The Israeli Trumpess

29/10/16, Gush Shalom גוש שלום http://zope.gush-shalom.org (Israel)

Uri Avnery אורי אבנרי

WHAT WILL Donald Trump do if he loses the elections in a week and a half from now, as most polls indicate?

He has already declared that he will recognize the results -- but only if he wins.

That sounds like a joke. But it is far from being a joke.

Trump has already announced that the election is rigged. The dead are voting (and all the dead vote for Hillary Clinton). The polling station committees are corrupt. The polling machines forge the results.

No, that is not a joke. Not at all.

THIS IS not a joke, because Trump represents tens of millions of Americans, who belong to the lower strata of the white population, which the white elite used to call "white trash". In more polite

Women of the Wall met for Rosh Hodesh Tammuz prayers this morning at the Western

July 8, 2016, Women of the Wall נשות הכותל http://womenofthewall.org.il (Israel)

Press Release

Women of the Wall met for Rosh Hodesh Tammuz prayers this morning at the Western Wall with 300 women in attendance in the women’s section and over 100 men in support.

Frannie Werner and her family came from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to celebrate her Bat Mitzvah ceremony, which they began planning over six months ago. This was the family’s first time in Israel and at the Western Wall. Women of the Wall vowed to ensure that Frannie would read from a Torah scroll, despite the attempts made by Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, Administrator of the Western Wall, to prevent women and girls from accessing Torah scrolls at the holy site. There are over 100 scrolls for public use in the men’s section, and Rabbi Rabinowitz runs a lucrative Bar Mitzvah industry at the Kotel

ISRAELI PEACE ACTIVIST: HAMAS LEADER JABARI KILLED AMID TALKS ON LONG-TERM TRUCE

18 November 2012, The Shalom Center https://theshalomcenter.org (USA)
office@theshalomcenter.org
 

Rabbi Arthur Waskow

This Haaretz article raises profound questions about the Israeli government’s decision to assassinate a leader of Hamas. It appeared on November 15. Haaretz is often called “the New York Times of Israel.” My own comments will follow the article, both on the realpolitik of today and on how Torah might address these issues. — AW

ISRAELI PEACE ACTIVIST: HAMAS LEADER JABARI KILLED AMID TALKS ON LONG-TERM TRUCE

Gershon Baskin, who helped mediate between Israel and Hamas in the deal to release Gilad Shalit, says Israel made a mistake that will cost the lives of ‘innocent people on both sides.’

By Nir Hasson | Haaretz / Nov.15, 2012 | 1:55 PM | 38

Hours before Hamas strongman Ahmed Jabari was assassinated, he received the draft of a permanent truce agreement with Israel, which included mechanisms for maintaining the cease-fire in the case of a flare-up between Israel and the factions in the Gaza Strip. This, according to Israeli peace activist Gershon Baskin, who helped mediate between Israel and Hamas in the deal to release Gilad Shalit and has since then maintained a relationship with Hamas leaders.

Baskin told Haaretz on Thursday that senior officials in Israel knew about his contacts with Hamas and Egyptian intelligence aimed at formulating the permanent truce, but nevertheless approved the assassination.

“I think that they have made a strategic mistake,” Baskin said, an error “which will cost the lives of quite a number of innocent people on both sides.”

“This blood could have been spared. Those who made the decision must be judged by the voters, but to my regret they will get more votes because of this,” he added.

Baskin made Jabari’s acquaintance when he served as a mediator between David Meidin, Israel’s representative to the Shalit negotiations, and Jabari. “Jabari was the all-powerful man in charge. He always received the messages via a third party, Razi Hamad of Hamas, who called him Mister J.”

For months, Baskin sent daily messages in advance of the formulation of the deal. He kept the channel of communication with Gaza open even after the Shalit deal was completed.

According to Baskin, during the past two years Jabari internalized the realization that the rounds of hostilities with Israel were beneficial neither to Hamas nor to the inhabitants of the Gaza Strip and only caused suffering, and several times he acted to prevent firing by Hamas into Israel.

He said that even when Hamas was pulled into participating in the launching of rockets, its rockets would always land in open spaces. “And that was intentional,” clarified Baskin.

In recent months Baskin was continuously in touch with Hamas officials and with Egyptian intelligence as well as with officials in Israel, whose names he refused to divulge. A few months ago Baskin showed Defense Minister Ehud Barak a draft of the agreement and on the basis of that draft an inter-ministry committee on the issue was established. The agreement was to have constituted a basis for a permanent truce between Israel and Hamas, which would prevent the repeated rounds of shooting.

“In Israel,” Baskin said, “they decided not to decide, and in recent months I took the initiative to push it again.” In recent weeks he renewed contact with Hamas and with Egypt and just this week he was in Egypt and met with top people in the intelligence system and with a Hamas representative. He says he formed the impression that the pressure the Egyptians applied to the Palestinians to stop shooting was serious and sincere.

“He was in line to die, not an angel and not a righteous man of peace,” Baskin said of Jabari and of his feelings in the wake of the killing, “but his assassination also killed the possibility of achieving a truce and also the Egyptian mediators’ ability to function. After the assassination I spoke to the people in Israel angrily and they said to me: We’ve heard you and we are calling to ask if you have heard anything form the Egyptians or from Gaza.”

Since the assassination, Baskin has been in touch with the Egyptians but not with the Palestinians. According to him, the Egyptians are very cool-headed. They said it is necessary to let the fresh blood calm down. “The Egyptian intelligence people are doing what they are doing with the permission and authorization of the regime and apparently they very much believe in this work,” he says.

“I am mainly sad. This is sad for me. I am seeing people getting killed and that is what is making me sad. I tell myself that with every person who is killed we are engendering the next generation of haters and terrorists,” adds Baskin.

{Baskin is the co-founder and co-director of the Israel-Palestine Center for Research and Information, founded in 1988, which describes itself as “the only joint Israeli-Palestinian public policy think-tank in the world. It is devoted to developing practical solutions for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” — ED.}

So far, the Haaretz article. What follows are my thoughts about these events— Rabbi Arthur Waskow.

The article says that although they knew about the discussions, the Israeli government “nevertheless” approved the assassination.

The question I think we need to ask is whether the Israeli government ordered the assassination not “nevertheless” but “therefore.” That is, did top Israeli officials choose another round of war with Gaza rather than a long-term truce? They certainly knew that killing Jabari would for sure bring on new rocket attacks, which to the Israeli public would then seem a legitimate reason for a new war in “self-defense.”

Why might the Netanyahu government have made this choice? With the caveat that there is no way to know for sure, without access to the inner governmental archives, let me put forward a hypothesis that seems at minimum plausible:

At home, elections are looming, and the major focus of the emerging campaign, till last week, was the domestic social and economic crisis — not foreign policy. With that as the central issue, the pro-corporate, anti-poor-people, anti-middle-class policies of the Netanyahu government were vulnerable. A new Gaza War would shift the conversation and strengthen a government proclaiming “self-defensive war.”

