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| The new head of the Israeli Red Cross (MDA) Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu advocates killing 1 millions Palestinians |
Advocate of Genocide to Head Israel’s Magen David Adom! (Red Cross)
When Henry Kisssinger received the Nobel Peace Prize, it was said by one comic to be beyond parody. Israel has gone one further. Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Safed, son of Israel’s former Sephardic Chief Rabbi and the creature who called for people to refuse to rent rooms or flats to Arabs, has nonetheless been deemed fit to head Israel’s version of the Red Cross, the Magen David Adom.
And of enormous help in his battle to gain this prestigious prize was his advocacy of exterminating a million Palestinians. Definitely a bonus when it comes to the fierce competition one naturally expects for such a post. Of course the Palestinians he was talking about were those in Gaza who had fired ‘rockets’ at Israel and killed all of 20 people (cf. to about 8,000 Palestinians).
The obvious answer is to deregister MDA from the International Committee of the Red Cross, but the ICRC is well used to supporting murderous regimes. It visited Guantanamo and said not a word. And during the war years, the ICRC’s record included sanitising Auschwitz (the Czech children’s camp was gassed soon after they left) and visiting the ‘model’ concentration camp of Thereinstadt in Czechoslovakia (most of its inmates were shipped to Auschwitz before the visit). So they have a good record to live up to. So Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu will no doubt be given a generous welcome to the hall of villains.
One should also bear in mind the Talmudic injunction that one should not save a non-Jewish life on the Sabbath. Although it is permitted to do so if that would endanger Jews (the non-Jews might feel peeved about it!) in the case of Israel this is not so since Palestinians (Amalek) are killed everyday by the State anyway. So MDA is likely to end up in a situation where not only are sexes separated but there is different treatment for Jews and non-Jews. After all dear reader, this is the Jewish State!
Tony Greenstein
Rabbi who called for slaughter of a million Palestinians is to supervise Israel’s ‘Red Cross’
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 theAmerican 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
Magen David Adom sets up panel to dictate religious guidelines for volunteers
By Chaim Levinson | Jun.25, 2012 | 2:24 PM |
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| An ultra-Orthodox female volunteer of Magen David Adom in Jerusalem. Photo by Jini |
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| Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu at a conference in Ramle. Photo by Nir Kafri |
Israel’s Magen David Adom has succumbed to pressure by ultra-Orthodox groups and decided to set up a rabbinical committee to dictate religious guidelines – including gender relations – for volunteers in the rescue service.
The committee, which was established under pressure from the Haredi community, as well as growing criticism from the religious Zionist movement, will be headed by Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Safed, as well as by a posek (a Jewish legal scholar) from the religious Zionists.
Eliyahu, who had undergone investigation on suspicion of incitement to racism, made headlines in 2010 when he called on Jewish residents of Safed not to rent apartments to Arabs. In a conference which took place last year, Eliyahu was recognized for his “actions, deeds and commitment for keeping a Jewish character in the Land of Israel.”
In contrast to other public organizations, until now, Magen David Adom (MDA) has not employed a permanent rabbi. Over the past few years, MDA has been under constant attack by the ultra-Orthodox public, which has complained of lack of modesty and the inappropriate mixing of men and women in the rescue service.
Most of the pressure is in the Jerusalem district, where there are many ultra-Orthodox workers, as well as many female volunteers in national service. More than 2,500 ultra-Orthodox people volunteer in MDA and other rescue services.
In February 2011, a rabbinical ruling by top Haredi rabbis forbade volunteering for MDA. “It is forbidden to volunteer for the organization, not even for the purpose of saving lives,” the ruling said. “Volunteering could, God forbid, lead to severe [Halakhic] infractions among the general leadership and the spiritual influence,” the ruling stated.
There are no current instructions regarding relations between the sexes. Nonetheless, in branches with many religious or ultra-Orthodox volunteers, voluntary separation is accepted. Thus, ambulance crews are made up entirely of men.
The committee, which began functioning several weeks ago, provides MDA with instructions regarding relations between sexes, information on science-related matters as well as other relevant issues. In one case, the committee ruled that MDA cannot evacuate anyone injured in an accident on the Sabbath to a hospital, as long as they request evacuation for insurance-related reasons.
The committee is also considering the possibility to establish rooms for men and women in MDA stations, so that volunteers of different sexes are not forced to spend the night together.
Rabbi Eliyahu confirmed the details for Haaretz. Magen David Adom has not provided a response.
