Many years ago, not long after Rabin’s assassination, I was sitting in my town’s synagogue on a Shabbat (Saturday) morning. At the time there was a great deal of controversy whether or not Yigal Amir had received from Settler rabbis a religious stamp of approval for his murderous act. The halachic (Jewish law) basis for pre-emptive killing is something called “din rodef.” Essentially the law states that if someone actively comes to kill you, you have the right to kill him in self-defense.
I was actually sitting with my mouth open. I was reading a pamphlet issued every weekend by the Orthodox Mizrahi Workers’ organization (what was once the Orthodox Socialist movement). There, in black and white, in an article by a well-known Settler rabbi, Ya’akov Rozen (who is considered relatively moderate) was a learned piece which made an astonishing claim. No, said Rozen, “din rodef” did not apply to Yitzhak Rabin. But it did apply to every Palestinian, man, woman and child. In short, Rozen was giving an Orthodox Jewish justification for genocide.
Uri Avnery updates us on this repulsive phenomenon.
Tags: Nationalism, War Crimes, Xenophobia
