Temple Mount unrest, RJC and Rabbinical support.
The True Architects of Temple Mount Unrest
Anyone reading the foreign press about the rioting taking place on the Temple Mount would imagine that Jews were running amok in Jerusalem.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The violence derives from the provocative actions of paid volunteers of Islamist extremist groups such as Murabitun and Murabatat who, for weeks, have been intimidating non-Muslim visitors to the Temple Mount.
These radical groups have been defying the established arrangements, which allows for non-Muslims to visit this holy place, which they have been doing silently and respectfully.
It has been the Muslim groups who have defied the law and order with dangerous provocations leading up to them storing rocks and firebombs in the mosques and attempting to barricade themselves inside while hurling these missiles at passersby and police that had to come to re-establish order and quiet.
It was not the Jews that ordered a “Day of Rage” but Muslim youths who seem determined to light a global fire in Jerusalem.
The same mutual respect that exists within Israeli society that honors the faith of Jews, Christians, Muslims, and others must reign in Jerusalem.
Anyone who provokes hate and violence must be punished to the full extent of Israeli law, irrespective of their religion.
Barry Shaw | senior associate for public diplomacy, Israel Institute for Strategic Studies
RJC Q&A
Shana tovah to my co-religionists in the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC). In the spirit of a more humane New Year, I do have some questions:
1) How do you feel about the potential government shutdown and its attendant disruption being promoted by some in the GOP over Planned Parenthood?
2) How does the RJC propose to replace the 97 percent of services that Planned Parenthood provides to women — many of quite modest means — that are not abortion-related?
3) How does the RJC feel about the GOP’s willingness to interfere in women’s private reproductive health issues, be they birth control access to abortion/choice or whatever?
4) How does the RJC feel about repealing the ACA and denying access to decent health care to millions? Is that a Jewish value?
5) How would the RJC feel if an American president (of either party) addressed the Knesset with the objective of derailing a policy of the Israeli Prime Minister, much as Benjamin Netanyahu (with the connivance of John Boehner) did?
There is an old adage that when you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas. The RJC is positioning itself with the ugly, intolerant portion of the GOP, as epitomized by Trump, Cruz, Huckabee etc. Please learn from history. Jewish people have not done well in societies where hate and intolerance were the order of the day.
Richard Saunders | Eagleville
Mystified by Rabbinical Support
Why is Rabbi Strom proud to be on the side of a deal that gives $150 billion to a terrorist regime that chants “Death to America, death to Israel,” and sends weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah?
I say Rabbi Strom and the hundreds of rabbis he says support this deal are out of their minds.
Zachary Margolies | Philadelphia
