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- 10 dec 2010
Leading rabbi denounces colleagues' edict against renting homes to non-Jews
Rabbi Yosef Elyashiv, head of Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox establishment, slams controversial ruling; attorney general to investigate whether rabbis broke the law.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein broke his silence yesterday on the ruling issued by 39 municipal rabbis against renting homes to non-Jews, calling it "inappropriate public conduct."
"The attorney general thinks the statements attributed to the rabbis are very problematic in several aspects and apparently - at least as far as public officials are concerned - are inappropriate public conduct," an aide to Weinstein, attorney Noa Mishor, said in a statement .
Meanwhile, the rabbis' letter received a blow yesterday from the Haredi community, with a denunciation by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Elyashiv, head of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox establishment.
Mishor wrote that the legal aspect of the issue was more complex and that Weinstein had instructed his office to examine whether the law had been broken, and to do so with all due speed. Weinstein's statement came in response to a query by MK Ilan Gilon (Meretz ).
Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman has yet to respond to the rabbis' letter. Justice Ministry officials said yesterday he does not want to take a stance on the matter because it might be brought to him to handle. The officials had told Haaretz Wednesday that when the minister received a request from anyone on the issue, he would deal with it.
Neeman actually received such a request in November - to investigate Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu for incitement due to statements at a meeting of rabbis in October.
The request was made by attorney Einat Horowitz from the Israel Religious Action Center.
"Rabbi Eliyahu has made unceasing racist statements ... and has taken advantage of his public status and religious position and funding from the Religious Council to air his racist views," Horowitz wrote.
Rabbi Elyashiv's denunciation of the rabbis' letter underscores the message conveyed by Rabbi Aharon Leib Steinman, chairman of the Degel Hatorah party's Council of Torah Sages and the second most important figure after Eliyahu in the Lithuanian Haredi world. Steinman declined to receive people seeking signatories for the letter.
Elyashiv, who has criticized the letter in private conversations over the past few days, said yesterday: "I've said for some time that there are rabbis who must have their pens taken away from them."
He added: "It's interesting that these same Zionist rabbis support symbolically selling their land to Gentiles during the shmita year," referring to the seven-year cycle when agricultural fields in Israel must lie fallow.
Elyashiv's reference involved a halakhic (Jewish law ) issue over which ultra-Orthodox and religious Zionists differ: interpretation of Deuteronomy 7:1-2 regarding the treatment of non-Jews in the Land of Israel. Even before the state was founded, religious Zionists deemed it permissible to symbolically sell land to non-Jews during the shmita year so they could continue working it. But Haredi rabbis interpreted this verse as a prohibition against doing so.
Elyashiv's words were apparently powerful enough to cause at least two rabbis, Rabbi Yaakov Edelstein and Rabbi Simcha Hacohen Kook, to reject the letter, although they told Haaretz through their aides that their decision did not stem directly from Elyashiv's remarks.
Elyashiv's and Steinman's reasoning in slamming the letter, their aides told Haaretz, is that a public letter of this type could spark anti-Semitism elsewhere in the world and harm Jews. They said the signatories to the letter had not taken this into account.
Sources at Elyashiv's home yesterday called the signatories "extremists" and "irresponsible." Sources in Steinman's home made similar remarks.
Another halakhic ruling was issued earlier this week against the rabbis' letter by Ramat Gan Chief Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, a senior member of the religious Zionist movement.
Rabbi Haim Drukman, chairman of the Bnei Akiva yeshiva movement, also came out yesterday against the letter. According to Drukman, although he "identifies with the national struggle that seeks to maintain Israel as a Jewish state, and is aware of the challenge in Safed in the face of hostile elements outside the country sending money to harm Israel's Jewish character," his position in principle "denounces a sweeping statement against non-Jews."
Kook and Edelstein said they did not know what they were signing.
As opposed to other signatories, Kook did not sign the letter itself, but appended a note in his own hand that a rabbi must respond to every question of Jewish law.
A representative of Kook said his signature related not to the matter of renting to non-Jews, but to the fact that rabbis have the right to rule on any question they are asked. The representative said Kook opposed the way the letter was being used.
A source in Edelstein's home said he mistakenly signed the letter because the people who asked for his signature had not acted in good faith.
"The rabbi of Ramat Hasharon [Edelstein] acts in ways of pleasantness and peace, and all his work is only for the benefit of the city's residents. And in any case, it's not his custom to deal with these and other political issues," the statement said.
