Thursday, March 22, 2007
They Don't Mean "Jews," Do They?
In 2004, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Tzfat and son of former Israeli Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, advised against the sale or rent of an apartment in Israel to Arabs. Earlier, following a terrorist attack in the Tzfat region in which several Arab Israeli students were indirectly involved, he had called for barring Arabs from the Tzfat College.
Rabbi Eliyahu was indicted for racist incitement following complaints by human rights organizations and the Reform movement.
In 2005, activist David Haivri was sentenced to four months in prison, commuted to community service, for the crime of racist incitement after producing and selling shirts bearing the slogan "No Arabs - No Terrorist Attacks."
Fast forward to March 2007.
Jews purchase a building in the ancient city of Hevron from an Arab owner and a group of students move in. The transaction is legal and documented, and Hevron Jewish community spokesman Noam Arnon says at least 20 families will live in the building once renovations are completed.
But the Israeli "human rights organization" called B'tselem is opposed to the idea of selling or renting apartments to Jews in Hevron. Or, as it was put by B'tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli, "Our opposition in principle is that these settlements should be evacuated anyway and that there shouldn't be these pockets in Hebron."
By "pockets," of course, she means "pockets of Jews."
According to B'tzelem, the legality of the purchase by Jewish owners is irrelevant and "the IDF has the obligation to make sure that settlers don't take over more areas."
By "settlers," of course, she means "Jews."
This "racist incitement" is especially disappointing coming from a group that claims to defend human rights in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Disappointing, but not unexpected. (Has anyone read B'tselem's reports on the human rights violations in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip since Israel withdrew its army and civilians from Gush Katif in 2005?)
A Knesset member of the far-left Meretz-Yahad faction expressed similar views, saying that the issue is not whether the property was legally bought, but the need for the separation of populations. He called upon the government "to throw them out of there fast."
By "them," of course, he means "Jews."
Finally, the head of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), Karl-Henrik Sjursen, said that the presence of Jews in another dwelling in Hevron may be seen by the Arabs as "an unnecessary provocation."
By "provocation," of course, he means.... Well, he said it pretty straightforwardly didn't he?
Who will charge Michaeli, Oron and Sjursen with "racist incitement"? Nobody. You see, when those groups talk about "human rights," there is an asterisk next to the word "human". And down at the bottom of the page, in small letters, is a little footnote. It says:
Rabbi Eliyahu was indicted for racist incitement following complaints by human rights organizations and the Reform movement.
In 2005, activist David Haivri was sentenced to four months in prison, commuted to community service, for the crime of racist incitement after producing and selling shirts bearing the slogan "No Arabs - No Terrorist Attacks."
Fast forward to March 2007.
Jews purchase a building in the ancient city of Hevron from an Arab owner and a group of students move in. The transaction is legal and documented, and Hevron Jewish community spokesman Noam Arnon says at least 20 families will live in the building once renovations are completed.
But the Israeli "human rights organization" called B'tselem is opposed to the idea of selling or renting apartments to Jews in Hevron. Or, as it was put by B'tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli, "Our opposition in principle is that these settlements should be evacuated anyway and that there shouldn't be these pockets in Hebron."
By "pockets," of course, she means "pockets of Jews."
According to B'tzelem, the legality of the purchase by Jewish owners is irrelevant and "the IDF has the obligation to make sure that settlers don't take over more areas."
By "settlers," of course, she means "Jews."
This "racist incitement" is especially disappointing coming from a group that claims to defend human rights in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Disappointing, but not unexpected. (Has anyone read B'tselem's reports on the human rights violations in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip since Israel withdrew its army and civilians from Gush Katif in 2005?)
A Knesset member of the far-left Meretz-Yahad faction expressed similar views, saying that the issue is not whether the property was legally bought, but the need for the separation of populations. He called upon the government "to throw them out of there fast."
By "them," of course, he means "Jews."
Finally, the head of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), Karl-Henrik Sjursen, said that the presence of Jews in another dwelling in Hevron may be seen by the Arabs as "an unnecessary provocation."
By "provocation," of course, he means.... Well, he said it pretty straightforwardly didn't he?
Who will charge Michaeli, Oron and Sjursen with "racist incitement"? Nobody. You see, when those groups talk about "human rights," there is an asterisk next to the word "human". And down at the bottom of the page, in small letters, is a little footnote. It says:
* By "human," of course, we do not mean "Jews."
