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Politics : Israel to U.S. : Now Deal with Syria and Iran -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Ed Huang who wrote (5328)	6/27/2004 9:03:25 PM
From: Ed Huang	Respond to of 22250

Ex-chief rabbi: Handing over land 'to the infidels' is sin By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondent The former Ashkenazi chief rabbi, Avraham Shapira, now head of the Rabbis Union for the Land of Israel, took a strong and militant line on the disengagement plan in a letter to answer a follower's question. "It is clear and simple that according to the Torah handing over the land of our holy land to infidels, including parts of Gush Katif, is a sin and a crime. "Therefore, any thought or idea or decision, and any semblance of actions, of any kind, to evacuate residents from Gush Katif and hand the land to the infidels, is opposed to the halakha, and any action must be taken to prevent it, and not assist in any action that will evict [the settlers] from their homes and land." The rabbi's letter is a follow-on to a ruling by the Council of Yesha Rabbis last week that "no man, citizen, police officer or soldier is authorized to help in uprooting settlements." The council avoided calling directly on soldiers and police to refuse orders. In response on this point, the chairman of the Yesha Council, Bentzi Lieberman, said "uprooting settlements and expelling Jews is a historical, moral and illegal crime, but refusing an order is an existential threat to the State of Israel. An order must not be refused, but the issue of a transfer of Arabs or Jews must be removed from the public discourse in the State of Israel." The statement of the Yesha Rabbis is declaratory and avoids making use of the halakha to back a refusal to obey an order. On this matter the Rabbis have announced they intend to hold separate deliberations. The rabbis also say in their ruling that "they support the residents of Gush Katif and northern Samaria in their struggle against the rulings of destruction and eviction, and are calling on all relevant parties - citizens, police officers and soldiers - not to lend a hand, God Forbid, to the destruction of Jewish settlements and the expulsion of Jews, an act of abomination that is completely forbidden and also opposed to the basic principles of law and morality, and harm the dignity and freedom of man." They said: "There is no way to be tempted by offers of bribery [compensation] whose sole purpose is to weaken Jewish settlement [efforts]." haaretz.com