Juden in Mali

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Mali

In Mali leben einige tausend Menschen unzweifelhaft jüdischer Herkunft in Timbuktu. Im 14. Jahrhundert wanderten viele Mauren und Juden auf der Flucht vor den Spaniern nach Süden in die Gegend von Timbuktu, damals Teil des Songhaireiches. Unter ihnen war die Kehath- (Ka'ti) Familie, Nachkommen des Ismael Jan Kot vom Al-yahudi von Scheida, Marokko. Die Söhne dieser bedeutenden Familie gründeten drei Dörfer bei Timbuktu, die noch heute bestehen – Kirshamba, Haybomo und Kongougara. 1492 kam Askia Muhammed im einst toleranten Gebiet von Timbuktu an die Macht und stellte die Juden vor die Alternative Konversion zum Islam oder Vertreibung. Das Judentum in Mali wurde verboten, wie im gleichen Jahr im katholischen Spanien. Der Historiker Leo Africanus schrieb 1526: „Der König (Askia) ist ein erklärter Feind der Juden. Er verbietet ihnen, in der Stadt zu wohnen. Wenn er hört, ein Berber-Kaufmann besuche sie oder treibe Handel, beschlagnahmt er seine Waren.“
Die Kehath-Familie konvertierte mit den übrigen Nichtmuslimen. Die Cohens, die vom marokkanischen islamisierten jüdischen Händler El-Hadj Abd-Al-Salam Al Kuhin abstammen, kamen im 18. Jahrhundert in die Region Timbuktu, die Familie Abana Anfang des 19. Jahrhunderts. Nach Prof. Michel Abitbol im Center for the Research of Moroccan Jewry in Israel reiste Rabbi Mordoche Aby Serour Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts mehrmals als wenig erfolgreicher Straußenfedern- und Elfenbeinhändler nach Timbuktu. Ismael Diadie Haidara, Historiker aus Timbuktu, fand althebräische Texte unter den historischen Aufzeichnungen der Stadt. Bei genealogischen Untersuchen erfuhr er, dass er selbst von marokkanisch-jüdischen Händlern der Abana-Familie abstammte. Als er Älteste in den Dörfern seiner Verwandten interviewte, entdeckte er, dass das Bewusstsein der jüdischen Identität der Familie aus Furcht vor Verfolgung als Geheimnis bewahrt blieb.^[17]

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judentum_in_Afrika



Die Dörfer Kirshamba, Haybomo und Kongougara liegen in Nordmali.

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The Renewal of Jewish Identity in Timbuktu

By Karen Primack



...
Egyptian Jews may have settled in the northern part of Mali as early as biblical times, and it is known that in the late seventh century, when the Arabs invaded North Africa, one of the chiefs of the Berber warriors resisting that invasion was a heroic princess of Jewish origin known as Kahina (Doumya). In the eighth century, the Rhadamites (those multi-lingual Jewish traders who traversed the known world by land and sea, including crossing the Sahara) settled in Timbuktu and its environs.
And, as we know, in the 14th century many Moors and Jews, fleeing persecution in Spain, migrated south to the Timbuktu area, at that time part of the Songhai empire. Among them was the Kehath (Ka’ti) family, descended from Ismael Jan Kot Al-yahudi of Scheida, Morocco. Sons of this prominent family founded three villages that still exist near Timbuktu — Kirshamba, Haybomo, and Kongougara.
In 1492, Askia Muhammed came to power in the previously tolerant region of Timbuktu and decreed that Jews must convert to Islam or leave; Judaism became illegal in Mali, as it did in Catholic Spain that same year. As the historian Leo Africanus wrote in 1526: “The king (Askia) is a declared enemy of the Jews. He will not allow any to live in the city. If he hears it said that a Berber merchant frequents them or does business with them, he confiscates his goods.” The Kehath family converted with the rest of the non-Muslim population.
The Cohens, descended from the Moroccan Islamicized Jewish trader El-Hadj Abd-al-Salam al Kuhin, arrived in the Timbuktu area in the 18th century, and the Abana family came in the first half of the 19th century. According to Prof. Michel Abitbol, at the Center for the Research of Moroccan Jewry in Israel, in the late 19th century Rabbi Mordoche Aby Serour traveled to Timbuktu several times as a not-too-successful trader in ostrich feathers and ivory.
...

http://www.kulanu.org/timbuktu/timbuktu.php

Wie geht es ihnen nun nach all dem islamistischen Terror, der war ja in Nordmali. Oder womöglich gibts den immer noch? Die Franzosen waren einmarschiert und es ist still geworden in den Medien...

