Talk:Beta Israel

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Ethiopia Top‑importance

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Judaism High‑importance

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Ethnic groups High‑importance

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Jewish history High‑importance

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Israel Mid‑importance

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Africa Top‑importance

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Anthropology: Oral tradition Top‑importance

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Source 32

[32] quotes Kaplan as "Steve" but his name is "Steven"! 37.168.18.41 (talk) 21:16, 15 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Forced conversion by Christians in 18th century needs a citation

Would like a source for this claim and to be more specific about the denomination that force converted Ethiopian Jews. Ethiopian Christians have been around since before the Nicene Council and have the oldest Bible in the world. They lived side-by-side with the Jews since the beginning so it's highly doubtful that Ethiopian Christians force converted Ethiopian Jews 1500 years later. C.a.kland (talk) 10:43, 8 November 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Africa or Ethiopia?

Calling on @Sinclairian and @KybordK6K to engage in a discussion here, rather than edit-war.
Note to @KybordK6K: please leave Branu Tegene out of the edit war. I don't think there is any dispute that he is a notable member of the community. The Mountain of Eden (talk) 15:21, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, definitely need to take this to talk at this point.

Kybord's rationale that we cannot call Beta Israel an "African Jewish community" because we don't use that descriptor for Jews living in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya is complete nonsense. As I said in my edit summary: Ethiopia is an African nation, the Beta Israel are primarily descended from native Ethiopians, and they speak a Semitic language which originated in Ethiopia – therefore, they are African Jews not just geographically, but ethnically, culturally, linguistically, and, well, literally. If Kybord has a problem with other African communities not being described as "African" in their lede sections, nothing is preventing him – or any other editor – from adding such a descriptor themselves. Sinclairian (talk) 16:40, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

You lost me. If, in your words, they "are primarily descended from native Ethiopians" why not describe them as Ethiopians? Alternatively, could we describe them "as a Jewish community from sub-Sahara Africa" to exclude the Arab countries of North Africa? The Mountain of Eden (talk) 16:59, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Of course we could, but that was never the point of contention. Sinclairian (talk) 14:18, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Glad you agree that we can narrow down the region from "Africa" to "sub-Sahara Africa". But KybordK6K makes a good point below that why expand the region beyond what is most necessary? If, as you acknowledge, they are primarily descended from native Ethiopians, why not limit the geographic location to Ethiopia?

The point being: there is no need to expand the geographic region any more than necessary. The Mountain of Eden (talk) 15:11, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Again, that’s totally fine, but also, was never even being debated in the first place. This is about a user completely removing any mention of African origin, not a disagreement over how to acceptably specify their origins. Sinclairian (talk) 17:12, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I'm confused. Isn't Ethiopia in Africa? If we say that they are from Ethiopia, wouldn't that mean that they are from Africa? The Mountain of Eden (talk) 17:18, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

1 Look, culturally speaking the customs of the Beta israel (as well as their Christian neighbours the Amhara & Tigrayns) is similar to other Middle Eastern people rather than sub-Saharan African people. So Therefore I want to Ask you what do you mean by “they are African Jews by culturally”. What about Moroccan or Tunisian Jews? Why treating the Beta israel different than them?

2 Using as large continent such as Africa to generalise people is wrong. Technically speaking both bedueins and Japaneses are native to the continent of Asia. Yet it doesn’t mean that they have/share anything in common. KybordK6K (talk) 19:37, 3 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

I think KybordK6K makes valid points. The Mountain of Eden (talk) 01:05, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Compromise wording

Would this wording be acceptable to both sides? The Mountain of Eden (talk) 17:23, 4 November 2024 (UTC)[reply]