When the voice announced on the car radio “Palestinian
terrorist killed eight school children in Jerusalem”,
I thought to myself ‘How horrible.’ As I was programmed
to do by the wording of the news story, I imagined little
children playing in a schoolyard when it all had taken
place, killed in cold blood. On another broadcast
the announcer had more details and mentioned the
attack had been on ‘Seminary’ students, adding
to the depravity of it all. I imagined these humble,
little, monk-looking creatures praying for peace,
harmony, and all that ‘love thy neighbor’ business
that is supposed to be part of the Kingdom of God.
‘What an awful thing to do,’ I thought, ‘Simply horrible’.
Like all things these tightly-controlled-information age,
I suspected there was more to it than what they were
saying. I got home and started reading. Then more
reading, and then even more reading and then a little
more, and sure enough, there it was–the ‘devil’ in
the details as they always say. As it turns out there
was another side to the coin we were not being told
about, a side just as horrible as the initial story of the
shooting itself, and in an instant, I came to the
realization that this school shooting held the key
to resolving, or at least understanding, the
Palestinian-Israeli “conflict”, as most Western
Media like to call it.
As it turned out, the school in question (or rather,
the ’seminary’ as they were referring to it)
turned out to be a training camp for Jewish
terrorists, not much different than the video
footage we all see on mainstream news featuring
Islamic militants running through obstacle courses
with Kalashnikovs shouting ‘Alahu Akbar’! Like
most things these days, it was cleverly disguised
under the very religious-sounding name ‘Merkaz
Harav,’ or the Rabbi Center. The Merkaz was
established back in 1924 by Rabbi Abraham
Yitzhak Kook, chief Rabbi of Palestine, a fact
I found rather interesting, since Israel was
established in 1948. I am not sure who ‘appointed’
him to that post, but that is another story for
another time. As it turns out, the ‘good Rabbi’
was rabid not only in his support of Zionism
but as well in the new ideology he himself
concocted in the early 1900’s. Kook saw the
Merkaz as the ultimate center for raising Jewish
leaders who would build the “true” Jewish society
in the land God had given ‘His people’ as a gift,
the result of which would lead to universal and
religious redemption. In short, the thin line
separating heaven on earth from hell on earth
was the Jewish people ‘redeeming’ the land of
Palestine by whatever means were necessary.
Over the years the Merkaz grew to become the
number one extremist Zionist religious training camp
in Palestine, where trainees are nursed on the
ideology that Palestine was a gift from God and that
it is their religious duty to drive away the
inhabitants of the land in the manner “God” demanded.
According to the Rabbi, this was the ONLY road to
salvation and redemption. The Merkaz was seen
by many as ‘God’s gift’ to the Zionist Movement
because (after years of being shunned by Jewish
religious sectors) finally came someone who
interpreted Zionism to be the long-awaited messiah.
Kook taught that the messiah is an entity that
doesn’t necessary have to come in a human shape,
meaning that it could be an idea.
This goes a long way towards explaining much of the
brutality perpetrated against the civilian population of
Palestine by many of Israel’s leaders throughout
recent history. One such ‘graduate’ of the Merkaz
was David Raziel, the first commander of the
terrorist group Irgun whose members have committed
the despicable massacre of the village of Deir Yassin,
where 250 men, women, children and elderly were
butchered to death. The killings were done with
machine guns, grenades, and knives. Some of the
victims were decapitated. 52 children were killed
and mutilated in front of their mothers. 25 pregnant
women were cut open at the wombs and their babies
were cut to pieces in front of their dying mothers.
Those who survived were loaded up on trucks like
cattle and taken to Jerusalem were they were
paraded in the middle of a Jewish mob who lined
up both sides of the streets spitting at them, throwing
garbage, rocks, animal manure, shoes (and anything
else they could get their hands on) at the frightened,
shocked and awed Palestinians, and all of this in the
name of ‘redemption’. Menachem Begin, who later
became Prime Minister of Israel, and a winner of
the Nobel Peace Prize was the infamous father
and planner of the Deir Yassin Massacre,
issued a statement following the massacre
congratulating the Jewish murderers for their
holy handiwork–
“Accept my congratulations on this splendid act of
conquest. Convey my regards to all the commanders
and soldiers. We shake your hands. We are all
proud of the excellent leadership and the fighting
spirit in this great attack…Tell the soldiers: you
have made history in Israel with your attack and
your conquest. Continue this until victory. As in
Deir Yassin, so everywhere, we will attack and
smite the enemy. God, God, Thou has chosen
us for conquest.”
