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Last Afghan Jew prepares to leave his homeland amid political uncertainty
Afghanistan’s last remaining Jew, Zablon Simintov, has decided to leave his homeland, citing concerns of the Taliban’s return to government as his primary reason.
In an interview with Radio Free Afghanistan, Siminto said he has lived apart from his wife and two daughters for more than two decades.
The 61-year-old said: “After our important festivals [Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in September], I will leave Afghanistan.”
He told Radio Free Afghanistan: “If you decide to leave then it is difficult to stay,” adding “if the Taliban return, they are going to push us out with a slap in the face.”
He said his increasing worries over the past two years have convinced him to leave.
According to Radio Free Afghanistan, Simintov, whose wife and daughters live in Israel, used to say it was God’s will that he lived in Afghanistan. But he said he has worried about his future since Washington began negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban in 2018.
“Peace talks are making people worried that if the Taliban come and if they behave the same as they used to during their regime [in the 1990s] then people will be worried,” he told the BBC in 2019.
Simintov is not the only one leaving his homeland, which in the mid-20th century boasted a 40,000-strong Jewish community.
Raja Ram, an Afghan Sikh, told Radio Free Afghanistan he is staying behind to look after the Hindu temple in Ghazni.
Afghanistan’s Hindu and Sikh minority has shrunk from more than 200,000 in the 1980s to a few hundred families today. Most members of Afghanistan’s tiny Hindu and Sikh minority have already left while others plan to join exiled members of their community in India.
A string of attacks against the community has seen a steady exodus of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus over the past three years.
Afghanistan’s religious minorities claim the face discrimination despite the country’s current constitution guaranteeing protections against discrimination.
However, Afghan clerics and Islamic scholars insist that discrimination against non-Muslims has no place in Islam.
“If religious minorities live in an Islamic country, its government is obliged to protect them,” Mufti Bilal Ahmed Safir, a religious scholar in Kabul, told Radio Free Afghanistan.
“Their lives and properties should be protected, and they should be granted all the rights given by Allah.”
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Afghan force strikes ISIS-linked targets in Pakistan, Defense Ministry Says
According to the Ministry of Defense, the sites were also being used to plan sabotage operations and attacks against civilians.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense says the Afghan Air Force carried out airstrikes on what it described as joint ISIS and “mischief and corruption” centers in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces.
According to a statement issued by the ministry, one of the strikes targeted a joint ISIS and “mischief and corruption” center in the Saranan area of Pishin district in Balochistan.
The ministry said the facility had been used to organize sabotage operations and attacks inside Afghanistan and served as a coordination center for bombardments in which Afghan civilians were targeted.
In separate operations, the Afghan Air Force also struck an ISIS center in the Qamber Khel area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and another joint ISIS and “mischief and corruption” center in the Garm Chashma area of the Shah Salim Valley in Chitral.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the sites were also being used to plan sabotage operations and attacks against civilians.
The ministry said preliminary information indicates the strikes inflicted heavy casualties and significant material losses on ISIS members, the “mischief and corruption” network, and their supporters.
It added that the operations were carried out with a high degree of precision against their intended targets and that no civilian casualties were reported.
The Ministry of Defense said Afghanistan’s Air Defense Forces will continue to target any location used to threaten the country’s security.
Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman for the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), has urged spokespersons of all Emirate institutions to intensify efforts aimed at strengthening information dissemination and expanding cooperation with media outlets.
Speaking at a coordination meeting held on Tuesday at the Government Information and Media Center, Mujahid praised the efforts of institutional spokespersons in sharing information and described their role in improving the effectiveness and coordination of public communication as important.
He stressed the need for continued cooperation and called on spokespersons to play a more active role in strengthening government-related content through media platforms and the Parmakhtag website.
Mujahid also highlighted the importance of media in delivering information, raising public awareness, reflecting realities, and strengthening public trust in the government.
Noorullah Noori, Minister of Borders, Ethnic and Tribal Affairs, says that objectives such as establishing an Islamic system, ensuring security, and achieving national unity in Afghanistan have now been fulfilled, and has called on opponents of the Islamic Emirate living abroad to return to the country.
Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Noori addressed opponents of the Islamic Emirate, saying: “If your jihad against the Russians was aimed at establishing an Islamic system, ensuring security, and achieving national unity, then today these objectives have been achieved in Afghanistan. Return to your country and present whatever suggestions or opinions you may have.”
Noori added that opponents of the Islamic Emirate based in Turkey, Pakistan, and several other countries should stop claiming that they seek to “liberate Afghanistan,” because Afghanistan is now a free country. He warned that no one will be given permission or the opportunity to cause bloodshed in the country again.
He urged them to come back to Afghanistan and present any proposals or demands they may have regarding the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan.
He said: “What is your voice, your message, and your demand? Our country has regained its freedom from occupiers, and today there is not a single foreign soldier present anywhere in Afghanistan. So, from whom do you intend to liberate the country? Return to your homeland and put forward your proposals. The people of Afghanistan have learned from the past. Today, not even a single dead body is seen across Afghanistan, and Afghans neither expect to see coffins again, nor will anyone be given the opportunity to cause bloodshed in this country once more.”
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