The following was released by PR Newswire to all major media outlets:
A mass demonstration of Orthodox Jews is planned for Wednesday, September 2 at 2:30 PM in front of the Israeli consulate in Manhattan at 800 2nd Ave, corner 42nd St.
The demonstration comes in reaction to the recent clashes between police and religious Jews in Jerusalem over a new parking lot opened by the government near the religious neighborhood of Meah Shearim. Religious Jews object to the government’s decision to keep the parking lot open on the Jewish Sabbath.
“The Israeli government and the Jerusalem municipal government are committing acts of brutality against religious Jews on a scale not seen in the last 65 years,” said Rabbi Menashe Fulop, a prominent Rabbi of the Satmar Hasidic community. “For the past three months, religious Jews have been regularly beaten mercilessly at demonstrations, called by the chief rabbis of Jerusalem, against the parking lot set up by the city government right next to the walls of the Old City. The government is inviting Sabbath-desecrators from the entire country to come to the Holy City, the palace of G-d, the place where the Divine Presence resides, to insult G-d, who warned in His Torah against the desecration of the Sabbath.”
This wave of violence reached its peak this past Friday night, August 28, when a police officer directed a driver stopped at a traffic light to proceed, although, the religious community claims, the officer was aware of the religious Jew lying under his car. The driver obeyed, injuring the man and dragging his body some distance along the road. The man is still hospitalized. A similar incident occurred on Sunday, August 30, at a demonstration staged by religious Jews to protest an autopsy of the body of a Jewish man stabbed to death the previous night: a police car struck and seriously wounded one of the protestors.
“In which country in the world do religious Jews suffer as much persecution as in the state that calls itself Israel?” said Rabbi Fulop.
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47 Responses
Kudos to those attending and standing shoulder to shoulder with our brethren suffering in the Holy Land from violence at the hand of the authorities.
In no other country would Ulta-Orthodox suffer so much;, Because the Ultra-Ortodox would not dare to behave that way in another country.
If they were truly “orthodox” or “ultra-orthodox” they would be more mindful of the tremendous chillul Hashem they make at these demonstrations. People would not be beaten if they would stay at home or be learning in the beit midrash, where they belong! If they really wanted to follow the Torah’s dictates – fully follow them – they would be living in Israel, not coming up with kulot as to why they don’t.
I am sure that they can find lots of people willing to join them in their anti-Israel demonstrations. They can send out flyers to the Iranian and Palestinian delegations to the UN, for example. Maybe they can get Cynthia McKinney and Louis Farrakhan as keynote speakers.
If your friends are so bent on getting exercise let them join the israeli army.
Maybe they will turn your friends into mentches.
1818 – I couldn’t agree with you more!
What Torah value is it that prompts Yidden to broadcast to the anti-Semites, “Feel free to work against the Jews of the Jewish State; we hate the State, too.” I would almost call it Redifa.
Let us see if there are any arrests in Manhattan today. Let us see if there are any cops beating protesters in Manhattan today. Let us see if any cops grab Jewish protesters in Manhattan. Let us see if police charge innocent democratic protesters in Manhattan today, and insist on no bail and they be held until trial for 4 months in prison for protesting.
Oh, wait. American is a democracy, whilst Israel is the polar opposite.
No Joseph, there won’t be any arrests because the protesters won’t have the audacity to behave the way they do in Israel. If they did the consequences would be far worse.
I hope they throw rocks and dirty diapers. maybe they’ll get arrested and will stop taking money from the US govt.
Are you all afraid for the good name of Israel? You should be. That’s the point of the demonstration. Why don’t you all call, fax, e-mail the Israeli gov’t and beg them, for Israel’s own good, to have the minimal respect for the frum Jews of Yerushalayim who have kept Yiddishkeit alive all these years? If not for frum Jews, the secular and atheist Zionists would have no claim on Eretz Yisrael. And, the quaint old yishuv attracts a large part of tourism. Ask them: would you dare trample on Muslim religious feelings in the Palestinian capitol?
They are making a big Chillul Hashem
Can someone enlighten me as to where in authentic Judaism, when we are lacking a melech and a Sanhedrin, is there any halachic source which promotes using violent protests (ie in Jerusalem) against Sabbath desecrators? I don’t believe such a source exists in Judaism, but it may exist in Islamic jihadist ideologies.
The anti-Zionist “Chareidi” political bosses are experts at whipping up the mob against the “Tsiyonim”, but they never seem to
cite traditional Torah sources, before the rise of Zionism, for their ideologies.
