Why is Israel not part of Africa?

By Akam Mmasichukwu Talent   1 year ago   135
World

Why is Israel not a part of Africa?

Contrary to what some of these other Quorans have told you, it's not a bad question. I don't quite get the bit about Madagascar, but while most people agree that Israel and Lebanon reside in West Asia, they are technically on the African plate and could be considered Northern African countries.

 

 

Now that being said, while the Jews and the Israelis are undoubtedly an Afro-Asiatic people, Israel does struggle with a bit of an identity crisis, you see, the Israeli ruling class, from Ben Gurion to Bennet, wanted for Israel what Mustafa Kamal wanted for Turkey (Minus Kemal's charisma and industry) they want to Europeanize Israel, and turn it into a secular European country,

 

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Lives in IsraelUpdated 1y

Are Israelis and Turks similar?

Originally Answered: Why are Turks and Israelis similar to each other?

Disclaimer:[ In Turkey's case, I know bits and pieces about the history, but I am not a Turk, and I have never lived there, so I'm not sure how Turks feel about what I am about to say, or how relevant it is today, my basis for this answer will mainly be my own experiences as an Israeli, and how I see it reflected in regards to Turkey]

 

The Israelis and Turks are both ancient people, but their modern National Identities were formed under very similar circumstances.

 

You see after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey was overtaken by the ideals of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk (Kemalism) while in Israel, the Idea of Zionism which was originally one of Religious-Nationalism, was revamped and redefined under the ideals of Binyamin Ze'ev Herzel, who while having died before the fall of the Ottoman Empire, still had his ideas carried by Israel's future rulers, which for the sake of being pedantic I am going to refer to as “Labor-Zionism"

 

 

And both the Kemalist and Labor-Zionists were extremely successful, in Turkey, the literacy rate went from below 10% to over 90%, Israel became and remains to this day the only country on Earth, where the number of trees is growing and where the desert is receding. Both countries rapidly industrialized, and remembering their painful past at the hands of more powerful enemies; they both rapidly Militarized their nations, and the militaries of both countries remain the two most powerful militaries in the region.

 

 

Now, both Kemalism, and Labor-Zionism're Nationalist movements, to help the Israelis and Turks achieve independence, in their respective homelands, but that was not all, see, Whilst the Kemalist and Labor-Zionist both fought the Europeans for the sake of their peoples, they also fetishized European culture and European secular ideas.

 

In Turkey, under the Kemalist, the Fez was banned, and their alphabet which originally used the Arabic script was changed to the Latin script.

 

While in Israel, the Jewish Keffiyeh was discouraged, and Israeli Jews who wore it were shamed as having “Arabian taste" traditional Jewish songs and dances were phased out of practice, and many such as the Dabke were adopted or kept by local Arabs and Druze, the Hebrew alphabet was kept, but many of the Semitic vowels were softened or replaced.

 

Now I can't testify to what extent Turkey's traditions and culture were phased out or discouraged, but from the Turks, I have had the pleasure of speaking to about our similar histories; I can surmise that it's very similar to what happened in Israel.

 

In both countries, the leaders of the time did their best to Europeanize us, and Secularize us, and our countries were made into highly successful regional powers, but our culture and heritage are at a push and pull. Between the world, we came from and the world our founders envisioned.

 

(Oh, and we also both have to deal with Arabs)

[NewsNaira]


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