350,000 immigrants classed as ‘without religion’
by Jonathan Cook
Tel Aviv. Two immigrants from the former Soviet Union staged a very public wedding in the streets of central Tel Aviv this week to highlight the plight of hundreds of thousands of Jews barred from lawfully marrying in Israel.
Nico Tarosyan and Olga Samosvatov chose to tie the knot in a special ceremony on Tuesday -- watched by family, friends and curious passers-by -- after Orthodox rabbis had denied them the right to wed.
The rabbinate says that Mr Tarosyan cannot prove he is Jewish according to its strict standards and therefore should not marry Ms Samosvatov, who is considered a proper Jew.
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Ok, not unlike Saudi Arabia you might rightfully argue, but then again, Saudi Arabia never pretended to be "a light unto the nations" or a frigging "beacon of democracy in the ME!! Actually considering that Israel was founded by Europeans IN Europe arguably more enlightened than the "backward" Middle East, the comparison with Saudi Arabia can only highlight the depth and breadth of its discriminatory poilicies!
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; "><span style="">'...who regard themselves as guarding the Jewish people’s ethnic and religious purity,"</span></span></span>
ReplyDeletePurity? What the hell does that sound like?
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; "><span style="">This is really disturbing. Wherever religion is this rigid and it can control what the state does, there can be no equality for anyone but the "pure". </span></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana; "><span style="">
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<span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span>"...who regard themselves as guarding the Jewish people’s ethnic and religious purity,"</span></span></span>
ReplyDeletePurity? What the hell does that sound like?
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span>This is really disturbing. Wherever religion is this rigid and it can control what the state does, there can be no equality for anyone but the "pure". </span></span></span>
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What is the process for converting into an orthodox traditional Jew for a gentile?
ReplyDeleteTGIA, I read your article about why Israel is not responsible for recent West Bank growth and posted about it from Totten. My question is whether the West Bank economy really is improving.
Anand, if you come over here I will cut your foreskin off with a stone blade, an official Brit milah (no blood sucking though)...lol i also cannot grant much nachat for you. They call me the mad Mohel (because I might get carried away) :)
ReplyDeleteSo the law of return permitted 1 million immigrant into Israel,requiring proof of only a single Jewish grandparent.
ReplyDeleteThe right of return for Palestinian is utterly denied and apparently has no room in the piece process , yet most of the them still have the keys to their homes.
VAA, I think that many Palestinians should be allowed to return to Israel. However, after 61 1/2 years (since they left in early 1948), I think most Palestinians would prefer compensation = market value of their confiscated property.
ReplyDeleteThis is what I would want.
In any case, probably most of the 1948 homes no longer exist. They have been torn down to build larger apartment complexes, commercial real estate, air ports, etc. So in most cases, right of the return would have to be handled via compensation or Israeli government funded low income housing for older Palestinians who want to return to the holy lands they were born in.
How about desegregated mixed housing comminities consisting of Jews and Palestinians living side by side? Might this work? I would support this type of "law of return" to Israel proper. I would also support Israel reserving perhaps 25% of all all Israeli university openings for diaspora or occupied territory Palestinians. The Israeli government should give all of them 100% scholerships and permanent resident visas. I also support this type of "return."
Ha ha..
ReplyDelete<span>However, after 61 1/2 years (since they left in early 1948), I think most Palestinians would prefer compensation = market value of their confiscated property.
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How do you know? Did you ask anyone of them??
Open your ears wide anand!!
No Palestinian leader would ever concede the right of return, significantly, because he/she knows that the people would not agree to put it mildly ..His life might be in a bit of danger too!! The right of return is sacred to the Palestinians...
In 61.5 years, most Palestinians have adjusted to life in other countries, become citizens of other countries etc. They wouldn't want to be uprooted again and return to the holy land.
ReplyDeleteThis said, I support right of return for those who want to return. But in most cases, they would probably need to be given Israeli government funded housing, because their original homes have been torn down. I hope that having desegregated housing where Palestinians and Jewish Israelis live side by side as neighbors might reduce the tensions between Isael and Palestinians.
<span style=""><span style=" line-height: 16px;">Anand</span></span>
ReplyDeleteRead the whole comment......Can you see the contrast ?
Your other comments are signs of schizophrenia
fleming WANTS the Palestinians to surrender ! Anand KNOWS that they PROBABLY do not want to return. Anything else for your pleasure gentlemen...?
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ReplyDelete<span>fleming WANTS the Palestinians to surrender ! Anand KNOWS that they PROBABLY do not want to return. Anything else for your pleasure gentlemen...?</span>
How about listening to some Palestinians? This does not sound like a people who want anything except return -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/v/utpbDrDjU1o
So, why don't you do away with these stupid fantasies Anand? You do not know what you are talking about, is that anything new? No, it is just a sign of your servile sentiments, that NEVER serve the poor and needy, only those that serve you and consequently an elite few.
"we're teaching out children the return to Palestine when they're growing up. It's as essential as food or drinking."
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/v/xog_gXYGx3o
<span style="">VAA, I think that many Palestinians should be allowed to return to Israel. However, after 61 1/2 years (since they left in early 1948), I think most Palestinians would prefer compensation = market value of their confiscated property. anand</span>
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Gee Anand , You're always thinking Dollars , and Property values, have you once thought what the R.of Return actually mean. Put simply is the right to return to what was once and still is a Homeland. Of course Palestinians are fully aware , their homes have either been demolished or stolen, but what count more than the value of their homes in today's money ,is their right to exist in Palestine .
You Say "<span style="">This is what I would want." , this is your profiteering mentality as opposed to their right of existence in Palestine. Which is something you will never understand until someone kick you out of your home and send you on your way to a refugee camp in a slum to a different country</span> , telling you God gave it to me. Do not try to think too much about it , you will never understand what does it means. You're incapable of it. You lack that human quality.
I want the Palestinians to face reality and make the best choice for their generations to come. At this point its ALL about "arab pride". Even tgia and VAA says its not economic. Well, pride aint always a good thing, folks. Sometimes it holds you back. The US is not going to abandon Israel. We are not going to suddenly reverse course and turn traitor to Israel. It seems your "entreaties" toward americans, you know - that we are a bunch of fat, stupid, uneducated ignoramuses lacking in human quality - and that is why we dont see it "your way" - well, amazingly, they have not been successful in changing our minds or hearts. Shocking,
ReplyDeleteYou claim my analogies of Japan and Germany are false. Well, your analogies of north vietnamese "victory", the ending of apartheid and the american civil rights movement are also false. None of these have any relevance as to how things will eventually go in Palestine,
Israel is here to stay, period. Nothing will change that, short of iranian nuclear missiles raining down or massive arab hordes running thru their cities with Aks. As I said, either destroy it yourselves, NOW, or let everyone else on the planet get on with their damn lives.
The world is 6 billion people. It deserves to have closure and be rid of this ongoing strife and contention that has tortured it for 60 years and which, at current rates of NON-progress, will continue for 6,000 more.
Two points:
ReplyDeleteThe right of return and compensation for stolen property are two totally separate issues, and until they are both dealt with in a serious way, this Palestine/Israel conflict will not go away.
When the time comes when the Palestinians' right of return is recognized, not every Palesinian will want to return, but they still have the right to. It's like the right to remain silent if you are arrested. You may choose not exercise that right, but it is still yours.