The Merkaz Harav became one of the most
influential religious centers in Israel to effect policy
regarding the illegal Jewish settlements on
Palestinian lands. The notorious Israeli terrorist group
Gush Emunim was founded within this Merkaz and
called for settling the Jews on Palestinian land, again,
a ‘gift from God’ to the Jews. In 1974 Shimon
Peres (current Israeli president and the recipient of
the Nobel Peace Prize) was Defense Minister of
Israel at the time, which meant that the Occupied
Palestinian Territories were under his watch. Under
his command this terrorist movement was helped in
acquiring land in the West bank through terror and
harassment of the legitimate Palestinian owners to
build illegal Jewish settlements throughout the West
bank and Gaza. Peres called this policy “functional
compromise” in order to receive the political
support of the Gush Emunim and settler movements.
It must be remembered that the influence of the settler
movements in Israeli politics is by no means
inconsequential. Rather, it is widespread through
the many thousands of students who graduate from
this Merkaz and others end up holding positions in
government, military, academic, and many other
facets of Israeli society. No Israeli government has
been spared the wrath of this extremist movement
whose influence is increasing day by day since
1974 up to the present and whose is one of “the
State of Israel is the foundation upon which rests
the Throne of God in this world”.
As controversial as it may sound, the fact is that
over the ages Judaism has seen many transformations
in its theology to the point where one would be safe
describing it as a totally different religion throughout
its history. The followers of Judaism throughout the
ages have depended mainly on the Rabbis for their
understanding of the doctrine. The different schools
of thought have seen their highs and lows depending
on the power and strength of the Rabbis at the time.
Today in Israel, the dominating theology is the teaching
of a lone American Rabbi (known as ‘the Rebbe’ to his
followers) Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson,
whose students consider him to be the Messiah. It was
(is) believed he is the one who will lead the Jews to
redemption, although he died in 1994. After his
death Congressmen Chuck Schumer, John Lewis,
Newt Gingrich, and Jerry Lewis along with
220 other Congressmen bestowed the Congressional
Gold Medal on the Rebbe, and the Senate followed
suit and president Clinton even spoke at the
Medal-awarding ceremony saying: ‘The late
Rebbe’s eminence as a moral leader for our country
was recognized by every president since Richard Nixon.’
I looked up the Congressional Gold Medal and I
found the following: “A Congressional Gold Medal is
the highest civilian award which may be bestowed
by the United States Congress, the legislative branch
of the United States government. The decoration is
awarded to an individual who performs an outstanding
deed or act of service to the security, prosperity, and
national interest of the United States” and then I
looked at the Rebbe’s deepest thoughts and
I found this:
“The difference between a Jewish and a non-Jewish
person stems from the common expression: ‘Let us
differentiate.’ Thus, we do not have a case of profound
change in which a person is merely on a superior
level. Rather, we have a case of ‘let us differentiate’
between totally different species. This is what needs to
be said about the body: the body of a Jewish person is
of a totally different quality from the body of all
nations of the world … A non-Jew’s entire reality
is only vanity. The entire creation exists only for the
sake of the Jews…”
I believe the reader would agree that with a such
statements this man could easily be described as
a racist, Jewish supremacist whose thoughts and
expressions went against the freedom and equality
that the institution known as Congress was built upon.
But yet, incredibly, we find the men and women who
swore to uphold the constitution of the United
States sold out their conscience and the American
principles of “freedom and justice for all” for 30
pieces of silver.
