Religious Radicalism Strikes Again

I have previously written about problems between ultra-Orthodox Jews and moderate Jews in Israel.  Here's a further look at what's going on.  Everything from pepper-spray attacks to throwing stones at women.

So, if I extrapolate this according to the Muslim Judging Scale, that means that all Jews are violent extremists who want to impose Torah law on the West and we must fight them and kick them out of our country.  Right?

Are American Jews Jewish?

Maybe not, according to ultra-Orthodox rabbis in Israel.  The ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel have a disproportionate amount of power there and are changing the face of Israel.  Or, as they see it, guarding the faith and not letting it be diluted.  This is a good article about some of the problems new immigrants to Israel are running into.

Racism is Everywhere Update I

Haaretz has an editorial on the issue, but they say it's Mizrahim that are not allowed to use the school. Since Spain was at one time ruled by Muslims from North Africa, it may be a moot point.

According to police reports, 100,000 demonstrators showed up. And in this article Sephardim are referred to as Middle Eastern. So I guess you could say it a matter of light-skinned people not wanting to study with brown-skinned people. This article has a nice selection of photos too.

edit: The BBC is also covering this. They have a quote from a settler saying it's not racism, it's because the Sephardi aren't religious enough. They're not modest enough and they have TVs.

Racism is Everywhere

Some non-Jews are considered anti-Semitic, or racist, for not supporting Israel. Well, some Jews are racist too. There's a segregated girls school in a West Bank Jewish settlement, and the courts just ruled that they have to de-segregate. They are segregating the Ashkenazi and the Sephardi girls.

Ashkenazim = Jews from northern European

Sephardim = Jews from Spain/Portugal

Mizrahim = Jews from Middle East, North Africa, Caucasus

For some reason, these ultra-Orthodox settlers do not want their girls to learn in the same classroom as Sephardi girls. They are planning protests and Israel is putting 10,000 police officers out there to prepare for the protests. Here's a selection from the article:

MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism), who met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman, told the Knesset: "We, the ultra-Orthodox community, will not respect rulings, not of lower courts and not of the High Court, that contradict the Torah."

Gafni went on to say that there is an opportunity to prevent the parents from being jailed. "These pictures [of the parents being jailed] will be published worldwide and there will be no escape from thinking about what happened in other countries at other times when ultra-Orthodox Jews with side locks and beards went to jail."

Well, if the Torah says that Ashkenazi and Sephardi should be separated, then I will step out on a limb and claim that the Torah is racist.

Bahrain's Jewish Ambassador

I missed this one while I was on vacation. Bahrain appointed a new ambassador to the US, and it's a woman - a Jewish woman. For those who don't know, yes, there are still Jews living in Arab countries (though not as many since 1948). There's speculation about what this means: is Bahrain trying to make a statement, hoping to cover up other human rights abuses? See Mideast Youth article, BBC article.

Lefty Jews Get Voice

The US has a new Jewish lobby. The current big lobby, AIPAC, is pretty conservative and the new lobby is more left-wing. They're called J Street, and the executive director was an adviser to former President Clinton. I wish J Street good luck.

Yarmulkes Oppress Jewish Men!

Religious Jewish men are forced to wear small skull caps on their heads. The more conservative are even forced to grow longer locks of hair over their ears. This is degrading and oppressive. How dare Judaism force this upon them!

If you can't tell, this is satire - I am NOT serious. This topic came up in a class recently and it got me thinking. Substitute hijab for yarmulke and Islam for Judaism. So women wearing headscarves is oppressive, but men wearing yarmulkes isn't? What about Penecostal (Christian denomination) women who are only allowed to wear skirts and can't cut their hair. Is that oppressive? Someone please tell me what the rules are so I know who's oppressed and who isn't. Oh wait - I guess I could ask individual people how they feel about wearing a hijab or yarmulke or long skirt. Nah - it's easier to just condemn their entire religions.

Muslim Helps Jews in NY Attack

It's always nice to hear about interfaith cooperation. Too bad the Christians involved were the bad guys. A group of them were wishing people Merry Christmas, so a few Jews wished them Happy Hanukkah, at which point the Jews were attacked by the Christmas-wishers. A Muslim nearby helped the Jews fight off the Christian attackers.

Analysis: I personally have no problem with Christmas as a holiday for several reasons. First of all, it is traditional for most of America. Secondly, it's not even Christian. Every time I see those "Remember the Reason for the Season" signs I think: pagan solstice celebrations and Germanic tree reverence. So I don't have a problem with Christmas. I do have a problem with the people talking about the "War on Christmas." Yes, there are people in this country who are NOT Christian and have their own holidays. Hanukkah and Kwanzaa spring to mind as holidays that take place around Christmas. So what the hell is wrong with wishing someone Happy Holidays? I don't think you should be forced to use Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas, but especially if you know someone is not Christian, maybe you should use that instead. Save the Merry Christmases for Christians. How many of these people upset with a "War on Christmas" would be extremely offended to be wished a Happy Kwanzaa? But it's okay if they do it? I don't have a problem with churches putting up trees and nativity scenes. But I think government offices should stick to trees and wreaths. The Nativity IS blatantly religious and Christian. So leave that to non-governmental groups. If you own a company and want to put up a nativity scene, then go for it. You have that right. But we have something in this country called "separation of church and state." If a city decides to put up Christian symbols for a holiday, then what about Jewish holidays, or Muslim holidays, or Hindu or Buddhist or whatever? So my final answer is: nativity scene = religious, tree/wreath/candles = not religious. We may not be a Christian nation, but we are a Christmas nation.