According to the Haredi website Behadrei Haredim, the list of rabbis who want to rescind their support for the letter is much longer and includes rabbis Yosef Sheinin and Haim Pinto from Ashdod, Yitzhak Peretz from Ra'anana and Moshe Havlin from Kiryat Gat.
But Sheinin told Haaretz he was unaware of the position of his leader, Rabbi Elyashiv. "What I don't hear doesn't influence me. The letter contained only statements of Jewish law."
http://bit.ly/gHghKF
5 jan 2012, 14:24 , Respect -
Maria 15 dec 2010
World rabbis denounce edict forbidding Jews from renting homes to Arabs
The northern Israeli city of Safed, where the edict forbidding Jews from renting thier property to non-Jews originated
Letter signed by 900 rabbis around the world describes ruling backed by many Israeli rabbis as a 'painful distortion' of Judaism.
More than 900 rabbis from around the world have signed a letter expressing "great shock and pain" at a ruling backed by scores of Israeli rabbis forbidding Jews from renting or selling property to non-Jews. http://bit.ly/fZ3D4X
The letter describes the ruling as a "painful distortion of our tradition" and a "desecration of God's name" and appeals to Israeli rabbis to "take a public stand and oppose those who misrepresent our tradition".
Most of the signatories are from the US, but they include rabbis from many countries, among them the UK.
The ruling, which originated with Shmuel Eliyahu, the municipal rabbi of the city of Safed, has caused controversy and division within Israel. It has also been strongly criticised by Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and president, Shimon Peres.
But it attracted widespread support among nationalist rabbis. It is mainly targeted at Arab citizens of Israel but also the country's growing refugee and economic-migrant community.
The global signatories, who describe themselves as Rabbis Against Religious Discrimination, address their letter to "our rabbinic colleagues in Israel" to whom they are turning "at a time of crisis".
It says: "The attempt to root discriminatory policies based on religion or ethnicity in Torah is a painful distortion of our tradition. Am Yisrael [the people of Israel] know the sting of discrimination, and we still bear the scars of hatred." http://bit.ly/fZLd8u
It adds that Jews in the diaspora "struggle to maintain a strong, loving relationship" with Israel. "Every day that challenge grows more difficult. Many of our congregants love Israel and want nothing more than the safety and security of the Jewish homeland, but for a growing number of Jews in America this relationship to Israel cannot be assumed."
The ruling provides "justification for anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment across the world".
The letter, sponsored by the New Israel Fund, follows the denunciation last week of the ruling by Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Elyashiv, head of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox establishment. "I've said for some time that there are rabbis who must have their pens taken away from them," he said.
There have been calls for rabbis who backed the ruling and whose salaries are paid from public funds to be disciplined or removed from their posts. Israel's attorney-general has described the ruling as "inappropriate public conduct".
Yad Vashem, Israel's Holocaust memorial centre, also strongly criticised the ruling. http://bit.ly/gbD9GA
http://bit.ly/eJmVjV
5 jan 2012, 14:24 , Respect -
Maria 17 dec 2010
'Harsh and fateful war' against infiltrators
Nearly 100 people take part in protest against African infiltrators in southern Tel Aviv. 'This might be toughest war since State founded,' says Rabbi Achiad Ettinger as MK Uri Orbach advises residents to 'stop saying infiltrators are thieves and criminals'
Five days ahead of a rally in southern Tel Aviv which will see the battle against the African infiltrator phenomenon reach its peak, residents, rabbis and local neighborhood activists met in southern Tel Aviv youth center Thursday %u2013 and threw accusations in every direction.
"This is a harsh and fateful war, maybe the toughest since the State was founded," claimed Rabbi Achiad Ettinger, one of the leaders of the struggle. "The number of infiltrators keeps rising and if the phenomenon continues the Jewish majority will get significantly smaller."
This is the third meeting of its kind to be held in southern Tel Aviv over the last month, with 100 residents taking part and calling on the government to take action against the infiltration issue. Meanwhile, signs have already been posted throughout the neighborhoods calling on residents to attend next Tuesday's rally under the heading 'Put an end to neighborhood fear, send infiltrators home'.
Coreen Galili whose mother was beaten to death by a Sudanese refugee near the Tel Aviv central bus station last year, said: "Many times I have cried out 'End the lawlessness', but I don't think anyone in the government, or the human rights organizations or the preening media cares. We live in fear and our personal safety is being hurt."