Meanwhile, President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority was preparing to ask the UN General Assembly to recognize Palestine as a state with “observer” status, not full membership. This was almost certain to pass, thus increasing the prestige of the Palestinian cause. Moreover, Abbas had just publicly renounced the “right” of millions of Palestinian refugees to “return” within Israel itself, thereby easing one deep fear many Israelis hold about the possibility of a two-state peace. Instead of encouraging this step toward peace, Netanyahu pooh-poohed it.

In this atmosphere, a long-term truce with Hamas, the de facto government of Gaza, would make the achievement of a two-state peace much more likely. But the Netanyahu government does not want that. It prefers the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the subjugation of Gaza.

Ironically, last week’s and this week’s Torah readings might teach us some profound truths about these choices. These passages and much of the entire Book of Genesis, are about the relationships of older and younger siblings. In every case, God is said to favor the younger, weaker, brother. In every case but one, despite anger, the older brother — legally and often in reality more powerful — restrains himself when challenged by the younger one, and ultimately this makes possible a reconciliation.

Right now we are reading about what happens when a younger brother, Jacob, acts like his name, “Heel,” and cheats his older brother Esau. He flees his brother’s wrath. After decades away, he heads for home. When he does, Esau appears with 400 armed men — but withholds his power when he sees that Jacob, after wrestling with God, has been transformed. Esau chooses peace rather than a “legitimate” retribution for the wrong that has been done him. The brothers embrace.

The one story in which the older, more powerful brother refuses to restrain himself is the case of Cain and Abel. It ends in murder, and in the exile of the murderer.

Today, the State of Israel is far more powerful than Palestine. The Jewish people, which has for thousands of years seen itself as weaker in the world but blessed by God, is now in a time of reversal where worldly power is in its hands.

If we were to grasp the deepest teachings of Torah, the lesson would be, “Do Not Over-Reach! Do not abuse your power!” For those who do may succeed in the short run, but will end up as murderers and outcasts or worse. Those who restrain themselves and seek reconciliation live in joy.

This teaching is repeated in Torah again and again, in many different contexts – not just the family.

The Jewish people today faces the profound danger of becoming so addicted to our new power as to treat it not as a valuable healing from our past but as an idol – and thus to over-reach, and thereby to bring ruin on ourselves.

If indeed a key leader of Hamas was prepared after his own wrestle with reality to choose not fruitless war but a long-term truce, then that is a choice the Jewish people and the government of Israel should have welcomed.

That peaceful choice might have led toward a free and prosperous Palestine, alongside a much stronger, prosperous Israel freed of the burden of being the oppressor.

As I say, “If.” Without those secret archives, we cannot know for sure. But the Baskin article opens the window a crack. If it is accurate, to have chosen war instead was a profound strategic, ethical, and moral mistake.

And it is a sign of deep idolatry that practically every “established” American Jewish organization is applauding that choice without even examining the “if”.

3 WOMEN ARRESTED WHILE PRAYING AT WESTERN WALL IN 24 HOURS

October 17, 2012 +972 Magazine http://972mag.com (Israel)

By Noam Sheizaf*

Head of Women of the Wall was held in custody the entire night after trying to pray at the holy site while wearing a prayer shawl – a practice reserved only for men, according to Orthodox Judaism.

Three members of Women of the Wall (Neshot Hakotel), a group of Jewish women which seeks to conduct prayers and read from Torah at the Western Wall, were arrested by police in the last 24 hours, during the “Rosh Hodesh Heshvan” (new month prayers) at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem. The head of the organization, Anat Hoffman, was arrested last night for “disturbing public order,” while trying to pray at the Wall. Director Lesley Sachs and board member Rachel Cohen Yeshurun were detained Wednesday morning for the same offense.

Rachel and Lesley were released after a short detention at the police station in the Old City, although Anat Hoffman was taken to the police station at the Russian Compound. She has refused to speak to the police without the presence of an attorney and was held in detention the entire night. At the time of writing, Anat was undergoing interrogation. Other members of the organization held their morning prayer outside the police station; members of Israel Religious Action Center also arrived at the station.

According to the organization, Women of the Wall “seeks the right for Jewish women from Israel and around the world to conduct prayer services, read from a Torah scroll while wearing prayer shawls, and sing out loud at the Western Wall– Judaism’s most sacred holy site and the principal symbol of Jewish people hood and sovereignty.” Orthodox Jews believe that only men can wear prayer shawls and read from the Torah. As a result, religious rabbis often try to prevent the women from conducting their prayers at the wall. The police is supportive of the Orthodox approach, and arrests of women have taken place several times.

The Orthodox Rabbinate has legal monopoly in Israel over all religious services for Jews, including the management of the Western Wall.

Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Executive Director of the Reform Movement in Israel responded to the incident, saying that “the arrest of the Women of the Wall by the police is a further reminder of the need to completely alter the relation of state and religion in Israel, and to reverse the Orthodox monopoly. The struggle over the Kotel is a major part in the fight to let women sit in the front of the bus [in lines serving religious communities – N.S.], to sing and to receive equal treatment in the religious courts.”

Related:
Women of the Wall and Pussy Riot: Unlikely partners in the same struggle

 

*Noam Sheizaf I am an independent journalist and editor. I have worked for Tel Aviv’s Ha-ir local paper, for Ynet.co.il and for the Maariv daily, where my last post was deputy editor of the weekend magazine. My work has recently been published in Haaretz, Yedioth Ahronoth, The Nation and other newspapers and magazines. More…

I was born in Ramat-Gan and today live and work in Tel Aviv. Before working as a journalist, I served four and a half years in the IDF.

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noam@972mag.com

Israeli occupation authorities violate intl pacts by continuing to build settlements in Syrian Golan amidst world silence

16 May 2012, Cham Press شام برس http://www.champress.net (Syria)
mail@champress.net

QUNEITRA– The Israeli occupation authorities in the occupied Syrian Golan started constructing the first Zionist settlement five Km to the west of Quneitra city right after a month of the beginning of June aggression of 1967.

Moshe Dayan, the Israeli War Minister in the late 60s of the last century, is the one who came up with the idea of constructing settlements in the occupied Golan, saying " We are going to consolidate a new settlement reality on Golan territories which can not be changed in the future."

Dayan's remarks came after displacing 153 thousand Golan people in the aggression of 1967, as most of the 37 Israeli settlements are spread in the middle and southern parts of Golan.

Mohammad al-Mahameed, a researcher in the affairs of the occupied Syrian Golan from the occupied al-Bteiha area, said the Israeli authorities concentrate on the middle and southern sectors of Golan for building the settlements since the northern part is a rough and mountainous area and not suitable for agriculture.

He clarified that the occupation authorities and the Israeli settlers invest 80,000 dunums in agriculture and 450,000 dunums in pastures, which annually need 30 million cubic meters of water supplied from Tabaria Lake in the southern sector of the occupied Golan.

He noted that more than 20, 000 Zionist settlers benefit from these seized areas where they plant different kinds of fruitful trees and build ranches and barns that include 6,000 cows and 20,000 sheep.

The Syrian librated prisoner Atta Farhat from the occupied village of Baqatha pointed out to the Zionist gang's intentions behind building settlements in Golan in the course of fulfilling the dream of the Torah state and controlling Golan water sources and natural resources after displacing the original inhabitants, particularly after the Knesset's unjust decision to annex the Golan to the artificial entity.