In most cases its practically impossible to find valid, mainstream halachic sources (such as Rashi, Rambam, Remah, etc., who are not rabbis leading the protestors) which will validate the behavior of the anti-Zionist “Chareidi” mob.
In cases where violence is clearly allowed by Torah law, such as self defense against Islamic jihadists firing missles into Israel, these anti-Zionists are completely missing in action. Instead they rely on the hated “Tsiyonim” to protect them.
Know that many Torah sources state that unity among the Jews will allow us to defeat any enemy, even when we have aveiros. This was demonstrated frequently in ancient times. The anti-Zionist mob seems hell bent on starting a civil war, G-d forbid, among the Jews which is far more dangerous than some secular Zionists driving on Shabbos.
#5- Satmar does the same by putting the Gedolim like R’ Kanievsky, R’ shteineman etc in the same category as the secular zionists.. SHAME
Elul… very, very sad. such “holy” people and they just don’t get. If you really think your hashkafos are so much wiser and more correct, the way to change others to your way of thinking is with kiruv, with ahava, – not with burning garbage and thrown rocks and diapers. Elul… HaKadosh Baruch Hu weeps…
AHA! Now I understand why schools waited a week to start!!
What a disgrace!!
The levush is a bekeshe, the atarah is a shtreimel, the protests are goyish. Ahl tistakel bikahnkahn eloh bmah shayesh bo.
Can someone please explain. If protesting “Chilul Shabbos” is a “Chilul Hashem” then “Chilul Shabbos” itself is a “Kiddush hashem”, right?
#18 emes leyackov..the problem with most posters is they are not learned in the halacha hakafa, shulchen urech and we should always show them where.. where.. where does it say… where does it say. well for protesting the gemorrah rosh hashama has a case where they protested ‘tzeuh vehifguna’.fun vu did you derive that you need sanheddrin, melech have reshus to protest. by the way the rabbonim who called for protests are any time as versed in S’U. question. what is authenic judaism and what is not authenic judaism?
Attention Pashute Yid:
Now that you enlightened us on Satmar’s faults kindly enlighten us on Israel’s faults.
You see, I’m totally confused by your “Ahavas Yisroel” premise. Why does Satmar (faults and all) not merit Ahavas Yisroel but the Israeli government, despite all its faults, does merit it?
Satmar is worthy of Ahavas Yisroel.. however, they are inciting hatred from the goyim by their protests.. Their actions are behaving like Sonai the rest of us..
Instead of violent protests.. how about holding learning campaigns, Tehillim Rallies , Mass Kabalos Shabbos gatherings and singing kabalas shabbos in the area of the parking lot etc etc etc..
Peaceful protests.. and no signs saying “Rabbis for palestine ” etc.. that’s traitorous!
#30, The Zionists are inciting even more hatred from the goyim than the Satmar. Find a better excuse.
It seems very inappropriate for Jews to publicly demonstrate against Israel.
When the Satmar Rav, ZT”L, met President Harry Truman, the President told him that he had done a lot for Israel. The Satmar Rav responded “Thank you very much.” He explained afterwards that, in the eyes of non-Jews, being good to Israel is the equivalent of being good to the Jews. Therefore, he had to show appreciation.
#33 As if Satmar Rebbe didn’t head numerous anti-Zionist protests, with anti-Zionist ads in NYT. Talk about מסלף דברי חכמים.
Like most of you, I’m not in Israel. I have to go by what I read and by what I hear.
To me, Rav Weiss, an suthentic Talmid Chochom and Tsaddik, is reliable and authoritative. All the secular newspapers are so much garbage, compared to him.
So, I say, Chazak Vematz!
#36, neither do any of today’s rabonim throw diapers or yell nazis.
#33 can you refer to from where you know of such meeting
#36 ‘the chayos that you call satmar’ are spreading and giving innumerable chesed all over the globe. bikur cholim, hatzalah, gemachs, 100rds of 1000nds talmidum, yeshivos over the yiddishe globe,tzedakah vechased etc etc etc and you call all of them chayios. nu nu,es is da a bashefer oif de velt (besides addressing the divrei yoel unrespectfuly, which you have done in other articles on YWN way back. #29 if you’ve read his postings the last 2 years on YWN you would’ve had your answer.
Shimen wrote:
the chayos that you call satmar’ are spreading and giving innumerable chesed all over the globe. bikur cholim, hatzalah, gemachs, 100rds of 1000nds talmidum, yeshivos over the yiddishe globe,tzedakah vechased etc etc etc and you call all of them chayios.