'Manage struggle wisely'
Posters advertising the rally
A Tel Aviv resident who had the floor attacked the Tel Aviv municipality: "Why does the municipality mobilize its resources to hold rallies with 8,000 participants for the migrant workers' children, but isn't now harnessing its efforts to aid our cause? Huldai has become the chairman of the foreigners committee instead of helping us, the residents of southern Tel Aviv."
Knesset Member and Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Uri Orbach came to the meeting to show support for the residents' cause. "The government has made a slow start in dealing with the issue, but 150 infiltrators have already been made to leave and a great deal of funding is being put into the construction of a border fence," Orbach said.
The MK also gave the resident some tips: "I suggest that you use the right tone when managing your struggle and stop saying that the infiltrators are thieves or criminals. As soon as you start using that terminology, the media and the general public will say that they don't wish to be involved in anything that has a whiff of xenophobia and racism.
"The struggle must be managed wisely as the public atmosphere can cause the government to increase its pace."
Science and Technology Minister Daniel Hershkowitz was prevented from attending the meeting at the last minute. He sent a message saying, "The infiltrator phenomenon in Southern Tel Aviv is a ticking bomb in the State's central hub. Rising crime levels in the area and the damages to the Jewish character of the State are like an explosive device that has already taken lives."
Tel Aviv City Councilman Binyamin Babayof (Shas), http://bit.ly/gLX5WZ who led the rabbis' http://bit.ly/eLcrvs and realtors petition calling on residents not to rent apartments to infiltrators, told Ynet: "Our struggle is gaining ground; there is no racial or clannish issue here. It is clear that anyone living on a street where he doesn't have Sudanese neighbors finds it difficult to identify with what we experience on a daily basis. But the day when they will have to deal with the problem is not far off."
Chairman of Tel Aviv's Hatikva neighborhood council Shlomo Maslawi, one of the rally's main organizers, added: "There isn't a household or a street that didn't receive an announcement about the rally we are organizing.
"This will be the mother of all rallies and it will demonstrate just how much of a powder keg we are sitting on, and how the public is tired of sitting there waiting for it to explode in our faces. We will hold a protest march that will begin at the Shapira neighborhood and head towards the rally's central location near the Hatikva neighborhood market.
"The situation has become unbearable. Maybe this method will wake our 'too little to late' government up. We have no options left to us other than heading out to the streets and crying out for help."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4000567,00.html
5 jan 2012, 14:24 , Respect -
Maria 20 dec 2010
Racism, Rabbinical and Otherwise
by Ran HaCohen
As part of Israel's orgy of racism and fascism since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu formed his far-Right coalition almost two years ago, dozens of Israeli racist rabbis (RR) http://bit.ly/fKHOuM have signed an edict forbidding Jews in the Land of Israel from selling or renting property to non-Jews (in other words: to Israeli Palestinians or Arabs). The RR base their decision primarily on the prominent medieval Jewish scholar Maimonides http://bit.ly/htc1YH (1135-1204), who forbids selling houses and fields in the Land of Israel to idolaters (Mishne Torah, Hilkhot avodat kokhavim 10). http://bit.ly/hldVmu
Did Maimonides, who lived and prospered in a tolerant Muslim world, consider Muslims idolaters? On the contrary. In one of his responses, he states, The Ishmaelites [i.e., Muslims] are not idolaters at all. Like almost everything in Jewish law, then, things are open to negotiation: Maimonides authority is negotiable, his interpretation of the Law is negotiable, and his own intention is negotiable too. The RR reflect their own racism rather than some indisputable, inherent Jewish racism.
The Orthodox Fault
It was the Zionist Orthodox intellectual Yeshayahu Leibowitz (1903-1994) http://bit.ly/hntgke who urged the Israeli rabbinical establishment not only to emancipate itself from the state (the RR are all state employees!), but also to undertake a fundamental reform in order to adapt Judaism to the unprecedented reality of a modern Jewish state. The rabbinical establishment ignored Leibowitz's call. Present-day Jewish Orthodoxy, especially the Zionist Orthodoxy, is therefore entangled in a whole network of ludicrous inconsistencies and contradictions, deriving from the fact that the Halakhah, the Jewish law, was conceived and developed in exile, when Jewish national independence let alone a modern state was at best a Messianic fantasy.
Jewish Orthodoxy has failed to cope with the fact that the Jews in Israel are no longer a minority but an sovereign majority. Many of the racist facets of Judaism are traceable to this unaccounted-for shift. A majority in a modern state has very different moral rights and duties than a small religious community in exile.
