ed note–Not just some little exercise in Trivial Pursuit, but actually some vitally-important information to consider for all its implications and especially today.
Firsto, keep in mind that were the very same details outlined in this piece appearing in what is considered the most influential Jewish publication in America today–the Jewish Daily Forward–to feature in any Gentile publication, the ADL and other assorted Jewish groups would issue one of their chronic screeching ‘protests’ and ‘denunciations’ and would do so without debating any of the merits/demerits of the information contained therein. Like the typical perjurious language they utilize whenever someone brings up uncomfortable facts related to Israeli foreknowledge of 9/11, the involvement of Israeli agents/assets in the GWB administration who pushed for war, Jewish top-heaviness in banking, media, etc, as being nothing more than mere ‘canards’, ‘tropes’ and ‘anti-Shemitic conspiracy theories’, likewise, said groups would denounce any investigative article featuring the historical facts related to the preponderance of non-Gentiles in the bloody business of piracy.
More important than this however is an examination of Judaic involvement in the bloody business of piracy as a telling indicator of the nature of Judaism itself. As much as our unesteemed Hebrish writer affects a certain ‘CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?’ mood in the piece, the fact is that anyone steeped in the ‘protocols’ of Judaism would find him/herself perfectly comfortable with the business of piracy, which in fact is the business of theft via the mechanism of violence, murder, and revenge.
Lest we forget–
‘When the LORD your God brings you into the land you are to possess and casts out the many peoples living there, you shall then slaughter them all and utterly destroy them…You shall save nothing alive that breathes…You shall make no agreements with them nor show them any mercy. You shall destroy their altars, break down their images, cut down their groves and burn their graven images with fire. For you are a holy people unto the LORD thy God and He has chosen you to be a special people above all others upon the face of the earth…’–Book of Deuteronomy
This is just one of many, perhaps hundreds, perhaps THOUSANDS of ‘protocols’ appearing in the pirates’ ‘how-to’ manual, the Torah (Old Testament) commanding yahweh’s chosen thieves and murderers to do whatever is necessary in robbing innocent and unsuspecting others of their life, liberty, and property. The fact that these exhortations specify doing so in terms of real estate rather than on the high seas means nothing as far as the pirates are concerned, as history has clearly shown how these pirates always figure out a way to re-configure/re-calibrate the ‘legalese’ of their own documents so as to make everything work out in the way they need.
Next, play close attention to a few of the particulars in the piece itself–
‘Jewish pirates often worked with other countries to attack Spanish ships and became players in the economies and conflicts of the time…Perhaps the most famous, or most successful, of all the Jewish pirates in the Caribbean was Moses Cohen Henriques who joined forces with a Dutch admiral, Piet Pieterszoon Hein, to pull off an enormous heist on a Spanish treasure fleet, netting what would be nearly $1 billion in today’s dollars, the theft of which nearly bankrupted Spain and caused a rise in silver prices across the world.’
And compare this little factoid with what appears in the Old Testament–
‘Then a new king came to power in Egypt…’Look,’ he said to his people, ‘the Israelites have become too powerful for us and our well-being…Let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more, and if a war breaks out, they will join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country’.
Now, Pharaoh was not necessarily worried about them ‘leaving Egypt’, but rather ‘leaving Egypt’ after having stolen all of Egypt’s wealth, which indeed–according to the lore of the Old Testament–is exactly what they did, per the commands of Moses himself, to wit–
‘The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed towards them and they gave the Israelites what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians of all their wealth…’
And of course, we would be remiss if we did not compare the past with the present, and especially how it relates to Palestine, the Middle East and other acts of political/military/economic piracy that today have brought the entire world to the brink of Armageddon and apocalypse.
The Jewish Daily Forward
Sea shanties have taken the internet by storm. They’re catchy, they’re historical, and they may even have been sung on ships named “The Queen Esther” and “The Shield of Abraham.”