Hassan Fakher-Eddin from the occupied Majdal Shams village pointed out to the Israeli criminal acts including destroying the occupied Syrian villages and deporting the people by force in an attempt to change the features of the villages and eliminate the trace of the Arabs from them.

Popular Commission for Liberation of Golan: Israeli Decision on Oil Exploration in Golan Violates International Decisions
In another context, the Popular Commission for the Liberation of the Occupied Syrian Golan stressed that the Israeli entity's decision on exploring oil and gas in the Golan is considered a flagrant violation of the international conventions and human rights in the occupied Arab territories.

The commission said in a statement on Wednesday that this decision comes in the framework of desperate attempts to exploit the current events in the region and the international silence on the Israeli violations that are aimed at changing the demographic situation in the occupied Arab lands, contrary to the international decisions which prevent changing the nature of occupied regions or the use of their natural resources, that are considered the property of the original inhabitants.

It highlighted the Zionist practices and violations in the occupied Syrian Golan, including the burial of nuclear waste, burning cultivated lands, providing farmers with harmful agricultural drugs, seizing vast areas for military purposes, stealing the Golan water and maltreating the Golan prisoners, in addition to the increasing danger of mines which claimed the lives of many and left several others maimed.

LIGHT A CANDLE FOR COEXISTENCE

21 December 2011, Rabbis for Human Rights רבנים למען זכויות האדם (Israel)

Parasha / E-Letter

Weekly commentary by Rabbis for Human Rights: Parshat “Miketz”

Rabbis for Human Rights condemns the wave of fascism that has been sweeping over Israel in the last week, including: the torching of mosques, the burning of a Jewish-Arab center in Be’er Sheva, blocking roads in the West Bank, and the publication of racist books similar to “Torat HaMelekh.” Rabbis for Human Rights will light a candle of hope in Israel and in the Occupied Territories, a candle of shared existence, and insist that the security forces prevent continued violence and potential religious war. May your festival of light bring blessings and hope, and Shabbat Shalom.

Rabbi Jeremy Milgrom | Parashat “Miketz”: “More than once during the last 35 years, ever since I started composing Torah homilies, thereby allowing the Torah to speak through my life, the Joseph story (Genesis 37-50) has jumped up and bit me. This week, it brought together resonances of one event that gripped the Israeli public recently, another that passed right by it, a Hebrew phrase that inspired a poem my mother wrote a few decades ago, and the echo of an insight from my father’s Commentary on Leviticus”

“Tag Meir” (Light a Candle for Coexistence) Events

• Lighting the second Hannukah candle: Wednesday, 12.21.11, at 4:00 PM in A-Sirah a-Qabliya, next to settlement of Yitzhar (transport will leave from Gan HaPaamon at 3:00 PM. To sign up, contact Barak Weiss or Moriel Rothman at 054-315-7781)

• Lighting the third Hannukah candle: Thursday, 12.22.11, at 4:00 PM by the mosque in the village of Burqa (trasnport will leave from Gan HaPaamon at 3:00 PM. To sign up, contact Barak Weiss or Moriel Rothman at 054-315-7781).

• Lighting the fourth and fifth Hannukah candle: There will not be an event on Friday or on Saturday.

• Lighting the sixth Hannukah candle: Sunday, 12.25.11, Khirbet Zakariya, near Gush Etzion (hours and details will be published soon).

• Lighting the seventh Hannukah candle: Monday, 12.26.11, near the mosque in the town of Tuba Zangariya, in the North, at 5:00 PM (arrive on your own, and the Conservative Movement is organizing transport from Kibbutz Hanaton).

• Lighting the eighth Hannukah candle: Tuesday, 12.27.11. Yaffa, on Yafat St. | Gan HaShnayim (five minutes from the Hummus restaurant that was damaged by a Tag Mechir (price tag) attack). Details to follow.

Almost everyone is condemning the torching of mosques, and certainly will condemn the attack on the mosque in the village of Burqa last week. But the real test is not only to condemn, but also do demand that the security forces be prepared in advance to prevent the violence that will be enacted against Palestinians following the evictions of illegal outposts. Rabbi Nava Hefetz creates a theological and political link between the roots of the ideas in the book “Torat HaMelekh” and the attacks carried out on the military base of Hativat Ephraim. Last Thursday Palestinian cars were blocked from travelling in the area of Nablus. We believe that the blockage of roads in the West Bank could lead to dangerous inflammation of dormant tensions, and certainly is a violation of basic human rights.

Rabbi Nava Hefetz took a delegation of Rabbis for Human Rights down south to protest the violation of human rights that took place there with the burning of the Jewish-Arab center, and to express solidarity with the activist and community leader Amal Ansa. Here is a slide show, with music and interviews, from the event that took place after the burning:

This week, one of our field activists was quoted in Ynet and in the Wall Street Journal about settler attacks on Palestinian cars in the Occupied Territories. In addition, he was also quote on Israeli News Channel Two about the burning of the mosque in Burqa after the eviction of outposts, and he emphasized the need to enact strong, active enforcement against the active members of the extreme right wing. ‘Bright tag’ candles at ‘price tag’ scenes By Melanie Lidman (Jpost).

Call for Volunteers:

• Rabbinical Visit to Silwan: To participate in a rabbinical visit to Silwan, please get in touch with Rav Arik Ascherman at ravarik@rhr.israel.net, and 050-5607034 or with Moriel Rothman at moriel18@gmail.com or 054-3157781 or with Rivka, at info@rhr.israel.net or 02-6482757.

• Demonstration Against the Disenfranchisement of the Bedouins in the Negev: 12.25 a weekly demonstration will take place at Tzomet Lehavim against the systematic discrimination against Bedouins in the Negev.

• Rebuilding the Arab-Jewish Center that was Burned in Be’er Sheva- last week, anonymous attacks burned the Ajik Volunteer Tent, an Arab-Jewish center for equality, empowerment and cooperation, in Be’er Sheva, twice. We invite you to donate to help rebuild the center.

Happy Hannukah and Shabbat Shalom.

Jerusalem: Hundreds rally against women's discrimination

8 December 2011, Communist Party of Israel המפלגה הקומוניסטית הישראלית http://maki.org.il

Hundreds of people gathered in the center of West Jerusalem yesterday (Wednesday) in protest of religious elements' demands to limit women's role in Israel public life. Various female performers who took part in the rally said they were there "to cry out for the Israeli women, who are pushed to society's sidelines by extremist religious leaders."

This is the third event to take place in the Capital following a number of incidents in which women were shunned from the public eye, including the removal of women figures from ad campaigns and separation of sexes during the Simchat Torah celebrations in Mea Shearim.

Singers Achinoam Nini, Ania Bukstein, Aya Korem, Yael Deckelbaum and several female bands performed during the protest rally, while members of the Tarantina band appeared on stage with head covers.

IN OCCUPIED WEST BANK, JEWS AND ARABS SEE DIFFERENT SIDES OF JUSTICE

5 September 2011, Haaretz

The Israeli justice system in the occupied territories treats similar crimes committed by Jews and Arabs differently - impunity toward settlers, harsh repercussions for Arabs.

