Tikun Olam-תיקון עולם: Make the World a Better Place

Pages

• Home
• Photo Gallery
• Advertising
• Comment Rules
• Subscribe to Posts (per post)
• Tikun Olam Store
• Donate
• Subscribe (daily digest)
• Contact
• About
• Monthly archives
• Terms of Use

19 Responses to “Rabbis for Peace Urge ‘Going Biblical’ to Solve Israeli-Palestinian Conflict”

1. mary says:

   January 4, 2010 at 7:28 AM

   Oy vey, Richard. I’m laughing, but also deeply disturbed that 350 rabbis can converge on the US Ambassador to Israel and be seen so easily (and that there are 350 such Neanderthal rabbis). They want to implement the “Biblical approach,” but whose version of the Bible are they referring to? Are we waiting for the Second Coming, Armageddon, or what?

   Reply
2. Tim says:

   January 4, 2010 at 8:43 AM

   The Bible also talks at length about treating one’s neighbour with justice, especially the stranger in our midst. What about that “Biblical approach”?

   Reply
3. fiddler says:

   January 4, 2010 at 10:49 AM

   The photo rather appropriately looks like the 2nd rabbi from the right is wearing a witches’ hat ;-)

   Reply
4. JC says:

   January 4, 2010 at 4:54 PM

   These idiot rabbis have forgotten to mention that although Jews are commanded to settle the land if possible there is no theological justification whatsoever for this idea that Jews must have full sovereignty over every inch of Palestine.

   And how can they forget that following the one command of settling the land they are violating dozens and dozens of others that require Jews to treat non-Jews fairly, not to steal, not to covet a neighbor’s possessions, etc.

   These basic commandments have been forgotten by most Zionists and these nutty rabbis.

   Reply
5. The Hasbara Buster says:

   January 4, 2010 at 7:45 PM

   I believe the Earth is flat — should I make an appointment with the US ambassador to my country?

   Reply
   • mary says:

     January 4, 2010 at 7:55 PM

     Sad thing is, the Ambassador just might believe it too.

     Reply
   • Richard Silverstein says:

     January 4, 2010 at 9:18 PM

     What’s especially sad about the interchange is that you can tell by what Cunningham said that he thought the rabbis were the equivalent of flat-earthers. But what could he do? Once he let ‘em in the door he had to play along. But why did he even agree to see them??

     Reply
     • mary says:

       January 5, 2010 at 7:43 AM

       I’m only being semi-facetious here, but maybe he was afraid he’d be called an anti-semite if he didn’t.

       Reply
6. richard says:

   January 7, 2010 at 2:17 PM

   War on the synagogues and rabbis has become a moral imperative for conscientious Jews of the world. These houses of the un-holy are essentially terrorist madrassas, providing economic and ideological support for Israeli abominations like the Gaza massacre.

   Pro-israel rabbis should be subject to the same laws against terrorist incitement that have sent numerous Arab imams to prison. The hypocrisy is astounding.

   Reply
   • Richard Silverstein says:

     January 7, 2010 at 3:46 PM

     You don’t know jacks(&t about synagogues or rabbis. The thought that you are smugly declaring war on all synaoguges & rabbis for the sin & shame of a relative few is once again odious.

     Reply
   • mary says:

     January 7, 2010 at 6:10 PM

     A madrassa is an Islamic school teaching the knowledge of the Holy Quran, and I hope you do not use such a word in a derogatory manner in the future.

     Reply
   • David Cohen says:

     December 14, 2011 at 6:10 PM

     A moral imperative? What is your code of morals based upon? The pro Israel rabbis base their morals on the Torah, and they are experts on what it teaches. They make a good point. Consider it instead of mocking it. The so called ”peace process” has resulted in much bloodshed. Stop meddling and let the people of Israel deal with their problems. They know them best and have to live with the consequences of their political decisions. You do not.

     Reply
     • Richard Silverstein says:

       December 15, 2011 at 1:36 AM

       The people of Israel, their leaders at any rate, have proven they cannot “deal with their problems.” If they would deal with them and solve them and end the bloodshed I’d be more than happy to turn this blog to writing about other subjects. Until Israel proves that it can do that, I’m afraid you’ll have to endure my blogging for some time more.

