Top rabbis move to forbid renting homes to Arabs, say 'racism originated in the Torah'

[shaayecanaan]

A number of leading rabbis who signed on to a religious ruling to forbid renting homes to gentiles – a move particularly aimed against Arabs – defended their decision on Tuesday with the declaration that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews.

Dozens of Israel's municipal chief rabbis signed on to the ruling, which comes just months after the chief rabbi of Safed initiated a call urging Jews to refrain from renting or selling apartments to non-Jews.

(snip)

"We don't need to help Arabs set down roots in Israel," Rabbi Shlomo Aviner of the Beit El settlement, said on Tuesday. Aviner explained that he supported the move for two reasons: one, a Jew looking for an apartment should get preference over a gentile; and two, to keep the growing Arab population from settling too deeply.

In their ruling, the rabbis called on the religious community to voice support Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, who could face trial for incitement against Arabs for initiating the move against renting to gentiles.

Minority Affairs Minister Avishay Braverman has also asked Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman to begin the process of suspending Eliyahu immediately from his post as municipal rabbi.

Politicos from the national religious sector believe that the mass of prominent figures who signed on to the ruling – all of whose salaries are paid by public funds - will send a message to the attorney general to take Eliyahu's position seriously.

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/top-rabbis-move-to-forbid-renting-homes-to-arabs-say-racism-originated-in-the-torah-1.329327

[Hardrada]

1. The Road to the Apartheid State, Part II

Way to go guys!

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

2. How sad.

[sabbat hunter]

3. Top Israel rabbis: Don't sell property to non-Jews

http://www.boston.com/news/world/middleeast/articles/2010/12/07/top_israel_rabbis_dont_sell_property_to_non_jews/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+Boston+Globe+--+World+News

Three dozen top Israeli rabbis threw their support Tuesday behind a religious ruling barring Jews from selling or renting homes to non-Jews -- an indication of growing radicalism within the rabbinical community at a time of mounting friction between Israeli Arabs and Jews. The action by the clerics -- chief rabbis in some of Israel's largest cities and influential among the devout -- fueled charges of racism.

The religious opinion first became a focus of controversy last year when the chief rabbi of Safed -- a town in northern Israel that has a large concentration of devout Jews -- urged that it be applied specifically to Arabs.

I am ashamed of these so called religious leaders, these "rabbis" . Their statement is shameful and should be condemned by all.

[no_hypocrisy]

4. THAT is racism.

Not just religious discrimination.

[Name removed]

5. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[oberliner]

6. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the initiative

"Israel categorically rejects these words" against its Arab citizens, Netanyahu said in a speech Tuesday evening in Jerusalem. "This must not happen in any democratic nation, and certainly not in the Jewish and democratic state" of Israel.

[aranthus]

9. As he should have.

I hope that ten times as many rabbis condemn this as have signed it.

[Poll_Blind]

7. While one can trace portions of this terrible thing to elements of the Talmud or the dangers of...

...rabbinical interpretation in general, I think you only need go as far back as Jabotinsky Revisionist Zionism as a starting point for a seed which grew out of control (especially after the '67 war) and which chokes and taints a truer Torah-centric Judaism with territorial maximalism which naturally leads to such idiotic racial pronouncements.

This is a relatively new and despicable brand of Judaism which, by sheer numbers of its adherents, threatens to gain a permanent foothold in Israel. In 15 years, maybe less, this will be the face of modern Judaism or risk a break (which I think is more likely) with the Diaspora. But the mind sort of reels at where all that leads- and what that means for recognition of Diasporic Jews as 'real' Jews- especially given the recent conversion law.

PB

[LeftishBrit]

8. Ugh, the Religious Right is disgusting in all its forms.

These rabbis are using the name of religion to promote bigotry - shameful indeed.

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. awful

[Igel]

11. Sounds oddly familiar, actually.

Nasty, to be sure.

But not to the point of threatening to jail or execute Jews that sell to non-Jews. Maybe they'd like to, and maybe that'll be forthcoming fairly soon, but the idiots aren't in absolute control. (The idiots must be very envious of their neighbors' idiots and trying to figure out how to catch up.)

[shaayecanaan]

12. Well, you're conflating two things...

The Palestinians object to their land being sold to Israelis, not Jews. They would have no objection to land being sold to a Palestinian Jew (ie a Samaritan).

Most sovereign nations have laws restricting the purchase of residential property by foreign citizens. There is nothing wrongful about that. What the rabbis are proposing is quite different - that land not be rented or sold to *Israeli* Arabs.

[oberliner]

13. Samaritans are not Palestinian Jews

Samaritans are descendants of people who broke from Judaism over 2,200 years ago.

[shaayecanaan]

14. They are regarded as a Jewish sect today by mainstream Judaism...

similar to Karaites, Kanaaya Jews etc and are certainly regarded as Jewish for the purposes of the law of return.

[oberliner]

15. No they aren't

With respect to the law of return, different Israeli governments have had different positions on the matter. In 1992, for instance, the government officially declared that Samaritans are not regarded as Jewish and would not, therefore, be accorded citizenship rights under the law of return. That decision was reversed in 1994. The "who is a Jew?" question and debate is one that is ongoing, and it is not accurate to assert that mainstream Judaism regards them as a Jewish sect, Wikipedia entries notwithstanding.

Most importantly, though, Samaritans do not consider themselves, nor call themselves, Jews.

Returning to the original point, if I may - your claim was that the law forbade Palestinians from selling land to Israelis rather than to Jews.

However, this is clearly and demonstrably not the case, as the issue came up in 2009 with respect to a Jewish businessman from the United States who was attempting to purchase land from Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

This person was not an Israeli but was Jewish.

