Yes, because that satisfies the halachic definition of Jewishness: i.e., in accordance with religious law. Just because the religious-law qualification doesn’t involve personal belief doesn’t mean it’s not still part of religious law.
[QUOTE=madsircool]
There has to be some definition of what constitutes Jewishness just as there is a definition of what constitutes Britishness for the purpose of qualifying for citizenship.
[/QUOTE]
Sure. But why in the case of Jewishness does it have to be a religious-law definition? If it’s about being culturally Jewish, then why not just define it to mean self-identifying as culturally Jewish?
You can’t use a halachic definition of Jewishness for your citizenship qualification and then say that the qualification has nothing to do with religion.
Your numbers are still in an alternate reality, ISTM. All of Egypt’s Christians, of whom about half are Copts, make up only about 10% of Egypt’s total population.
[QUOTE=Ají de Gallina]
By exclusively Muslim I mean that the government is Muslim and enforces Islam over other faiths.
[/quote]
And how does Lebanon fit into this definition for you?
How does Tunisia fit into your blanket assertion that, except in Lebanon, “the government is Muslim and enforces Islam over other faiths.
Try being an active Christian anywhere else.”?
(I would point out, for comparison, that Denmark likewise has an official state religion, the Lutheran Church of Denmark, to which the Danish royal head of state is required to belong. Other western democracies also have official state religions. So while actual persecution of religious minorities is indeed a symptom of religious intolerance in many Muslim-majority countries, the mere fact of having Islam as an official state religion is not.)
Cite.
89% of Palestinians support Sharia law (page 18). And of those, 66% are in favour of the death penalty for apostasy (page 55). 66% of 89% is 58.7% in favour of making it law that converting to another religion is punishable by death.
:dubious: So, your assertion depends on conflating “apostates” with “religious minorities”. Got it.
Mind you, I condemn in the strongest terms the illiberal and oppressive position of advocating the death penalty or any legal penalty for religious conversion. But I don’t think that justifies dishonestly exaggerating or misrepresenting that position, illiberal and oppressive though it may be.
Would you prefer the Nazi biological definition? The reason your self-identification definition wouldnt work is because anyone could ‘self-identify’ as Jewish; including those who want to dwestroy Israel and Jews. Please remember why Israel is in the first place. As a haven for Jews who have been persecuted, murdered or expelled elsewhere in the world. And do any Jew or their family have a right to return to tha Arab states that expelled them?
No. Are that and the halachic definition the only two options?
[QUOTE=madsircool]
The reason your self-identification definition wouldnt work is because anyone could ‘self-identify’ as Jewish
[/quote]
Well, my point here isn’t to personally advocate for any particular definition of “Jewishness”. I’m just pointing out that your claim, that Jewishness as defined by the Israeli state is “cultural” rather than “religious”, is a distinction without a difference, since in fact that definition is based in Jewish religious law.
So what? The religion or lack of religion of anyone claiming to be Jewish under that definition is unimportant. Jewishness is not defined by the religious belief of the individual.
The main problem between Israel and Palastine is the settlements which were unlawful since 1967. Rabine almost had the peace and a 2 stste problem fixed, but Netanyahu’s party had Rabine assainated.
But as I said, the fact that it’s not about the religious belief of the individual doesn’t mean that it’s not still a religious definition. A definition based in religious law is a religious definition.
Trying to equate a religious-law definition of Jewishness with a much broader concept of “cultural Jewishness” is disingenuous.
They also support Rule of Law, a Premiership football team and - I know this cos I carried out a carefully structured, non-agenda survey. btw, Donald Trump can’t win the election, either.
The Kerry speech is a hybrid of Administration legacy maneuvering, politics, and another attempt to hem Trump in a bit. Kind of like what the Republican legislature did in North Carolina, only less smelly and egregious.
When and if Trump’s more pro-Israel policy backfires, this sudden concern about settlements can be used as an I-told-you-so in support of the Democratic candidate in 2020.
Realistically, the speech and the U.N. resolution can’t be expected to have much practical effect beyond finger-wagging.
Your numbers are still in an alternate reality, ISTM. All of Egypt’s Christians, of whom about half are Copts, make up only about 10% of Egypt’s total population.