That is to say, they may have been sung by Jewish pirates.
Jews settled throughout the Caribbean from the mid-17th century to the mid-19th century. Many had fled from Spain during the Inquisition, or were “conversos,” Jews who had been forced to convert to Roman Catholicism under Queen Isabella’s reign. And while the majority settled peacefully onto various islands — Jamaica had a thriving Jewish population — some chose a more adventurous, seafaring lifestyle.
The Jewish pirates of the Caribbean helmed ships with biblical names and sailed in search of wealth, perhaps to help build a better life in the New World. Some took a more combative approach to their exile, focusing their attacks on Spanish ships as payback for the Inquisition.
In fact, Jewish pirates often worked with other countries to attack Spanish ships, and became players in the economies and conflicts of the time; the British and the Dutch, for example, were often at odds with Spain, and enlisted pirates to help their attacks. The Jewish population had often worked as merchants in Europe, and had strong trading connections, which allowed the more respectably employed Jewry in the Caribbean to build comfortable and profitable lives — and helpful alliances for the more nefariously inclined.
On the origins of Jewish piracy
The Jewish pirates of the Caribbean were not even the first Jewish pirates. There is a long tradition of Jewish piracy in the Middle East, and some continued to operate around Europe.
Sinan Reis, known simply as Sinan or the “Great Jew,” was an Ottoman pirate, who sailed with the famed (and feared) Hayreddin Barbarossa, also known as Red Beard. Barbarossa helped rescue Reis’s son after he was captured and forcibly baptized; his captors refused to release him to the “infidels,” leading Barbarossa and his crew to pillage the island in revenge until they had secured the boy’s return.
Sinan inspired Samuel Pallache, a Moroccan Jew, sometimes referred to as the Rabbi Pirate, who became an envoy from Morocco to the Netherlands in the 1600s. He allied with the Dutch to attack Spanish fleets, but continued to observe Jewish practices, or at least the laws of kashrut, on his pirating voyages; he brought a Jewish cook on all of his vessels to ensure his food remained kosher.
Perhaps the most famous, or most successful, of all the Jewish pirates in the Caribbean was Moses Cohen Henriques. Henriques joined forces with a Dutch admiral, Piet Pieterszoon Hein, to pull off an enormous heist on a Spanish treasure fleet, netting what would be nearly $1 billion in today’s dollars; the theft nearly bankrupted Spain and caused a rise in silver prices across the world. Henriques retired from sailing the high seas when his buddy, Captain Henry Morgan — the namesake of Captain Morgan rum — became Lieutenant Governor of Jamaica and pardoned him.
On the most famous pirates of them all
Many more pirates than we realize may have had Jewish backgrounds; in later popularized tales of famous pirates, their religious heritage was often obscured in order to cast them as more relatable heroes to European and American audiences.
Jean Lafitte, one of the most famous American pirates established a “pirate kingdom” in New Orleans for a time, and later moved his realm to Galveston, Texas. Lafitte, who was known as The Corsair, has inspired novels and poems, including a lengthy Lord Byron poem that even inspired a ballet.
To be fair, Judaism did not feature large in the lives of most Jewish pirates, at least as far as records show. While Sinan did not want his son baptized, and Samuel Pallache kept kosher aboard his ships, Jewishness seems to serve as ethnic identity more than religious affiliation for most pirates. At most, their Jewishness was likely the part of the impetus toward a job on the fringes like piracy — a fringe where Jews had been relegated by European society anyway, and one which gave them the ability to revenge themselves on the Spanish.
But in piracy, Jewish pirates likely also found freedom from the very discrimination they had faced in Europe, for which they were taking their revenge on the Spanish ships. Piracy is, after all, an equalizer — a criminal activity that doesn’t answer to any government or moral code. Whoever is best at taking down ships full of treasure is the best pirate, regardless of ethnicity or religious belief. Jewish pirates parlayed with the most famous pirates of any background.