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http://www.blackplanet.com/forums/th...ead_id=2965310

[Realist59]

Da es oft in sehr vielen Ländern zu Pogromen und Vertreibungen der Juden kam, waren sie immer wieder auf der Flucht und haben sich über die ganze Welt verteilt. Immer wieder erstaunlich, dass sie nie in den autochthonen Völkern aufgegangen sind.

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Die Islamisten haben in Timbuktu viele Kulturgüter zerstört, die drei jüdischen Dörfer mit rund 1000 jüdischen Bewohnern sind nördlich unweit von Timbuktu entfernt.

Blieben sie von dem islamistischen Terror verschont? Denn ihr Outing könnte gefährlich für sie sein.

Oder haben sie Vermittler in den Tuareg-Reihen, de sie vor Übergriffen schützen?

After the adoption of Islam, a separate class of religious clerics, the Ineslemen or marabouts, also became integral to Tuareg social structure. Following the decimation of many clans' noble Imajaghan caste in the colonial wars of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Ineslemen gained leadership in some clans, despite their often servile origins. Traditionally Ineslemen clans were not armed. They provided spiritual guidance for the nobility, and received protection and alms in return.
Inhædˤæn (Inadan), were a blacksmith-client caste who fabricated and repaired the saddles, tools, household equipment and other material needs of the community. They were often, in addition to craftwork, the repository of oral traditions and poetry. They were also often musicians and played an important role in many ceremonies. Their origins are unclear, one theory proposing an original Jewish derivation. They had their own special dialect or secret language. Because of their association with fire, iron and precious metals and their reputation for cunning tradesmanship the ordinary Tuareg regarded them with a mixture of awe and distrust.^[15]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuareg_people

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...
Academics have searched for metaphorical truth in these myths and legends and some have come to the conclusion that the figure of Saint David proves the theory that the artisans are descended from Jewish jewellers from the Souss and Drâa valleys in the southern Atlas mountains or the Touat and M’zab regions north of Tamanrasset, all of which did have sizeable Jewish populations in the middle ages. It seems almost certain that some desert clans or tribes do have Jewish origins, notably the Kel Gress and the Daoussak (‘Sons of Issac’), and it must also be remembered that the whole of North Africa has ancient roots in Jewish culture, thanks to the Phoenicians and later cultures from the Levant who colonized most of the Mediterranean littoral before and during the days of the Roman empire.
Artisan at Assoc. Assaghan (c) Andy Morgan

However, the theory that all Touareg artisans are descended from Jews who came down from the north is tenuous. What is most striking about many Inedan is their Negroid appearance, or rather, their completely distinct physiognomy, in which Negroid traces are often very clear. A Touareg can identify an artisan merely from his facial features, even if he comes from a region thousands of miles away across the desert. This has lead to speculation that the Inedan are descended from an ancient black race who lived in the desert before the Berber tribes of the north came south and who were subsequently subdued and forced to work for their new ‘whiter’ overlords.
At times the assertion that the craftsmen who make such beautiful and sophisticated jewellery could only be descended from Jews or maybe Arab jewellers who came to the desert from Cairo and Baghdad in the early middle ages, smacks of mild racism and a reprehensible disbelief that such artistry can have its roots in black Africa itself. But if you consider the extremely sophisticated societies that existed in sub-Saharan West Africa, from the end of the Roman Empire right through to the 17^th century, such as the Ghana, Mali and Songhai Empires, all famously rich in gold, as well as the extraordinary bronzes that were produced over 900 years ago

...

http://www.andymorganwrites.com/kel-...g-blacksmiths/

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Im obigen Artikel die Goldschmiede (black-smith, könnte auch einfach Schmied heißen) der Tuareg seien Juden, sie stellen Schmuck, Zelte, Sättel und Waffen her. Goldschmied wird man durch Geburt, man kann es nicht anders werden.

Hier eine Seite mit schönem Schmuck der Tuareg-Goldschmiede.

http://www.saharanarts.com

http://africa.si.edu/exhibits/tuareg/art.html

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Tuareg Jews

Sidney L. Davis, Jr.

