Regarding the color issue with Ashkenazi Jews, historically they've never passed for legit whites in European society - despite the fact that they intermarried with non-Jewish Europeans. Ironically, its only been in the US and Israel since WWII that there's been any cultural consensus that's emerged regarding Jewish whiteness.
Interesting on your part vis your Romanian family. My paternal grandfather was from Bucharest, and his side of the family was extremely dark - not the least bit European looking, despite bearing the last name of Schreibman. My mother's parents were Litvaks, and looked even more Middle Eastern than some of my closest Arab friends.
On Sep 10, 2006, at 9:55 AM, joanna wrote:
> It depends where you hail from. In Romania, the way you can tell that
> someone is Jewish is that they have red hair and freckles. The jewish
> side of my family has blonde hair and blue eyes. The Romanian side has
> jet black hair and very dark, slanted eyes.
>
> The most privileged in Israeli society are mostly Ashkenazi, no?
>
> Joanna
>
> Joel Schalit wrote:
>
>> uhh, yeah. i was about to ask, aren't jews kinda considered brown
>> folks as well? hence last weekends missives about not ethnically
>> stereotyping israelis.....
>>
>>
>> On Sep 10, 2006, at 1:08 AM, Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>>
>>> On 9/10/06, joanna <123hop at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> ...while we're on the subject...
>>>>
>>>> How hi-tech Hezbollah called the shots
>>>> By Iason Athanasiadis
>>>>
>>>> BEIRUT - Hezbollah's ability to repel the Israel Defense Forces
>>>> during the
>>>> recent conflict was largely due to its use of intelligence
>>>> techniques
>>>> gleaned from allies Iran and Syria that allowed it to monitor
>>>> encoded
>>>> Israeli communications relating to battlefield actions, according
>>>> to Israeli
>>>> officials, whose claims have been independently corroborated by the
>>>> US
>>>> Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
>>>
>>>
>>> Now, I completely agree that Hizballah, the Iranians, and the Syrians
>>> are smart people, but I'd have to say that they are among the palest
>>> in the denizens of the Middle East. . . .
>>>
>>> And if the Iranians are really smart, they'll come up with a better
>>> Iraq policy than this:
>>>
>>> <http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?
>>> type=topNews&storyID=2006-09-09T140905Z_01_COL948663_RTRUKOC_0_UK-
>>> IRAQ.xml>
>>> Iraq's PM to visit Iran next week for key talks
>>> Sat Sep 9, 2006 3:09 PM BST
>>>
>>> By Ibon Villelabeitia
>>>
>>> BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki will make
>>> his
>>> first official visit to Iran on Monday, a trip that will bring into
>>> focus key security and political issues at a time when Baghdad is
>>> battling to avert a civil war.
>>>
>>> Iraq and non-Arab, Shi'ite Iran fought a war in the 1980s under
>>> Saddam
>>> Hussein's Sunni-dominated rule. But relations have been warmer since
>>> Iraq's Shi'ite majority won national elections, unsettling Iraq's
>>> minority Sunni Arabs and many Sunni-dominated states distrustful of
>>> Tehran's influence.
>>>
>>> Washington, pushing for international sanctions against Tehran over
>>> its atomic ambitions, accuses Iran of providing logistical and
>>> financial support to Shi'ite militias in Iraq. Tehran denies this.
>>>
>>> Iraqi government spokesman Ali Dabbagh said on Saturday Maliki, a
>>> Shi'ite, would discuss with fellow Islamist leaders in Iran,
>>> including
>>> President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the "principle of no interference in
>>> internal affairs" during his two-day visit.
>>>
>>> "The purpose of the visit is to discuss political and security
>>> issues," Dabbagh told Reuters.
>>>
>>> Though Maliki has brought Sunnis into his national unity government
>>> since he took over in May and conspicuously chose Sunni Gulf Arab
>>> states for his first foreign trip, his visit to powerful Iran will
>>> likely upset Sunnis.
>>>
>>> Analysts have pointed out Iran's increasing influence in post-war
>>> Iraq
>>> since the empowerment of its Shi'ite majority.
>>>
>>> This influence, analysts say, is particularly stronger in the mainly
>>> Shi'ite south, where a top Shi'ite leader this week renewed demands
>>> for an autonomous Shi'ite region.
>>>
>>> "Iran views Iraq as its own backyard and has now superseded the U.S.
>>> as the most influential power there; this affords it a key role in
>>> Iraq's future," a report by the London-based Chatham House think-tank
>>> said last month.
>>>
>>> It also said Tehran had an "unparalleled ability to affect stability
>>> and security across most of the country".
>>>
>>> The announcement of Maliki's visit follows a dispute between the two
>>> countries in which Iranian border guards this week detained Iraqi
>>> guards after accusing them of crossing into Iran.
>>>
>>> Iraq's Defence Ministry spokesman Ibrahim Shaker said the Iraqi
>>> patrol, consisting of five soldiers, an officer and a translator, had
>>> simply been doing "their duty".
>>>
>>> SHI'ITE MILITIAS
>>>
>>> While struggling to defeat a Sunni insurgency, Maliki has also
>>> pledged
>>> to rein in Shi'ite militias blamed for much of the sectarian violence
>>> that kills an estimated 100 people a day.
>>>
>>> Analysts have said disarming militias won't be easy because of their
>>> ties with political parties. The Badr Organisation, the armed wing of
>>> the powerful SCIRI party, a partner in Maliki's coalition, was a
>>> product of Iran's Revolutionary Guards.
>>>
>>> Hundreds of thousands of Shi'ite pilgrims who had converged in the
>>> holy city of Kerbala to celebrate the Shaabaniya ritual began leaving
>>> the southern city after Saturday's climax ended days of chanting,
>>> praying and feasting.
>>>
>>> Heavy presence by police and Iraqi troops kept out the Sunni al Qaeda
>>> suicide bombers who have disrupted previous rituals. The provincial
>>> governor said 3 million attended.
>>>
>>> Worshippers heard SCIRI leader Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim repeat demands for
>>> legislation to let mainly Shi'ite regions of the oil-rich south merge
>>> into an autonomous federal region that would neighbour Iran.
>>>
>>> The Shi'ite-sponsored draft law, which exposed Iraq's sectarian
>>> tensions during a tumultuous parliament session on Thursday after
>>> Sunni lawmakers opposed it, is set to get its first reading on
>>> Sunday.
>>>
>>> Sunnis, who inhabit a large swathe in central and western Baghdad,
>>> fear federalism will allow Kurds in the north and Shi'ites in the
>>> south to carve up their own regions and cut them off from the
>>> country's vast oil wealth.
>>>
>>> In fresh violence on Saturday, 16 bodies were found in different
>>> areas
>>> of Mahmudiya, south of Baghdad, bound, blindfolded and shot. Police
>>> said they were unable to identify them because they were not carrying
>>> identity cards.
>>>
>>> --
>>> Yoshie
>>> <http://montages.blogspot.com/>
>>> <http://mrzine.org>
>>> <http://monthlyreview.org/>
>>> ___________________________________
>>> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
>>>
>>
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