The leading Ultra-Orthodox Israeli rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv http://bit.ly/gzqjyf has poked fun at the Zionist RR by reminding that they are the ones who support the disputed circumvention of the biblical order to give the land a Sabbatical http://bit.ly/g10Xav and to avoid cultivating it every seventh year. The controversial circumvention of this biblical order consists of selling the land to a non-Jew for the duration of the seventh year in clear contradiction to the racist edict. The RR are not only racists they are also hypocrites; their political commitment to chauvinistic racism is deeper than their religious integrity.
If the RR insist on treating Arabs in Israel as idolaters, why don't they remind us of the rest of Maimonides words? In the same chapter, http://bit.ly/hldVmu Maimonides forbids doing anything to actively save an idolater's life: If an idolater is drowning, a Jew should not pull him out; if an idolater is dying, a Jew should not save his life; and a Jewish doctor should not even cure an idolatrous patient unless he is forced to.
On the other hand, in the same chapter Maimonides states that all these regulations apply only when Jews are in exile or when the idolaters are superior. What if the Jews have the upper hand? Then the Biblical command (Deuteronomy 7) http://bit.ly/hYdkhG should be followed in full: When, however, Israel is in power over them, it is forbidden for us to allow an idolater among us. Even a temporary resident or a merchant who travels from place to place should not be allowed to pass through our land unless he accepts the Seven Laws of Noah, http://bit.ly/fZZn6G in which case he becomes a resident alien, http://bit.ly/gL2BlN a category that enjoys almost all the rights of a Jew. There can be little doubt that the Muslims obey the Seven Laws of Noah, and therefore.
The RR conceal all these considerations. They conceal the disputed validity of the racist regulations because they are adamant racists themselves. They conceal the worst racist regulations because they fear many of their followers would not go so far. At least not yet. At least not in public.
And they know their followers. Their urge not to rent or sell property to Arabs is supported by 55 percent of Israeli Jews, if a recent YNet poll (Hebrew) http://bit.ly/fzvxvI is to be trusted, including by a big minority of 41 percent of the non-religious Jews, and by 88 percent of Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews. I challenge the Alan Dershowitzes http://bit.ly/fh58ii of this world to find another country, Western or otherwise, in which a majority objects to selling land to an ethnic minority of fellow-citizens.
The Secular Zionist Fault
The most vociferous among the RR is Shmuel Eliyahu of Safed http://bit.ly/h12l58 . Not coincidentally, it is in his hometown where Arab students are regularly harassed http://bit.ly/bNPPQH and intimidated, their property is vandalized http://bit.ly/eBnGkH , and Jews renting flats to them are terrorized. http://bit.ly/hDVLLP
In a Hebrew column, http://bit.ly/e08dw2 the racist rabbi smears almost everybody: the leftists, the environmentalists, the Arabs, the court, the state they all conspire against the true word of God, on which he and his followers have a monopoly.
But one of the RR's targets is worth special attention: there's nothing illegal about forbidding land sales to Arabs, says Eliyahu, because the Jewish National Fund http://bit.ly/hXeTeW has been doing the same for decades, and under the state's auspices.
Here the racist rabbi hits the nail on the head. Indeed, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) owns 13 percent of Israel's lands and explicitly allots them to Jews only. The Fund was created long before the state of Israel, collecting money in order to purchase land for Jewish settlements in Palestine. It's a major player in Zionist consciousness all over the world; in former decades, no Zionist classroom all over the Jewish world was free of its famous Blue Box for donations. This colonialist institution has been kept alive even after the state of Israel was established. Again, a sovereign state has very different moral rights and duties than a pre-state colonialist movement. But Israel is holding the stick in both ends.
The JNF's discriminatory policy has been in place for decades and is now under consideration by Israel's Supreme Court. Even last year, however, Israel signed a massive land-swap with the JNF, in which the JNF gives the state lands in the populated center of Israel, and gets in return mostly uninhabited lands in the north and the south so that it can stop Arabs from settling them. The state of Israel uses the JNF as a subcontractor in order to bypass the principle of equality and to discriminate against non-Jews in their access to free lands or, more often, to lands already inhabited by Arabs that Israel is determined to expel.
