zaterdag 13 december 2008

De Israelische Terreur 481


Ondanks het feit dat er genoeg joodse Nederlanders en joodse Israeli's protesteren tegen de terreur die uit hun naam wordt begaan tegen de Palestijnse burgerbevolking in onder andere Gaza, zijn de Nederlandse rabbijnen verdacht stil. Of hun geloof is inhoudsloos geworden of zijzelf zijn hun moraliteit kwijt. Ik moest daaraan denken toen ik dit las:

'"Letter to British Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks."
http://tinyurl.com/6lankv

Dear Chief Rabbi
12 December 2008
I listened to your 'thought for the day' on [BBC Radio 4’s] "Today"
[programme] today (below*).
I go along with your message except I do not look for eventual greatness in children but the warmth and light of humanity in them.
I know that you give support to Israel but I have not heard you chastising its leaders. You say "Judaism is a child-centred religion". And so it should be but how does that belief and practice sit with these words of Ms Livni who competes with [Binyamin] Netanyahu in racism and blood curdling? The other day she was wishing an invasion of Gaza.
"My solution for maintaining a Jewish and democratic state of Israel is to have two distinct national entities," she told a group of secondary school students in Tel Aviv in remarks broadcast by army radio.
"And among other things I will also be able to approach the Palestinian residents of Israel, those whom we call Arab Israelis, and tell them: 'your national aspirations lie elsewhere.'" Livni.
How does this love for the child fit with the Warsaw ghetto that is Gaza, except there are 1.5 million Palestinians (or Arabs as they are called in
Israel) whereas there were 400,000 Jews in the Warsaw ghetto?
After a good deal of preliminary communication, 16 doctors and other health workers presented themselves at the Erez gate on 18 November. We were to spend three days there, teaching and learning under the auspices of the charity I founded [http://www.doveanddolphin.co.uk/news_detail.asp?ID=166] (a case picked
out) The IOF [Israeli Occupation Forces] deemed that our purposes were "not directly humanitarian" and we were refused entry. An unlawful occupation army is the arbiter of humanitarian purpose. Sixty per cent of the population of Gaza are children, i.e. 18 and below. We were not allowed as humans to help any of those children "grow to fill the space". Instead, the entity which you support has deliberately and cruelly imprisoned them and caused their stunting – for many, literally.
I am sure you are a good man, Rabbi Sacks, beneath the words. Please speak and act for ALL CHILDREN.
For truth, reason and justice
David Halpin MB BS FRCS'
Zie: http://dhalpin.infoaction.org.uk/

'*Thought for the Day,
BBC Radio 4
12 December 2008
Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks
Amidst all the encircling gloom, I've found myself lifted by some extraordinary moments with Britain's children these past few days. On Wednesday there were the Children of Courage awards, recognising some of the young heroes of today.
The seven year old who cares for his mother with multiple sclerosis. The ten year old who raises money to send gifts to British soldiers in the Middle East.
Two girls who supported their sister in her battle with leukemia. They had a marvelous day, meeting the prime minister and television stars and receiving their award in Westminster Abbey from Prince Harry.
On Wednesday afternoon the Archbishop of Canterbury and I met some of the schoolchildren with whom we'd been on a visit to Auschwitz a couple of weeks ago. We wanted to hear what they felt after they'd had time to reflect. And I was moved by the depth of their commitment to fight prejudice and hate. Earlier this week I met with a twelve year old girl just coming up to her bat mitzvah, our Jewish coming of age ceremony, who'd asked all her family and friends not to give her presents but to send the money to a charity instead, something I'm encountering more and more in our community.
And as we search for renewable sources of energy I wonder if we haven't missed the one closest to hand: the energy generated by high ideals, especially among the young.
Children grow to fill the space we create for them, and if it's big, they grow tall. But if we turn them into mini consumers, we rob them of the chance of greatness, and I've not yet met a child not capable of greatness if given the opportunity and encouragement.
I do a lot of public speaking, and people sometimes ask me who taught me. The answer is simple. I went to a Christian school with a lot of Jewish pupils but no Jewish teachers. So we had to run the Jewish assembly ourselves, and that's how I learned as a teenager how to speak in public, because somebody gave me the chance. It was best piece of education I ever had.
My earliest memories are of putting the bells on the Torah scroll in the synagogue, asking the Passover questions, lighting the chanukah candles.
Judaism stayed young because it made heroes of the young. The best present we can give our children is the chance to do something great. It's a gift that will last a lifetime and transform their lives.'
Misschien moeten mensen van goede wil een open brief schrijven aan de Nederlandse rabbijnen. Immers, burgers in Nederland zouden niet accepteren dat ze net zo behandeld worden als Palestijnse burgers. En de Nederlandse rabbijnen zijn allereerst Nederlandse burgers. Dus waarom zwijgen ze over Gaza? De jonge generatie rabbijnen wordt sinds kort in Nederland opgeleid, en net zoals christenen en islamieten aan te spreken zijn op hun geloof zijn joodse gelovigen aan te spreken op hun geloof. Ze hebben het verschil geleerd tussen goed en kwaad, zoals uit onderstaand bericht blijkt.
'WO 27 aug 2008 11.34
Eerste Nederlandse rabbijnen gewijd
Vanmiddag zullen de eerste cursisten van de Joods-Liberale rabbijnenopleiding hun rabbinale bevoegdheid ontvangen tijdens een plechtige ceremonie in Den Haag. Zij zullen de eerste in Nederland opgeleide rabbijnen zijn. De groep bestaat voornamelijk uit vrouwen.In 2003 begon het Levisson instituut met het aanbieden van de opleiding. Dit was een grote stap voor de Joodse gemeenschap in Nederland aangezien rabbijnen in het verleden in het buitenland opgeleid moesten worden. Rabbijn David Lilienthal, decaan van het instituut, geeft toe dat het een risicovolle onderneming was. "In het begin wisten we niet of het zou lukken, maar in ieder geval zouden we belangrijke kennis overdragen".'

1 opmerking:

Herman zei

Goed artikel Stan!

Ik heb het overgenomen op http://www.stopdebezetting.com/wereldpers/stan-van-houcke-nederladse-rabbijnen-verdacht-stil.html

Peter Flik en Chuck Berry-Promised Land

mijn unieke collega Peter Flik, die de vrijzinnig protestantse radio omroep de VPRO maakte is niet meer. ik koester duizenden herinneringen ...