Let us start with the historical Jewish Diaspora. Historical as verified from sources other than the Bible. The Romans controlled the middle east around 1 BC. (Think Julius Caesar and Cleopatra an Egyptian Queen of Greek Origin)

To quote
Asia Minor after the Macedonian Wars (214–148 B.C.). In 63 B.C. The defeat of the Carthaginians gave Rome almost complete control of the Mediterranean. Romans conquered most of Asia Minor in 188 B.C., Syria and Palestine in 64 and 63 B.C.

In 70 C.E. (a few years after the purported passing of Jesus Christ the Romans Destroyed the Judaism Temple in Jerusalem. Apparently this ended the ability to make animal sacrifices to God (Yahweh). Plus the Roman persecution of the Jews and Judaism led to their disperal from Palestine, i.e. the Diaspora

Note: There is no evidence of a Kingdom or Country called Israel in any of the Historical or Pre-historical records of the Babylonians and Assyrians. There was region called Palestine (Palaistinê, Παλαιστῑ́νη) since at least since the Greek times. The word Israel became considered “Fact” when Europe became Christian and the Bible an accepted source of fact given by the Divine. The Jews became notable and rich because they were money lenders. Christians (and Muslims) are forbidden to lend money on interest (usury). Think Merchant of Venice and Shylock the Jew

Now to the The Crusades

There were three Crusades,
First Crusade (1096–1099)
The Crusades were purpotedly to recapture Jerusalem and have it under Christian Rule. But more likely to get back two-thirds of land held by Christians that had been conquered by Muslim forces prior to the First Crusade . The Crusaders successfully capture Jerusalem and establish the Crusader States

The Second Crusade (1147–1149)
Was announced by Pope Eugene III, and was led in the east by European kings Louis VII of France and Conrad III of Germany, with help from a number of other European nobles. It ended with Jerusalem capitulating to Saladin. His forces then spread north to capture all but the capital cities of the Crusader States, precipitating the Third Crusade

The Third Crusade (1189–1192)
This is the Crusade I am most familiar, as it features heavily in English novels and English school text books.
The main characters in this Crusade are King Richard I of England, King Philip II of France, the Knights Templar and Saladin Sultan of Egypt and Syria. Ended with Saladin Regaining Palestine Including Jerusalem and Egypt
.
King Richard I of England
The English lionize King Richard the Lion Heart. In reality he was a bad King for England. Spending most of time in France (Aquitane) and on the Crusades. England was used as piggy bank to fund the Crusade and his Ransom. The burden was on taxes for peasants. Like the US and its forever wars funded by debt which is an indirect funding paid by the average person. However, considered brave and handsome “He was tall, of elegant build; the colour of his hair was between red and gold; his limbs were supple and straight”
Note: Both King Richard, King Philp II and all other Christians in Western Europe were Catholic. The Anglican Church (Church of England) and Protestant Churches were founded centuries later.

King Philip II of France
After Richard became king, he and Philip agreed to go on the Third Crusade, since each feared that during his absence the other might usurp his territories. the son of Louis VII and Adela of Champagne. He was nicknamed “Dieudonné” (God-given) being the first born son, arriving late in his father’s life.
In Contrast to Richard I, Philip II transformed France into the most prosperous and powerful country in Europe. He checked the power of the nobles and helped the towns free themselves from seigneurial authority, granting privileges and liberties to the emergent bourgeoisie.

Sultan Salah ad-Din (Saladin) of Syria and Egypt
Saladin was a Sunni Muslin and a Kurd (an Iranian Tribe). Under Saladin’s command, the Ayyubid army defeated the Crusaders at the decisive Battle of Hattin in 1187, capturing Jerusalem and re-establishing Muslim military dominance in the Levant. Although the Crusaders’ Kingdom of Jerusalem persisted until the late 13th century, the defeat in 1187 marked a turning point in the Christian military effort against Muslim powers in the region. Saladin died in Damascus in 1193, having given away much of his personal wealth to his subjects.

Richard proposed that his sister Joan should marry Saladin’s brother and that Jerusalem could be their wedding gift. However, Saladin rejected this idea when Richard insisted that Saladin’s brother convert to Christianity. Richard suggested that his niece Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany be the bride instead, an idea that Saladin also rejected. These stories are featured in Walter Scotts The Talisman.

Saladin was widely renowned in medieval Europe as a model of kingship, and in particular of the courtly virtue of regal generosity. “Indeed, it is somewhat ironic that the Muslim leader became one of the great exemplars of chivalry in 13th century European literature. Much has been written about the sultan during his own lifetime and since, but the fact that an appreciation for his diplomacy and leadership skills can be found in both contemporary Muslim and Christian sources would suggest that Saladin is indeed worthy of his position as one of the great medieval leaders.”

