As the world prepares for a military onslaught on Afghanistan, and as the last of the Western journalists leave the country, Arutz-7 spoke yesterday with Naftali Cohen, who immigrated to Israel from Afghanistan 25 years ago. Cohen described his recollections of the land of his birth and his thoughts about the warfare it is soon to face. He immigrated with the last wave of Afghani Jews, from the period of 1975 to 1982, at the age of 17. \"I have mixed emotions about the apparently upcoming attack,\" Cohen said. \"On the one hand, like many Afghani expatriates, I have sympathy for those Afghani Moslems with whom I was friendly.\" Known for their fundamentalist brand of Islam, the Afghanis are divided into two groups, Sunnis and Shi’ites. Naftali said he encountered anti-Semitism primarily from the Shi’ite sector of the populace, who “hate the Jews more than the Sunnis do.”
One thing he is sure about, however, is that the invasion of Afghanistan by U.S. ground troops will not be easy. \"Look at the Soviets,\" he said, who were essentially defeated by the Afghanis. Air strikes, on the other hand, will cause great suffering to the Afghani populace, while the Islamic terrorists have many inaccessible hiding places.
Media reports indicate that there remain only two Jews in Afghanistan, Yitzchak Levy and Zevulun Siman-Tov, both of whom live in Kabul. Naftali Cohen told Arutz-7 that he spoke with Siman-Tov recently, who is a businessman with freedom of movement into and out of Afghanistan. Both Siman-Tov and Levy have family in Israel.
One thing he is sure about, however, is that the invasion of Afghanistan by U.S. ground troops will not be easy. \"Look at the Soviets,\" he said, who were essentially defeated by the Afghanis. Air strikes, on the other hand, will cause great suffering to the Afghani populace, while the Islamic terrorists have many inaccessible hiding places.
Media reports indicate that there remain only two Jews in Afghanistan, Yitzchak Levy and Zevulun Siman-Tov, both of whom live in Kabul. Naftali Cohen told Arutz-7 that he spoke with Siman-Tov recently, who is a businessman with freedom of movement into and out of Afghanistan. Both Siman-Tov and Levy have family in Israel.