The Leningrad Codex is the oldest complete extant manuscript of the Hebrew Bible, produced in 1008 or 1009 CE by professional scribes in Cairo; in the 19th-century, it made its way to Russia’s then-capital. Based on letters found in the Cairo Genizah from Mevorakh ben Joseph ibn Yazdad—the Egyptian Jew who commissioned the manuscript—Ben Outhwaite finds some hints about its origins. In particular, the evidence suggests that Mevorakh was a member of the Karaite sect, who dismissed talmudic (or “Rabbanite”) interpretations of the Torah in favor of their own, more literalist, interpretive standards:

Mevorakh’s family name is of Persian origin—Yazdad means “God has given” [in Persian]—and an Ibn Yazdad, probably Mevorakh’s father, appears in commercial correspondence from the Genizah early in the 11th century, whence it seems he is based in Egypt and plays a role in Mediterranean trade. Mevorakh himself clearly possessed significant social status, and probably also personal wealth, as we find that he was appointed around 1019 CE to oversee the two supervisors of an inheritance. . . .

[There is] strong circumstantial evidence that the Ibn Yazdad family were themselves Persian Karaites, [evidence supported by the codex’s primary scribe] Samuel ben Jacob’s use of a distinctively Karaite system of dating, alongside all the others, in the main colophon.

Mevorakh was not the only Karaite to own the codex. The last few lines of [its] colophon were added over a hundred years after its manufacture and reveal that in 1135 CE the book was sold to the leading Rabbanite Matsliaḥ ha-Kohen, [head] of the Palestinian yeshiva, an ownership fact asserted in attractive medieval Hebrew legalese and witnessed by Ḥalfon ha-Levi ben Manasseh, one of the most prolific court scribes of the Genizah, [who is] widely attested in 12th-century documents. . . .

So, the Leningrad Codex was produced for, most likely, a Persian Karaite, and was subsequently acquired by a Persian Karaite, who sold it to Matsliaḥ ha-Kohen ben Solomon, the head of the Jerusalem yeshiva. Matsliaḥ was the highest intellectual authority [not just in the land of Israel, but for Jews throughout Africa and Europe who followed “Palestinian” rather Babylonian halakhah and customs] and “head of the Jews” (raʾīs al-Yahūd) in the Fatimid empire. That such a powerful and senior figure should acquire the Bible attests strongly to the value ascribed to it in its day. In addition, evidently its Karaite provenance did not devalue it in Matsliaḥ’s eyes and deter him from purchasing it. . . .

[W]as Samuel ben Jacob a Karaite too, given that Karaism is so intimately connected with the creation of the manuscript? I don’t think so. From other findings in the documentary record, I believe he was a Maghrebi from a Rabbanite family of some status, though he had fallen on hard times.

Established in 2012 and maintaining branches in Europe, North America, and Iran, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Network claims its goal is merely to show “solidarity” for imprisoned Palestinians. The organization’s leader, however, has admitted to being a representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a notorious terrorist group whose most recent accomplishments include murdering a seventeen-year-old girl. As Arsen Ostrovsky and Patricia Teitelbaum point out, Samidoun is just one example of how the European Union allows Iran-backed terrorists to operate in its midst:

The PFLP is a proxy of the Iranian regime, which provides the terror group with money, training, and weapons. Samidoun . . . has a branch in Tehran. It has even held events there, under the pretext of “cultural activity,” to elicit support for operations in Europe. Its leader, Khaled Barakat, is a regular on Iran’s state [channel] PressTV, calling for violence and lauding Iran’s involvement in the region. It is utterly incomprehensible, therefore, that the EU has not yet designated Samidoun a terror group.

According to the Council of the European Union, groups and/or individuals can be added to the EU terror list on the basis of “proposals submitted by member states based on a decision by a competent authority of a member state or a third country.” In this regard, there is already a standing designation by Israel of Samidoun as a terror group and a decision of a German court finding Barakat to be a senior PFLP operative.

Given the irrefutable axis-of-terror between Samidoun, PFLP, and the Iranian regime, the EU has a duty to put Samidoun and senior Samidoun leaders on the EU terror list. It should do this not as some favor to Israel, but because otherwise it continues to turn a blind eye to a group that presents a clear and present security threat to the European Union and EU citizens.