Message 1 of 1 , 30 Jun, 2007


There are several accounts of the origins of the inadan[1], but it is
likely that they are, in part, descendants of Jews who were forced
out of southern Morocco in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries and
followed long-established trans-Saharan trade routes to the region of
the Tuareg. Some inadan even today claim Lord Dauda (David) as their
patron saint. They have a complex and ambiguous relationship to the
larger group and are often not considered "true" Tuareg, as their
social origins were from outside the culture. They are nonetheless
essential to the Tuareg, for they make all weapons, tools, leather
objects, jewelry, and camel saddles. Their fellow Tuareg, however,
regard them with some suspicion or apprehension due to their ability
to make objects from the mysterious interaction of fire and metal;
their secret language (Tenet); their capacity to engage the world of
spirits with a mystic power known as ettama or tezma; their role as
confidants and ambassadors operating between Tuareg families and
groups; and their lack of the social reserve highly valued by noble
Tuareg.

Article Title: Art of Being Tuareg: Sahara Nomads in a Modern World.
Contributors: Thomas K. Seligman - author. Journal Title: African
Arts. Volume: 39. Issue: 3. Publication Year: 2006. Page Number: 56+.
COPYRIGHT 2006 The Regents of the University of California; COPYRIGHT
2006 Gale Group

[1] The "Inadan" among the Tuareg are the artisan class, artisans in
precious metals, blacksmiths, glassworkers, woodworkers, weavers,
dyers and so on. The Beta Israel (falsha) were also the artisan class
in Ethiopia (i.e., the only makers of knives and farm implements).
Craft guilds usually signify Jewish identity and have been
historically identified with Jewish mercantilism in the Sahara and
below. This is important to keep in mind because Jews were subsumed
or converted into Islamic religion, society and culture. Despite
this, they retained certain identifiers either retained or imposed on
them that targeted them as a subclass within those societies. The
same may be said regarding Christians and this is not to be ignored,
however we are trying to establish the primacy of Sabbath observance
in Africa before the Islamic invasion.

See also re: Jewish identity of the Inadan,
Article: Nomads. Contributors: Hillel Halkin - author. Magazine Title: Commentary. Volume: 120. Issue: 5. Publication Date: December 2005. Page Number: 73+. COPYRIGHT 2005 American Jewish Committee; COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group

Sidney Davis

http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/S...ns/topics/1682

Es gibt verschiedene Quellen über die Herkunft der Inadan, mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit stammen sie zumindest in Teilen von den Juden ab, die im 14., 15. Jahrhundert aus Marokko vertrieben wurden.

Sie folgten den seit langem existierenden Trans-Sahara-Handelsrouten der Tuareg. Einige der Inadan heiligen noch immer König David.

Sie haben enge vertraute Verbindungen zu den 'echten' Tuareg. Die Tuareg beziehen all ihre Waffen, Werkzeuge, Lederprodukte und Schmuck von ihnen.
Die Tuareg zollen ihnen große Bewunderung, für ihre handwerkliche Geschicklichkeit wie auch ihre vermittelnde Funktion bei Familienproblemen und als sonstige Ratgeber und Vertraute. Die Inadan haben ihre eigene Sprache (die nur sie selbst verstehen) und Kultur beibehalten.

...

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http://www.geni.com/projects/African...Diaspora/12510

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Nur zur Erinnerung was da im Staate Azawad abläuft. Die Bevölkerung ist dort großen Gefahren ausgesetzt. und man weiß ja auch, daß Islamisten es auch besonders auf Juden abgesehen haben, von daher stellt sich die Frage, wie geht es ihnen, reichen die Beziehungen der Goldschmiede aus, um sie zu schützen? Die Links gehen dieser frage allerdings nicht nach, schildern einfach nur wie der islamistische Terror sich in das Land frißt.


Nord-Mali: Tuareg und Islamisten rufen Scharia-Staat aus | ZEIT ...

www.zeit.de › Politik › Ausland › Mai 2012
27.05.2012 - Im Norden Malis haben sich Tuareg-Rebellen und Islamisten auf die Gründung der Islamischen Republik Azawad geeinigt. Flüchtlinge ...


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http://pjmedia.com/blog/meet-azawad-...ewest-country/

http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/09/25/m...ead-fear-north