The JNF is the major dispossessor of the Bedouins http://bit.ly/idyfk7 in Israel's southern areas: it is planting trees on thousands of acres of land containing Bedouin villages, in order to ethnically cleanse the area of any non-Jewish presence. The JNF is also behind the destruction of al-Arakib, http://bit.ly/gY2B66 a Bedouin village which has been destroyed at least seven times in the past months by JNF bulldozers.
When President Shimon Peres, then, and other Zionist politicians condemn the RR, their condemnation should be taken with a huge grain of salt. It has always been the Israeli policy left-wing and right-wing governments alike not to sell or hire lands to Arabs, a complementary measure to the massive confiscation of Arab-owned lands. Orthodox Judaism has failed to accommodate to the Jewish majority status; Zionism has refused to come to terms with its pre-state colonialist roots, even within smaller Israel (let alone the Occupied Territories). The racist rabbis may be less eloquent than, say, Shimon Peres, but both Peres and the rabbis are part and parcel of a much deeper Israeli ethos of ethnic discrimination. In fact, the victims of Israel's relentlessly discriminatory policy are by far more numerous than those of the shameful rabbinical edict.
http://bit.ly/fUNzJ0 - 20 dec 2010
Bat Yam rally: Death to Jewish women who date Arabs
200 people demonstrate in city center against 'Arabs who are taking our daughters'; leftists wave signs reading 'Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies'
Some 200 people held a demonstration in central Bat Yam Monday evening against relationships between local Jewish women and Arab men.
One of the protestors called out, "Any Jewish woman who goes with an Arab should be killed; any Jew who sells his home to an Arab should be killed."
We will not allow it.' Bat Yam rally (Photo: Ofer Amram)
During the rally, held under the banner, "We Want a Jewish Bat-Yam", demonstrators also insulted the prophet Muhammad and made racist remarks against Arabs and their saints.
Police forces maintained order, but did not act when the demonstrators made racist remarks.
'Fed up.' Leftist counter rally (Photo: Ofer Amram)
"We are not racist, we are just Jews. The Arabs are coming and taking our daughters. We will not allow it," one of the speakers said.
Moshe Ben-Zikri of Eilat said the "struggle" began three years ago in Givat Ze'ev. "There were 330 Arab families there, and the Jewish women would walk around with them freely. We vowed this would not happen again.
"Just like we triumphed their, we will triumph in Bat Yam as well. We are not afraid of the police, the media or the Arabs we only fear God," he said.
One of the event's organizers, Bentzi Gupstein told Ynet Sunday night, "So many Arabs are dating Jewish women, and the public is fed up with it.
A short distance away, about 200 leftists and Arab residents of Bat Yam held a counter protest. They waved signs reading, "We're fed up with racists" and "Jews and Arabs refuse to be enemies".
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4002085,00.html 5 jan 2012, 14:24 , Respect -
Maria 5 jan 2012, 14:25 , Respect -
Maria 26 dec 2010
Chabad Rabbi Sentenced to 32 Years For Sexually Abusing Child
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qC80MhXauM
BOROUGH PARK, N.Y. Rabbi Baruch Lebovits, 59, the wealthy owner of a travel agency in Borough Park, Brooklyn, was hit Monday with a lengthy prison term for sexually abusing a then-16-year-old boy from his neighborhood.
Lebovits, a father of seven children and grandfather to 24, had long been the subject of talk in his community, but no action was ever taken against him, until three alleged victims came forward a couple of years ago.
Judge Patricia DiMango, of Brooklyn Supreme Court, sentenced Lebovits to a maximum term of 10 2/3 to 32 years. The victim in this first case told the jury that Lebovits performed oral sex on him in the rabbi's silver Toyota, on eight occasions between May 2004 and February 2005. The victim, now 22, testified he turned to drugs and alcohol after the abuse. The defense attorney, Arthur Aidala, argued the allegations were made up, as part of an extortion attempt, because Lebovits' son is a multi-millionaire.
In a surprise courtroom revelation, the judge read portions of Lebovits' probation report, where the rabbi confided to authorities that he himself was a victim of sexual abuse, when he was a boy. Lebovits said he was victimized the first time by an uncle in London, when he was just 11-years-old. He said a teenager abused him again, a year later, when he was 12.
Lebovits' victim, who admitted he stole money from poor boxes in the synagogue to feed his drug habit, read a statement to the judge before sentencing.
"Some people are telling me I'll regret going to the police. I feel every day Baruch Lebovits is in jail is a day kids in our community are safe," he said.
