- A prominent rabbi has supported the killings of Palestinian
civilians by Israeli occupation troops in the Gaza Strip, saying killing
non-Jewish civilians is compatible with religious laws.
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- Rabbi Dov Lior, Chairman of the Jewish Rabbinical Council,
was quoted as saying "during warfare, killing non-Jewish civilians
is permitted if it saves Jewish lives".
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- According to Lior's ruling, which was made public on
Wednesday, Israeli occupation troops in Gaza are allowed to kill and harm
"so-called innocent civilians" during warfare.
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- "The law of our Torah is to have mercy on our soldiers
and to save them. This is the real moral behind Israel's Torah and we must
not feel guilty due to foreign morals," the Ma'ariv Israeli newspaper
quoted him as saying.
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- He added that Jewish lives were more important than non-Jewish
lives.
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- Extremist
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- Rabbi Lior is considered among the most learned sages
of the Torah.
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- "Without any doubt, he is among the most learned
scholars of the Torah, but he is viewed as an extremist among some liberal
sectors," said Rabbi Menachem Froman from the Tku' settlement near
Bethlehem.
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- Froman said he did not agree with Lior's views, calling
them controversial.
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- "I believe that Judaism is against killing innocent
people. One of the main commandments of the Torah is 'thou shall not murder.'"
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- However, after speaking to many rabbis, it is clear that
Lior's views and interpretation of Jewish Law enjoy far more popularity
and acceptance than Froman,s relatively dovish interpretations.
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- The basic point of disagreement concerns whether Biblical
injunctions apply equally to Jews and non-Jews.
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- Lior, like most of the rabbis of the Gush Emunim settler
movement, believes that Biblical commandments such as "thou shall
not murder" refer only to "Jews" since the Torah was given
to Jews, not Gentiles.
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- This view, however, is rejected to varying degrees by
the two main unorthodox Jewish sects - the Conservatives and the Reformists
- who constitute a numerical majority of Jews outside Israel, especially
in North America.
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- Settlers' rabbi
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- Dov Lior is considered a champion rabbi among settlers.
In 1994, he strongly supported the murder by an American immigrant settler,
Baruch Goldstein, of 29 Palestinian worshippers at the Ibrahimi Mosque.
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- PHOTO: Many children have been killed or injured in the
Rafah onslaught
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- Lior then issued a religious edict, saying, "a thousand
non-Jewish lives are not worth a Jew's fingernail".
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- Lior praised Goldstein, calling him a "great saint
and rabbi may his memory be blessed".
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- Several months after the massacre, Lior told disciples
in Kiryat Araba near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron "Jewish
blood was redder than non-Jewish blood and that a Jewish life is preferred
by the Lord than a non-Jewish life".
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- Silence
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- So far, the majority of Israeli religious leaders, including
the two Grand Rabbis (one representing Western Jews 'Ashkenazim' and the
other representing eastern Jews 'Tsfaradim') have refused to condemn or
repudiate Lior's views.
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- Rabbi Froman suggested that because of Lior's deep knowledge
of Jewish law, most rabbis refrain from challenging his understanding of
the Torah and Talmud.
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- In fact, the official religious establishment, let alone
Gush Eumunim rabbis, consistently supported whatever attacks carried out
by the occupying army against Palestinian civilians.
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- Mirkaz Ha'rav officials in West Jerusalem (the main religious
College where Dov Lior teaches) refused to comment on Lior's edict when
contacted by Aljazeera.net.
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- http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/94812266-7218-4544-9DB2-A8E4D61FFB0E.htm
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