Defining Israeli Zionist Racism: Part 1

"Let us not today fling accusations at the murderers. Who are we that we should argue against their hatred? For eight years now they sit in their refugee camps in Gaza, and before their very eyes, we turn into our homestead the land and the villages in which they and their forefathers have lived.” – Moshe Dyan (Israeli Defense Minister during the Israeli-Arab war, 1967), 1953.

Rabbi: Cleanse country of Arabs

""We must cleanse the country of Arabs and resettle them in the countries where they came from," head of the Yesha Rabbis Council, Rabbi Dov Lior, declared Monday, adding that, "If this means we have to pay them, we will. Without doing so, we will never enjoy peace in our land.""

Defining Racism

"Kay presents herself as a defender of Jews from racism. Jews should be defended from racism. All peoples should be defended from racism. Racism is a scourge that should be obliterated. Yet, in essence, Kay exposes her own racism by ignoring or minimizing the terrible crimes perpetrated on Palestinians by Jews."

Let's not go full circle

One "semi-enlightened" Zionist attended a meeting of Zio-Nazis and came face-to-face with the true face of Zionist race hatred and didn't like it. Now what?

by Seth Freedman - Nov 3, 2007

The despicable baying mob at the Kahane memorial earlier this week were the closest thing we Jews have to home-grown fascists.

"WARNING!" screamed the flyer being thrust into my hand by a concerned-looking young religious man as I entered the hall. "American Jews are in danger!" it continued. "Countless Neo-Nazi groups are spreading their venemous [sic] message ... at public demonstrations calling for violence against Jews ... and praising Hitler as a 'true hero'!"

Fair enough, I thought - that's a pretty sobering prospect, and something worth taking heed of as a Jew who cares about his brethren, and who hates to think of them in danger. That the same boy was then in the midst of a 500-strong crowd yelling "Arabs out! Arabs out!" less than an hour later, and screaming deliriously at footage of the late Meir Kahane, was as ironic as it was despicable.

"Who is wise ... those who see the future," was written halfway down the same flyer, quoting Pirkei Avot in an attempt to exhort the endangered American Jews to make aliyah to Israel and escape the Nazis' evil clutches. The wise man also sees the present though, I think - and knows when to call a spade a spade. Which is why I have no qualms whatsoever about describing the baying mob at the Kahane memorial earlier this week as the closest thing we Jews have to home-grown fascists.

For those unfamiliar with the odious, late Rabbi Kahane, he was the leader of the now-outlawed Kach party in Israel, and his politics included advocating the forcible expulsion of all Arab citizens of Israel. A former member of Knesset - until his party was banned in 1988 - he was gunned down after giving a speech in the United States in 1990. His followers have been responsible for numerous terror attacks against Israeli Arabs and Palestinians, most notably Baruch Goldstein's bloody massacre at a Hebron mosque in 1994.

At the memorial service, the mere mention of Goldstein's name received thunderous applause from the audience - all of whom were ultra-orthodox, and all of whom had not the slightest remorse at singing the praises of Israel's most notorious mass-murderer. Dozens of men wore T-shirts emblazoned with the slogan "Now everyone knows ... Kahane was right", a message every bit as repulsive as a group of German neo-Nazis wearing similar attire with Hitler's name replacing that of Kahane's.

Because, make no mistake, the politics of Kach and those of the National Socialists are chillingly similar in their vicious racism and call to arms. Footage of Kahane's more incendiary speeches were shown throughout the ceremony, as he ranted and raved to his enraptured acolytes, fists clenched and raised in triumph whilst he spat his venomous message of hate.

"There is no such thing as an Arab village in Israel," he thundered from beyond the grave, "only a Jewish village that is temporarily inhabited by Arabs." The crowd went wild, stamping their feet and giving piercing whistles, regardless of the fact that most of them had seen the footage countless times before. An impromptu chant of "Kahane still lives" was started by a boy in the row behind me, and soon the entire hall was singing as one, from the youngest schoolchildren to the most gnarled and wizened old men in the room.

The women, on the other side of the curtain mechiza (divider), were no casual bystanders to the furore. The delirium was just as fervent amongst them in response to the various speakers at the dais whipping the audience into a frenzy. One rabbi, well-known in Kach circles, took to the stage with a huge orange Star of David pinned over his heart, to the delight of those looking on. (In a sick send-up of the Yellow Star that the Nazis forced Jews to wear during the Holocaust, the far-right, anti-disengagement settlers have adopted the emblem for themselves, in protest at the detested IDF and Israeli government's evacuation of Gush Katif).

The service went on for nearly two hours, and showed no sign of abating when I'd had my fill and headed for the exit. Interspersed with the speeches were video montages put together by Kach propagandists designed to reinforce the feeling that their underground movement was the victim of obscene oppression on the part of the authorities. Like something out of A Clockwork Orange, film of riot police beating settlers and religious youths was juxtaposed onto a soundtrack of plaintive Jewish song, as children looked on in horror and their fathers shook their heads mournfully.

"But we're not beaten," cried the next speaker up. "We've got to mobilise better - every one of you here must spread the word of Kahane, and only in this way will we bring about the true Jewish State that he dreamed of." That same state, according to Kahane when he was in parliament, would have included a ban on all sexual activity between Jews and non-Jews, and seen only Jews eligible as citizens of Israel.

His assassination, and the subsequent murder of his son and daughter-in-law at the hands of Palestinian terrorists, only strengthened the resolve of his die-hard followers, who formed the Kahane Chai offshoot which is currently listed as a terrorist organisation by the FBI. It is similarly viewed in Israel too, although the blurred boundaries between Kahane Chai and the original party mean that the police are powerless to ban events such as tonight's memorial.

