World

Pakistan's last Jew in battle to win 'empathy'

November 26, 2015 11:29
Fishel Benkhald

By

Simon Caldwell

2 min read

Decades of persecution of religious minorities have driven almost all of Pakistan's Jews out of the country. Any that remain keep their Jewish identities a secret.

Fishel Benkhald is the exception. He calls himself Pakistan's only "self-declared" Jew.

His mother is Jewish but, because his father is a Muslim, the Pakistani authorities are refusing to recognise his Jewish identity.

Mr Benkhald's ambition has been to rebuild a demolished synagogue in Karachi and to restore the Jewish cemetery there.

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