I saw a post from Trevor asking where this "apology thread" is so I decided to make one after my earlier post asking for an apology which they may not have seen.
I am requesting this apology, officially, because the Israelites on this forum have been slandered by false witness. Anthony posted videos from youtube and Trevor jumped on the bandwagon of trying to use this image of 1 or 2 ICUPK splinter groups to put a face on ALL Israelites.
It may be hard for many to empathize not being in this situation, but if you have ever been denied a job because an employer had a fear of black criminals or because black people have been characterized as lazy....
If you have ever been followed around a store because someone thought you might steal something because of what you look like....
If you have ever been stopped by the police because you just happened to fit the description....
If you have ever experienced opposition because someone wanted to use criminals or ghetto youth to "put a face on you" then you should understand why I made this thread. And its worse coming from people who should understand how bad this is to do to someone.
If you want to see what I look like, ask me for a picture. I'll show you my whole family. But don't put labels on me when you don't know me. I define myself. You don't define me.
Those who can understand, please understand this so that we do not have to repeat ourselves every single time someone makes an ignorant statement. Israelites are a nationality. We are not a religion. We are not one big group. We do not all have the same beliefs, the same looks, the same hair, the same style of dress, the same mentality, the same perspective, the same car, the same diet, the same job, the same house. The people that we have been compared to are people I don't know and don't care to know. We've never met. We've never ate together. We've never gone to the same school. We read the same book but guess what. We ALL (including you) read that same book.
Special note about racism (which describes the power rangers we were basically depicted as)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_israelites#Allegations_of_black...
In late 2008, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) described as black supremacist what it called "the extremist fringe of the Hebrew Israelite movement". It wrote that the members of such groups "believe that Jews are devilish impostors and ... openly condemn whites as evil personified, deserving only death or slavery". The SPLC also said that "most Hebrew Israelites are neither explicitly racist nor anti-Semitic and do not advocate violence".[54]
The Black Hebrew groups characterized as black supremacist by the SPLC include the Nation of Yahweh[55] and the Israelite Church of God in Jesus Christ.[54] Also, the Anti-Defamation League has written that the "12 Tribes of Israel" website, maintained by a Black Hebrew group, promotes black supremacy.[56]
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And Trevor... I'm especially surprised at you because you like to think of me as a ninja; an identification I'm not offended by. Shinobi (or ninjas) are known for assassination. How ironic is it that you have become more of a ninja than I will ever be.
African Hebrew Israelites...
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/B...
Rastafarians....
No one would use these videos to classify Rastas like Bob Marley.
Zion vs. Babylon
Rastas assert that Zion (i.e., Africa, especially Ethiopia) is a land that Jah promised to them. To achieve this, they reject modern western society, calling it "Babylon", which they see as entirely corrupt.[5][7][11] "Babylon" is considered to have been in rebellion against "Earth's Rightful Ruler" (Jah) ever since the days of the Biblical king Nimrod.
Some Rastas claim themselves to represent the real Children of Israel or children of god, (this may stem from the belief by some scholars that Ethiopia was populated at some stage by one of the "lost" tribes of Israel; modern credence is given to this view with the acknowledgment of the Beta Israel by the Israeli government). Another historical viewpoint which seeks to validate this link between Ethiopia, Israel and the Rastafari belief system can be found under the Lion of Judah and their goal is to repatriate to Africa, or to Zion.[clarification needed] (Rasta reggae is peppered with references to Zion; among the best-known examples are the Bob Marley songs '"Zion Train" and "Iron Lion Zion".)
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafarian#Zion_vs._Babylon
Rastafarians have within them the "Bobo Ashanti" (Bobo means black)
They have differences.
Members of the Bobo Ashanti order wear long robes and tightly wrapped turbans around their dreads. They adhere closely to the Jewish Law, including the observance of the Sabbath from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and hygiene laws for menstruating women. They live separately from Jamaican society and other Rastafarians, growing their own produce and selling straw hats and brooms. They often carry brooms with them to symbolize their cleanliness.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rastafarian#Bobo_Ashanti
Just because someone is Rastafarian doesn't mean they have the same "face" as the Bobo Ashanti and just because some ignorant negroes in the US believe one thing that we also believe doesn't make us any more a confederacy than anyone else. I am not rastafarian. I am not part of any ISUPK > ICUPK > ICGJC faction, camp, gang, whatever they want to call themselves.
There are plenty of Israelites who are not on the "extremist fringe" according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. They would not even call it a "fringe" if it was indicative of the majority. They are not the majority and they are not the mainstream. They gain members quickly but they bleed them out also quickly. Some of their ex-members may have found their way into the more mainstream groups or circles. Many Israelites do not have enough Israelites around them and are more independent. Some simply choose to be independent. There is no Israelite church that you have to be a part of to maintain Israelite status. It is a nationality. African American is not a nationality because there is no such nation as Africa unless you are Sarah Palin. Africa is a continent.
The bottom line is that to say all israelites are the same and then to debase Isralites on this forum based on an extremist fringe group that IS a cult is EITHER ignorant (As in not knowing better) or dishonest (which in my opinion is the more scary in dealing with ministers). I don't know which one is the case here but we are owed an apology and a statement recanting the lie that there is any connection at all.
Shalom