Some other Tidbits

Damascus Steel
Saladin and his armies were reputed have swords light and sharp. So sharp that with with a flick of the wrist it could cut a silk scarf that was resting on the sword blade. Now it is considered to be Wootz Carbon Steel that was made in South India and Sri Lanka. The other advantages were the lithe fast Arabian horses. In contrast the English had Iron Amour and big heavy Iron swords. Both needed big horses ill suited to the hot mid east climate

Saladin Tithe
A tax of of 10% on revenues and movable properties in England and France. Another massive tax was imposed on England in order to raise King Richards ransom money at the much higher rate of 25%.

Saladin Armored Car (Irony)
FV601 Saladin is a six-wheeled armored car developed by Crossley Motors and later manufactured by Alvis.
The Saladin also spawned an armoured personnel carrier counterpart, the Alvis Saracen

Not many Pure Arab Caliphs
Many of the Caliphs or Sultan of the Islamic Empires were not proper Arabs,  Kurds (an Iranian Tribe) ,  Turks and children of concubines, typically Circassian or Persian (Circassians are considered extremely beautiful and desired in the Mid East). Quite similar to the Moghul (Mongol) Kings marrying Persian/Iranian women. Probably to end up with light skinned children, permanent Fair and Lovely. A modern day example is King Farouk, the last effective King of Egypt, He had Albanian, Circassian, Turkish, French, Greek and Egyptian ancestry

Scheherazade
The Legendary Queen who is the story teller of Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights). Her name is from the Middle Persian name Čīhrāzād, which is composed of the words čīhr (‘lineage’) and āzād (‘noble, exalted’). Many of the stories are set in Caliph Hārūn al-Rāshīd’s (766 – 809) court. Harun Al Rashid too was born in Tehran, Iran

The first wave was the “German Jews”, most of whom were Bavarian peddlers. Many of them scattered across the country, starting general stores and the like. Though numerically a very small migration, they founded many Jewish American institutions. There is a reason that the headquarters of Reform Judaism, which is of German origin, is in Cincinnati. This reflects the migration of German Jews along routes of commerce in the 19th century.

The second wave, and the much larger one, is the migration stream that issued out of the expanded Russian Empire, in particular Lithuania and Galicia. These are who the German Jews referred to as the “Ostjuden”, the Eastern Jews. This was a term applied in Germany to Jews from Poland and further east as well. The Ostjuden were often destitute. Those that fled the early 20th century pogroms may have had nothing but the clothes on their backs. In fact, in all likelihood, the richer and more assimilated Jews were the ones who remained in Europe.

America was the destination for the more marginalized.

Though the German Jews looked down their noses at these newcomers, who packed themselves in neighborhoods such as the Lower East Side, the fact was that the gap between the two is relatively recent. The vast majority of German Jews descended from migrants who arrived from the east in Germany in the 18th and 19th centuries, where they created a new identity that attempted to balance a German national identification with the Jewish religion (e.g., “Germans of the Mosaic Faith”). These were the people who spearheaded the “Jewish Enlightenment,” the Haskalah. In the United States, the Reform movement rejected Jewish peoplehood (before accepting it again in the late 20th century).

The German Jews and Ostjuden are fundamentally the same people, the Ashkenazi Jews who flourished in and expanded rapidly in Poland and Lithuania between 1500 and 1750. Genetically Ashkenazi Jews are all relatively closely related and form a distinct and clear ethno-genetic cluster, subject to a population bottleneck in the centuries before 1500. The genetic data reinforces the assertion that the overwhelming majority of Jewish Americans come out of the same history and the same cultural-matrix in Europe. Once in the United States, gentiles saw little difference between German Jews and Eastern European Jews, so the community coalesced together, with some differences of religious liberalism and secularism.*

I review this to emphasize that just saying “Indians are the new Jews” assumes a lot and brackets many different things into the two classes. Though to outsiders Indians seem relatively coherent (Aziz Ansari and Hasan Minaj look the same, right?), Indians are not nearly as culturally coherent and cohesive as Jews. Genetically, Ashkenazi Jewish genealogies tend to coalesce 500-1,000 years ago. Indian genealogies for different communities coalesce 2 to 4 thousand years ago. Jewish Americans arrived in the United States with a common language, Yiddish. Only the more assimilated Jews were only fluent in the national vernacular.  Indian Americans share one language, English, which is the same as that of the nation to which they migrated. The overwhelming majority of Jewish Americans in the 20th century remained Jewish if they were religious. A minority of Indian Americans are Muslim or Christian, and even among Hindus religion and caste distinctions are important enough there are North Indian and South Indian temples. Sikhs are overrepresented amongst the migrants. Jewish Americans tended to create their common American culture in a few large urban areas, in particular New York City. Though Edison and Cupertino have large Indian communities, the size and concentration of these communities are not analogous to Jews in terms of magnitude.

