26 June 2012
A notoriously racist rabbi who once called on Israel to slaughter a million Palestinian civilians has been appointed to head a supervisory committee for Magen David Adom (MDA) – Israel’s equivalent of the Red Cross and Red Crescent.
Haaretz reported that under pressure from ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups MDA decided to set up a rabbinical committee to dictate religious guidelines – including gender relations – for volunteers in the rescue service.
The committee is headed by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Safad, whose salary is paid by the Israeli government. Eliyahu has a long, well-documented history of extreme racism and has called for violence against Palestinians.
Since 2006, Magen David Adom – whose name means Red Star of David – has been a full member of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), and is Israel’s internationally recognized agency for disaster management, ambulance service and blood banks.
The organization also raises tax-exempt donations in the United States through the American Friends of Magen David Adom.
‘Kill a million’
In 2007, Eliyahu advocated mass slaughter of Palestinians in order to deter rocket fire from Gaza, while defending a ruling by his late father that Israel was permitted to indiscriminately kill civilians. “If they don’t stop after we kill 100, then we must kill a thousand,” Shmuel Eliyahu advised, adding, “And if they do not stop after 1,000 then we must kill 10,000. If they still don’t stop we must kill 100,000, even a million. Whatever it takes to make them stop.”
Eliyahu has stated that the “seducing” of Jewish girls was “another form of war” by Arab men.
In 2010, Eliyahu and other state-employed rabbis issued a ruling telling Jews not to sell or rent property to members of the country’s Palestinian Arab minority, who make up a fifth of the population.
Eliyahu has led efforts to prevent Arab students from living in Safad, stating, “When a non-Jew moves in, residents begin to worry about their children, about their daughters. Many Arab students have been known to date Jewish girls.”
Eliyahu has publicly denigrated Arabs and Muslims, stating, “whenever I’m interviewed I ask the interviewer if they would want an Arab to live in their neighborhood.”
Violating neutrality and respect for international humanitarian law
As a member organization of ICRC, Magen David Adom is presumably committed to the mission of the ICRC:
The work of the ICRC is based on the Geneva Conventions of 1949, their Additional Protocols, its Statutes – and those of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement – and the resolutions of the International Conferences of the Red Cross and Red Crescent. The ICRC is an independent, neutral organization ensuring humanitarian protection and assistance for victims of war and armed violence. It takes action in response to emergencies and at the same time promotes respect for international humanitarian law and its implementation in national law.
What could be more contrary to that mission than Israel’s MDA appointing Shmuel Eliyahu who not only defends and advocates mass, indiscriminate violence against civilians, but is a racist par excellence?
It should be recalled that there was a years long campaign by Israel and Zionist organizations to get MDA accepted into the ICRC. If MDA does not completely dissociate itself from, and condemn racist inciters like Eliyahu, perhaps it should be expelled.
Moreover, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society should review any cooperation with MDA.
Comments
Eliyahu's racist and
Permalink Tim replied on
Eliyahu's racist and genocidal talk makes one remember our state laws that made interracial marriage a crime. It even brings back the horrid days of the Ku Klux Klan. In fact, he is even sounding somewhat like Adolf Hitler. If this member of the clergy is advocating mass murder, there may be others like him, especially considering the position of responsibility that he occupies. The fact that the Israeli government pays his salary suggests that his murderous ideology is shared by those at the highest level in Israel. Eliyahu won't need to build concentration camps. He already has one called "Gaza." How can we be giving tax deductions to persons donating money to his cause? How can this misuse of our tax dollars for him and for Israel be stopped?
If this rabbi is approved,
Permalink Mike Levinson replied on
If this rabbi is approved, and his ideology is adopted by the MDA, then the MDA should be expelled from the ICRC!
1 million palestinians ?
Permalink jack hamadjian replied on
i totally agree with him,he did not say that a million palestinians have to be killed just like that,read his statement,he said that if palestinian fire missiles into the innocent civilians in order to kill them ,then a hundred palestinians have to be killed in order to stop them,and if they do not stop a thousand have to be killed! lets be honest every nation that respects itself and value life would agree with this rabbi! after all its you palestinians who exchanged more than 1000 terrorists for just one zionist,so why blame the rabbi,all he does is aplly the exchange rate you have set and proposed!!!
Humanitarian?
Permalink Radguy replied on
Clearly not. Respectable religious leaders of any denomination don't condone violence in any form. This is warmonger talk, the complete antithesis of all things good. This attitude is what allows Islamic fundamentalists like Hamas to flourish, which seems to me to be the intention. Jack, you wonder why rockets are fired your way. It's because fools like this "rabbi" sow the seeds of hatred.
Growth of Zionism in US History
Permalink Peter Loeb replied on
This should come as no surprise. Not only recent history :t the earlier historical
context of US/Zionist relationships are clearly and brilliantly dissected in
Lawrence Davidson's "America's Palestine". Israel has always defined
itself as an exception and with US moral ,military and diplomatic support
it will continue to consider itself above all laws and agreements. I am reluctant to
try to paraphrase in brief Professor Davidson's in-depth analysis.