Source: Aljazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/94812266-7218-4544-9DB2-A8E4D61FFB0E.
htm
Rabbi supports killings in Rafah
By Khalid Amayreh in the West Bank
Thursday 20 May 2004, 16:48 Makka Time, 13:48 GMT
Lior: Jewish lives more important than non-Jewish
A prominent rabbi has supported the killings of
Palestinian civilians by
Israeli occupation troops in the Gaza Strip, saying
killing non-Jewish
civiliansåÊis compatible with religious laws.
Rabbi Dov Lior, Chairman of the Jewish Rabbinical
Council, was quoted as
saying "during warfare, killing non-Jewish civilians
is permitted if it
saves Jewish lives".
According to Lior's ruling, which was made public on
Wednesday, Israeli
occupation troops in Gaza are allowed to kill and harm
"so-called innocent
civilians" during warfare.
"The law of our Torah is to have mercy on our soldiers
and to save them.
This is the real moral behind Israel's Torah and we
must not feel guilty due
to foreign morals," the Ma'ariv Israeli newspaper
quoted him as saying.
He added that Jewish lives were more important than
non-Jewish lives.
Extremist
Rabbi Lior is considered among the most learned sages
of the Torah.
"Without any doubt, he is among the most learned
scholars of the Torah, but
he is viewed as an extremist among some liberal
sectors," said Rabbi
Menachem Froman from the Tku' settlement near
Bethlehem.
"...a thousand non-Jewish lives are not worth a Jew's
fingernail"
Rabbi Dov Lior, Chairman of the Jewish Rabbinical
Council
Froman said he did not agree with Lior's views,
calling them controversial.
"I believe that Judaism is against killing innocent
people. One of the main
commandments of the Torah is 'thou shall not murder.'"
However, after speaking to many rabbis, it is clear
that Lior's views and
interpretation of Jewish Law enjoy far more popularity
and acceptance than
Froman's relatively dovish interpretations.
The basic point of disagreement concerns whether
Biblical injunctions apply
equally to Jews and non-Jews.
Lior, like most of the rabbis of the Gush Emunim
settler movement, believes
that Biblical commandments such as "thou shall not
murder" refer only to
"Jews" since the Torah was given to Jews, not
Gentiles.
This view, however, is rejected to varying degrees by
the two main
unorthodox Jewish sects - the Conservatives and the
Reformists - who
constitute a numerical majority of Jews outside
Israel, especially in North
America.
Settlers' rabbi
Dov Lior is considered a champion rabbi among
settlers. In 1994, he strongly
supported the murder by an American immigrant settler,
Baruch Goldstein, of
29 Palestinian worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque.
Lior then issued a religious edict, saying, "a
thousand non-Jewish lives are
not worth a Jew's fingernail".
Lior praised Goldstein, calling him a "great saint and
rabbi Ì¢‰Â‰ÃÇ may his
memory be blessed".
Several months after the massacre, Lior told disciples
in Kiryat Araba near
the occupied West Bank city of Hebron "Jewish blood
was redder than
non-Jewish blood... and that a Jewish life is
preferred by the Lord than a
non-Jewish life".
Silence
So far, the majority of Israeli religious leaders,
including the two Grand
Rabbis (one representing Western Jews 'Ashkenazim' and
the other
representing eastern Jews 'Tsfaradim') have refused to
condemn or repudiate
Lior's views.
Rabbi Froman suggested that because of Lior's deep
knowledge of Jewish law,
most rabbis refrain from challenging his understanding
of the Torah and
Talmud.
In fact, the official religious establishment, let
alone Gush Eumunim
rabbis, consistently supported whatever attacks
carried out by the occupying
army against Palestinian civilians.
Mirkaz Ha'rav officials in West Jerusalem (the main
religious College where
Dov Lior teaches) refused to comment onåÊLior's edict
when contacted by
Aljazeera.net.
____________________________________________________________
Yahoo! Messenger - Communicate instantly..."Ping"
your friends today! Download Messenger Now
http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/download/index.html
Biofuel at Journey to Forever:
http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html
Biofuels list archives:
http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/
Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address.
To unsubscribe, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/biofuel/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
