*Just a heads up before I kick this one in:
Regardless of my private lifestyle and worldview, as always, it is not my intention here to protest against religious belief or practice in general, to bash against a certain religious group or favor one over the other. I only wish to point at the ultra problematic relations which have been forged between ‘state and synagogue’ in Israel, due to Israel’s incompatible polar self-definition as “Jewish and democratic”.
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The first thing that attracted me to this video were its outspoken titles, which plainly translate to:
TITLE1: WOMEN IN THE PALESTINIAN PRISON
TITLE2: WOMEN IMPRISONED! THE END OF JEWISH WOMEN WHO GO WITH ARABS!!!
The second thing that absolutely charmed my attention was the unprecedentedly low amateur quality of the whole thing. The graphics and cutting skills almost look like someone broke into the after school video geek-club, some time during the early 90s, and forced a 12 year old to edit a film in 5 minutes at gun point. The fact that in the version I have the sound isn’t in sync only made it funnier.
But these early impressions only paved the way to a curious dig-in into the depth of the matter. The seemingly juvenile amateur appearance of this clip masks the true nature of the phenomenon it encapsulates within Israeli society. Just to indicate on the scope of the trend it rose upon, it would help to know that the chairwoman seen in the clip, who ordered and arranged the debate on the matter of Arab/Jewish relations in the Knesset, is Tzipi Hotovely, an Orthodox Jewish woman’s rights campaigner of the Likud party – the same rightwing party (extreme rightwing by international standards, moderate rightwing by local ones) which is yet again spearheading the Israeli government and whose head is none other than Benjamin Netanyahu.
Back to the clip …
To start with, here are some loose translations to the main texts and quotes in its first 5 minutes:
… I think you get the point by now.
Domestic violence is still a cause for alarm in many households, in the western world as much as in developing countries. It’s mainly prominent in struggling sectors of society, such as lower class immigrants and deprived citizens. In Israel it would be hard to point out one specific group where the problem is notably bigger than in others. Among others, also Arab communities are notorious for such things, just as there has been a rise in domestic violence among Ethiopians. But also various other more veteran Jewish ethnic groups have their share. I myself lost a dear childhood friend who was murdered by her husband. He came from a rather conservative background, but I wouldn’t say he subscribed to any fundamental religious lifestyle. Conservative is the key word here and sadly, economic discontent breeds grounds for domestic conflicts. Lack of formal education towards pluralism and equality in these sectors leaves their communities tied to local traditional structures, which are usually patriarchal in their model and tied with religious practice and law. In other words, according to the hierarchy maintained in these systems of belief, when times are bad, women always get it strongest.
This problem of course demands careful attention and must be dealt with by means of healthy mutual integration between the various classes, let alone strengthened awareness to women’s rights in general. The problem is, these developments take too long some times and therefore leave some of these sectors to their own devices, to interpret things and deal with them as they see fit.
And so, in the past years, Jewish Orthodox sectors within mixed Israeli cities and settlements (both legal and illegal) have sprung extreme rightwing religious organizations, who’ve made it their goal to use this domestic violence in order to spread fear and loathing of non-Jews among the community, in order to maintain the peace and well being of their peers, as they understand it.
The group responsible for many videos of this sort (though none are as horribly cut as this one) is called Yad L’Achim (loose translation: hand for brothers). Aside from them are working today similar organizations in close fields. Two of the more prominent organizations which also received much media attention for their support and participation in racist religious campaigns are Lehava (flame) and Hemla (compassion). Members of these groups have been known in the past for their political engagement in the Kach movement – an extreme ultra-religious rightwing group who was outlawed in the early 90s after ruthlessly calling for the expulsion of all Arabs from Israel. Other former participants in Kach were people like Baruch Goldstein, who massacred 29 Muslims and wounded 125 others, as they were praying in a Mosque in Hebron. Browsing these groups names on YouTube and in online Archives opens up an abundant treasure of xenophobia and hate mongering. Their activities stretch out much further than the ethnic religious quarrels of the tiring Palestinian/Israeli dispute. Their unveiled nemesis is not so much the Arab, as much as the all encompassing Goy, the non-Jew other, residing in their holy land.
True, in the particular case of this video, they’ve got it into the minds of the locals that Arab men are systematically and cunningly seducing the best of their female youth, only to kidnap them into the roiling pits of hellish Arab villages, where they await a future of constant verbal and physical abuse. But what they consider to be the utmost worst part of the whole ordeal (and here lies the real motivation for this smear campaign), is that these girls enter this life of abuse in return for converting their religion to Islam, mostly with complete consent. Not that I understand why it’s anyone else’s business, to which sect one wishes to belong to, but for some reason, that last one ranks as the highest atrocity on the list of vice and abuse. For some reason, stories of girls being shoved rakes in their mouths, being bound to trees with no food and locked in closets… all these are really just the frosting on top. The real horror is the taking away of these girls Judaism. According to these activist groups, that last one is pretty much equivalent to taking away these girls souls. It’s just common sense to them – from there it’s just a matter of time before the heretic trend of assimilation spreads like a demographic fungus and sweeps the Jewish state right under the Jewish people’s feet.
I found an article by Uri Blau, published in Haaretz newspaper on May.27, 2011, which provides a rather thorough research of the phenomenon. It also presents the perspective of mixed Jewish Arab couples who are constantly harassed and threatened by Jewish rightwing activists and the local community because of their choice to overcome the separating ethno-religious barriers (romantic acts of true bravery which I wish would happen a bit more often).
As mentioned in the article as well, these days, these organizations claim to have dropped the issue of mixed couples and turned to other concerns regarding broken homes in the Haredi sector. As the following two videos show, another even bigger current concern to them, is the Messianic Jews who are claimed to be heretic non Jews and also aggressive missionaries. Yad L’Achim is convinced that Messianic Jews are propagating the conversion of the masses to their Christian faith. In response, Yad L’Achim have been reacting in a brutal racist assault. The links below are from a reportage which unravels these campaigns and the fear they plant in the hearts of any Jews who come in contact with whomever Yad L’Achim deem dangerous.
The most terrifying findings which can be gathered from these various articles and sources, is that today, despite the outlawing of Kach, this current form of ‘institutionalized’ rightwing activism is not only considered welcome and tolerated by the Israeli government, it has also been integrated into the state’s frame of conduct. Hemla for instance, has received state funding for various actions, mainly the sheltering and rehabilitation of such ‘girls interrupted’, because of the stated humanitarian framework. Yad L’Achim’s status is even more outrageous. They are actually acknowledged as the official authoritative investigative arm of the ministry of internal affairs for various matters. That means, the state turns to them with any questions or doubts regarding people’s religious conduct . Yad L’Achim’s input may at times have serious implications on the renewal or cancelation of Visas and stay permits.
Before I let you dig into the links (which are all with English subtitles), I find it fitting to conclude with what I deem a hellish remark, of the head of Yad L’Achim. Ironically and sadly, I agree with every word he says, only from my extreme other side of the board. He declares proudly with a warm smile on his face:
“[The Israeli Government] needs to decide, either it is a Jewish state or a democratic one. Together it won’t always work. They’re not ‘friends’. Democracy which contradicts the Tora is not a good merger.”