The victim's father then read his own statement to Judge DiMango, swaying back and forth at the table like he was saying daily prayers in his Orthodox Jewish faith:
"I ask you Mordechai Lebovits--where is your soul? You destroyed these children," said the victim's father,
Later, outside of court, the man revealed to PIX 11 News how community members from the synagogue lashed out against the family after they went public with the abuse complaints.
"Somebody almost kicked me .. they threw me out of the synagogue," he said.
Defense attorney, Arthur Aidala, took note that Lebovits worked for many years as a kindergarten teacher in Brooklyn and there was never one word of complaint from parents. He pointed to more than 100 letters of support for the rabbi, written by his family and other community members.
"In my religion, you would call the life Baruch Lebovits lived a saint -- this is a non-violent crime. Keep in mind, this is his first contact with the system," said Aidala.
But Judge DiMango was not swayed, although she noted, "Sex abuse often leads to sex abuse." Before imposing the maximum sentence, she said, "Abusing and harming children will not be tolerated."
A group of young men who say they are survivors of sexual abuse by teachers and counselors turned up in court to support the victim.
The defense plans to appeal the harsh sentence, claiming Lebovits is being punished, because he turned down a "plea bargain" offer before trial that would have carried a 1 1/3 to 4 year maximum penalty. Now the rabbi is looking at 32 years.
5 jan 2012, 14:25 , Respect -
Maria 29 dec 2010
In Israel, warnings to avoid intermarriage
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- At least 27 Israeli rabbis' wives have signed a letter calling on Jewish women to avoid intermarriage with Arabs and even avoid working alongside Arab men, Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
The letter also warns Jewish women they risk falling under the sway of Arab men if they serve alongside them in Israel's national service.
"For your sake, for the sake of future generations, and so you don't undergo horrible suffering, we turn to you with a request, a plea, a prayer," said the text of the letter as quoted in media reports.
"Don't date non-Jews, don't work at places that non-Jews frequent, and don't do national service with non-Jews."
The letter accuses Arab men of using Jewish names to deceive unsuspecting women, and warns a life of "curses, beatings and humiliations" awaits them if they date or marry an Arab.
"There are quite a few Arab workers who use Hebrew names. Yusuf becomes Yossi, Samir becomes Sami and Abed becomes Ami," the letter was quoted as saying.
"They ask to be close to you, try to find favor with you, and give you all the attention in the world... but their behavior is only temporary. The moment you are in their hands, in their village, under their control, everything changes.
"Your life will never go back to the way it was, and the attention you so desired will turn into curses, beatings, and humiliations," the letter warns.
Among the signatories to the letter are the wives and daughters of senior rabbis, including the daughter of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual head of the ultra-Orthodox party Shas, which is part of Israel's coalition government.
The letter is reportedly being distributed by a group called Lehava (Flames), an organization that seeks to prevent Jewish assimilation and says it draws inspiration from the legacy of anti-Arab rabbi Meir Kahana.
Kahana, who was assassinated in New York in 1990, led the Kach movement, which promoted an extreme right-wing racism against Arabs that led to it being banned in Israel in 1994.
The letter comes as rights groups warn of a rising tide of anti-Arab sentiment in Israeli society.
In recent weeks, about 300 rabbis have signed a letter calling on Jews to avoid renting or selling property to non-Jews, and right-wing groups have staged demonstrations warning Jews against fraternizing with Arabs.
The rabbis' letter drew widespread condemnation, including from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but a poll published on Tuesday showed Israelis are evenly divided on the issue.
The survey, which had a margin of error of 4.5 percent, found 44 percent of Israeli Jews supported the rabbis' calls, while 48 percent were opposed.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=346364
Rabbi Dov Lior, one of the most senior deciders of Jewish law in religious Zionism, has determined that Jewish women are not allowed to obtain a sperm sample from non-Jewish men. Rabbi Lior said that the resulting infant would suffer adverse genetic traits: The Sefer Hachinuch [book of education] states that the father's traits pass on to the son, and if that father is not Jewish, what sort of traits can he have? Those of cruelty, of barbarism! These are not the traits that characterized the households of Israel.