By Amira Hass

1. There is a law in Israel. It is the Dromi Law, named for the farmer Shai Dromi who in January 2007 shot to death Khaled el-Atrash, a Bedouin who broke into his farm in the Negev at night.

In June 2008, a law was passed that “a person will not bear criminal responsibility for an act that was required immediately in order to curb someone who breaks in, or tries to break in, in order to commit a crime.” The district court acquitted Dromi of manslaughter, however he was convicted of having an illegal weapon.

2. There is a judge in Israel. He is Colonel-Lieutenant Netanel Benishu, who is deputy president of the military appeals court in the occupied West Bank. He heard the case of three members of the Bedouin Ka’abneh family, who were arrested on July 19th of this year after Israelis attacked their tent encampment on the lands of the village of Mukhmas east of Ramallah.

No, we did not get this wrong. First the Israelis broke into the encampment and then some of its residents began throwing stones at them. And a clarification – the Bedouins did not use a gun. They also did not kill anyone.

The indictment states that one of the stones they threw hit a policeman in the chest and that an Israeli by the name of Harel Zand from the unauthorized outpost of Mitzpeh Danny was hurt in the leg.

The three Bedouin who were arrested are between the ages of 16 and 20. The military judge, Major Yehuda Lieblein, decided to leave the two older youths in detention and to release the youngest one on NIS 7,500 bail.

The military prosecution appealed the release of the minor. The defense attorney, Naji Amer, appealed the continued detention of the others. Benishu ruled that all three would remain in custody until the end of the proceedings.

3. There is a policeman in Israel’s police force at the Benjamin Station in the occupied West Bank. He is Sgt. Maj. Avi Ben Ami and he was present at the site when the Israelis broke into the encampment. He was in civvies. He said he happened to be on the spot because he had received a report that some of the residents of the settlement were planning to go to the encampment. He arrived and saw that they were arguing with the Ka'abneh family members. He says he immediately identified himself as a policeman.

However, the members of the encampment said they only realized he was not a civilian toward the end of the incident when he put a flashing blue light on his car.

His overt or covert presence did not prevent other settlers from arriving there and, according to his testimony, from shouting and starting to kick cans of milk. Then he also noticed the stone-throwers. He apparently did not see what happened then, according to the tent dwellers account to Haaretz. The Israelis began stoning them (one little girl was injured), threw a baby (wrapped in its blankets) out of a cradle and began overturning sacks of flour and rice

4. Benishu: "If we were dealing with throwing stones at civilians alone", he wrote in his ruling "it is doubtful in my eyes to what extent it would be necessary to instruct that the appellants be in the unique circumstances of the present case. No one would disagree that stone throwing is generally a crime that deserves detention because of the danger involved.”

“And indeed, from the point of view of the danger involved in releasing an accused, there is no resemblance between planned and intentional stone-throwing, and stone throwing that stems from tempers heating up during a fight to which the victim contributed quite a bit…However, the appellant deliberately harmed a policeman who was present at the scene and identified himself”

[Therefore] significant danger to the public is involved (in an act of that kind) … The stone throwing continued even after the settlers left the site … Now is the time to reject the defense attorney’s claims about the supposed discrimination that was created between the matter of the appellants and the matter of the settlers… It must be noted that an investigation has been opened against the settlers and some of them have been interrogated under caution as is required. In view of that, it is possible that action will be taken against them… Second, there is no evidence of stone throwing on the part of the settlers, and while every harmful act against property must be condemned, this cannot be compared with an act of bodily harm.”

5. A beheaded doll now lies on the land where the tent encampment of Ka'abneh once was. On July 25, its inhabitants dismantled it and left. Out of fear. That is what the inhabitants of three other nearby Bedouin encampments did as well. Had the law and order authorities defended us from attacks, they said, we would not have left.

6. Israel has a Torah. Bassam, aged 12, helps support his family by herding his relatives’ sheep in a tent encampment near the village of Jaba. He learned that the Jews’ Torah restricts their movement on the Sabbath and therefore, he thought that Saturday would be a good day to take the sheep a little further out, to the rich pasture at the Mukhmas junction. The Migron outpost overlooks the junction.

7. Thank God for security firms. On August 20, Bassam and a friend went out with the sheep at seven in the morning. It was Ramadan, and hot, and they dozed while the sheep pastured.

At around 12.30, Bassam awoke to the sound of desperate bleating from the flock. He left the cave where he had been resting and saw a group of young Israeli boys (and a few girls) attacking the sheep with stones and iron bars.

Two of the Israelis, he said, attacked him too and beat him on the head with the rods. He was also hit in the back by a stone that someone threw at him. His friend woke up and the two of them fled for their lives in the direction of Shaar Binyamin, a settlers’ services compound.

The police station is there but that is not what they were looking for. They hid and waited for a security guard whom they believe guards a wedding hall.

When he arrived, he called the police, an ambulance and a family member of the boys. He also administered first aid to Bassam whose head was bleeding. In the Ramallah hospital, doctors attended to three deep and long gashes on Bassam’s skull.

8. "Hava Nagilla” - let’s be merry. Bassam’s friend accompanied the soldiers and the policemen who went to look for the young attackers. He saw a group of young people sitting on the ground in a small stone building, clapping their hands and singing. Some of them (including some young women) left when they saw the police and army approaching. Most remained behind and continued singing. The boy saw the police arresting them.

9. At a line-up in the yard of the Beit El army base, Bassam identified three of the youths as those who had assaulted him. As far as we know at this moment, if there are suspects in the attack, they are free.

DICHTER'S LAW

13 August 2011, Gush Shalom גוש שלום http://zope.gush-shalom.org (Israel)

Uri Avnery אורי אבנרי

“THE PEOPLE Demand Social Justice!” 250 thousand protesters chanted in unison in Tel Aviv last Saturday. But what they need – to quote an American artist - is “more unemployed politicians”.

Fortunately, the Knesset has gone on a prolonged vacation, three months. For as Mark Twain quipped: “No man’s life or property is safe while the legislature is in session.”

As if to prove this point, MK Avi Dichter submitted, on the very last day of the outgoing session, a bill so outrageous that it easily trumps all the many other racist laws lately adopted by this Knesset.

“DICHTER” IS A German name and means “poet”. But no poet he. He is the former chief of the secret police, the “General Security Service” (Shin-Bet or Shabak).

(“Dichter also means “more dense”, but let’s not dwell on that.)

He proudly announced that he had spent a year and a half smoothening and sharpening this particular project, turning it into a legislative masterpiece.

And a masterpiece it is. No colleague in yesterday’s Germany or present-day Iran could have produced a more illustrious piece. The other members of the Knesset seem to feel so, too – no less than 20 of the 28 members of the Kadima faction, as well as all the other dyed-in-the-wool racist members of this august body, have proudly put their name to this bill as co-authors.

The very name - “Basic Law: Israel as the Nation-State of the Jewish People” - shows that this Dichter is neither a poet nor much of an intellectual. Secret police chiefs seldom are.

