Hachrazah 5770 Kislev 26
On the 11th of December, 2009, the Yusaf Mosque near Shechem was vandalized. This court condemns this act. This action is not sanctioned by Jewish Law, and the court cannot support any Jew who wants to do such actions. However, that being said, two additional points must be considered. First, given all the political mileage this story is being given in the Israeli press, and the extent to which it benefits the left wing parties, it is not out of the question that this may have been a "staged" event. Second, the international press shows its anti-Jewish bias by handling this story very differently than the burning of synagogues in Gush Katif or even burning and complete destruction of the synagogue at Joseph's Tomb, filmed and distributed by Palestinians without condemnation, which occurred not far from the Yusaf Mosque; and other similar events.
Informal translation from Hebrew of the 26 Kislev, 5770 (13 December 2009) statement:
Special Court for Matters Concerning the Nation and the State
Secretary: Rabbi Amnon Hever Tel: 054-9400909 b.d.hartzion@gmail.com
26th of Kislev, 5770
(13 December, 2009)
Price Tag and the Mosque Arson
Attack on a House of Worship of the One G-d, Regardless of Circumstance, is to be Condemned
Elements in the government and the press are quick, as usual, to hurl accusations against “right-wing elements”. There are no “left-wing elements” in their lexicon.
This attempt proves that most of the attacks are the result of activities with governmental involvement, in order to accuse the rightwing elements of blood libels. The most famous example is the libel of the murder of Yitzchak Rabin, the most well-proven is the Kahalani Brothers Affair. In this affair, government agents confiscated their weapons and accused them of a blood libel, for which they sat for years in prison. If Jews become entangled in criminal acts of a nationalist nature, it is only because they lost their sanity due to the persecutions of the oppressor who troubles them – the state authorities, who have sold themselves to foreign interests and the hatred of Israel – has caused them to go insane.
It should be noted that it is the norm among the Arabs to use mosques as human shields, weapon storehouses, and launch sites for rockets; and it is the norm of those who wave the banner of freedom of religion and democracy; proven to be evil plotting, for when the subject at hand is Jewish houses of prayer, cemeteries, and holy sites, they show double standards.
In Gush Katif, the “democratic” government decided and acted to burn, smash, and destroy all traces of Israeli houses of prayer and holy sites, including uprooting graves, like the vision of the Palestinian poet Mohammed Darwish, may the name of the wicked rot.
On the matter of the Temple Mount, the government, which prides itself for upholding freedom of religion, helped the Arabs throw the remains of our Temple to dumpsters. Therefore, it has no reason to complain about the desecration of holy places. It would be better if the people in the government would take a look in the mirror and understand how the government is the very one bringing a new holocaust on the children of Israel, and who is guilty of turning faithful Jewish citizens in to the frustrated oppressed people who find their relief by attacking illegitimate targets.
In spite of all of this, if it would be proven that there is an Israeli hand in this matter, from any side, we hereby condemn it completely.
We expect that the Union of Muslim States, which happily takes advantage of the attack on the Muslim mosque, will show its sincerity by its condemnation of the burning of Jewish houses of prayer and the destruction in Gush Katif and Northern Samaria, and the religious rights of the children of Israel in all breadth of the Land of Israel as stated in the Torah and recognized in the Qur’an – the book of their own faith.
Rabbi Professor Hill Weiss – Spokesman of the Sanhedrin
Rabbi Dov Stein – Secretary of the Sanhedrin
Click here to see the Hebrew version
References
This ruling in the news
- הסנהדרין: התנכלות למקום תפילה לאל אחד באשר היא–מגונה! Rotter.net (13.12.09)
- Kotel Rabbi Condemns Mosque Burning Arutz-7 (12/14/09)
- Rabbis meet Yasuf leaders Ha'aretz (12/14/09)
- violation of Israel’s obligations to safeguard the sanctity of Islamic and Christian holy sites in the Palestinian territories Jordan Times (12/14/09)
- No clear leads yet in Yasuf arson, despite intensive effort JPost (12/14/09)
- Settlers set fire to Yasuf mosque, burning over 80 Qur’an and other holy texts PA Solidarity (propaganda website) (12/14/09)
- Rabbis provide new Qurans to mosque YNetnews (12.13.09) Rabbi of Tekoa Menachem Froman said the halacha prohibits doing harm to religious sites
- Edelstein: No One Condemns Synagogue Vandalaism Arutz-7 (Dec/13/09)
- Organization of the Islamic Conference condemns Israeli settlers' rampage Arab Monitor (12/13/09)
- Rabbis Stopped from Visiting Vandalized Mosque Arutz-7 (12/13/09)
- Israel Condemns Mosque Vandalism Arutz-7 (12/13/09)
- Barak: No place in Israeli society for those who burn mosques YNetnews (12.11.09)
- Palestinians throwing stones next to torched mosque in Yasuf YNetnews (12.11.09)
- Shomron Regional Council Rejects Anti-Jewish Accusation Arutz-7 (Dec/11/09)