Do you consider Israelis Middle Easterns?

[Firdousi]

Do you guys consider Israelis Middle Easterns? Since Israel is a multiethnic and multircultural country (like all ME countries) by "Israelis" I mean strictly Jewish Israelis.

I personally got mixed feelings. Those who were born in Israel I do consider them ME. But it kinda makes me angry that a guy from Uruguay or Poland just because it happens to have a Jewish mother can migrate to Israel (aliya) while millions of Palestinians are refugees in Jordan, Lebanon or Syria.

[Iblis_Efreetzai]

Depends, Mizrahi and Sephardi are Middle Eastern, Ashkenazi are ad mixed with European

[Firdousi]

Depends, Mizrahi and Sephardi are Middle Eastern, Ashkenazi are ad mixed with European

What about their children? Falashas, Askhenazim, Bukharais, Afghans, Persians,.. they might not be strictly ME, but their children are.

Sephardis are originally Spanish btw. Although most of them moved to Turkey after being expelled in 1492. So after five centuries they can be considered ME, no?

[Iblis_Efreetzai]

To be honest, I'm not sure about the cases you have.

[Ambatin]

Middle Eastern is a really vague term.

If Japanese, Koreans, Chinese are Far Easterns, then Kazakhs, Kyrguz, and Siberians are Middle Eastern. Ashkenazis being from somewhere in Eurasianwould make them Middle Easterns.

[jama0112]

You do know that the middleeast is pretty much everything from the eastern parts of Iran to the West of Palestine and not including CA countries?

[Ambatin]

You do know that the middleeast is pretty much everything from the eastern parts of Iran to the West of Palestine and not including CA countries?

What I said is actually not too far from truth. Before there was another term. Near East,. Now Middle East become popular since US forreign policy dominated Muslim countries.

So Near East (Turkey, Levant, etc.), Middle East (which included even India) and Far East (China, Japan, South East Asia)

[Ambatin]

My point was one shouldn't value these terms very muchas they are quite vague and has changed with time.

Israelis are and are not Middle Eastern whatevwr that means. Its a multi ethnic country with people from all over the world migrating there. Lot of the Jews there look no different from White Americans. Of course they are not organic to the desert region. But they live there now.

[jama0112]

WHen was India ever considered/called middleeastern?

[torkham]

Do you guys consider Israelis Middle Easterns? Since Israel is a multiethnic and multircultural country (like all ME countries) by "Israelis" I mean strictly Jewish Israelis.

"....But it kinda makes me angry that a guy from Uruguay or Poland just because it happens to have a Jewish mother can migrate to Israel (aliya) while millions of Palestinians are refugees in Jordan, Lebanon or Syria.

I have to agree totally on this issue. To be more precise, Europeans (Ashkies and Mizrahis) and other western matrilineal Jews (bar Mizrahi). Very interesting counter-point to any debate with the uninformed about Palestine.

Back to your original question, Israelis buy current usage are settlers from the west on the whole, therefore not ME in my opinion (may be expired, diluted Semites from long ago). But then one could bring to parallel how Native Americans have defined what it takes to qualify as an Indian - the 'blood quantum' idea. How many fractions is one Israeli an original semite of the holy land?

Look at Ehud Barak (Lithuanian), Golda Meier (Ukrainian), Benjamin Netanyahu (Pole) and Sharon (Russian) and it goes on like this. What fraction are they real semite, or how far can they trace their mothers to mother land?

Bilqul .... Settlers from the west.

[Ambatin]

The terms are all coined by British colonialists during the height of the British Empire. The British Empire had colonies in the Near East (Israel, levant, etc.), Pakistan, India (Middle East), and Southeast Asia (Far East).

Cant find the source but I remember it from history class. India was definitely Middle East. What is Middle East now was called Near East. Far East was what is now called East Asia or Asians.

[Akbar]

there is no such thing as middle eastern.
alot of people dont know that middle east is in Asia.

[maneatinglizard]

The majority of the elite and those in power are Ashkenazi, whom are not Middle Eastern. They haven’t even been there too long. Were the Crusaders ever considered locals? I don’t think they were, and neither should the imported Europeans Jews.

[Firdousi]

I have to agree totally on this issue. To be more precise, Europeans (Ashkies and Mizrahis) and other western matrilineal Jews (bar Mizrahi). Very interesting counter-point to any debate with the uninformed about Palestine.

Back to your original question, Israelis buy current usage are settlers from the west on the whole, therefore not ME in my opinion (may be expired, diluted Semites from long ago). But then one could bring to parallel how Native Americans have defined what it takes to qualify as an Indian - the 'blood quantum' idea. How many fractions is one Israeli an original semite of the holy land?

Look at Ehud Barak (Lithuanian), Golda Meier (Ukrainian), Benjamin Netanyahu (Pole) and Sharon (Russian) and it goes on like this. What fraction are they real semite, or how far can they trace their mothers to mother land?

Bilqul .... Settlers from the west.

I agree. But what about their children? If parents err, should children pay for their mistakes? I came across this video long time ago and I was amazed how most of Israelis do consider themselves "Middle Eastern" and not Europeans.

Israelis: Is Israeli culture Western or Middle Eastern? - YouTube

[UnknownUser]

Do you consider Afghans "middle eastern"?