Kalistan

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Robert Kaplan named new Head of AYIC
3rd Kalistani Yeudi Leader vows to "clean House"
Kaliberg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
August 18, 5693


Kaliburg prosecutor Robert Kaplan named to head AYIC

The Anantonese Yeudi Interests Committee, or AYIC, has named the replacement for slain leader Jacob Maxwell. Their choice is Mr. Robert Kaplan, Esq., a Kaliburg prosecutor who successfully tried members of the Undzer Shtik Mob last year, and a committed reformer. Mr. Kaplan, in his opening address to the AYIC board, said, "I appreciate the nomination, and despite my best efforts to decline the position, the Board was quite insistent, and so, I agreed to leave the practice of law and take up this far more important and more honorable position at AYIC."

Kaplan vowed to root out whatever corruption there might have been in the organization. "Its widely held hat Mr. Maxwell himself, shlum zol zayn aoyf im, was not above doing things that might be good for our organization, but might not necessarily be legal, strictly speaking," he said. "I don't want to speak ill of the dead: he was my great friend and I admired the work he did on behalf of our community in this Empire and on behalf of Yeudis across Seleya and the rest of the Diaspora. What I mean to say here is that this is an opportunity to clean our house, to move beyond reproach, to make our organization blameless in the eyes of the law once more and to restore our reputation at home and abroad. This will be my task, and I ask for your help in doing this."

Kaplan said that AYIC had gotten too close to money and did not often ask inconvenient questions. "If Jacob had one failing, it was that he took money and help from whoever would offer it. It didn't matter if it was a ₭25 Ruble donation from my bubbe and zayde or a a ₭25 million ruble donation from some gangster, he didn't care. If he thought it would help our people, he took it and didn't ask a lot of questions. But that got him into trouble, because his loyalty ultimately was to the Empire, and when they started asking him questions, he was maybe too honest for his own good. We won't be repeating that mistake again. The money has to be clean or we can't take it. We don't put people on our board who make large donations: You can't buy your way on anymore. Those days are over, they have to be to keep undzere mentchn safe."

Besides internal reforms aimed at transparency and ending ties to illegal activity, Kaplan also said his goal was to promote Yeudi culture in Kalistan. "The Yeudis here represent between 2.8 and 3 million people, which is about 3%. While most people just identify as Kalistani, the Yeudis are different--We may be the largest explicitly ethnic minority group in Kalistan. We share in the larger culture: We grow up speaking Vrassan or Egelian. But among our own, we have our own culture and tradition that is quite foreign to what most of the Kalistanis do, which we hold on as a connection to our older world brothers and sisters. We have our own holidays and observances that we celebrate in addition to the Kalistani ones. We often dress differently. We are certainly a distinct cultural minority that is recognized by the Imperial Government and acknowledged in broader society that enriches life in Kalistan."

Kaplan also made a pitch for revitalization of the ancient Artanian language known as Redn which is spoken in Yeudi communities and has recently been heard more often in the broader press, given the focus on the Undzer Shtik mob and Yeudi organized criminality. "Sometimes we will also speak Redn, which we got from our Dundorfic and Darnussian Ancestors who migrated here and founded the Yeudi community in Kalistan. We used to write it with the Yeudi script, but now you will also see it transliterated into the Selucian script too. Anyway, its a totally different language that we Yeudis also have access to and will often drop into while we speak Vrassan. I'd like to see Redn more widely spoken and written by Kalistani Yeudis, and promoted across Seleya as our own thing. Redn has, for the most part, died out elsewhere in the world, so why not revive it right here? And if it can also spread to our Yeudi brothers and sisters in Valruzia, that's great too. I cannot tell you how much it warms meyn harts to see AYIC posters with Redn on them, and its certainly something I am sure we could generate more interest in, not only among Yeudis but also in the larger population."

Kaplan said he also wants to continue Maxwell's political activity and promotion of Yeudi interests continued, especially where Amudim is concerned. "AYIC will remain an Eastern organization. We will continue to speak for Yeudis outside of Amudim, wherever they happen to be. And we will continue to promote the interests of the Diaspora. But toward the end of his life, Maxwell was also instrumental, I think, in opening doors between Amudim and Kalistan which had been locked for decades. I think it is important for AYIC to act as a go-between: because we can speak both languages--We can speak to both sides. We have one foot in Amudim given our Yeudism, and one foot in Kalistan, and can maintain those important cultural, and I should also say, financial channels with people who are willing to work with us, like Tel Bira, for example. That connection is very important for both sides and it gives us a raison d'être to continue to act on the international level."

Kaplan kicked off his administration by announcing the creation of a small business foundation aimed to offer grants to Yeudi small business owners in Kalistan who want to start shops that cater primarily to Yeudi customers, but also which help share Yeudi culture with the larger Kalistani society. "Without trying to sound cliche, I can imagine this foundation being used to provide seed money for 1000 kosher delicatessens in Ananto and Kalistan. How amazing would that be?!"

Kaplan's first full day on the job in Kaliburg will be September 1st of this year.

@LaModa