Jewish religious leaders have always compared the
Palestinians to the ancient Canaanites whose extermination
and/or expulsion are predestined by divine design according
to scriptures. This again explains the attitude of the people
of Israel in their sympathy towards the demands of the
religious parties of Israel in expelling Palestinians from their
land. Jewish law does permit some non-Jews to reside
in the land of Israel under certain conditions, which can be
summed up thus–”must pay taxes and accept suffering,
humiliation and servitude” as expressed by Mordechai
Nisan of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem who relied
upon the law of Maimonides. For those not acquainted
with the law of ‘great’ doctor of Jewish law Maimonides,
the law demands the following–that a non-Jew be held
down, that he not raise his head against Jews, that no
non-Jews may be appointed to any office or position
of power over Jews, and if such non-Jews refuse to live
under these conditions then this is a signal of disobedience
which necessitates Jewish warfare against them in
cleansing the land of Israel of their presence.
In 1990 a book published by Shlomo Aviner of the
Merkaz Harav gives answers to some of the questions
that arose during the First Palestinian Intifada. One
question was: “is there a difference between punishing
an Arab child and an Arab adult for disturbance of
our peace?’ The answer began by cautioning Jews
‘not to compare Jews and non Jews’ in applying Jewish
laws, and particularly when it comes to punishing a
Jewish boy under the age of thirteen and Jewish girls
under the age of twelve. The point was clear–the laws
of Maimonides were written for Jews alone. The
Rabbi summed it up by saying that any non-Jew must
pay for any crime committed, but not necessarily so for
the Jews themselves. This explains in part why there is
such a huge number of children either killed by the Jewish
army and their settler thugs or held in Israeli prisons.
A militant speech by Rabbi Ya’acov Shapira, head of the
Merkaz following the recent attack in Jerusalem read:
“This monstrous attack must bring about a major and
substantial change. We call upon and demand from the
Government of Israel to wake up and to fight to the end,
without mercy, against the enemies of Israel. This is a
terrible crisis! It is one of private mourning and of
national mourning. But the Yeshiva will continue its
path of study, teaching, growing and disseminating the
Torah of Israel in our complete and holy Land of Israel.”
Instead of realizing that the attack was in response to the
mass murder of non Jews (Muslim and Christian Arabs)
the Yeshiva continues with its kill-all policy by asking
the government to “fight to the end” against the
Palestinian people and to do so without mercy. The
school vowed to continue its path of disseminating its
hate and its murderous teachings of cleansing completely
their “holy Land of Israel” in the hope that this will lead
to “Universal Redemption.” Many of the “students” at
the Merkaz have completed their army service and many
are still IDF officers. This is clear from the report in
Haaretz published March 8, 2008 where a “student”
by the name of Yitzhak Danon told Israeli Channel
2 that he “fired two shots into the attacker’s head.”
One question that comes to mind is this–When was it the
last time you have heard of students carrying a
high-powered automatic machine gun to school?
And remember, this is no ‘ordinary’ school; we were
told it’s a seminary. Something is not adding up here,
these students at the Yeshiva are armed and dangerous.
In the words of Rabbi Shapira, the “Yeshiva served as
training base for Rabbis and students who went out to
settle all parts of the Land of Israel”, and in the words of
Rabbi Kook on the eve of the 1967 war: “Yes, where is
our Hebron? Have we forgotten it? Where is our chechem
(Nablus)? And Jericho? Will we forget them? And the far
side of the Jordan, it’s ours, every clod of soil, every
region and bit of earth belonging to the Lord.”
Well, the problem is the land has been inhabited for the
last few thousands of years by the people of the land,
the original people of the land, not the Judaic Europeans
who think “God” had given it to them as a gift.
Rabbi Kook also declared a religious prohibition–meaning
God’s orders–against ceding any part of the Land of Israel
to non-Jews. In other words he told his people that “God”
says in effect ‘Don’t leave any non-Jews on the land,
they all must be killed.’ This declaration–in the word’s of
the Yeshiva spokesman, Yehoshua Mor-Yousef is as follows
–”This is the basis of all that we believe in.” This is a clear
call for a genocidal war against the Palestinian people by the
largest religious “school” in Israel.