One could just as easily write that “The Zionists who you have called Nazis have done innumerable good things for the Jewish people. They feed the hungry in the state, they pay for innumerable schools (did you see any articles about religious schools in Israel not opening because of a tuition crisis–or was that only in Boro Park?) and hospitals (that do not turn away the sick for lack of payment) etc etc.
This is where the type of language used by the Eida Haredit and some of the posters on this forum leads. You cannot expect it all to stay on one side.
You expect all Jews to respect your leaders, but show no such respect for your fellow Jews (and any leaders who do not agree with your hashkafa. Well, you set the language tone, and you are paid in the currency that you use.
ploniebenplonie posted that “The levush is a bekeshe, the atarah is a shtreimel, the protests are goyish. Ahl tistakel bikahnkahn eloh bmah shayesh bo. ”
A more correct post in this case would be:
The levush is the levush of Ya’akov, but the words are the words of Yishma’el.
starwolf — The zionists do no good. They do allow the hungary to remain hungary, and the Yeshivas to financial ruin.
The language used by the zionists is a lot fouler than you’ll find by any True Jew.
Well, we do allow the “hungary” to remain “hungary”. Heaven forbid that we should try to change anyone’s Hungarian accent.
However, there is an active welfare system in Israel. No, we have not been able to stop poverty altogether–find me a country that has.
And as far as the Yeshivas financial ruin–in the Coffee room discussion of the possible closing Bet Yaakov school–which town were we discussing?
Was it Bene Brak? Yerusalayim? Hadera? No, because those schools will not have to close–because they are kept up by the Zionist state. It is in the US that there is a danger of schools closing.
The money being given to Yeshivot in Israel today is absolutely unprecedented. And these are Hareidi Yeshivot we are discussing, some of them extremely anti-Zionist. Apparently gratitude is not one of the midot included in the “Daas Toireh” of those institutions.
#45 ‘v’echesed leumim chatos’
The Satmar might do chesed but then protests like this make them into crazy ppl. If their causes were so great, where are the other chassiduses? litvish? Why aren’t they all protesting together??
I am a Torah true zionist, I yearn for the rebuilding of Yerushalayim every day.. While I don’t agree with the mentality of the State of Israel. I am grateful for the chance to live here and raise my family in a Torah true way.
I think that anything done by the State of Israel these days is just a reminder that we are still in Golus.
There is NO excuse for protesting against Israel. You are the equivalent of miraglim.. Frankly, it’s b/c of ppl like you that the Jews spent 40 years in the desert..
YOU don’t know the cheshbonos of Hash-m and why HE made it that the State of Israel would exist.
# 47, Zionist are as much Jewish as you are, many are not Shomer Torah uMitzvot but they still are Jews and as such they should be respected. I’m a Torah Jew and also a Zionist,and I do not see any contradiction in that.
#51 its not jewish ‘physically’ that counts.yes me and you are as jewish as the igros moshe and the divrei yoel,but of course we are as far from their level as shmayim and aretz..
Joseph: so what if Israel isn’t a democracy? Where do we see in halachah that a Jewish nation is supposed to be a democracy with free speech? When Mashiach comes, do you think we’ll have elections to choose who will rule over us?
Comment by Feif Un — September 3, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
Exactly. Yet Israel falsely claims to be a democracy.
re post # 53:
Nem beselek Magyarol.
I can assure you that we have no chandeliers in our house–not even one.
And unfortunately, palachinka is not very good for me.
(Apologies to all if my Hungarian spelling is nto up to par.)
I do speak fluent “mamme lushen”. Technically, the language of the Mamas (and the Papas).
Anyway, how would anyone in Williamsburg know which languiages are spoken in the USA?
starwolf: What does “languiages” mean?
#61: You just disproved your denial less than 6 hours ago (comment #93 in the first “protest” thread) that you don’t hate Hasidim or others with a different hat than yourself, with this comment of yours painting with a broad brush!
#62.. that you have alredy seen thru his posts the last 2 years. reb joseph, are you alright? from your post it seems your weekened. its not as zestful as it used to be.
60: Joseph, it means a typographical error.
I didn’t catch it in time, and I have not yet found an edit function.
65/starwolf: Ah, so you are able to excuse your own “typographical error”, but not that of others. Point made.
Shimen (64): Punkt farkert. I was pointing out that he has a deep hatred of Chasidim, Litvaks, and anyone else who wears a hat he doesn’t like or he considers to be too frum.
#66– Well, Joseph, if you are that thin-skinned about it I will offer you a sincerely meant apology.
I made a joke (hungry vs hungary), and if you did not see it as such, I am sorry.
Next time I will Czech with you first.
68, Your logic is woefully lacking. The point was made by the other party, not myself.
69, No apologies necessary.