Posts Tagged 'True Torah Jews'
History Book on Why Israel's Military Elite Can't Make Peace
Postscript are a mail order company specialising in bargain books. I got their latest catalogue through the post today, and looking through it I found a book arguing that the country's military leaders and the militaristic nature of Israeli society makes it impossible for the country to make peace. This is Fortress Israel – The Inside Story of the Military Elite Who Run the Country – and Why They Can't Make Peace by Patrick Tyler, published by Farrrar Straus Giroux. The blurb for it in the catalogue runs
Since its foundation in 1948 Israel has been torn between its ambition to be 'a light unto nations' and its desire to expand its borders. Drawing on declassified documents, personal archives and interviews, this epic history demonstrates how military service binds Israelis to lifelong loyalty and secrecy, making a democracy a hostage to the armed forces. A compelling study of character, rivalry, conflict and the competing impulses for war and peace in the Middle East.
This has direct relevance to a recent attempt by the Israel lobby to smear yet another left-wing Labour MP as an anti-Semite. If I recall correctly, it was Richard Burgon, who said that 'Zionism was the enemy of peace'. This was too much for the Israel lobby, despite the fact that Burgon was not speaking about Jews, but about Zionism. As any fule kno, Zionism is political doctrine, not a race, religion or ethnic group. The largest Zionist organisation in America, for example, is Ted Hagee's Christians United for Israel And anti-Zionist and Israel-critical Jewish bloggers like Tony Greenstein, Jackie Walker, David Rosenberg and Martin Odoni, as well as anti-Zionist Jewish denominations and groups such as the Haredi and True Torah Jews, show that Judaism and Jewish identity most definitely is not synonymous with Israel, no matter how many laws Netanyahu passes declaring that Jews across the world are its citizens.
Burgon's comment wasn't a statement of anti-Semitic prejudice at all, but a perfectly reasonable opinion. The Israeli historian, Ilan Pappe, who now teaches at Exeter University here in the UK, has argued in his books, such as Ten Myths About Israel, that Zionism always implied the removal of the indigenous Arab people. And it also presented very strong evidence that Israel, contrary to its propaganda, was a reluctant participant in its various wars. Rather the Israeli leadership actively sought war, manipulating the Arab nations into striking first through military incursions and the denial of vital water supplies in order to give a false impression of its Israeli peacefulness and non-aggression. Tyler's book adds yet more support to the view that Israel is indeed the enemy of peace.
It also shows another danger of the Israel lobby's campaign to silence the country's critics as anti-Semites. Not only has this led to the appalling smearing of perfectly decent, anti-racist people – one of whom recently died of the shock at her expulsion from the Labour Party, but it is also a danger to proper historical discussion, research and argument. The Israel lobby would like to substitute pro-Israel lies and propaganda for proper, objective history.
They aren't just an attempt to affect political decisions and opinions, but also an attack on historical fact itself.
Tags:'Fortress Israel', 'Postscript', 'Ten Myths About Israel', anti-racism, anti-semitism, Anti-Semitism Smears, Christianity, David Rosenberg, Deaths, Ethnic Cleansing, Exeter, Haredi Jews, Ilan Pappe, Israel Lobby, Jackie Walker, Jews, Labour Party, Martin Odoni, Palestinians, Patrick Tyler, Richard Burgon, Ted Hagee, Tony Greenstein, True Torah Jews, Universities, Wars, Zionism
Posted in America, Arabs, Democracy, England, History, Israel, LIterature, Persecution, Politics, Uncategorized, Water | 1 Comment »
Melanie Philips Criticised by Board of Deputies for Islamophobia Article in Jewish Chronicle
Oh the irony! Melanie 'Mad Mel' Phillips, Daily Mail hack, author, and determined opponent of anti-Semitism and Islamism, has been slapped down for an article she wrote in the Jewish Chronicle denying Islamophobia. According to her highly informed opinion (sarcasm), islamophobia is simply a made-up term used to close down criticism of the Islamic world, including Islamic extremism.
According to Zelo Street, without any trace of irony or self-awareness, Phillips started the piece off by conflating anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism. Anti-Zionism, she declared, was merely the latest mutation of anti-Semitism. The two, according to her, share 'the same deranged, obsessive falsehoods, demonic conspiracy theory and double standards. It is furthermore an attack on Judaism itself, in which the land of Israel is an inseparable element.' This is twaddle. Zelo Street points out that Zionism and Judaism certainly aren't the same, because how else can you explain Christian Zionism? It's a good question, especially as Christian and non-Jewish Zionism often stemmed from anti-Semitism. Many genuine anti-Semites and Fascists supported the foundation of a Jewish state as a way of clearing Jews out from their own countries. This attitude was so strong that, when one German aristocrat was approached by the Zionists c. 1920 and asked why he didn't support the creation, he replied that he did, but didn't want to make it public in case people thought he was an anti-Semite. The Nazis and other European Fascists considering setting up a Jewish homeland in Madagascar, and the were similar schemes among British Fascists for Uganda. This was succeeded by the infamous and short-lived Ha'avara Agreement between the Zionists and the Nazis, in which the Nazis smuggled Jewish settlers in Palestine, then under the British Mandate. But mentioning this, according to the Israel lobby in this country, means that you're an anti-Semite. Look what happened to Mike when he did in his long piece defending Ken Livingstone, The Livingstone Delusion.