In short, Indian Americans don’t have what it takes to create a coherent catchall ethnic group similar to Amerian Jews except for the fact that outsiders perceive themselves as a singular group. I don’t think that “push” is ultimately that strong.

I’m writing this post in part because a reader asked what I thought of a post on another weblog, Lessons In Identity. The author makes an observation that Indian Americans seem politically savvy and are prominent in areas such as social justice liberalism and the hard Left. He also makes an analogy to the cohesiveness of the American Jewish communities, suggesting this is the model that Indians are taking.

Let me quote a bit to illustrate where the author goes right and wrong:

It turns out that there is one group that plays identity politics as well as Jews and that is South Asians. They stick together wherever they find themselves. So much so they were able to elbow the Jews out of the Amsterdam diamond market. That is a remarkable feat, given the history and nature of the diamond market. In the United States, they are taking over the wholesale jewelry business. They are doing it on the power of informal agreements among co-ethnics.

…

The difference between Yang and Harris is South Asians are very tribal, while East Asians are not very tribal. We see this in genetics and marriage patterns. India is a beef stew of various tribes, castes and ethnic groups. China, in contrast, is dominated by Han Chinese. East Asia tends toward mono-ethnic societies. Put another way, the biology of South Asia reinforces and encourages extreme identity politics, while East Asian biology tends to encourage uniformity and conformity.

In America, the East Asians that come here are the least ethnocentric of their kind, so they look to quickly assimilate. They name their kids Bob and Sally, take up golf and join the local Christian church. High caste Indians move here and name their kids Sinjar and Amala. They have a tandoor clay oven installed in their house and they find a local Hindu temple to join. In Asia, South Asians are as tribal as Jews are in the West, while East Asians are about as tribal as white people.

Not sure that the author realizes the implicit contradiction in what he’s saying. Indians are very tribal and riven by identity politics conflicts, but that’s why they are not as cohesive as you might think in the Diaspora. South Asians didn’t elbow out Ashkenazi Jews in the Antwerp diamond market, Palanpuri Jains did. That is a very small community from a particular city in the Indian state of Gujurat. If I showed up and wanted to enter the diamond trade I wouldn’t have any luck because I’m not part of this ethnic group. If I was a Hindu Patel, from the same state, I wouldn’t have any luck. If I was a Jain from Rajasthan, just to the north, I wouldn’t have any luck (though they might be more friendly to me if I was a Jain or a fellow Guju).

This goes to the idea of installing a tandoor oven. That’s Punjabi. Though there are some Punjabi Hindus in the United States, most are Sikh, so most would go to a gurdwara. The vast majority of Indians wouldn’t install a tandoor because that’s not their traditional cooking. In contrast, “Jewish food” is a thing because Eastern European Jews did have a common cuisine that derived from local availability and Jewish dietary regulations. Most Indian cuisine is unpalatable and barbaric because it lacks mustard oil.

I have heard of this idea that Indians in Silicon Valley engage in preferential hiring of other “Indians.” First, talking to friends in the area and industry they’re skeptical of the ubiquity of this, at least to any great extent beyond what happens when you have a bunch of Harvard tech-bros who start a company together. So you imagine that a bunch of Indian guys who went to the same IIT at the same time might start a firm together. Second, Indian jatis are so diverse and variegated that it’s hard to imagine someone staffing their whole company with fellow Iyers or even Patidars. This is really what would be ethnic nepotism.

Mind you, there is some affinity between Indians and brown people general. We are of the “same civilization,” look broadly similar, and enjoy similar (if different) foods, music, and other aspects of cultural production. In the USA we have similar experiences if we grew up here because other Americans view us as interchangeable. But these are fundamentally weak ties, unlike the sort that emerge through long and difficult shared history, such as black Americans and Jewish Americans have. The most strongly vigorous pan-Indian Indian Americans are the most assimilated and whitewashed. The most strident about being Indian, as opposed to a Guju Patel, is also the most likely to marry someone who is not Indian.