Over the years this Merkaz has issued extreme religious
decrees giving license to Israeli soldiers to kill
Palestinian civilians, including if it can be believed,
children. Rabbi Lior, an associate of the Merkaz and a
former student of the Yeshiva who is also the Rabbi
of the illegal Jewish settlement Kiryat Arba told Israeli
soldiers and Jewish militants (many of them former
students of the Yeshiva) that it is permissible to kill
Palestinian children. It is a growing understanding
amongst many religious Israelis with Messianic Zionist
beliefs that Jews must expedite the cleansing of the land
process to induce the redemption by killing as many
Palestinians as possible to create the appropriate
condition for the messiah to appear in their own
lifetime.
The leaders of the religious parties in Israel
(and especially the Mirkaz Ha’arv) strongly oppose any
peace settlement with the Palestinians. Furthermore, the
idea of creating a Palestinian State in the West Bank,
and Gaza with East-Jerusalem as its capital is a redline
that will only take place over their dead bodies. The idea
of swapping peace for land is in total opposition to their
religious beliefs, as it would prevent their ‘messiah’ from
appearing. This being the case, any negotiating with
Israel is meaningless as long as the religious parties
are in control of Israeli politics. The influence of the
religious parties in the Israeli army goes much deeper
than their presence in the political arena. This again
explains the brutality and barbaric nature of the actions
of the Israeli Army regarding the Palestinians. Two weeks
ago Rabbi Hershel Schachter, the Dean of Yeshiva
University, told students to think before they enlist in
the army, saying: “There is no mitzvah (commandment)
to destroy the land of Israel…If the army asks you to
destroy any of the settlements, and if the government
orders the army to divide Jerusalem, I would tell
everyone to resign from the army. I would tell them to
shoot the Prime Minister.”
This whole theology was shaped by the founder
of the Mirkaz, Rabbi Kook, who once boasted that
“The difference between a Jewish soul and souls of
non-Jews - all of them in all different levels - is greater
and deeper than the difference between a human soul
and the souls of cattle.” It is no wonder then that
members of the Israeli army have no remorse after
killing Palestinian children since they do not
consider them humans. To a Jew killing a Palestinian
is just like hunting a rabbit or duck in the wilderness.
It’s even worse than that, since in the world of hunting
there are hunting seasons with ‘rules of engagement’
that one must adhere to, but in Palestine it’s open
season all year.
With all this in mind, it is easier now for us to understand
the dominant religious thought in Israel and why many
religious Jews throughout the world believe that ‘the
redemption’ is at hand. They believe that the power of
Satan (manifested in non-Jews) must be defeated.
Therefore the stealing of non-Jewish land in Palestine is
considered redemption of the land by its being taken
into Jewish hands. They believe that being transferred
from the satanic to the divine sphere ‘cleanses’ it of evil.
They look at it as land that has been sanctified. This also
might explain the fact that a Jew in Israel can kill a
non-Jew and get away with it, but if a non-Jew kills a
Jew it is considered under Jewish law as the worst
possible crime. Relying upon the code of Maimonides
and Jewish law known as Halacha it is stated that a
‘Jew who kills a non-Jew is exempt from human judgment’
as he (or she) has not violated the prohibition of murder
according to Jewish law which Israel’s law is based
upon. Jewish Rabbis have always maintained that
Jews who killed Arabs should not be punished. This is
clear by the demands of both Labor, Likud, and Kadima
governments of Israel by insisting on not releasing
Palestinian prisoners with Jewish blood on their hands.
If that is not enough, Jewish law provides for the
taking of body parts of non-Jews to save the life
of a Jew, according another Rabbi at the Mirkas
Harav, Rabbi Yitzhak Ginsburg. Ginsburg said the
killing of Palestinians is a “Jewish virtue”. Going a step
further, Rabbi Dov Lior, one of Rabbi Kook’s
top students proposed using captured (kidnapped)
Palestinians in conducting medical experiments. Just
as scientists use laboratory rats for testing, Jewish
theology allows non-Jews for such use as well.
Let us listen more to what these 21st century lunatics
say: “Don’t we have any powerful friends whatsoever?
