the false and baseless allegation that Rabby Schachter called for assassinating the prime minister.

The verbatim transcript of his remarks is quoted in this post. He clearly called for assassinating the prime minister. How do you get the chutzpah to say the charge is “false & baseless??” If you have a copy of the tape I’d like to hear it. Trying to claim that he meant this statement is jest is just plain weak.

were I Rabbi Schachter’s attorney, I would advise him to file a civil suit against you for slandering his good will with libelous allegations.

Do me a big favor. Send Rabbi Schachter the link to this post and urge him to sue me. I’ve just won a libel suit filed by a Los Angeles Kahanist and I’d like nothing more than to see Rabbi Schachter’s attorney explain to a judge that he didn’t mean the words that he’s quoted as saying. You also clearly know nothing about U.S. libel laws. Truth is the best defense against a libel charge and I’ve alleged nothing more than the words the good rabbi actually said. Truth will win.

he blamed America for starting the AIDS virus, training professional killers, importing drugs and creating a racist society that would never elect a black candidate president.

I don’t believe America is responsible for the AIDS virus but 30% of Black Americans do. As for training killers–what do you think the CIA does? Helps little old ladies across the street? Of course they train killers & that is what Wright correctly criticizes. I don’t know about importing drugs but the drugs get here somehow don’t they? Someone imports them. And the U.S. does a piss poor job of stopping their importation. And as for creating a racist society–you bet we live in a racist society. And people like you are a perfect reflection of that. And even if you’re not racist, you’re ignorant of what African-Americans think or believe which is only slightly less offensive.

If, God forbid, a US elected official is attacked by someone who claims her or she was incited by this hate-speech,

What a fever dream. This reminds me of Daniel Pipes warning that Islamic extremists would assassinate Barack Obama because he was a Muslim apostate. The only person claiming that Jeremiah Wright would inspire anyone to an act of violence is you. The only person who believes something like this is even possible is you and other right-wingers. And you’re the type of person who would guarantee a Black man would never be elected president–and you’d only be confirming Jeremiah Wright’s pt. of view.

Rabbi Schachter is being attacked for a slip of the tongue

A “SLIP OF THE TONGUE?” Telling one’s students to assassinate the prime minister is NOT a slip of the tonuge. You’re the worst type of apologist. Really pathetic. And not believeable by half.

1. In the parenthetical I meant to write “I also KNOW Rabbi Schachter personally…”

2. It is Rabbi and not Rabby, naturally.

3. It was the grandson WHO was laughing and not whose [voice was heard] laughing

Thank you.

“Rabbi Schachter & other Orthodox rabbis have called point blank for the assassination of the prime minister. You don’t see the difference???”

It is now apparent to me that you never heard the 39-second audio recording that was posted on YouTube and summarily removed by the person that posted it or by YouTube itself within one day. Had you heard the recording you never would have made the false and baseless allegation that Rabby Schachter called for assassinating the prime minister. I have personally spoken with a grandfather of one of the students whose was laughing at the [inappropriate] off-the-cuff remark made by the rabbi and I myself heard the recording (I also never Rabbi Schachter personally and can assure to you that he does not espouse any of these views and individuals like yourself are truly making a storm in a teacup over an unfortuante slip of the tongue), and he assured me that his grandson and for that matter ALL of the students who attended this lecture understood that this statement was made in jest, and that this statement was most certainly not a “point blank call for assassinating the prime minister.”

As to other “rabbis”, I think I have an idea as to who you are referring to, and these are probably the same “rabbis” that supported the massacre perpetrated by Baruch Goldstein – I kindly ask you NOT to lump Rabbi Schachter will these individuals. It is these irresponsible statements that I am speaking out against. I may not work for the FBI or the Shin Bet, but were I Rabbi Schachter’s attorney, I would advise him to file a civil suit against you for slandering his good will with libelous allegations.

As to Pastor Jeremiah Wright, I am truly suprised at you. How can you not see the clear and present danger in his invective?! In his recent sermon delivered at Howard University he blamed America for starting the AIDS virus, training professional killers, importing drugs and creating a racist society that would never elect a black candidate president. If, God forbid, a US elected official is attacked by someone who claims her or she was incited by this hate-speech, I would most certainly deem that Pastor Wright bears culpability, while at the same time, I would not consider Rabbi Schachter responsible in any way were God forbid, a similar attack made against an Israeli elected official. The difference is clear: Pastor Wright made a hateful, racist sermon with complete sincerity, whereas Rabbi Schachter is being attacked for a slip of the tongue taken COMPLETELY out of context.

Best,
Kohelet

The FBI has contacted Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs at least twice about racist, violent comments written by several of his readers. The FBI does this sort of thing every day. The fact that you believe it doesn’t happen is incredible. Pastor Wright has threatened no one with violence in his sermons & there would be no reason to investigate him. Rabbi Schachter & other Orthodox rabbis have called point blank for the assassination of the prime minister. You don’t see the difference???

I have received written threats through my blog which I’ve reported to the police. Joel Beinin was subject to a death threat from Rachel Neuwirth, an Israeli-American Kahanist & he reported it to the Stanford police dept. These sorts of things happen every day I’m afraid & one of these days will lead to real violence. The owner of Masada2000 threatened Michael Lerner with physical harm. I don’t know whether Lerner reported this to the FBI but he should have.

You made the following pronouncement on U.S. law:

“And in the U.S. such a statement, even in jest, would’ve earned the good rabbi a sitting with several FBI agents. We here in the U.S. don’t take such statements as jocular.”

Please show me even one case where the FBI or other law enforcement agencies pursued an off-the-cuff statement made in jest. To the best of my knowledge, no investigations were made into the invective statements recently made by Pastor Jeremiah Wright, and they were certainly not made in jest.

The tragic death of Emil Grunzweig and the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, both of which I mourned deeply, are non-sequitors to this discussion.

I hope I am sufficiently clear for you now.

Best regards.

Emil Grunzweig was murdered by a rightist hand grenade tossed at a Peace Now rally. Had he lived he might have become a minister in an Israeli government like Yuli Tamir, also a former Peace Now activist. What did he do to deserve his fate? The extreme religious right vomited out Yitzhak Rabin’s assassin who was inspired by endless incitement to murder preached by Yigal Amir’s mentors before he shot the prime minister. How much incitement do you think it takes before someone with a violent aberrant personality decides to kill someone they think is a traitor to their people? Not to mention the incitement to kill Arabs which is far stronger & not constrained by any religious or ethnic taboos against killing one’s own.

Thanks for your response to my comments, though I still wait to receive from you precedents to substantiate your assertions that to date remain ungrounded barring your “assurances.”

I patiently await your reasonsed response.

It is not sufficient to strip away a person’s constitutional right of freedom of speech merely based on the text without taking into account the *context* in which the statement was made.

Do you think that a person either in Israel or the U.S. has the right to advocate killing the prime minister or president? I assure you that even such remarks made in jest are investigated by the Secret Service as if they are entirely serious.

the problematic statement does not constitute incitement for violence or racism per se, such as R. Schachter’s off the cuff remark made before a group of U.S. students

And you think the dean of an Orthodox rabbinical school telling his students to kill the prime minister doesn’t constitute “incitement?” I assure you that people have been killed with far less incitement.