This leaves us with a mystery. What’s going on with loud and proud South Asian Americans on the American scene? It’s a thing. And Indian Americans tend to be on the Left. I don’t think this requires a deep understanding of Indians as a collective group. Some facts

1) Indian Americans are well-educated (selective migration), and well-educated Americans are trending Democratic
2) Indian Americans are nonwhite and usually not Christian (Christian Indian Americans are much more likely to be Republican and not just the famous ones)
3) Indian Americans are loud and have strong verbal skills (East Asians have strong verbal skills on tests, but for individual or cultural reasons they are not so loquacious extemporaneously in spoken conversation)

These three factors alone can explain their prominent position within the modern American Left and Democratic party politics. In other words, it’s individual characteristics and pan-cultural traits. Compared to East Asians Indians are louder and more aggressive, though North Indians more so than South Indians, and Punjabis more than everyone else.

* The emergence of very large Haredi communities in the USA is a function of the last half of the 20th century as religious Jewish leaders who survived the Holocaust finally left Europe, and the communities which coalesced around them exhibited very high fertility and residential segregation.

 …
Six years have gone by, in the blink of an eye. Today (August 26) is the grand re-opening of the Chabad House, in Colaba, downtown Mumbai (same location where the 26/11 attacks took place). It all looks quite gorgeous and we do not doubt the sincerity of the folks involved. Having said that, it does seem that these people have some sort of a death wish.
…..

…
Given the hostile relationship between Indian and Pakistan (only 960 years of warfare left) it will be a brave man who can guarantee that 26/11 will never repeat. From what is known about the current state of (safety) preparations, we have grave doubts.
….

….
The little orphan boy (Moshe Holtzberg) is now 8 years of age (he looks to be a complete cutie pie) and his nanny (Sandra Samuel of Mumbai) is with him. For a person who is so unfortunate as to lose his mother (and father) as a baby, it is sure nice that he has a mother-figure to love him and make him feel loved. A thousand cheers for the Imma (mother in Hebrew) and her boy.

……….
Moshe
Holtzberg, the Jewish toddler who survived the 26/11 Mumbai terror
attack, is “doing well”, growing up in a “complicated situation” with
his grandparents, and Tel Aviv thanks Indians for saving him, the
Israeli envoy here has said.

Moshe escaped thanks to his Indian nanny, Sandra
Samuel. She risked her life to rescue the toddler who was sitting beside
the blood-soaked bodies of his parents, crying. Since then she hasn’t
left him and was given Israeli citizenship.
………….
….
On Tuesday, Aug. 26, surrounded by guests and more than 25 Chabad
emissaries in Asia who will be there for a regional conference, Chabad
of Mumbai’s headquarters—also known as Nariman House—will open its doors
once again.

….
“This will definitely be very emotional for many people,” affirms Rabbi Yisroel Kozlovsky, who now co-directs Chabad of Mumbai together with his wife, Chaya. 
“This six-story building was continuously operating until the attack.
We’re not moving into a new building; we are returning to our original
building, and we will be continuing all of the activities that took
place here, and hopefully, grow even more. “We remember what happened, but we are working for the future.”

….

Kozlovsky explains that after a year-and-a-half of living and working
together with his wife in Mumbai, he more fully understands why Gabi
rushed to purchase a large building for his operation.

…
“There are so many possible complications here, bureaucratic and
otherwise, that it becomes very difficult to work without a permanent
base,” he says. “Now we will have security rooms, a synagogue, offices,
guest rooms, a restaurant and a commercial kitchen. 

It will be very
different than running things out of a 1,200-square-foot apartment, but
it will, G‑d willing, allow us to grow. And it is, of course, fitting
that we do this in the same place as Gabi and Rivky.”

…..
He adds that the official opening will also serve as the starting
point for the next phase of reconstruction: a $2.5 million museum to be
built in the apartment where the Holtzbergs lived and on the floor where
most of the murders occurred.

….
“I think this is really a message for the whole world,” adds
Kotlarsky. “You can overcome challenges, even the most horrific of
challenges. You can and must rebuild, and this project serves as a
beacon of light and hope that evil will not prevail.”

…….

By all accounts, Jewish life in Mumbai has benefited a great deal
since the Kozlovskys arrived. And the size of the community itself has
grown, including the new addition six weeks ago. Chaya Kozlovsky gave
birth to their second child, a baby boy, whose brit milah was celebrated at the Knesses Eliyahu Synagogue in the city.

….
“I think it’s the first Indian Menachem Mendel,” jokingly observes the new father.

While continuing ongoing Chabad projects, many of which were
initiated by the Holtzbergs, the Kozlovskys have worked diligently on
increasing their activities. 

A Jewish kindergarten will open in time for
this school year, and with the recent opening of Mumbai’s new diamond
district in a different part of the city, they have established a
satellite Chabad center in that area to serve business travelers.
……

Link (1): 6-years-after-the-horrific-26/11-attacks-Mumbais-Chabad-House-reopens

Link (2): Jewish-toddler-survivor-of-26/11-attack-doing-well

…..

regards