Let’s open our Tenach (Bible) to BaMidbar (Numbers),
chapter 33:50-53, and 55. These scriptures make it very
clear that we do have a powerful friend. The G-d of the
Bible is on Israel’s side.”
And where do they get this idea, that God is on their
side? From here, book of Numbers, 35–
“And the LORD spoke unto Moses in the plains of
Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying: ‘Speak unto the
children of Israel, and say unto them: When ye pass
over the Jordan into the land of Canaan, then ye shall
drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before
you, and destroy all their figured stones, and destroy
all their molten images, and demolish all their high
places. And ye shall drive out the inhabitants of the land,
and dwell therein; for unto you have I given the land to
possess it… But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants
of the land from before you, then shall those that ye let
remain of them be as thorns in your eyes, and as pricks
in your sides, and they shall harass you in the land wherein
ye dwell.”
Recently, Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief rabbi of Safad told the
Israeli government to officially allow Israelis to “revenge
against Arabs.” He proposed hanging the children of
the person who attacked the Merkaz Harav Yeshiva from
a tree, and to do it to everyone who attacks Israel until
they (Palestinians) scream enough “to the point where
they fall flat on their face and scream help”. He also said
the Palestinians need to “understand very well the language
of revenge.”
Now enters the hypocrisy and political prostitution
of our own Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, who
said of the Yeshiva attack–’The United States
condemns tonight’s act of terror and depravity”,
“This barbarous act has no place among civilized
peoples and shocks the conscience of all peace loving
nations. There is no cause that could ever justify this
action.” This comes as the Israeli army was killing
not just children, but infants in Gaza, deliberately
which is not considered barbaric from the conscience
of the “peace loving” nation of Israel and the US
government. The conscience of all “peace loving
nations” is not shocked when Palestinian children
are buried under the rubble of their homes while
sleeping in their cribs. Worse yet, that conscience
looked the other way when heads and many body
parts were scattered in the streets of Gaza just a day
before the attack on the terrorist Yeshiva training
center. President Bush spoke with the President of
China over the harsh crackdown of the Tibetan
Intifada, but had no words for the Israeli President,
or the Prime Minister for the barbaric, inhumane,
savage way in dealing with the Palestinian people’s
call for freedom from oppression. America’s conscience
is long overdue for a reality check when it comes to its
being a civilized and modernized nation of people.
In conclusion, the Palestinian people have limited
options to choose from when it comes to solving
their 60 years of occupation and Diaspora: One they
might want to try convincing “God” to change his
mind about awarding the land to the Jews, that perhaps
He should instead “reveal” a new covenant with the Jews
requiring them to share a piece of it with the Palestinians
as a way of redeeming themselves and that maybe they
should just forget all about this idea of being “chosen”
to kill the Palestinians to get to heaven. This is sure to
be a difficult feat to accomplish, since the two way
communications with “God” ended with Mohammed
(PBUH). The only other option is to convince Israel
and the US to close down all Jewish
Yeshivas that teach and promote the “kill-the-Palestinians”
theology. The war on terror–if it is to be genuine and if
it is to be effective, must go to the roots of terror, and
one such root is the idea that Jews are superiors to
non-Jews and that “God” is a racist God who chooses
people based on their particular ‘race’ instead of their
deeds.
Those who would quibble at such suggestions of
re-examining the racist tenets of Jewish thinking should
ask the question–is this not what the world has heard
these last 7 years when it comes to Islam? Achieving
peace in the “Land of Peace” requires yet another
transformation of the Jewish religion to accept co-existence
with Christians and Muslims in the land of Palestine.
Hesham Tillawi, PhD International Relations is a Palestinian
American writer, Political Analyst and a TV show host.
His program Current issues with Hesham Tillawi can be
viewed Live every Thursday evening between at 8:00
PM Central Standard Time on Cox Cable system Channel
15 in Louisiana, Nationwide on Bridges TV, and Worldwide
on Amazonas Satellite, as well as Live on the Internet
at http://www.currentissues.tv and can be contacted at
Tillawi@currentissues.tv Interviews then archived
for on demand viewing at www.currentissues.tv
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