“Nation” and “People” are two different concepts. It is generally accepted that a people is an ethnic entity, and a nation is a political community. They exist on two different levels. But never mind.

It is the content of the bill that counts.

WHAT DICHTER proposes is to put an end to the official definition of Israel as a “Jewish and Democratic State”.

He proposes instead to set clear priorities: Israel is first and foremost the nation-state of the Jewish people, and only as a far second a democratic state. Wherever democracy clashes with the Jewishness of the state, Jewishness wins, democracy loses.

This makes him, by the way, the first right-wing Zionist (apart from Meir Kahane) who openly admits that there is a basic contradiction between a “Jewish” state and a “democratic” state. Since 1948, this has been strenuously denied by all Zionist factions, their phalanx of intellectuals and the Supreme Court.

What the new definition means is that the State of Israel belongs to all the Jews in the world – including Senators in Washington, drug-dealers in Mexico, oligarchs in Moscow and casino-owners in Macao, but not to the Arab citizens of Israel, who have been here for at least 1300 years since the Muslims entered Jerusalem. Christian Arabs trace their ancestry back to the crucifixion 1980 years ago, Samaritans were here 2500 years ago and many villagers are probably the descendents of the Canaanites, who were already here some 5000 years ago.

All these will become, once this bill is law, second-class citizens, not only in practice, as now, but also in official doctrine. Whenever their rights clash with what the majority of the Jews considers necessary for the preservation of the interests of the “nation-state of the Jewish people” – which may include everything from land ownership to criminal legislation –their rights will be ignored.

THE BILL itself does not leave much room for speculation. It spells things out.

The Arabic language will lose its status as an “official language” – a status it enjoyed in the Ottoman Empire, under the British Mandate and in Israel until now. The only official language in the Nation-State etc will be Hebrew.

No less typical is the paragraph that says that whenever there is a hole in Israeli law (called “lacuna”’ or lagoon), Jewish law will apply.

“Jewish law” is the Talmud and the Halakha, the Jewish equivalent of the Muslim Sharia. It means in practice that legal norms adopted 1500 years ago and more will trump the legal norms evolved over recent centuries in Britain and other European countries. Similar clauses exist in the laws of countries like Pakistan and Egypt. The similarity between Jewish and Islamic law is not accidental - Arabic-speaking Jewish sages, like Moses Maimonides (“the Rambam”) and their contemporary Muslim legal experts influenced each other.

The Halakha and the Sharia have much in common. They ban pork, practice circumcision, keep women in servitude, condemn homosexuals and fornicators to death and deny equality for infidels. (In practice, both religions have modified many of the harsher penalties. In the Jewish religion, for example, “an eye for an eye” now means compensation. Otherwise, as Gandhi so aptly said, we would all be blind by now.)

After enacting this law, Israel will be much nearer to Iran than to the USA. The “Only Democracy in the Middle East” will cease to be a democracy, but be very close in its character to some of the worst regimes in this region. “At long last, Israel is integrating itself in the region,” as an Arab writer mocked - alluding to a slogan I coined 65 years ago: “Integration in the Semitic Region”.

MOST OF the Knesset members who signed this bill fervently believe in “the Whole of Eretz-Israel” – meaning the official annexation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

They don’t mean the “One-State solution” that so many well-intentioned idealists dream about. In practice, the only One State that is feasible is one governed by Dichter’s law - the “Nation-State of the Jewish People” - with the Arabs relegated to the status of the Biblical “hewers of wood and drawers of water”.

Sure, the Arabs will be a majority in this state – but who cares? Since the Jewishness of the state will override democracy, their numbers will be irrelevant. Much as the number of blacks was in Apartheid South Africa.

LET’S HAVE a look at the party to which this poet of racism belongs: Kadima.

When I was in the army, I was always amused by the order: “the squad will retreat to the rear – forward march!”

This may sound absurd, but is really quite logical. The first part of the order relates to its direction, the second to its execution.

“Kadima” means “forward”, but Its direction is backward.

Dichter is a prominent leader of Kadima. Since his only claim to distinction is his former role as chief of the secret police, this must be why he was elected. But he has been joined in this racist project by more than 80% of the Kadima Knesset faction – the largest in the present parliament.

What does this say about Kadima?

Kadima has been a dismal failure in practically every respect. As an opposition faction in parliament it is a sad joke – indeed, I dare say that when I was a one-man faction in the Knesset, I generated more opposition activity than this 28-headed colossus. It has not formulated any meaningful stand on peace and the occupation, not to mention social justice.

Its leader, Tzipi Livni, has proved herself a total failure. Her only achievement has been her ability to keep her party together – no mean feat, though, considering that it consists of refugees (some would say traitors) from other parties, who hitched their cart to Ariel Sharon’s surging horses when he left the Likud. Most Kadima leaders left the Likud with him, and – like Livni herself – are deeply steeped in Likud ideology. Some others came from the Labor Party, arm in arm with that unsavory political prostitute, Shimon Peres.

This haphazard collection of frustrated politicians has tried several times to outflank Binyamin Netanyahu on the right. Its members have co-signed almost all the racist bills introduced in recent months, including the infamous “Boycott Law” (though when public opinion rebelled, they withdrew their signature, and some of them even voted against.)

How did this party get to be the largest in the Knesset, with one more seat than Likud? For left-wing voters, who were disgusted by Ehud Barak’s Labor Party and who dismissed the tiny Meretz, it seemed the only chance to stop Netanyahu and Lieberman. But that may change very soon.

LAST SATURDAY’s huge protest demonstration was the largest in Israel’s history (including the legendary “400,000 demo” after the Sabra-Shatilah massacre, whose real numbers were slightly lower). It may be the beginning of a new era.

It is impossible to describe the sheer energy emanating from this crowd, consisting mostly of 20-30-year-olds. History, like a gigantic eagle, could be felt beating its wings above. It was a jubilant mass, conscious of its immense power.

The protesters were eager to shun “politics” – reminding me of the words of Pericles, some 2500 years ago, that “just because you do not take an interest in politics doesn’t mean that politics won’t take an interest in you!”

The demonstration was, of course, highly political – directed against Netanyahu, the government and the entire social order. Marching in the dense crowd, I looked around for kippa-wearing protesters and could not spot a single one. The whole religious sector, the right-wing support group of the settlers and Dichter’s Law, was conspicuously absent, while the Oriental Jewish sector, the traditional base of Likud, was amply represented.

This mass protest is changing the agenda of Israel. I hope that it will result in due course in the emergence of a new party, which will change the face of the Knesset beyond recognition. Even a new war or another “security emergency” may not avert this.

That will surely be the end of Kadima, and few will mourn it. It would also mean bye-bye to Dichter, the Secret Police poet.

IJV RESPONSE TO KAIROS PALESTINE DOCUMENT*

A Moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of palestinian suffering

22 July 2011, Independent Jewish Voices-Canada (IJV) http://ijvcanada.org (Canada)

Introduction

Independent Jewish Voices-Canada (IJV) is a national organization of Jews committed to a resolution of the conflict in Israel/Palestine based on the application of international law and respect for the human rights of all people.

