<HTML><HEAD> <META charset=US-ASCII http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=US-ASCII"> <META content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1106" name=GENERATOR></HEAD> <BODY style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffffff"> <DIV> <DIV>In a message dated 4/9/2004 9:01:30 PM Eastern Standard Time, galliher@alexia.lis.uiuc.edu writes:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: blue 2px solid"><FONT face=Arial>i.e., one is a member [of Israel] not on the basis of what one says or does,<BR>but who one's parents were</FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV> <DIV>There are Jews who did not and do not have Jewish parents.  They convert.  And they are multi-ethnic, multi-national and multi-racial in origin.  No, they are not all Ashkenazi. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Moreover, millions of people in over one hundred different countries all over the world attain citizenship in a country on the basis of who their parents are because they can answer yes to the following two questions:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>1.  Were you born in this country?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>2.  Are your parents citizens of this country?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>No American official ever asked me about what I say or do as a basis of conferring American citizenship. I got it automatically because I was born in the U.S. and my parents were citizens.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Marion</DIV></BODY></HTML>