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The Sephardi World Weekly is made possible by Daniel Yifrach, Rachel Sally, Professor Rifka Cook, Maria Gabriela Borrego Medina, Rachel Amar, Deborah Arellano, & ASF VP Gwen Zuares!
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Watch the latest episode of “Straight Ahead: The Omni American Podcast,” as ASF Director of Publications, Dr. Aryeh Tepper, and co-host Greg Thomas discuss Hamas’ attack on Israel and the civil war in Islam. Aryeh’s Ofakim neighborhood was overrun by terrorists on 7 October, and he shares his personal story, as well.
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The Wider War: Islamist Ideology versus the World
Israel’s war against Hamas, the evil Islamist “Resistance” Movement of Gaza, is not a new war. According to the 7th article of Hamas’ Charter (1988), the war against Israel was launched nine years before the re-founding of the State in 1948:
[Hamas] is one of the links in the chain of the struggle against the Zionist invaders. It goes back to 1939, to the emergence of the martyr Izz al-Din al Kissam and his brethren the fighters, members of Muslim Brotherhood. It goes on to reach out and become one with another chain that includes the struggle of the Palestinians and Muslim Brotherhood in the 1948 war and the Jihad operations of the Muslim Brotherhood in 1968 and after.
1939 is nine years before there was a single Palestinian refugee, and twenty-eight years before Israel conquered the West Bank and Gaza in a war of self-defense.
The Muslim Brotherhood is mentioned three times in Article 7. The Muslim Brotherhood is the mother organization founded at the beginning of the 20th c. that gave birth to “Islamism,” a radical, extremist, and violent form of Islam that has taken different forms, from Al Qaeda to the Islamic Republic in Iran to Hamas.
The intellectual godfather of Islamism is the Sunni-Egyptian scholar, Sayyid Qutb (1906-1966). The present-day, long-time Shi’a ruler of Iran, Ali Khamenei, translated four of Qutb’s books into Persian. Hamas is aided materially and strategically by the Iranian regime. Hamas and the Iranians both subscribe to the same revolutionary, extremist, and violent interpretation of Islam that transcends the traditional differences between Sunnis and Shi’a and that has been destabilizing Southeast Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and North Africa for the past five decades. In the words of Yusuf Ünal, a scholar of the Iranian regime:
The historical relations between Islamists in Iran and the Muslim Brotherhood have been the subject of a small number of studies in Iran and the Arab world. However, the influence of Sayyid Quṭb on the Islamist movement and the revolutionaries of Iran is still not acknowledged sufficiently and remains largely unknown.
~ “Sayyid Quṭb in Iran: Translating the Islamist Ideologue in the Islamic Republic.” Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies, Vol. 1, No. 2 (November 2016)
We need to remember that this war is itself a battle in a larger regional war that the Islamists would like to engulf the entire earth. Hamas’ material defeat will not be the end; the Iranian regime will still rule and various forms of Islamist ideology will continue to be taught.
The Islamists declared war on Jews, fellows Muslims, and the rest of the civilized world a long time ago. Considering recent events and the challenges looming over the horizon, we would do well to know who they are.
Those interested in learning more about Islamist ideology, from its premier thinker to its place of birth to Islamism’s most consequential practitioner, will find below three pieces that were published by Sephardi Ideas Monthly as part of the series last year, “Understanding the Civil War in Islam: The Forces of Islamic Tolerance against Islamism.”
Islamist Intolerance: The Muslim Brotherhood’s Scribbler
- An examination of Sayyid Qutb’s career and ideas, from a Cairo literati to a political revolutionary
Sayyid Qutb
Birthplace of the Brotherhood: Understanding & Overcoming Islamism in Egypt
- An interview with Tarek Heggy, an Egyptian liberal and expert on Islamism
Tarek Heggy speaking with Dr. Drora Arussy at the ASF Institute of Jewish Experience’s Reclaiming Identity Global Event, 30 November 2021
Islamism in Iran: The Qutb & Khamenei Connection
- Delineating the influence of Qutb’s thought on the Iranian regime
Iranian Regime Postage Stamp honoring Qutb,1984
(Photo courtesy of Twitter/Stampontheworld)
Additional Viewing:
Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gilead
(Photo courtesy of Reichman University/Youtube)
In a video released on Thursday, 19 October , and in broad strokes paralleling the picture delineated above, Maj. Gen. (res.) Amos Gildad, Executive Director of the Institute for Policy and Strategy at Reichman University, offers a strategic overview of Israel’s war with Hamas.
