bible and so they do not conform to rabbinical judgments
which emphasize the need of conversion to Talmudism in order to be considered
"truly" Jewish.
Since the Bible recognizes patrilineal as well as matrilineal descent, Black Hebrews
(like Reform Jews) do not place any special significance on having a "Jewish" mother
as do Orthodox Jews. Another major reason why the Talmud is rejected is due to its
role in creating the so-called Hamitic Myth which is the doctrine that teaches that all
black-skinned people are the cursed descendants of Ham in the Bible.
It was the promulgation of this erroneous myth, passing under the guise of "Jewish"
talmudic scholarship, which provided the moral pretext for European slavery of
Africans. The Talmud was not the product of ethnic Hebrews but of proselytized
Babylonian sages who worked on editing it from the 3rd to in the 6th century A.D.
It should not be used as the litmus test on Hebrew identity, particularly since it was
of men who were clearly prejudice of Blacks, Israelites or otherwise.
A major dilemma facing many Black Hebrews who wish to settle in Israel has to do
with the Talmud and the fact that conversion is a mandatory prerequisite for gaining
Israeli citizenship. The Black Jews from Ethiopian were not allowed to immigrate to
Israel until they agreed to undergo a ceremonial conversion to white Judaism (which
was tantamount to a denial of their own Hebrewness) and embrace the Talmud.
However, many Ethiopian Jews, particular in the aftermath of the recent blood
scandal in Israel, are seriously rethinking their decision to adopt the Talmud
because it has not given them equal status with other white Israelis.
Ethiopians Jews occupy the bottom rung of Israeli society today because they are
black and are not considered "true" Hebrews because of their blackness. American
Black Hebrews wanting to join their Ethiopian brethren feel that the Israeli Law of
Return is unjust because it forces recognition of a racist text (the Talmud) in order
to be considered eligible for citizenship It is truly ironic that the descendants of the
original Hebrews are not considered to be Hebrews even in their own land because
they happen to look like their distant forebears.
MAY 1999
![]()
![]()
![]() The Separatist Roots of Israel
http://www.angelfire.com/sd/occultic/israel.html
Bibliography King James Holy bible
Webters online dictionary http://www.m-w.com/dictionary.html
ARTFL project Webster's revised 1913 unabridged dictionary
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![]() "He who rest on his or her laurels wears them in the wrong place."
~Anon
" Lay down with Bears Expect some Hairs".
~Anon
"Work is worship"
~A Shaker saying
"Breath is prayer"
~A Sufi saying
"If you can think it, you can say it, if say it you do it.
~"Advice from the Marquis De-Sad
"Your Race is what good YOU achieve YOUR
philosophy IS what you do (just) before you die." Anon
Check out R4D
History of Jewish Slavery | Findings | How Cool is Google | Disclamer | FakeJuxtapositions Clown-inz
![]() ![]() RE: Subject coming soon : http://TheGiganticHeartlessMultinationalCorporation.com/ Date: Mon, 5 May 2003 17:37:59
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Read it and weep http://www.dieoff.org/page79.htm Say what http://www.abovetopsecret.com/pages/krill.html
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Primary stuff inspacepropulsion.com
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Page 1. A photon sail is a spacecraft accelerated by
the momentum of the electromagnetic photons that
are reflected from it. Types ...
a
b
greg matloff
c
[PDF] From : Greg Matloff
File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat - View as HTML
Page 1. A photon sail is a spacecraft accelerated
by the momentum of the electromagnetic photons
that are reflected from it. Types ...
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Subject: - fwd, puzzling - Date:Wed, 07 Jan 2004 22:59:58 -0500- fwd, puzzling -
Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2004 22:59:58 -0500 From: L
To: (Recipient list suppressed)
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From: Charles and Rocky --Do you have any opinion of this text?
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