The identity of Zionism and Judaism is also highly dubious. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, such as the Haredi and True Torah Jews, passionately reject the state of Israel for religious reasons. They believe that Israel can only be founded by direct divine action through the Messiah. Modern Israel was founded by secular atheists, and so to them is an abomination. Before the Second World War, most Jews throughout the world, whether in America or Europe or wherever, simply wanted to be equal citizens of the countries, where they had lived for centuries, if not millennia. They regarded these as their real homelands.
As for the accusation that anti-Zionism is based on conspiracy theories, well, there is a mass of very strong evidence showing that the attacks on anti-Zionists and critics of Israel as anti-Semites are very much instigated and supported by the Israeli state through its Office of Strategic Affairs. And recognising that is very different from believing idiotic, murderous myths about the Jews controlling capitalism and trying to destroy the White race.
Philips then went on to declare that 'Islamophobia' was invented by the Muslim Brotherhood to mimic antisemitism'. Er, no. Zelo Street states that the term was invented before 1923, citing the article in Wikipedia, which suggests that the term was first used in a 1918 biography of the Prophet Mohammed by the painter Alphonse Etienne Dinet and the Algerian intellectual Sliman ben Ibrahim. The Muslim Brotherhood wasn't founded until 1928. Philips then went on to claim that "'Islamophobia' appropriates to itself the unique attribute of antisemitism – that it is deranged – in order falsely to label any adverse comment about the Islamic world as a form of mental disorder". Zelo Street succinctly demolishes this absurd claim by stating that the term is simply used to describe anti-Muslim bigotry. Which is correct. I haven't heard of anyone seriously suggesting that anti-Muslim prejudice is a form of mental illness, or demanding that those who allegedly suffer from it should somehow need psychiatric treatment to cure them. Philips then continued "The concept of 'Islamophobia' is thus profoundly anti-Jew. Islamophobia' is not equivalent to antisemitism. It facilitates it".
The Board of Deputies found these sentiments to be unpalatable, and issued the following statement in professed solidarity with Muslims and others suffering racism. the Jewish Chronicle's "fearless journalism has been at the forefront of tackling antisemitism & its denial. The publication of this piece was an error. Anti-Muslim prejudice is very real & it is on the rise. Our community must stand as allies to all facing racism".
The Muslim Council of Britain also wasn't impressed. Zelo Street quote a tweet by Miqdad Versi, describing how the Jewish Chronicle has a lot of previous in stirring up anti-Muslim sentiment, especially with articles by Philips. Versi said
"We should not be surprised by the Jewish Chroncile – it's not the first time. When many Muslims were reeling after the massacre in Christchurch, they published a similar hate-filled piece by Melanie Phillips.They lied about the [MCB] & had to correct their lie … They lied about a Muslim charity, falsely linking it to terrorism, necessitating an apology and paying libel damages … When Baroness Warsi speaks up against Islamophobia in the Conservative Party, its editor tries to slur her … In one of a *number of articles* intending to undermine the definition of Islamophobia, it made false claims of links to extremism, about Professor Salman Sayyid, which it had to retract … This latest article is not a one-off but part of a pattern of behaviour – an editorial line on Muslim-related issues as the thread shows".
Zelo Street concludes that at least the Board of Deputies has called the Jewish Chronicle out on this one. It's just a pity that it won't have any effect on either Philips or the editor, Stephen Pollard.
See: https://zelo-street.blogspot.com/2019/12/board-of-deputies-calls-out-jewish.html
I also find the Board's statement somewhat hypocritical.
David Rosenberg of the Jewish Socialist Group stated in one of his articles that when he was growing up in the 1980s, the Board of Deputies did not want Jews such as himself attending any of the anti-racism marches or protests by organisations like Rock Against Racism. The ostensible reason was that they were trying to stop Jewish youth from hearing anti-Zionist propaganda. But others on the Left thought the real reason was simple racism on their part. Whatever the reason, some of the meetings held by Jewish anti-racists had to be held in non-Jewish venues, like Quaker meeting houses and church halls, because the Board forbade synagogues to allow them to meet there.
