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The history of the Jews of Ghana, previously known as the Gold Coast, dates back several centuries.[ not verified in body ] The contemporary Jewish community is small and mostly composed of foreign residents. The House of Israel, a community of aspiring converts, has begun to emerge in recent decades.
In 2015 the Chabad Lubavitch movement set up a Chabad house and synagogue in Accra Ghana that caters to tourists and visiting business people, mostly from Israel. [1] [2]
Ghana–Israel relations refers to the current and historical relationship between Ghana and Israel. Ghana has an embassy in Ramat Gan, Israel, [3] and Israel has an embassy in Accra. [4] [5] An Israeli consulate was established in Ghana in 1956, prior to independence. [6] [7] Ghana was the first country from Sub-Saharan Africa to establish diplomatic relations with Israel. [6]
In April 1959, Israel, with help from India, supervised the establishment of the Ghana Air Force. A small Israeli team also trained aircraft maintenance personnel and radio technicians at the Accra-based Air Force Trade Training School. After prime minister Kwame Nkrumah's overthrow, Israeli military activities in Ghana ended, but Israel continued to aid Ghana in shipping, construction, security, research, manpower training, and agriculture. [8] [6] From shortly after the 1973 Yom Kippur War through September 2011, Israel and Ghana maintained basic diplomatic ties through Nigeria. [5] In September 2011, Ghana and Israel renewed direct diplomatic relations. [5] [9]
The House of Israel is a Jewish community in Ghana that claims to have roots in the Ten Lost Tribes of ancient Israel. [10]
The foreign relations of Ghana are controlled by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ghana. Ghana is active in the United Nations and many of its specialised agencies, the World Trade Organization, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States. Generally, it follows the consensus of the Non-aligned Movement and the OAU on economic and political issues not directly affecting its own interests. Ghana has been extremely active in international peacekeeping activities under UN auspices in Lebanon, Afghanistan, Rwanda, and the Balkans, in addition to an eight-year sub-regional initiative with its ECOWAS partners to develop and then enforce a cease-fire in Liberia. Ghana is also a member of the International Criminal Court.
Foreign relations of Israel refers to diplomatic and trade relations between Israel and other countries around the world. Israel has diplomatic ties with 164 of the other 192 UN member states as of December 2020. Israel is a member of the United Nations (UN) and a number of other international organisations. Israel maintains full diplomatic relations with two of its Arab neighbours, Egypt and Jordan, after signing peace treaties in 1979 and 1994 respectively. In 2020, Israel signed agreements establishing diplomatic relations with four Arab League countries, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco. As of 2021, Israel had formal diplomatic relations with 168 other countries, while twenty-eight UN member states have either never established, or have broken off diplomatic relations with Israel.
Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad and Chabad-Lubavitch, is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic dynasty. Chabad is one of the world's best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups and Jewish religious organizations in the world. Unlike most Haredi groups, which are self-segregating, Chabad operates mainly in the wider world and caters to secularized Jews.
African Jewish communities include:
The history of the Jews in South Africa began during the period of Portuguese exploration in the early modern era, though a permanent presence was not established until the beginning of Dutch colonisation in the region. During the period of British colonial rule in the 19th century, the Jewish South African community expanded greatly, in part thanks to encouragement from Britain. From 1880 to 1914, the Jewish population in South Africa grew from 4,000 to over 40,000. South African Jews have played an important role in promoting diplomatic and military relations between Israel and South Africa. South Africa's Jewish community has reportedly declined from a possible peak of 120,000 to now between 52,000 and 88,000. Many South African Jews have emigrated to countries in the English-speaking world, such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Australia, as well as some emigrating to Israel.
The Ten Lost Tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire c. 722 BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Manasseh, and Ephraim; all but Judah and Benjamin. However, since the tribe of Simeon lived well within the territory of Judah, it is not clear as to why this tribe was never included in this list. Also, the tribes of Asher and Reuben were never mentioned as participating in anything after the conquest, living in either Phoenician (Asher) or Moabite (Reuben) controlled territory. By the middle 9th century BCE the territory of Gad was also (re)taken by the Moabites, so the Assyrians could at most have removed the other six tribes. Thus, the "10 tribes" appears to be a misnomer, meaning that all of the Jews were living outside the Kingdom of Judah. The Jewish historian Josephus wrote that "there are but two tribes in Asia and Europe subject to the Romans, while the ten tribes are beyond Euphrates till now, and are an immense multitude, and not to be estimated by numbers".
