Kurdistan

ל' לחודש החמישי תשע"ד

Now, I am usually not too concerned with the struggles of other nations outside of Israel. But, the plight of the Kurdish people is an interesting one. The artificial slicing up of the Middle East by the United Nothings and British government not only harmed Israel (in so many ways), but messed with several other peoples, most in particular, the Kurds.

Kurdish Flag

Syrian Kurdish Autonomy Has Regional Implications
July 31, 2013
Since Syrian government officials and troops abandoned the northeast of Syria to concentrate on preserving the regime in the west of the country, the Kurdish minority population there has been able to virtually govern itself. Elections are even planned to form a Kurdish assembly.

The reasons why I am particularly interested in the Kurds are:

1. I could not really care about the Arabs killing each other off, as long as is does not spill over into Israel.

2. Kurdish autonomy has always been a bane to those countries with significant Kurdish populations: Armenian genocide perpetrator Turkey, the already divided Iraq, the completely torn-apart Syria, and the pride-driven, new Persian Empire of Iran. Being a bane to these countries is a good thing.

3. Relations between Kurds and those Jews living in the area have been known to be heads and tails better than those between other muslim groups and their local, Jewish populations. Various reports over the years have suggested mutually beneficial relations between the Kurds and Israel, including the providing of military training, which I suppose is possible, given the proverb, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."* Even more so, as I do not even see the Kurdish People as our enemies.

Map of redrawn international borders to include Kurdistan from Dr. Jawad Mella
(*with some editing to account for the territories of Reuven, Gad, E. Menashe,
and the northern parts of Asher and Naftali)

Israel - enlarged from the map above.

4. If the Kurds succeed in achieving more and more autonomy in Iraq, and now, it potentially seems Syria, there could be a domino effect within Turkey and Iran,...or more massacres (alla Islamic style).

5. Any movement towards Kurdish autonomy could trigger the same inside of Israel. No, I am not even talking about Yehuda and Shomron (Judea and Samaria), that which Arabs claim is the mythical, ancient country of "Palestine." Rather, I am talking about the areas dominated by populations of Arabs with Israeli passports. They are an oxymoron, I know. Nonetheless, they exist. Dagestan and South Osetia already have seemed to "give them ideas." An ethnic minority declaring autonomy within a sovereign country?

And, no one but Israel will see the differences. Unlike the Dagestanians, Osetians, and Chechens, Arabs never had any autonomy here in their host country (May our hosting of them end soon!), not to mention any historical connection to it, other than as invading marauders a pillagers, at the various times in history when Israel was in a weakened state.

Historically wanderers, many Bedouin clans will follow suit, if they had not already begun the final push for autonomy themselves. And, who knows what the traditionally non-geographically nationalistic Druze might do, when they see the weakening central power of the Israeli government? Israel's government already seems to be showing signs of giving up on the Galilee, the home of many Bedouin clans and Druze, in addition to Jews.

18 "In that day the Lord made a covenant with Avram, saying: 'To your seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates.' 19 the Kenite, and the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite, 20 and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Rephaim, 21 and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Girgashite, and the Jebusite.'" - Genesis 15:18-21

6. On a more positive note, I noticed that most maps of a liberated Kurdistan showed the Tigris River as its southwestern border. The roughly parallel Euphrates River will be Israel's future border to its east, as promised to the People of Israel by The Almighty in His Holy Torah (May it soon be so!). And so, perhaps, it might be to the benefit of Israel to have a neighbor, also struggling for it believes to be its rightful territory, yet which does not conflict with the notion of our rightful territory (See above), especially if they do some of the work for us.

Food for thought.

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*An Arab proverb, a Chinese proverb, or perhaps even based on the verse "I will be an enemy to your enemies and will oppose those who oppose you" (Ex. 23:22).