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From: gsmith@brahms.BERKELEY.EDU (Gene Ward Smith)
Newsgroups: net.religion.christian,net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Historical Persecution of Jews
Message-ID: <12560@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU>
Date: Sat, 22-Mar-86 21:43:15 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.12560
Posted: Sat Mar 22 21:43:15 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Mar-86 23:07:17 EST
References: <852@leadsv.UUCP> <12413@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> <125@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU>
Sender: usenet@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Reply-To: gsmith@brahms.UUCP (Gene Ward Smith)
Organization: University of California, Berkeley
Lines: 31
Keywords: isolation,holocaust
Xref: lsuc net.religion.christian:394 net.religion.jewish:1922

In article <125@mit-trillian.MIT.EDU> martillo@trillian.UUCP (Yakim Martillo) writes:
>In article <12413@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU> gsmith@brahms.UUCP (Gene Ward Smith) writes:
>>In article <852@leadsv.UUCP> morse@leadsv.UUCP (Terry Morse) writes:

>>>What I'm trying to assert is that Jews have not been persecuted historically
>>>for their religion per se, but because of their social customs that are
>>>a result of their religious beliefs.  It was easy to learn to hate those
>>>"funny people" in the community that kept to themselves all the time.
[MORSE]

>>    The Gypsies also maintained (and still maintain) a separate cultural
>>identity. They were a part of the Holocaust -- in fact, a much larger part
>>than most people are aware of. I think this shows your theory must have
>>some validity.
[ME]

>Hogwash!  In the middle east and north africa, Jewish social customs
>and practices are not that different from the dominant Muslims, yet
>Jews suffered a great deal of persecution and discrimination while in
>China where Jewish practices were quite different from the majority
>Han, the local Jews suffered no problems at all (except now and then
>from local Muslims). 

    My point was not that this provided a complete explanation (since
I don't think it does). It was rather that the analogy with gypsies
supports the notion that it provides a partial explanation. Gypsies
have their own not inconsiderable history of persecution.

ucbvax!brahms!gsmith    Gene Ward Smith/UCB Math Dept/Berkeley CA 94720
        Fifty flippant frogs / Walked by on flippered feet
    And with their slime they made the time / Unnaturally fleet.