For my part, I'm glad they didn't, since the opportunity to witness the fascist hordes for myself was massively instructive as to how low certain elements of Israeli society have sunk. By hailing Baruch Goldstein as a latter-day saint, they're every bit as repulsive as the Hamas supporters who revere Sheikh Yassin, or the far-right Europeans who mourn Hitler's passing every year on his birthday.

As much as I sang the praises of the OneVoice volunteers in my last piece, so do I just as passionately hate each and every one of those sitting alongside me at tonight's event. These are our extremists, these are our terrorists - and this is our dirty secret that is a stain on the state that was founded as a refuge from similarly-minded fascists. If the likes of the Kachniks get their way, then the wheel will truly have come full circle, when the hunted becomes the hunter and history repeats itself once more.

Jews, and only Jews, for hire

JCC in Lancaster, Pa., which won a lawsuit that allowed them the right to dismiss an employee over her participation in a Jews for Jesus event.

by Jacob Berkman, Jewish Telegraphic Agency - November 2, 2007

Court backs Jewish Community Center's right to fire employee over Jews for Jesus link
A federal court ruling that allowed a JCC to fire an employee who attended a Jews for Jews event could serve as a broader legal guide for Jewish institutions that want to reserve the right to hire only Jews for various positions

Some Jewish institutions may have their own "road map" on hiring practices after a U.S. federal court ruled that a Pennsylvania JCC had the right to dismiss an employee over her participation in a Jews for Jesus event.

Linda LeBoon, an Evangelical Christian, had sued the Lancaster JCC claiming that she was fired in 2002 as its bookkeeper for attending a Jews for Jesus event.

The JCC, LeBoon argued, was a center for Jewish culture and therefore did not qualify for the exemption in the 1964 Civil Rights Act that allows religious organizations to discriminate on the basis of religion when it comes to hiring.

But last month the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals voted 2-1 to uphold a lower-court decision that the JCC is indeed a "religious corporation, organization, or institution" and had the right to dismiss an employee over his or her religious activities.

"If they would have lost this case," said Marc Stern, general counsel of the American Jewish Congress, "it would have meant that someone from Jews for Jesus could have come into a Jewish organization and could have had a prominent position, and you couldn't have done anything about it legally. That would have been a catastrophe."

In addition to ensuring the right to dismiss employees over affiliations with Messianic groups, the ruling could serve as a broader legal guide for non-synagogue Jewish institutions, like JCCs and federations, that want to reserve the right to insist on hiring Jews for top leadership posts and other jobs.

"This case provides a road map for other JCCs and organizations that have some preference for hiring Jews in particular positions to qualify for this exemption," Stern said. "It has not always been self evident that they have the right to do so."

While Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin, Section 702 of the act states that parochial schools and houses of worship are exempt and may hire based on religion.

There has long been a debate about whether organizations affiliated with religious groups, such as camps, nursing homes, social service agencies and community centers, were afforded the same right to discriminate in hiring.

LeBoon argued that because the Lancaster JCC had non-Jewish members, rented space to other religious organizations and held generally secular activities, the institution was not a religious institution. Further, she argued, the JCC was not financially or administratively tied to a synagogue.

The appeals court in Philadelphia ruled, however, that the JCC was entitled to the exemption because "during the period under scrutiny, its structures and purposes were primarily religious."

Drawing on precedents, the court compiled a list of nine criteria to help determine what constitutes a religious institution. Among the questions were: Is the institution a not for profit? Does it offer a secular product? Does it have a stated religious purpose? Does any religious entity participate in its management? Does it include religious instruction? Is it made up of coreligionists?

In LeBoon v. Lancaster Jewish Community Center Association, the court determined that the JCC did have a Jewish mission -- to "enhance and promote Jewish life, identity and continuity." And based on the other eight criteria, it determined that the JCC was working to follow through on that mission.

The court noted that the rabbis of the city's three synagogues were honorary non-voting members of the JCC board whose input played a key role in the firing and hiring of the institution's top professionals, helped with the fund raising and provided religious programming.

In addition, the court said the JCC organized Jewish holiday events, had mezuzahs affixed to its doors, maintained a kosher kitchen and, despite its gloomy financial situation, decided not to rent out its facilities on the Sabbath.

"These characteristics clearly point to the conclusion" that the JCC was "primarily a religious organization," the majority opinion stated.

In her dissenting opinion, Judge Marjorie Rendell argued that the only relevant question is whether the JCC was funded or controlled by a religious group. The JCC, she said, "was not run by a synagogue but by a board independently elected by the center's members."

Both sides claimed that their approach would avoid forcing the courts into the unconstitutional role of arbitrating on religious questions.

The national arms of local JCCs and Jewish federations did not comment specifically about the case. Observers, including Stern, say the decision allows for installing safeguards against proselytizing groups trying to infiltrate Jewish organizations.

Synagogues and Jewish schools have been fairly well protected by Article 702 of the Civil Rights Act and been able to avoid hiring job applicants who belong to groups such as Jews for Jesus, according to the director of Jewish communal affairs for the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York, Marcia Eisenberg.

But Jewish groups that fall on the more secular end of the spectrum, like JCCs and even less overtly Jewish organizations, have been susceptible to lawsuits involving discrimination claims.

"This gives some interesting comfort for Jewish organizations in that the definition of a religious institution is actually broader than it was before," said Eisenberg, who helps Jewish groups draw up hiring practices. "This is especially helpful when you have big staffs and a lot of employees."

Stern and Eisenberg said the case should give Jewish organizations reason to go back and reassess their mission statements and practices to see if they line up with what is required in the recent decision to qualify for the religious exemption.