The Board of Deputies is a Zionist organisation. It's in their constitution. And as such, it has absolutely no qualms accommodating real Islamophobes. Let's take their mass demonstrations with the Chief Rabbi and the Jewish Labour Movement against Jeremy Corbyn last year or so. The former Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, has led a group of British Jews to participate in the annual March of the Flags in Jerusalem. This is when Israeli super-patriotic bovverboys parade through the city's Muslim quarter waving the country's flag, vandalising Arab property and terrorising the neighbourhood's people. Liberal Jewish organisations asked Sacks not to go. But he went anyway. As far as I am aware, there was not a peep of criticism from the Board, and they were happy to join the attacks on Corbyn by Sacks and his successor, Ephraim Mirvis, who may also have participated in the March. I also remember that among the protesters was one young man wearing a Kach T-shirt. Kach are an Israeli far-right organisation, which was banned under their terrorism laws. I am similarly aware of no criticism of this man by the Board.
In my experience, the issue of the Palestinians looms very large amongst this country's Muslims. I studied Islam at College in the 1980s and early '90s. I once came across the equivalent of a Christian parish magazine put out by one of the mosques. Among its articles was coverage of the closure of a mosque and a nearby church by the Israeli authorities. The Israeli state has a policy of closing down unauthorised non-Jewish places of worship as part of the general pressure and discrimination against the Palestinians. And certain sections of the Muslim community in this country were very aware of it. My guess is that the mosque that published the article wasn't alone in its concern for its coreligionists in the Holy Land, and that this attitude is general and persists to the present day. That does not mean that they all hate Jews or want to see Israel destroyed and its people massacred. It does mean, though, that they want the religious and ethnic persecution of the Palestinians stopped. But the Board of Deputies flings around accusations of anti-Semitism in order to stop criticism of Israel for its actions against the Palestinians.
If the Board of Deputies is really serious about standing in solidarity with Muslims against racism, then one excellent place would be to start protesting against the treatment of Muslims – and by extension Christians – in Israel.
Until that happens, the Board is just being hypocritical.
Tags:Alphonse Etienne Dinet, anti-racism, anti-semitism, Anti-Semitism Smears, Board of Deputies of British Jews, Chief Rabbi, Churches, College, Conspiracy Theories, Daily Mail, David Rosenberg, Demonstrations, Ephraim Mirvis, Haavara Agreement, Haredi Jews, Islamism, Islamophobia, Jeremy Corbyn, Jerusalem, Jewish Chronicle, Jewish Socialist Group, Jews, Jonathan Sacks, Kach, Madagascar, March of the Flags, Massacres, Meeting Houses, Melanie Phillips, Miqdad Versia, Mosques, Muslim Council of Britain, Office of Strategic Affairs, Palestinians, Prophet Mohammed, Quakers, racism, Rock Against Racism, Sliman ben Ibrahim, Stephen Pollard, Synagogues, True Torah Jews, Vandalism, Wikipedia, Zionism
Posted in Africa, Algeria, America, Arabs, Art, Atheism, Democracy, Education, Fascism, History, Islam, Israel, Judaism, Law, Mental Illness, Nazis, Persecution, Secularism, Terrorism, The Press, Uganda | Leave a Comment »
European Haredi Jewish Organisation Condemns Chief Rabbi's Attack on Corbyn and Labour
Here's a story from Mike's blog that, as he points out, you won't find in the mainstream press. A leading rabbi for the Haredi Jewish organisation, United European Jews, Mayer Weinberger, has written a letter on behalf of his organisation's Executive Board condemning Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis' attack on Jeremy Corbyn. Not only does Rabbi Weinberger defend Corbyn for his support of the British Jewish community, but actually thanks him.
Mike makes the point that this shouldn't be too surprising, as the organisation comes from the True Torah Jews, which thoroughly rejects Zionism. True Torah and Haredi Jews believe that the Jewish people should stay in exile until – and only until – the coming of the Messiah. Only he has the divine right to restore the Jewish people to their ancient homeland. Until then they are to remain and, in the words of the Hebrew Bible, 'pray for the health of the city'. That is, they are to live as members of the nations in which they live, working and praying for their common good.
R. Weinberger writes
I write to you on behalf of the Executive Board of the United European Jews organisation regarding an unusually disturbing declaration that was … reported in the media claiming that the overwhelming majority of British Jews are "gripped by anxiety" at the prospect of a Labour victory in the forthcoming general election.
Please not that we totally reject and condemn in no uncertain terms these remarks, which [do] not represent the views of the mainstream chareidi Jews that live in the UK.
We believe that such assertions are due to propaganda with a political and ideological agenda. An agenda which, I might add, is diametrically opposed to fundamental Jewish values as well as the opinions of tens of thousands of Jews in our community.
