This book concerns an historic New Zealand court case and appeal hearings throughout 1977-79 in which, for the first time in a British Commonwealth country, Jews were classified as an ethnic group under race relations laws. The implications are far-reaching and highlight a long-debated question, "Who are the Jews?"
One answer to that question was given a year or so before this case by the well-known writer, Arthur Koestler, himself of Jewish background, in his explosive historical work The Thirteenth Tribe. His finding was that today's Jews are, for the most part, descendants of the KHAZARS of Central Asia, who were converted to Judaism seven centuries after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. Koestler's thesis was not new, even if startling to many people, it was widely known amongst informed people. The famous Jewish scholar, Dr. Oscar Levy, said: "The question of the Jews and their influence on the world, past and present, cuts to the root of all things and should be discussed by every honest thinker". Dr. Levy was extremely critical of Jewish influence, claiming in particular that the "Chosen Race" idea was one of the most disruptive in history. In his ‘Idiocy of Idealism’ Levy said, that Hitler's race laws were a type of "Jewish heresy".
In an article in the ‘New Zealand Herald’ Jan. 21st, 1980, Rabbi Jonathan A. Miller of Auckland, discussed the implications of the Appeal Court judgement, commented, that: "We Jews are an anomaly among the peoples of the world. We are unique because we define ourselves as both a religion and a people.”