http://www.hahem.co.il/slipperyslope/en/?p=1027
'Niet-joods sperma ongeschikt voor Joodse vrouwen'
Rabbijn Dov Lior uit Kiryat Araba, een van de oudste autoriteiten op het gebied van de halacha in het orthodoxe jodendom, heeft bepaald dat Joodse vrouwen geen zaad mogen ontvangen van niet-joodse mannen. http://bit.ly/ei3LBA Rabbijn Lior stelde dat het kind dat daaruit geboren wordt dan verkeerde genetische trekken zou vertonen. 'Het Sefer Hachinuch [boek betreffende de opvoeding] zegt dat de trekken van de vader overgaan op de zoon, en als de vader niet Joods is, wat kan hij dan voor trekken hebben? Wreedheid, barbarisme! Dat zijn niet de trekken die het Huis van Israel kenmerken, aldus Lior. (zie hier het Hebreeuwse origineel http://bit.ly/f0xGQS )
Liors opmerking doet mijn haren overeind gaan staan, omdat het doet denken aan de ergste nazistische en Ziuidafrikaanse rassenverordeningen van niet zo heel erg voorbije tijden. Zij kwam nadat 27 vrouwen van prominente rabbijnen een brief hadden doen uitgaan om Joodse meisjes en vrouwen ervan te weerhouden om te gaan met Arabische mannen, noch te werken op plaatsen waar zij werken of vrijwilligerswerk samen met hen te doen.
Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, his wife signed too
De brief was, einig verarssends hier, mede-ondertekend door de vrouw van Lior, alsmede door de schoondochter van ex-opperrabbijn Ovadia Yosef en diverse vrouwen van rabbijnen uit nederzettingen als Beit El, Elon Moreh en dergelijke. De brief van de rabbijnenvrouwen kwam op zijn beurt, nadat een vijftigtal rabbijnen in een eerdere brief hadden opgeroepen geen onroerend goed aan Arabieren te verhuren of verkopen.
De brief van de rebbetsins (vrouwen van rabbijnen) was een initiatief van de een jaar geleden opgerichte extreem rechtse Lehava-organisatie die tegen gemengde huwelijken van Joden en Arabieren optreedt. Volgens Ynet liggen de wortels van Lehava in de organisatie van Yad LeAchayot van wijlen rabbijn Meir Kahane van de racistische Kach-beweging. http://bit.ly/hIPFFo
Het is zeker niet de enige uiting van racisme in Israel (denk ook aan recente plannen van de regering om Afrikaanse vluchtelingen in een afgezonderd kamp te plaatsen), noch de laatste. Op de site Mondoweiss wordt Max Blumenthal aangehaald die meldt dat een groep oudere Palestijnse vrouwen, die op uitnodiging van de groep 'Ouders van slachtoffers' naar de gedenkplaats Yad vaShem was gekomen om door dit Holocaust-monument te worden rondgeleid, door een groep tieners werd uitgescholden. De jongens riepen 'sharmouta' naar hen, een in het Hebreeuws ingeburgerd Arabisch woord dat 'hoer' betekent, tot grote ontzetting van de vrouwen die dit soort woorden in eigen kring waarschijnlijk zelfs nooit horen uitspreken waar zij bij zijn. http://bit.ly/fVn9Hb
In hetzelfde stuk op Mondoweiss wordt ook de Jerusalem Post aangehaald, die nog meer incidenten noemt:
De oudere Palestijnse vrouwen op bezoek in Yad waShem.
On Saturday, three teenage girls born to African migrant parents were attacked and severely beaten by a mob of teenagers while walking to their homes in the Hatikva neighborhood.
That same night, someone tried to torch an apartment in Ashdod housing seven Sudanese citizens. The assailants set a blazing tire outside the front door of the apartment, and five of the seven residents were lightly hurt by smoke inhalation before they managed to break the burglar bars and flee through a window.
Netanyahu heeft stelling genomen tegen de brief van de rabbijnen, Ehud Barak sprak zich - in d woorden van een Nederlandse correspondent van een christelijk blad - 'krachtig' uit zowel tegen de brief van de rabbijnen als die van hun vrouwen. Dat is natuurlijk mooi. Maar het lijkt misschien toch of de situatie wat meer vereist dan 'krachtige veroordelingen' met woorden.
http://abu-pessoptimist.blogspot.com/
Rabbi's wife: Arabs are the enemy
Woman who signed letter urging Jewish girls not to date Arabs says 'separatism is what sustained the Jewish people throughout time.' Meanwhile, Masorti Movement rabbi slams letter, says 'our faith is strong enough in order to treat non-Jews with respect and equality'
The letter issued by leading rabbis' wives urging Jewish women to avoid contact with Arab men was thought up and executed within no more than 48 hours.