[shaayecanaan]

16. Again, that person was a foreigner....

and it is entirely appropriate for any state to have restrictions on the purchase of property by foreigners, particularly where, as in the case of the Jewish American businessman seeking to buy property in East Jerusalem, the purchase has a political element.

As you have noted, the Israeli government currently recognises Samaritans as Jews for the purposes of the law of return. The Samaritans do not call themselves Jews but instead "as Bene Israel" as the Ethiopian Jews do. The Jewish Encyclopedia regards them as the "sole representative of the ancient Hebrews". From the POV of a Palestinian (which is probably relevant for this question, IMO) the Samaritans are Jews.

If the prohibition was simply sectarian in nature then the Palestinians would object to Samaritans buying property in Nablus. They do not do so because they realise that Samaritans are content to live there as Palestinians, whereas American Jews or settlers most likely want to live there as Israelis.

[oberliner]

17. Foreigners who are not Jewish have not run into the same problem

I know that there have been non-Jewish people from foreign countries who have bought land in the West Bank without incurring the same kind of response.

[shaayecanaan]

22. My uncle's dog's wife's cousin has a condo on Mars...

So what? I know a Chinese guy who was knocked back by the Australian Foreign Investment Review Board when he wanted to buy a house here. I know white people who have been approved by the FIRB. Is that conclusive proof of racism?

How many Palestinians do you think have received permission to buy property in West Jerusalem?

[oberliner]

23. Can we stay focused on the specific question at hand?

Namely, whether or not it is illegal for Palestinians to sell land to Jews.

Correct me if I am wrong, but you seem to acknowledge that the Palestinian law does make it illegal for Palestinians to sell land to Israeli Jews, is that right?

I think there is enough evidence to support the claim that this law also applied to Jews from other countries.

[shaayecanaan]

24. The only evidence that you have adduced...

is that you know a guy who who knows a guy who bought land in the West Bank and he wasnt Jewish. I hardly call that evidence.

[oberliner]

25. sd

[oberliner]

26. I think we are misunderstanding each other

I don't personally know any guys who bought land in the West Bank who weren't Jewish.

I was saying that we all know that non-Jewish people have bought land in the West Bank.

I thought this point was self-evident.

Rawabi, for example, the new planned city that is being developed in the West Bank is owned in part by a Qatari firm.

[oberliner]

18. ADL condemns petition against selling land to non-Jews

The ADL on Wednesday condemned a statement signed by 47 state-employed rabbis, quoting the halachic stance against renting or selling a house or plot of land to a non-Jew in Israel.

"It is outrageous and unacceptable that rabbis across Israel are promoting blatant discrimination against non-Jews," the advocacy group said in a statement. "The State of Israel was established in the wake of the most horrific expression of hatred to be a Jewish and democratic state."

"It is extremely disturbing to hear religious leaders – who are supposed to represent and uphold Jewish values – promote such a prejudicial course for Israeli society. That many of these rabbis are state employees makes their action that much more troubling," the statement added.

http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=198517

Here is the actual press release from the ADL website:

http://www.adl.org/PresRele/IslME_62/5934_62.htm

And from a Kadima MK:

MK Orit Zuaretz (Kadima), head of the Lobby to Promote Jewish-Arab Relations, said on Tuesday that Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu should personally fire rabbis who said Jews should not rent or sell property to gentiles.

"The prime minister should be personally involved, should take away their salaries and fire them from any state-sanctioned job," Zuaretz said. "Religious services paid for by the state can not allow themselves to act in a way that harms tax-paying citizens."

http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=198368

[Violet_Crumble]

19. Revolting. I hate religious extremists so much n/t

[oberliner]

20. Yad Vashem: Forbidding rental to Arabs is a blow to Jewish values

The Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial on Thursday decried a religious ruling signed by dozens of prominent Israeli rabbis forbidding Jews from renting homes to gentiles, deeming it a "severe blow to the values of our lives as Jews and human beings in a democratic state."

"Past experiments have taught us just how important, and at the same time how fragile, these basic values are to coexistence and honoring the other," the memorial said in response to the ruling, which was seen as particularly aimed against Israel's large Arab minority.

"We know that the Jewish people, that knew suffering and persecution and experience ostracism and the revocation of basic rights, has expressed its stance on matters such as these with voices different than those we have heard today with this ".

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/yad-vashem-forbidding-rental-to-arabs-is-a-blow-to-jewish-values-1.329706

[azurnoir]

21. Israel's AG says he''ll look in to the matter

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein on Thursday stated that his office would check if the behavior of state-employed rabbis, who signed a letter against renting to non-Jews, was "criminal."

Forty-seven state-employed rabbis signed a statement, made public Tuesday, which quotes the halachic stance against renting or selling a house or plot of land to a non- Jew in Israel.

“In response to many people’s questions, we hereby reply that it is prohibited by the Torah to sell a house or a field in the Land of Israel to a gentile,” the letter begins before proceeding to quote Maimonides, the Shulhan Aruch and other sources. The letter notes the danger of intermarriage, the potential damage to the religious beliefs of Jewish neighbors who might be influenced by non-Jews, and the damage to the value of real estate in the area.

Weinstein's letter about the rabbis' statement said that, "The Attorney General believes that the comments attributed to the rabbis are seemingly problematic in a number of ways and are not emblematic of proper public behavior,"

"The legal aspect of the incident is more complicated. The attorney general has instructed the relevant parties in his office to check the criminal and disciplinary aspects raised by the rabbis' statements."

http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=198787