posted on September 8, 2004 03:42:09 AM new
A group of prominent Jewish rabbis have asked the Israeli army not to flinch from killing Palestinian civilians in the context of the ongoing military campaign against armed groups resisting the occupation.
In a letter to the Israeli defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, published on Tuesday, the rabbis said killing enemy civilians is "normal" during the time of war and that the Israeli occupation army should never hesitate to kill non-Jewish civilians in order to save Jewish lives.
The rabbis quoted a Talmudic edict, or religious ruling, stating that "our lives come first".
How will American media respond???
Well; I'm glad you asked.
The San Jose Mercury News, for example, in the period Oct2002-March2003, reported in front page headlines, 3.6% of palestinian deaths & 70% of Israeli deaths..
PDF http://www.ifamericansknew.org/download/merc2_brochure.pdf
posted on September 8, 2004 03:50:56 AM new
Incidentally, a few months ago a prominent rabbi in the Jewish settlement of Kiryat Arbaa near Hebron issued an edict stating that non-Jewish civilians may be killed to save Jewish lives, soldiers and civilians alike.
The rabbi, Dov Lior, argued that non-Jewish lives had no sanctity, especially during the time of war.
Lior has publicly praised and eulogised Baruch Goldstein, an American Jewish settler who in 1994 mowed down 29 Arab worshippers who were praying at Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque.
Calling Goldstein a "great saint", he said a "thousand non-Jewish lives are not worth a Jew's fingernail".
Talmudic maxim
Earlier this year, Lior enthusiastically supported the killing of Palestinian civilians in Rafah in southern Gaza, saying that "it is very clear in light of the Torah that Jewish lives are more important than non-Jewish lives".
In formulating their theological positions, Lior and other like-minded rabbis rely on an old Talmudic maxim which states that it is a mitzvah (imperative religious duty) to kill enemy civilians in war time.
The same rabbis also often quote Torah verses in which God is shown instructing the ancient Israelites to annihilate the Canaanites in ancient Palestine.
Since the outbreak of al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, the Israeli army and paramilitary Jewish groups have killed as many as 3500 Palestinians, the bulk of them civilians, including more than 600 children and minors.
During the same period, Palestinian fighters have killed nearly a thousand Israeli soldiers, settlers and civilians.
posted on September 8, 2004 10:25:48 AM new
The fight is against a cunning, long-term plan similar to imperialism. This is a basic primer on the real conflict.
