I Was Radicalized. Now, I've Dedicated My Career to Combating Anti-Semitism

[Solomon2]

...it is Israel's illegal occupation of our brother & sisters in Palestine that made every one all over the world to react and speak against Isreal.

Really? So if all you had to do was push a button to change the world so that Israel, the Jewish State, still existed, strong and prosperous and independent, and there was no "illegal occupation", would you push it?

 

[Citizen X]

The Jewish community on the Indian subcontinent dates back many years, long before the Muslims in the former British colony sought independence. But only a small part of that relatively prosperous community lived in the five districts that in August 1947 became Pakistan. At the time, they numbered fewer than 3,000, and most of the community lived in Karachi, with a few dozen more in Peshawar.

When Israel was founded, many members of the Jewish community left Pakistan, the second-largest Muslim country in the world, leaving only 200-300 members who remain despite growing anti-Semitism. They live in Karachi and Lahore.

Some Jews in Pakistan converted to Islam, such as deputy head of Pakistan's mission to the UN in the 1950s, Mohammad Assad. But the ones who adhered to their original faith were forced to make due without a functioning synagogue.

One of the remaining few Pakistani Jews is Fishel Khalid, 32, from Karachi.

In a special interview to Israel Hayom in honor of Rosh Hashanah, Khaled discusses personal challenges and challenges facing the community; local anti-Semitism; and his historic visit to Israel.

Khalid, a civil engineer by training and profession, says he also works as a kashruth supervisor for Pakistani food manufacturers and exporters.

Q: Are you scared to live in Pakistan?

"I don't disclose my identity to 99% of the people with whom I interact. And when I wear a kippa, I hide it under a baseball cap. But in general, I'm not that concerned, as long as I'm not open about being Jewish."

"Pakistan has its share of varying degrees of anti-Semitism," Khalid adds, noting that the synagogue in Karachi was burned down during riots that erupted after Israel was established in 1948.

Muslims in Karachi, Pakistan, riot following the United Arab Emirates' announcement it would be normalizing relations with Israel (AP/file) ​

Karachi is the capital city of the Sindh province, considered the most demographically diverse in Pakistan. Some 94.8% of the population are Muslims, another 5% are Hindis, and 0.2% of the population belong to other groups, including Jews.

"The culture of the Sindh province is a second mother to me and other minorities. People here are much more tolerant than in other provinces of Pakistan," he says.

His attempts to keep his Jewish identity under wraps notwithstanding, all of Pakistan heard Khalid's story. He is the son of a Muslim father and a Jewish mother. He has four siblings, all of whom are Muslim. How did his story become common knowledge? The government allowed him to visit Israel. This was no minor gesture, as Pakistani passports are labeled valid anywhere in the world, "except for Israel."

How did he find his way to Judaism?

"It's complicated, but there was something that made it happen. I wanted spirituality and I found it in Judaism. I thank God for the good things that happen to me," Khalid tells Israel Hayom.

Khalid is also a staunch Zionist.

"I'm openly a Zionist and a supporter of Israel. Most importantly, I love Pakistan, which is why as a Pakistani Zionist I want good relations between these sister countries," he says.

'I am a Pakistani Zionist,' member of tiny Jewish community says in rare interview

The Jewish community on the Indian subcontinent dates back many years, long before the Muslims in the former British colony

www.israelhayom.com

Maybe a little less lies and propaganda would help whatever it is you are trying to do. You must be the most useless member of your Hasbara media cell that you are tasked with peddling your propaganda here.

The Magain Shalome Synagoge in Karachi was there till 1988 . After Israel came into being hardly any Jews left in the city and it fell into disrepair, it was finally taken down to make way for a mall and lot of its sacred belongings were either stored by a Muslim man and rest of it sent to the US.

As as for the guy, it admits he a zionist, that automatically makes him a hated individual by 99% of the population. It's your own Israel Zionist propaganda that has linked criticism of Israel as criticism of judaism, now most people cannot distinguish between zionism and judiams. So it backfires for many Jews around the world who get into trouble because of just being a Jew.

 

[HSiddiqui]

Really? So if all you had to do was push a button to change the world so that Israel, the Jewish State, still existed, strong and prosperous and independent, and there was no "illegal occupation", would you push it?

I do not have this responsibility, I have my opinion, and experience that I shared.

 

[Mughal1]

When a small group of people invents and enforces falsehood and the rest do nothing at all or very little then a world comes about like the one we have wherein most people only and only suffer terrible misdeeds by hands of each other. It is because the only interest people have in common is personal gains at each other's expense. For a detailed explanation of things about the quran, deen of islam and pakistan see HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.