Thursday, December 31, 2009

If this fails, we can try yellow badges

I recall that as a young child I enjoyed singing Argentina's national song, Aurora (Dawn). We gathered at the schoolyard early in the morning, whether it was hot or cold or a shining spring day, and, as the flag was raised, we chorused the hymn with patriotic fervor. I particularly liked the tune:



However, I did have a small issue with the lyrics:

High in the sky
a warrior eagle
corageously rises
in triumphant flight;
a wing blue,
the color of the sky;
a wing blue,
the color of the sea...
It is the flag of my homeland,
born from the sun, given to me by God;
it is the flag of my homeland,
born from the sun, given to me by God.

I was nine years old, and I already knew I was an atheist. The other children in my class didn't have the same problem. The overwhelming majority were Catholic; a boy and a girl, who were cousins, were Jewish; and another boy was Protestant: they all had a God to pray to. I didn't, and I particularly regretted that, as a proud son of the city were the Argentinian flag was created, I had to mention God in the song devoted to it. It was my first taste of religious coercion.

But at least I wasn't forced to sing that I belonged to any particular faith.

How difficult it must be for Israeli Arabs, who have to sing a national anthem in which they must say they're Jewish -- and that is only the tip of the iceberg of religious coercion in Israel. Of course, no one is implying that it approaches the level of enforcement of totalitarian Muslim states like Saudi Arabia. But it steers clear from Western standards.

In some places, modesty patrols make sure that women don't go around immodestly dressed. Cars are stoned if they travel on certain roads on Saturday. Women are harassed if they sit next to men on buses that serve ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods. Christian monks, nuns and priests are spat on on a regular basis.

The usual Zionist defense is that these abuses are not officially sanctioned by the State. That would be a good defense save for the fact that Israel is a country of many states within the State, which more or less do as they please without the forces of order interfering much. One example are the settlers, who build illegally like crazy essentially unstopped by the police and the army. Another example are criminal mobs, which operate with remarkable freedom, engaging in extortion, drive-by shootings and other typical underworld activities. The religious establishment is yet another example.

Religion controls all personal and family affairs in Israel, from marriage to inheritance to burial. Interfaith marriage, thus, doesn't exist. Israel apologists are quick to point out that if a Jew and a Muslim want to marry, they can always travel to Cyprus and have a civil marriage there, which is accepted by the State. But is the trip paid for by the State? Circumventing religion, while not impossible, makes life much harder.

Zionists counter that, while coercion may have a symbolic place, it does not practically affect the daily affairs of people. Well, that's simply not true. If you own a restaurant, you've got to display a kashrut certificate that states that you comply with Jewish dietary laws. The rabbis can grant it or revoke it -- and use this power to enforce behaviors completely unrelated to food rituals.

For instance, see what can happen to you if you put up a Christmas tree, or Christmas decorations in your restaurant (h/t Didi Remez):

While hotels, restaurants and clubs put up fir trees, Santa Claus dolls and red hats for the Christmas celebration and New Year parties that will take place in the next two weeks, the chief rabbinate  recommends not displaying symbols of the Christian holidays. Moreover, the rabbinical “Lobby for Jewish Values” recently began to take action against restaurants and hotels that intend to put up Christian symbols. “We are considering making public those business establishments that put up Christian symbols for the Christian holidays and will call to boycott them,” said the lobby’s chairman, Ofer Cohen.
Every year, the Jerusalem Rabbinate also acts to ensure that fir trees not adorn places of entertainment. A source in the Kashrut Department said that this is done every year in consent, and that businesses that don’t comply can find their kashrut certificate revoked.

Jude signs on shops anyone?

Haaretz further reports on the loon Lobby behind this persecution:

According to the Israeli media, the fliers distributed by the Lobby for Jewish Values contain the following call to arms:

"The people of Israel have given their soul over the years in order to maintain the values of the Torah of Israel and the Jewish identity. You should also continue to follow this path of the Jewish people's tradition and not give in to the clownish atmosphere of the end of the civil year. And certainly not help those businesses that sell or put up the foolish symbols of Christianity."

Of course, you always have the option of opening a restaurant in Cyprus.

So if I get this straight, "the Jewish right to self-determination" means the right to impose on non-Jews, or even on liberal Jews, absurd restrictions based on the superstitions of the Jewish religion, and to publicly insult the Christian religion in a variety of ways. If this trend continues, I see a future for yellow-badge makers in Israel.

11 comments:

  1. Well said H.B
    One wonders what the Jerry Falwells and Pat Robertsons think of all this, this new adoration, by America's Evangelicals, of an Israel whose Jewish fundermentalist continue to harbour a doctrinl contempt for Christianity only rivalled by the contempt which the Christian fundermentalist reserve for the Jews themselves.

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  2. To be entirely honest Ibrahim, I didn't realise just how far this encroachment on separation between Synagogue and State has already been taken. Undoubtedly some (even liberal Jewish) apologists will tell us that having a set of 'Jewish values' to be templated over the state, is no different to having a set of 'British values' or 'French values' but even if the difference is only one of degree, it is one of very considerable degree.

    Then there are those who foolishly will continue to claim that ethnocentricity does not necessarily lead to intolerance but modern Israel already proves them wrong. And when values are based on religion, intolerance of the non-religious and more liberal elements usually rears its ugly head. Things will undoubtedly get worse for non-Jewish and non-religious citizens in Israel.