       Reply
7. richard says:

   January 7, 2010 at 4:26 PM

   Fair enough. Can you name a single US synagogue that has denounced the Gaza massacre?

   On those rare occasions I humor family members by showing up at a synagogue, the rabbis are INVARIABLY and WITHOUT EXCEPTION praising Israel and taking up collections to help Israel continue its murder jamboree and painting the israelis as the innocent victims of aggression.

   As I say, if you can point me to a single exception to this rule, I’d like to see it.

   Reply
   • Richard Silverstein says:

     January 7, 2010 at 6:59 PM

     I wouldn’t waste my breath on you. There are many synagogues in which rabbis are critical of Israeli policies. But what would you care. You’re a anti-Jewish true believer. Disgusting.

     Reply
8. richard says:

   January 7, 2010 at 4:47 PM

   Any synagogues on record supporting BDS against israel for crimes against humanity that have nauseated the entire world?

   There are certainly MANY conscientious Jews who support BDS and come out unequivocally against Israel and its crimes, but the synagogues are entirely behind Israel. They do NOT represent what is admirable in Jewish society. Quite the opposite.

   Reply
   • Richard Silverstein says:

     January 7, 2010 at 6:57 PM

     Richard Harth has been banned. Here’s the email he sent to me which I thought fit to quote without his permission (see my comment/email rules):

     Number of US synagogues supporting the Goldstone report: 0

     Number of US synagogues supporting the Viva Palestina march to end the siege of Gaza: 0

     Number of US synagogues supporting BDS measures to compel Israel to abide by international law: 0

     That’s game-set-match, richard, (you fraud).

     ps..no I was NOT referring to Sabra and Shatilla, I was referring to Israel’s 1996 massacre in Lebanon. (Don’t worry your idiotic, laughably uninformed head about it. None of the victims were Jews.)

     Take care and keep up the impressive Hasbara.

     Harth’s comment betrays a complete ignorance about what religious institutions do. They are not political debating societies and do not take political positions. Any Jew who comes out “unequivocally against Israel” is a Jew who will find himself in agreement with about 100 (well, OK 1,000) other Jews in the world.
     I fully concede there are lots of idiots among the pro-Israel right. But why do there have to be mirror image idiots on the left as well?

     Reply
9. Mark says:

   December 12, 2010 at 5:02 PM

   Richard,

   I have mixed feelings about your reply to Richard H.
   I recognise that you have a right to ban someone from your site if you wish to, after all its your own site.
   Also I think its perfectly appropriate to print his words to you without his permission; he corresponds with you in the spirit of public debate, and also as a guest on your site is subject to your rules.
   And I would say that by subjecting to you to abuse by calling you “idiotic” and a “fraud” he has voluntarily left the realm of respectful debate.

   That said, some of his points were valid I think.

   Can you actually name US synagogues – not individual Jews – who routinely criticise Israel’s policies in Gaza etc, even if they are even-handed and also do the same to Hamas etc? This is not a rhetorical technique, as a (non-Jew) Australian I’m interested to know.

   But I think the statement that religious institutions “are not political debating societies and do not take political positions” is quite incredible. The Catholic Church isn’t full of political debate? Certain Mosques haven’t taken political decisions on the place of Islam in politics? The history of religious institutions has shown them to be *very* interested in political positions and where power lies in society… as was Moses, Jesus and (particularly) Mohammad. Why do you think religion is part of the problem with Israel/Palestine in the first place? When you wrote these lines you lost a lot of credibility in my eyes.

   Reply
   • Richard Silverstein says:

     December 12, 2010 at 7:46 PM

     Can you actually name US synagogues – not individual Jews – who routinely criticise Israel’s policies in Gaza

     Yes, I can. Not many, but there are a few. But I’m not sure what this proves.

     The conflict is not primarily religious, it is political. The introduction of religion into the mix is a red herring & distraction.

     Reply