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Please support the ASF with a generous, tax-deductible contribution so we can continue to cultivate and advocate, preserve and promote, as well as educate and empower!
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Jewish Women from Muslim Societies Speak
Published by the American Sephardi Federation and Hadassah International Research Institute on Jewish Woman at Brandeis University
Jewish women from Morocco, Egypt, Turkey, Lebanon, and Iran were invited to share their personal stories. It could be said that these women's voices are from the last generation of Jews to have an intimate personal knowledge of the Muslim world, the enormous diversity within and among Middle Eastern Jewish communities.
We hope that these essays, told through the medium of vivid personal stories, will stimulate discussion about contemporary dynamics in the Muslim world and raise awareness of Jewish women’s history in North Africa and the Middle-East.
Our Story: The Jews of Sepharad; Celebrations and Stories
By Lea-Nora Kordova Annette and Eugene Labovitz
Celebrations and Stories, a special publication of the Coalition for the Advancement of Jewish Education with the American Sephardi Federation, is an essential work that enhances the teaching of Sephardi history, traditions, and cultures.
The life cycle and calendar sections are designed to horizontally connect to the teaching of customs and ceremonies from the Spanish & Portuguese, Syrian, Judeo-Spanish, and Moroccan traditions. Other sections include translations of classic texts and poetry, tales of our history’s heroes, and classroom activities.
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Upcoming Events or Opportunities
The ASF is proud to join Yeshiva University, UJA Federation of New York, NCSY, Chabad on Campus, Young Israel, Bnei Akiva, and many others in responding to Hamas’ horrors and “Days of Rage” with a Global Day of Loving-Kindness!
“Life, love and kindness are, and always will be, the values of the People of Israel. We - an idealistic group of Yeshiva University students - are sending the world a clear message of our own: if the supporters of Hamas are perpetuating violence and evil on a Day of Jihad, then the supporters of Israel will call upon our values by spreading Ahavah (love) and building up the world with acts of compassion and righteousness on a Day of Loving-Kindness (Chessed).”
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The American Sephardi Federation presents:
Convergence: Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian Calligraphy in Conversation
Featuring the multilingual art of Ruben Shimonov Convergence creates a visual world where Hebrew, Arabic, and Persian languages interact with, and speak to, one another; a world where stylized letters and words dance together on the page; a world where cultures, religions, communities, and philosophies intersect.
Juxtaposing cognates from these ancient West Asian languages, artist Ruben Shimonov encourages the viewer to explore the deep-rooted connections between these tongues, as well as the multilayered and transnational identity of the artist himself.
On View in the Leon Levy Gallery
through 31 December 2023
@ the Center for Jewish History
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The American Sephardi Federation and Mimouna Association’s Rebuilding Our Homes Project present:
Re-Creation: Judaica by Moroccan Muslim Artisans
Explore the exhibition of Judeo-Moroccan art, Moroccan Judaica, cultural and religious objects, including Menorot, Mezuzot, Yads, Shabbat Candleholders, Seder Plates, Hallah Covers, and much more.
On View through 31 December 2023
@ the Center for Jewish History
As Moroccan Jewish populations largely left the mellahs (Jewish quarters) in the latter half of the 20th century, there was a danger that not only designs but even the traditional artisanal techniques needed to create them would be lost. Passed down from one artisan to another and perfected over time, these designs and techniques. ranging from vibrant patterns to intricate metalwork and soulful wood carvings, are expressions of Moroccanity and reflect the individual character of each city. The materials and craftsmanship of Rabat are different than Fez, and Essaouira is distinct from both.
Mimouna Association and the American Sephardi Federation’s Rebuilding Our Homes Project, a multi-year USAID-supported New Partnerships Initiative, brought three notable experts-Ms. Zhor Rehihil, Ms. Deborah Koenigsberger Gutierrez, and Ms. Meryem Ghandi to train Moroccan Muslim artisans in the history of Judeo-Moroccan art and guided them in re-creating Moroccan Judaica, which encompasses a diverse array of cultural and religious objects, including Menorot, Mezuzot, Yads, Shabbat Candleholders, Seder Plates, Hallah Covers, and much more.