Independent Jewish Voices wholeheartedly endorses the analysis and recommendations of A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering, a seminal document drafted by senior church leaders in Israel/Palestine, and circulated by the ecumenical group, Kairos Palestine.

In addition, IJV strongly supports the document’s call for the world’s churches to join the international, non-violent, ethically-based campaign of Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS), an initiative whose goal is to pressure Israel to comply with international law and respect Palestinians’ human rights. We believe that this campaign has the potential to pressure Israel to adopt more ethical and just practices.1

In the following, we outline specific responses to A moment of truth. In the subsequent section, we include a brief critique of the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) response to A moment of truth (2010).2

The IJV Response to A moment of truth

IJV strongly endorses the analysis and recommendations contained in the Kairos Palestine document. We see it as a profoundly compassionate call to the peoples of the world – including the people of Israel – to help Israel turn away from the crimes and injustices rooted in its ongoing occupation. The document calls on Israel to become “a state for all its citizens, with a vision constructed on respect for religion but also equality, justice, liberty and respect for pluralism and not on domination by a religion or a numerical majority”. Kairos Palestine, 2009:16

We see many parallels between the position of the Kairos Palestine writers and the point of view of IJV. Throughout its long history, Judaism, like Christianity, has included both those who promote justice and compassion, and those who protect the powerful at the expense of justice and the less strong. Marc Ellis, the Jewish theologian, describes those who promote justice and peace as Jews of conscience, in contrast to those who pursue power at all costs, whom he labels “Constantinian Jews” (2009:xii)

Although IJV is a human rights organization, and not religiously-based, we are committed to acting as Jews of conscience. Like Kairos Palestine, our members are united by a commitment to pursue social justice, the universal of human rights, and the rigorous application of international law.

IJV members who are religiously inclined can point to core Jewish religious values in the Torah which reflect this perspective. For example, the injunction “do not ill-treat a stranger [i.e., the non-Jew] or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Israel” (Exodus 22:21) appears 36 times in the Torah. In 2002, British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks declared “I regard this as one of the core projects of a state that is true to Judaic principles” (quoted in Freedland, 2002). Rabbi Simean ben Gamaliel, one of Judaism’s most respected sages, quoted Zacharia 8:16: “Execute truth, justice and peace, within your gates,” and emphasized that “these three are interlinked when justice is done, truth is achieved, and peace is established” (Pirke Avot, 1:18). In addition, there is a long tradition of secular Jewish movements which have promoted universal justice and equality (Klug, 2008). However, as Mike Marquesee’s excellent historical study noted, “both Zionists and anti-Zionists, liberals and fundamentalists can find succour in the prophetic texts” (2008:231). Many Israeli rabbis (and politicians) cite scripture to justify Israel’s claims to all the land mentioned in the Bible and use it to attempt to sanctify the violent expulsion of the Palestinians from their land (Shahak, 2002). For example, Rabbi Zvi Yehud Kook said “This land is ours, there are no Arab lands here…within its entire biblical borders it belongs to Israeli rule…this is the decision of divine politics which no earthly politics can overcome” (quoted in Arieli, 2011).

It is our view that all people have an ethical obligation to reject such expedient arguments. Instead we must dedicate ourselves to the pursuit of peace rooted in social justice and compassion. A moment of truth reflects these values and we therefore enthusiastically support it. IJV agrees with the Kairos document that the international campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions constitutes an ethical and non-violent response to the crimes it enumerates. The campaign is rooted, not in a desire to damage Israel, but, rather, to help liberate Israel from the dangerously destructive (and self-destructive) path that it has pursued for many years. Our belief in the moral and practical force of BDS motivated our organization’s 2009 decision to adopt a resolution supporting BDS. Support for BDS campaigns is now one of IJV’s highest priorities.

More specifically, we endorse the view of A moment of truth that:

1. Israel’s occupation of Palestine and its many oppressive elements – the separation wall, the blockade of Gaza, the ever-expanding system of Israeli colony-settlements, the proliferation of military checkpoints on Palestinian lands, the enforced separation of family members, the restriction of the exercise of religious liberty, the denial of refugees’ right of return, the arbitrary arrest and torture of prisoners, the expulsion of Palestinians from Jerusalem and the related pressure on them to emigrate, the disregard for international law and United Nations resolutions, the application of collective punishment, and other egregious actions – constitute serious ethical, moral and legal violations. Along with economic and other consequences, these violations directly injure and kill Palestinians. Simultaneously, these actions blight the lives of Israelis as well as those who are not directly involved,inuring them to systematic and ongoing violations of ethics and integrity.

2. While all human-rights violations must be condemned, we believe that it is necessary to situate the Palestinian violence that exists – as well as some of the major internal political conflicts within Palestinian society – in the context of overwhelming oppression rooted in decades of Israel’s occupation. We believe it is relevant in this context to acknowledge that Israel has for decades been free to act with impunity. This is due, in large part, to the enormous political and financial support it has enjoyed from the international community. As A moment of truth argues, ending the occupation and the associated injustices through the application of non-violent, ethical tools like BDS will eliminate the most significant causes of Palestinian violence.

3. Israel cannot ethically justify its systematic abuse of the Palestinian people by characterizing legitimate Palestinian resistance as “terrorism” or by pointing to the human-rights failings of other Middle Eastern countries. The requirement to act ethically and morally is an imperative which cannot be abandoned by reference to the real or imagined failings of others. Members of civil society – all of us! – have an ethical obligation to speak out and to take action against injustice and to promote justice, peace and dignity. Resistance against oppression is an ethical obligation not only for the oppressed, but also for those who have made oppression possible by supporting, condoning, or simply ignoring it.

4.Israel cannot claim Biblical justification for the sins associated with its occupation. For a detailed analysis of theologically-based Jewish opposition to Zionism, readers are referred to A Threat from Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism, written by IJV member and University of Montreal professor, Yakov Rabkin (2006). Nur Masalha’s The Bible and Zionism (2007) exposes the historically inaccurate Biblical basis for Israel’s claims to Jewish ownership of the land.

5. The Bible does not provide Jewish Israelis with a legal claim to the land. Jews from Europe, the United States, Canada, Russia, and elsewhere, who have chosen to settle in Israel cannot invoke a legitimate aboriginal claim to this land. As the Canadian philosopher Michael Newman argues, “Each individual person certainly has a right to live somewhere, but an ethnic group has no right to live somewhere together.… [N]o one seems to think that all Italians, all over the world, have a right to live in one huge nation, excluding all others. If they all want to go back to Italy, fine, but certainly they [don’t have the right to] to expel others to make room in their ‘homeland,’ or expand that homeland to fulfill the project of reversing their Diaspora” (2005:12).

The IJV response to the Canadian Jewish Congress reaction to A moment of truth

In stark contrast to the thoughtful, compassionate and balanced tone of the Kairos Palestine document, the Canadian Jewish Congress’s response is hostile, defensive and logically inconsistent. The CJC response repeatedly responds to concerns raised in the Kairos Palestine document by setting up straw men and knocking them down. Rather than a meaningful and methodical engagement with the arguments made in A moment of truth, a reflective document which takes as its starting point the consequences of Israel’s long occupation, the CJC response deploys the time-worn language of hasbara – the Hebrew word used by the Israel government and its supporters to describe efforts to explain the government’s actions and to promote and defend Israel in the face of criticism. The term is a euphemism for pro-Israel propaganda. IJV regrets that there is little intellectual depth to the CJC critique, and notes that while there is an apparent attempt to link the CJC’s comments to the observations in the Kairos document, any such link is illusory.