At this time, we also relay our gratefulness for your numerous acts of solidarity with the Jewish community over many years and also welcome your assurances that Labour will do everything necessary to defend the Jewish way of life and protect our rights to practise our religion.
For all this, we take this opportunity to say: Thank you! Mr Corbyn.
R. Weinberger is quite right when says that the Chief Rabbi's remarks are propaganda based on a political and ideological agenda. The Chief Rabbi is a Zionist, as many Chief Rabbis before him have been. He is a friend of Netanyahu and Boris Johnson, and has made comments in the past supporting the bombing of Palestinians.
Mike reminds us in his post about the letter that this should show that R. Mirvis' claims about the opinion of British Jews towards the Labour leader are not as conclusive as the Chief Rabbi claims.
See: https://voxpoliticalonline.com/2019/11/27/chief-rabbis-rant-condemned-as-political-and-ideological-propaganda/
Many Jews from all walks of life and all shades of religious opinion – from secular people to members of the clergy – have written or taken to social media to express their support for Jeremy Corbyn. Earlier today Mike put up a piece on his blog about the messages of support for Corbyn and anger and condemnation Jewish Labour supporters had posted against Chief Rabbi Mirvis' comments.
Unafraid: Jews respond to Chief Rabbi's (and other) claims that they fear a Corbyn Labour government
And it is a mistake to assume that the Jews have a monolithic cultural or religious identity. The Talmud is full of the debates between the great rabbis of the past regarding the interpretation of Scripture and the Law. Even minority opinions are preserved, and many of these accounts end with no conclusion having been reached. The text simply says, 'And so they disagreed'. And I think the Jewish people also see themselves as being particularly disputatious. There's a Jewish saying, 'Two Jews, three opinions'. I got the impression that debate is a vital part of the teaching at the yeshivas, the rabbinical colleges, so that the students can properly learn how to interpret scripture and form correct, reasonable opinions on its observance. The I stated in its coverage of Mirvis' comments that he represents the United Synagogue, which they claimed was the largest Jewish denomination in Britain. That may be so, but the Jewish community also includes secular Jews, who obviously aren't represented because they don't attend synagogue, nor Orthodox Jews. And even within the United Synagogue you can wonder how many people he really speaks for. As Tony Greenstein and other Jewish critics have pointed out in their rebuttals to the Board of Deputies' attacks on Corbyn, not all synagogues allow women to vote or stand for election as deputies, and some haven't changed their deputies for years. Which means that even here, Mirvis may only be speaking for a Zionist, Tory clique.
However, the British media is determined not to show Jewish support for Corbyn and the Labour party. Some of the newspapers, including supposedly left-wing journals like the Observer, have refused to publish letters from Corbyn's Jewish supporters. There is also a similar reluctance to cover anti-Zionist, or Israel-critical Jewish opinion generally. A few years ago I put up a video on this blog of a public meeting in New York of ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist Jews. I believe they were members of 'True Torah'. The video claimed there were 30,000 people there. I don't know if that's true, but it was very clear that there were very many and the meeting was huge. But it received no press or media coverage, from what the video said.
I believe this also points to one of the underlying reasons why the British and American political and media establishments have been so keen to smear Corbyn on this side of the Atlantic as an anti-Semites, and left-wing Democrats, including supporters and staffers working for Bernie Sanders. Who is himself Jewish. It is not simply a profoundly Conservative establishment trying to discredit left-wing threats to its continued dominance. It is not only because of the power of the Israel lobby in our two countries. I think it is also because Israel has played a vital part in Western great power policy in the Middle East since the days of the British Mandate. Geopolitical considerations demand that Britain supports Israel in the Middle East as a way of maintaining power and influence in the region.
And to the supporters of this policy, Corbyn is a real threat. Not because he wants the destruction of Israel, but simply because he wants an end to Israeli apartheid and a just peace between Israel and the Palestinians. A policy supported by many Jews, who feel that to be Jewish means always identifying with the oppressed, never the oppressor.
And that means making sure that the Jewish voices supporting Labour must not be allowed real coverage by our Tory press and media.
Tags:'I' Newspaper, anti-semitism, Anti-Semitism Smears, Apartheid, Board of Deputies of British Jews, British Mandate, Chief Rabbi, Conservatives, Ephraim Mirvis, Haredi Jews, Israel Lobby, Jeremy Corbyn, Jews, Mayer Weinberger, Middle East, New York, Orthodox Jews, Palestine, Palestinians, Rabbis, Synagogues, The Observer, Tony Greenstein, True Torah Jews, United European Jews, United Synagogue, Vox Political, Women, Yeshivas, Zionism
Posted in America, Arabs, Bible, Israel, Judaism, Persecution, Politics, Radio, Television, The Press, Uncategorized | 10 Comments »