    Anonymous:

    The 'Zionist Evangelicals' to which you are referring essentially endorse and sponsor Israel as the Final Battlefield between Good and Evil. At End of Days, the prophet that will descend magically from the skies will be declared to be Jesus (the sequel!) and Jews will have two choices: convert and be raptured or burn in hell for all of eternity.

    It says a lot about the cynical nature of Zionism that it accepts financial support from people who essentially want Jews to 'perfect' themselves at some future date: hard to think of anything more antisemitic than that but then Zionism's never shied away from convenience marriages with antisemitism. And we're all 'Judeo-Christians' now, don't you know?

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  3. ¿Por qué no escribes ya en tu blog en castellano?

    Saludos

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  4. ¿Por qué no escribes ya en tu blog en castellano?

    Porque tengo una sola vida. Además, como trabajo mucho en el área de traducción-edición, pasar lo que escribo del inglés al castellano me significaba más de lo mismo, y no una distracción.

    Sé que está mal empezar un proyecto y después no seguirlo, pero vivimos en un mundo de individuos imperfectos, y yo me cuento entre los más defectuosos de la blogósfera.

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  5. If you own a restaurant, you've got to display a kashrut certificate that states that you comply with Jewish dietary laws.

    If it's a kosher restaurant.

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  6. If it's a kosher restaurant.

    Not being kasher will take away patrons from your restaurant. Of course, you can open a non-kasher establishment. But if you open a kasher one, the kashrut certificate can't be used to force you not to put up a Christmas tree.

    Do you consider Christian symbols "foolish"?

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  7. Not being kasher will take away patrons from your restaurant.

    Going kosher also involves choices about patrons. Not being able to mix milk and meat is a big limitation on some cuisines. According to a recent Ynet article most gourmet restaurants in Israel are not kosher.

    But if you open a kasher one, the kashrut certificate can't be used to force you not to put up a Christmas tree.

    You meant to write that it can be? That's an Israeli sort of issue. In America nobody who would bother to have a kosher restaurant would put up an Xmas tree to begin with.

    Do you consider Christian symbols "foolish"?

    I've taught John Milton if that answers your question. Nowadays I learn Gemara and leave comments on anti-Hasbara blogs.

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  8. I don't believe Christmas trees were popular in Milton's time.

    What I meant was, "the kashrut certificate shouldn't be used to force you not to put up a Christmas tree." Separate pots for milk and meat are not incompatible with fir trees with decorations.

    Living in an Italian-majority city where prosciutto is almost a staple, I have only this to say: long live treif! (Will my blogging license be revoked for this?)

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  9. What I meant was, "the kashrut certificate shouldn't be used to force you not to put up a Christmas tree." Separate pots for milk and meat are not incompatible with fir trees with decorations.

    In America some liberal Jews have been advocating for "ethical kashrut." They want kosher supervision to address matters such as compliance with environmental regulations--things that "separate pots for milk and meat are not incompatible" with. You can't please everybody. Somehow, as the conversation has proceeded, Israel's legitimacy somehow isn't hanging in the balance anymore. You didn't happen to notice that, did you?

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  10. Somehow, as the conversation has proceeded, Israel's legitimacy somehow isn't hanging in the balance anymore. You didn't happen to notice that, did you?

    I have rarely talked about Israel's legitimacy on this blog. This is a blog aimed at fighting Hasbara. I take a Hasbara talking point and deconstruct it, often finding contradictions and inconsistencies, and on other occasions showing that it simply relies on false information.

    In the case of the present thread, I tried to show that, contrary to the claims of some, religious coercion does not play a marginal role in Israel. I believe my attempt was successful.

    You can't please everybody.

    The problem is that there's a lot of people who want to eat kasher but don't mind a Christmas tree being displayed. If you've got the power to grant or revoke kashrut certificates, and you revoke mine because I used Christmas decorations, you're taking patrons away from my restaurant not because I don't please them (all they want is kasher food), but because I don't please you. That's what coercion is about: forcing behaviors on people that don't take into account what those people think.

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  11. I have rarely talked about Israel's legitimacy on this blog. This is a blog aimed at fighting Hasbara. I take a Hasbara talking point and deconstruct it, often finding contradictions and inconsistencies, and on other occasions showing that it simply relies on false information.

    Do you honestly believe what you just wrote? "Refuting hasbara" is your gimmick or your angle, but are you really trying to say that you don't have some overall interest in the sort of opinion that people have of Israel? That the existence of X refutes someone's claim of not-X, especially if that someone is Bubba99, is usually one of the least interesting things you can say about X.

    If you've got the power to grant or revoke kashrut certificates, and you revoke mine because I used Christmas decorations, you're taking patrons away from my restaurant not because I don't please them (all they want is kasher food), but because I don't please you. That's what coercion is about: forcing behaviors on people that don't take into account what those people think.

    The ability to withhold kosher certification does represent considerable power. What I've been saying is that you can't please everybody with an opinion about how and whether that power should be used for things besides kashrut itself. Some people would feel all warm and fuzzy if the kosher supervisors at the kosher restaurant they were patronizing would get involved in matters of environmental law compliance. In the US, restaurants have some choice about what certification to obtain. I don't know exactly how it works in Israel, but I have no doubt that excessive government involvement in things tends to lead to fewer choices.

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