"We thought it up the day before yesterday and were already working on it by Tuesday," said the letter's initiator, Anat Gofstein of the Lehava organization. "All the rabbis' wives were incredibly receptive to the idea. I only had to mention the assimilation phenomenon and they all signed."
Talking to Ynet, Gofstein said there was overwhelming agreement among the rabbis' wives when it came to the assimilation issue. "We talked about how close to home this issue is and it was obvious the trend had only grown further," she stated.
Gofstein claimed that assimilation had reached religious girls' high schools and seminaries. "We engage in the girls' rehabilitation after they emerge wounded and battered from the Arab villages," she said.
"We are interested in boosting prevention. The phenomenon must be stopped instead of waiting for the girls to remain in the villages making it harder to pull them out of Arab culture."
No antagonism?
MK Ben Ari. 'Rabbis' wives performing duty'
One of the rabbis' wives who signed the letter addressed the issue of whether the letter increases antagonism towards religion. "I don't understand what this antagonism you speak of," she told Ynet.
"Separatism is what sustained the Jewish people throughout time. It's our distinction. We are not out to cause uproar, we are here to raise a very painful issue. And yes, very painful matters need to be discussed openly. Who better to talk to the girls than the rabbis' wives?"
Wouldn't girls already dating Arab men be the last to adhere to such a plea?
"Out of experience I can say that even girls who were raised as good Zionists have their pitfalls. This letter can deter them prior to falling into traps. It is meant to raise awareness for the issue, stir up the educational establishment.
"There are 18 and 19-year-old girls who are on National Service and get hit on by 40-year-old Arab men. These stories happen every day and no one talks about it. It's just buried and dubbed racism. There is no racism. Arabs are our enemies and that is why one has to talk about it and act against it."
Knesset Member Michael Ben Ari (National Union) said that the letter is "in the spirit of the late Golda Meir's saying 'Who ever performs intermarriage joins the six million.' The role of the rabbis' wives has always been to maintain the sanctity of Jewish women and they should be commended for performing their duty."
MK Tzipi Hotovely (Likud), chairwoman of the Knesset Commission on the Status of Women, said in response to the letter that "the intermarriage phenomenon among Jewish girls and Arab men is dangerous for women, who suffer abuse and disconnection from their families after the marriage."
Hotovely added that the committee she heads will hold an emergency debate on ways to prevent intermarriage.
Criticism
MK Hotovely. Emergency debate
The Ne'emanei Torah VaAvodah movement said in response that "such public letters compromise the role of Judaism in the Israeli society and sully the State of Israel's Zionist vision. Unity and relations between all the land's inhabitants are a prerequisite for our existence and wellbeing." It was further noted: "The letter does not help bolster Judaism as its authors intended but only creates true damage."
Rabbi Mauricio Balter, a senior official with the conservative movement said: "Naturally the Masorti Movement does not endorse intermarriage but this has nothing to do with the hate campaign which is reminiscent of darker times. Our faith is strong enough in order to treat non-Jews with respect and equality."
Rabbi Gilad Kariv, head of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism said: "The Israeli society is nearing a deep dark abyss of racism and xenophobia encouraged by an inciting rabbinical establishment."
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4006332,00.html
5 jan 2012, 14:25 , Respect -
Maria 31 dec 2010
Rabbi arrested on rape charges
Police say three minors complained of sexual assault by rabbi who heads schools in north.
A rabbi who runs a number of schools in northern Israel has been arrested on suspicion he sexually assaulted two minors, the court cleared for publication Friday.
Ynet has learned that the rabbi is suspected of raping a 14-year old girl and performing an indecent act on a 12-year old boy. He has denied the allegations, claiming they are the product of a conspiracy against him by the schools he runs.
The rabbi was arrested Thursday while preparing to go abroad for two weeks. Police are expected to ask the Nazareth Magistrates' Court to remand his arrest by ten days Friday.
His attorney claimed before the court that the rabbi fell victim to blackmail. He said the father of the girl allegedly raped was trying to extort NIS 100,000 ($28,100) and that he was now inciting against him in public.
A police representative said three minors had come forward so far, and the court ruled that sufficient evidence had been presented to keep the rabbi in custody.
But his attorney insisted on the rabbi's innocence following the court hearing. "This man has been an education figure for close to 40 years and he has recently fired a number of people from the schools he heads. They are subsequently conspiring against him. We have evidence to this effect, including tapes and text messages" Yehuda Freid said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4007182,00.html