It is clear to us that the CJC responders refused to hear the words so eloquently put forward by the authors of the Kairos document. On the basis of what is presented in the CJC’s response, we are forced to conclude that the serious dialogue initiated by those who drafted the Kairos document has fallen on
deaf ears. The consequence of this refusal to hear is that the CJC piece amounts to little more than a tired rehashing of traditional rationalizations of Israeli intransigence. It does not constitute a worthy response to the heartfelt cry for justice embodied in A moment of truth.

In addition to its other failings, what comes across from the CJC authors is an apparently deep-seated desire to “even the score” with the writers of the Kairos document. This is not surprising. Those who attempt to defend or rationalize injustice often respond angrily when others recognize that what they are doing is unjust. In situations such as this, it is advantageous to turn the tables – to deny misdeeds and to minimize or rationalize those that cannot be denied; to blame the victim for whatever has transpired; to feign victimhood oneself; to invoke guilt to silence outside observers; and finally, if all else fails, to threaten those who continue to insist that the injustice must be addressed. It is our observation that the CJC document and, indeed, hasbara in general, is characterized by the use of such techniques.

Ultimately, all hasbara-based strategy is designed to avoid engaging with the issues raised and to disclaim responsibility. Thus, if the victim of injustice is provoked to act against his oppression, the victimizer can respond by arguing that it is he who is the innocent victim.

This is not the place for a detailed refutation of the time-worn “explanations” contained in the CJC document; many other writers, some of whom we reference here, have prepared full and nuanced analyses on the subject.

Conclusion
With Kairos Palestine, IJV affirms that it is a moral and ethical imperative to acknowledge the reality of Israel’s oppression of Palestinian people and to take action to end that oppression. This is essential, as much for the moral integrity and long-term security of Jewish Israelis, as it is for the well-being of the Palestinians. IJV therefore wholeheartedly endorses the A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering. We join with the framers of the Kairos Palestine document in calling for the implementation of BDS and other actions to encourage Israel to abandon its unconscionable practices and policies.

1IJV recognizes that the “Boycott Law,” passed in the Israel Knesset on 11 July 2011 complicates matters. We note, however, that challenges to the law were filed in Israel’s High Court of Justice on 12 July 2011 by Israel human rights and pro-peace organizations.

2 On 1 July 2011, the Canadian Jewish Congress ceased independent activities. Its functions have been taken over by the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy.

References and Readings

Amit, Zalman and Daphna Levit. (2011). Israeli Rejectionism: A hidden agenda in the Middle East Peace Process. New York: Pluto Press.

Arieli, Shaul. “We must Stop Israel from becoming a theocracy,” Ha’Aretz, 6 July 2011.

Canadian Jewish Congress. (2010). “ CJC Response to KAIROS Palestine’s policy paper, ‘A Moment of Truth’ ”

Ellis, Marc. (2009). Judaism does not equal Israel. New York: The New Press.

Engler, Yves. (2010). Canada and Israel: Building Apartheid. Halifax: Fernwood.

Freedland, Jonathan. “‘Israel Set on Tragic Path,’ says Chief Rabbi,” The Guardian, 27 August 2002.

Hassan, Zaha and Steven Goldberg. (n.d.). “Israel’s Wall: An Analysis of its Legal Validity under U.S. and International Law.” Website of U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation.

Kairos Palestine. (2009). “A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering.”

Klug, Francesca (2008). “Lessons from History.” In Anne Karpf, Brian Klug, Jacqueline Rose and Barbara Rosenbaum (eds.), A time to speak out: Independent Jewish Voices on Israel, Zionism and Jewish Identity. London: Verso.

Marquesee, Mike. (2008). “The Jews and the Left.” In Anne Karpf, Brian Klug, Jacqueline Rose and Barbara Rosenbaum (eds.), A Time to Speak Out: Independent Jewish Voices on Israel, Zionism and Jewish Identity. London: Verso.

Masalha, Nur. (2007). The Bible and Zionism: Invented traditions, archaeology and post-colonialism in Israel-Palestine. London: Zed Books.

Newman, Michael. (2005). “The Case Against Israel.” Petrolia, California: Counterpunch.

Pesikta Kahana. (Various dates). 140 b;cf, Pirke Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 1:18.

Rabkin, Yakov M. (2006). A Threat from Within: A Century of Jewish Opposition to Zionism (translated by Fred A. Reed).Halifax: Fernwood.

Shahak, Israel. (2002)

1IJV recognizes that the “Boycott Law,” passed in the Israel Knesset on 11 July 2011 complicates matters. We note, however, that challenges to the law were filed in Israel’s High Court of Justice on 12 July 2011 by Israel human rights and pro-peace organizations.

2 On 1 July 2011, the Canadian Jewish Congress ceased independent activities. Its functions have been taken over by the Canadian Council for Israel and Jewish Advocacy.

). Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years. London: Pluto Press.

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*Kairos Palestine Document “A Moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of palestinian suffering” http://www.kairospalestine.ps/sites/default/Documents/English.pdf (Shalom 1492)

Rabbi Says "Uppity" Women Should Be Harassed

15 July 2011, About.com Guide (USA)

Until recently certain buses in Israel have been gender segregated, with men sitting in the front and women being relegated to the back of the bus. The Israeli Supreme Court ruled that such "mehadrin" buses were illegal, but some members of the ultra-Orthodox community disagree. A few weeks ago a yeshiva student boarded a formerly segregated bus and noticed a woman sitting in front. When she refused to move he decided to scream insults at her for the duration of her trip. Later he wondered, was it OK that he had harassed this woman? Should he apologize?

The student sought guidance from Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv of Mea Shearim, who answered in the form of a halachic ruling known as a psak. In this psak Rav Elyashiv said that the man did not have to apologize, citing an incident in the Gemara where Shmuel saw a woman dressed immodestly and responded by tearing the clothes from her body. Rav Elyashiv believes this story teaches us that women who violate halacha should be publicly humiliated.

As Sharon Shenhav notes in a recent JPost article, by Haredi standards there is a long list of women who violate halacha, from female IDF officers to women simply wearing shorts during the hot summer months. "How are yeshiva boys going to find time to study Torah if they have to deal with all the uppity women? Perhaps Rav Elyashiv can issue a psak in response to this question in the near future."

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Insult, embarrass, harass ‘uppity’ women

13 July 2011, Jerusalem Post (Israel)

By Sharon Shenhav*

A recent ruling by an influential haredi rabbi takes Israel back 3,000 years.
How should ‘uppity’ women be treated in Israel today? A few weeks ago, on May 18, an answer to this question was given in the form of a psak (halachic ruling) by the revered haredi leader and gedol hador (most esteemed of his generation) Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv of Mea Shearim. The psak was published in the haredi paper Kikar Hashabat, and gives clear instructions as to how Jewish men should deal with women who refuse to conform to the requirements of Jewish Law as interpreted by Rav Elyashiv.