The history of the Jews in Kazakhstan connects back to the history of Bukharan and Juhuro Mountain Jews. Kazakh Jews have a long history. There are approximately several thousand Jews in Kazakhstan right at present.
The history of the Jews in Cyprus dates back at least to the 2nd century BC, when a considerable number of Jews in Cyprus was first recorded. The Jews had close relationships with many of the other religious groups on the island and were seen favourably by the island's Roman rulers. During the war over the city of Ptolemais between Alexander Jannaeus and King Lathyros, many Jews remained committed to King Lathyros and were subsequently killed.
Tudor Parfitt is a British historian, writer, broadcaster, traveller and adventurer. He specialises in the study of Jewish communities around the world, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Americas. Some of these communities have been recognised only since the late 20th century as having ancient Jewish origins.
Israel–Kazakhstan relations refers to the current and historical relations between Israel and Kazakhstan. The countries established diplomatic relations on April 10, 1992. The embassy of Israel in Astana, Kazakhstan opened in August 1992. The embassy of Kazakhstan in Tel Aviv, Israel opened in May 1996. In 2004, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Israel-Kazakhstan was established in Israel in order to develop and expand trade and economic relations.
Ghana–Israel relations refers to the bilateral relations between Ghana and Israel. Ghana–Israel relations dates back to the mid-1950s after Israel offered support to develop the Ghanaian armed forces. However, following the 1973 Yom Kippur War, Ghana severed relationships with Israel. In 2011, Ghana and Israel resumed formal relations and opened embassies in the Tel Aviv District city of Ramat Gan and Accra respectively, the Israeli embassy in Nigeria was the only known conduit of engagement between the two countries.
Chabad affiliated organizations and institutions number in the thousands. Chabad is a Hasidic movement, a branch of Orthodox Judaism. The organizations and institutions associated with the movement provide social, educational and religious services to Jews around the globe.
Israel–Papua New Guinea relations are bilateral relations between Israel and Papua New Guinea. Israel and Papua New Guinea established diplomatic relations in 1978, about three years after Papua New Guinea was granted independence.
The Jewish community of Houston, Texas has grown and thrived since the 1800s. As of 2008 Jews lived in many Houston neighborhoods and Meyerland is the center of the Jewish community in the area.
The recorded history of the Jews in Angola stretches from the Middle Ages to modern times. A very small community of Jews lives in Angola mostly in the capital city of Luanda with a handful scattered elsewhere of mixed origins and backgrounds. There are also a number of transitory Israeli businesspeople living in Angola.
Ghana–Spain relations are the bilateral and diplomatic relations between these two countries. Ghana has a chancellery in Madrid, and a consulate in Barcelona. Spain has an embassy in Accra.
John Kofi Barku Tettegah (1930–2009) was a Ghanaian trade unionist, diplomat, and politician. He held many influential positions in Ghana's government especially during the Nkrumah government, where he served as general-secretary of the Gold Coast Trades Union Congress (TUC), as a Convention People's Party (CPP) central committee member, and secretary-general of the All-African Trade Union Federation. He was influential to Kwame Nkrumah's domestic and foreign policy, and remains one of the most influential political organizers in Ghanaian labor history.
Israel–Yugoslavia relations were historical foreign relations between Israel and now split-up Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Positive initial relations between the two states were subsequently negatively affected by the Arab–Israeli conflict and close relations between Yugoslavia and some Arab states, particularly Yugoslav relations with Egypt. Despite cancelation of the formal relations after the Six-Day War informal, commercial and cultural exchanges continued throughout the Cold War period.
The history of the Jews in Gabon dates back to at least the 17th century, when Black Jewish communities existed along the Gabonese coastline. The contemporary Jewish community in Gabon is mostly composed of converts and foreign-born residents.
