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Can the Taliban turn to be Israel-Lovers? Are the Pathan/Pashtun tribes really one of the lost tribes of Israel? Can we all be friends? Tamar speaks with Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi, a Researcher in Indo-Judaic Studies and Medieval & Modern Indian History with a focus on Pathans/Pakhtuns/Pashtuns, and a Member of the Advisory Team on The Ten Lost Tribes Challenge: "Expeditions of Discovery ". 
Dr. Aafreedi says he was born a Muslim, but describes himself today as a Human Secularist with a deep belief in G-d. He spent a year in Israel and came away with a love and appreciation for the Jewish nation. He says that there are perhaps forty million Pathans alive today who generally believe that they descended from the Lost Tribes of Israel calling themselves 'Bani Israel' (B'nei Yisrael/children of Israel) Their women light candles on Friday nights, their men wear ritual fringes on their clothes, they circumcise their male infants at 8 days old, do not shave the sidelocks on their heads, and they also practice Levirate marriage. If the Pathan tribes - who were converted to Islam centuries ago really did stem from the Lost tribes, then in the end of days according to our prophets, G-d will change their hearts and bring them back to their people and their land, the Land of Israel. Dr. Navras Jaat Aafreedi is making a daily effort to repair Moslem-Jewish relations, and hopes through his work in holding seminars and disseminating information about Israel and the Jewish people, that the Muslim world will move closer towards peace and harmony with the Jewish People. You can visit his blog at: Navras Aafreedi.blogspot.com.

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