Khazars | #TranslateHate
Khazars
people \ kə'zär \
: a people once existing as a nation in the Caucasus and southeastern Russia
WHEN IT’S ANTISEMITIC:
In the 6th century CE, the Khazars — an obscure warlike tribe in Turkistan [present day Kazakhstan] — fought for land that was ultimately overtaken by Southern Russia and Ukraine. Despite the decline in population and territorial defeat, the Khazars continued to be mentioned throughout history — especially as one of the first groups to adopt Judaism.
By the 8th or 9th century, antisemitic conspiracy theories began forming around the Khazars’ reported conversion to Judaism. This spurred antisemitic beliefs that they were building a secret empire which sought widespread control through financial gains.
Given that the Khazars moved into and settled in Eastern Europe, antisemites push the conspiracy that Ashkenazi Jews—Jews descending from Eastern Europe—are not “real Jews” and are working to infiltrate other nations on their quest for world domination (see “not the real Jews”). The Khazar trope is also used to undermine the Jewish connection to Israel, and therefore Israel’s right to exist, because it falsely says Jews originated from the northern Caucasus region and were part of the Turkic empire—and not the Land of Israel. For example, in a September 2023 speech to the Palestinian Fatah party’s Revolutionary Council, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas said European Jews were descended from “the Khazar Kingdom.”
