Religious or racial hatred is ugly and evil, wherever it pops its head. But it’s much uglier when it’s spread in the name of religion. This is from Agence France-Presse last Tuesday:
Fifty Israeli rabbis have signed an open letter warning Jews not to rent or sell property to non-Jews, saying those who do should be “ostracized,” a copy of the letter showed on Tuesday.
“In answer to the many questions, we say that it is forbidden in the Torah to sell a house or a field in the land of Israel to a foreigner,” says the letter, referring to the Pentateuch, or the first five books of the Bible.
The text, which was signed mostly by state-employed rabbis, warns “he who sells or rents them a flat in an area where Jews live causes great harm to his neighbors.”
While the Israeli government is often in thrall to the extremist clergy who rant that God gave the entire ancient land of Israel (including what’s now Jordan) to the Jews, this was too much for Prime Minister Netanyahu, who harshly condemned the letter.
“How would we feel if we were told not to sell an apartment to Jews? We would protest, and we protest now when it is said of our neighbors. Such things cannot be said, not about Jews and not about Arabs. They cannot be said in any democratic country, and especially not in a Jewish and democratic one. The state of Israel rejects these sayings.”
Other prominent Israelis also condemned the letter, as did America’s Anti-Defamation League.
Tags: Agence France-Presse, Anti-Defamation League, ethics, Israeli Arabs, Israeli rabbis, Netanyahu, Religious hatred, rent to non-Jews, Torah
Ethics Bob 
December 11, 2010 at 10:15 am |
Such hatred has been going on for years now. The exact same decree was made against the Jews in Germany during the reign of Hitler. Such Zionism is full of hate, prejudice, and is certainly unethical. Simply look at the hardships the Palestinians face simply trying to go to work! As for Netanyahu, for not following the peace accords his country and his people are being seen as thugs who care not for peace!
December 11, 2010 at 10:29 am |
Ata, some Zionists are full of hate and prejudice, just as some Palestinians, some Americans, and some of every race, ethnicity, and creed. Painting all Zionists with the same brush is as unethical as painting all Arabs, all Muslims, all Jews, etc. We all need to judge people as individuals.
December 12, 2010 at 9:33 pm |
Zionism is unethical. It is not a “race” or “people”, it is an ideology, similar to that of Nazism – to remove a people from their homes and displace them in order to create a country based upon the premise of ONE ETHNICITY. Your analogy then with “arabs, muslims, all jews etc” is not the same as that of zionism.
December 13, 2010 at 12:22 am |
I agree that Zionism is an ideology, but it’s a far cry from Naziism. it’s advocacy of a Jewish state. Traditionally Zionists tried to buy land in Palestine for Jewish settlement. Today some Zionists argue that God gave them the land, and the current inhabitants are just squatters to be removed. Unfortunately many of these people are influential in the Israeli government. But most do not advocate forced removal.
December 14, 2010 at 11:16 pm |
Naziism advocated a “German State”, based too upon ethnicity. Zionism is similar in that it too argues for a state of Israel that is “Jewish”. Forced removal of the Palestinians occur daily in the Occupied Territory. The human rights abuses by the Israeli population upon palestinians is no different than Apartheid. Such was pretty much inferred by olmert:
“If the two-state solution collapses, and we face a South African-style struggle for equal voting rights, then the State of Israel is finished ”
source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7118937.stm