The question arose when a yeshiva student boarded a public bus which had been gender-segregated until January, when the Supreme Court declared that such “mehadrin” buses were illegal. Since January, all public buses on formerly mehadrin routes must post notices that everyone has the right to sit wherever they choose, and that anyone who interferes with that right is subject to criminal prosecution. The court noted that women could sit in any seat on these buses, including the front section.

However, our yeshiva student doesn’t recognize the law of the land as applying to him and his colleagues.

When he boarded the bus he discovered a woman sitting in the front. He informed her that this was a mehadrin bus, and that she must move to the rear section reserved for women. The woman refused to move, so the yeshiva student screamed at her, insulting her in front of all the other passengers, and continued to harass her verbally throughout the journey.

After the incident, the student apparently had some doubts about his behavior, and requested a halachic ruling from Rav Elyashiv.

The student thought that perhaps he should ask forgiveness from the victim of his attack.

No such luck! Rav Elyashiv responded by stating that he had heard the details of the incident, and there was no need for an apology.

Since the woman should have moved to the rear of the bus, the section designated for women, her refusal to do so was a violation of the arrangement on mehadrin buses.

OBVIOUSLY RAV ELYASHIV does not consider himself bound by Supreme Court decisions either. In the response published in the Kikar Hashabat newspaper, available online, Rav Elyashiv gave the source for his psak by quoting from the Gemara. He quoted the case of Shmuel, who saw a woman dressed immodestly in the shuk. Shmuel tore off the woman’s clothes. From this story, according to Rav Elyashiv, we learn that a Jewish man can publicly humiliate a woman who violates halacha.

So now you know how to treat uppity women according to halacha. The publication of Rav Elyashiv’s psak is a clear message to Jewish men worldwide. While the case in question involved a woman sitting in the front of a bus, I have no doubt that Rav Elyashiv’s psak can be applied more broadly to women who do not conform to other haredi standards.

How about women sitting as civil court judges, especially the President of our Supreme Court? Then there are those women who serve as Members of Knesset and Cabinet ministers. Obviously, women who are CEO’s of banks and corporations, as well as officers in the IDF are uppity. What about female academicians and scientists? Why, there’s no end to uppity women today in Israel! They’re everywhere, practicing medicine and law, appearing on television as entertainers and news broadcasters, writing articles in newspapers. The list is endless.

As to the example of Shmuel in the Gemara, one can only imagine the results of this message! During the hot Israeli summer, the streets and public places are full of women whose mode of dress does not conform to haredi standards of modesty.

How are yeshiva boys going to find time to study Torah if they have to deal with all the uppity women? Perhaps Rav Elyashiv can issue a psak in response to this question in the near future.

*The writer is a Jerusalem-based lawyer and Director of the International Jewish Women’s Rights Project of the International Council of Jewish Women.

SHAVUOT 2011: OBSCENITIES AS WORDS OF TORAH

This isn't the Torah we received. Since that time, Israel has been swallowed up by the Land of Israel and disappeared inside its maw.

7 June 2011, Haaretz הארץ

By Yossi Sarid

Go to your computer right now and watch the frightening video clip posted on YouTube as a memento of Jerusalem Day (it's called "Yom Yeru 2011" ). Not a handful, but hundreds of young people high on hard-core nationalism wave blue-and-white flags; may their eyes grow dim.

"Death to the Arabs, death to the leftists," they chanted. "The Temple will be rebuilt, the mosque will be destroyed." "Kahane lives, Mohammed is dead." "Itbach al-Arab" ("Death to the Arabs" in Arabic ). Thus they elevate Jerusalem as their chief sin: May their tongues cleave to their palates.

While I was roaming Jerusalem's streets, another mob was gathering at the city's Mercaz Harav Yeshiva, with rabbis Shmuel Eliyahu of Safed and Dov Lior of Hebron among the guests. The former demands Israel be purged of Arabs, while the latter endorses a book that justifies killing gentiles, urges soldiers to disobey orders and refuses to show up for questioning by the police.

Nowadays, every obscenity is treated as 'words of Torah.' A bill was even submitted for discussion to the cabinet that would permit incitement by rabbis, and rabbis only. And MK Michael Ben Ari (National Union ) was also among the guests.
The guest of honor was the prime minister; lift up your heads, O ye gates. "I see you as an elite Torah combat unit," the king of glory - and of shame - said fawningly. Now the Torah, too, has its own elite combat unit.

Jerusalem Day ends, and Shavuot arrives - the holiday I once loved above all others for its graciousness and compassion. This is the time of the giving of our Torah, "a Torah of life I gave to you." But this isn't the Torah we received. Since that time, Israel has been swallowed up by the Land of Israel and disappeared inside its maw.

Our education minister, Gideon Sa'ar, is also living in the Book of Joshua, as if the Torah had no other books - as if we had no children here, but only our distant forefathers. Of all the possible nationwide school trips, he chose to join the first visit by students to the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, to support his new program, "Visits to the Land of Our Fathers." A few months ago, he threatened a principal with dismissal because he proposed teachers take a tour of army checkpoints. But what is permissible for an emperor is forbidden to the flea in his ear.

As a part-time civics teachers when he deems the occasion right, Sa'ar surely explained to the visiting students how the Jewish settlement was established in "Kiryat Arba, which is Hebron" as a plot against the government; how the settlers there beat up soldiers and policemen and spat on their neighbors; how the people who dwell by the Cave of the Patriarchs make pilgrimages to the grave of the Jewish murderer Baruch Goldstein, and sanctify his name in public; how the Torah handed down at Sinai authorized us to dispossess, deport and seal houses; and why a Hebron market street stands empty.

Shavuot is blessed with a beautiful megillah, the Book of Ruth. I sometimes wonder how Ruth managed to worm her way into the Book of Books; perhaps the Song of Songs paved the way for her. It could never happen today. The Education Ministry and Mercaz Harav would never consent, and the Culture and Sports Ministry would disqualify its candidacy for the Zionist Artwork Award.

That's all we need: For a complete goy - a Moabite, on top of all her other problems - to marry Mahlon, who, even though he has fallen low, is still a Jew. By what right did she cleave to Naomi - a healthy woman, after all, who doesn't need a Filipina in constant attendance - so that she could later seduce another wealthy Jewish man, thus enabling her to remain without a permit from the rabbis and without even a pro forma conversion? And how did it happen that "all the people" were happy and supportive, without a single opponent?

After all, even back then, they could have deported her as a foreign agricultural worker who had infiltrated into Israel by means of dubious paperwork.

And they would have left her great-grandson, David, without a chance of even being born, much less later being anointed as Israel's king.

As the holiday approached, I telephoned the Bialik-Rogozin School and asked to speak with Ruthie. She's an 11-year-old girl, a sixth-grader, with Ghanaian parents who work as cleaners. But don't think they - her mother and father - are innocents. For it's not by chance that they named their daughter Ruthie - Ruth, of all things - in order to remind us of, and make us mourn, what we have lost.