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Jewish Scene
Israel and Syria - Rumours of
War
Top Israeli Damascus watchers and security experts have warned
that failure to resolve the deadlock between Israel and Syria could lead to
war.Israeli fears of an armed conflict were sparked by reports that the Syrians
had tested a Scud-C missile, which can reach anywhere in Israel. The state
owned Syrian al-Thawra newspaper accused Israel of preparing an "aggression"
against Syria for which "only the date needs to be set". The war rumblings were
enhanced by news that Hizbullah, the Shiite militia operating in southern
Lebanon, may have already acquired rockets from Iran via Damascus, that can
potentially hit parts of Haifa Bay, Israel's third largest urban centre.
Elsewhere in the Middle East, food riots in Jordan have cast doubt on the stability of King Hussein's regime; the Saudi royal family is increasingly unpopular and relies on the support of America for its hold on power - support which compromises it in the eyes of Islamic fundamentalists; fighting between the Kurds has given Saddam Hussein his opportunity to move his troops into northern Iraq and provoked the Americans to launch cruise missile attacks on Iraq.
Shabbat but no shalom
The conflict over whether the Bar-Ilan Road should be kept open to traffic on
the Sabbath has sown the deep divisions between secular and religious Jews in
Jerusalem. The religious Jews are demanding that the road be closed in order to
guard the sanctity of the Sabbath, to prevent religious Jews being disturbed as
they pray ,and, in the words of the Deputy Mayor Haim Miller, who heads the
United Torah Judaism faction on the city council, to "ensure that Jerusalem
remains a holy city rather than just another city in the world plagued by crime
and debauchery."
Ornan Yekutieli, leader of the Meretz faction on the city council, speaks for the secular Israelis: "the question is whether we want to take a big step towards Theheran or to continue in the direction of the Western world ... In the early 1980s 15,000 Jerusalem youths were going to Tel Aviv every weekend. But that phenomenon is finished. There are cinemas open on Friday night in Jerusalem, discos, theatres, even music on Shabbat. In all these battles the secular population won."
The Bar-Ilan Road situation is the sharp end of a conflict which is being played out in different guises in Jewish communities throughout the world; the conflict between those who seek to maintain a rigid observance of the Torah as a way of life and a means of ensuring the continuation of the Jewish people and those who want to be a people like the rest of the nations.
Guest workers in Israel Israel's foreign labour force is expanding with workers coming from far afield, geographically and culturally, to earn a better living than back home. With monthly pay 10 times higher than in Bangkok or Bucharest, foreign workers see Israel as a land of promise. For their Israeli employers they are a source of cheap labour. Unlike Palestinian workers, barred from Israel since the spate of suicide bombings in March, they are not viewed as a security threat. But there is widespread concern that the influx of non-Jewish workers is a danger to the character of the Jewish state.
According to government estimates there are currently 105,000 legal workers in Israel and another 95,000 working illegally. The bulk come from Rumania, Turkey, Ghana, Nigeria, Thailand and the Philippines. Jordanians are also starting to appear in increasing numbers. Prime Minister Netanyahu declared his support for a long-term policy of reducing the number of foreign workers and bringing back workers from the West Bank and Gaza.
Rabbi Ravitz of the strictly Orthodox Degel Hatorah Party declared that foreign workers brought "real social problems to the country. This is the only Jewish country in the world. We want a Jewish state where we can rebuild the Jewish people. I don't think that we are able to accept so many from other religions. It could have a negative effect on the spirituality of the people of Israel."
Jewish-Muslim dialogue
Chief Rabbi Dr. Jonathan Sacks and Jordan's Crown Prince Hassan
have held discussions in Amman about maintaining a Jewish-Muslim dialogue. They
discussed "faith without fundamentalism" and focussed on the religious
dimension of the peace process. After the meeting Rabbi Sacks said: "No long
term peace process is viable unless Jews and Muslims begin to break down the
barriers to mutual understanding and reject all stereotyping."
On the other hand the extremist Muslim Hizb-ut Tahrir organisation has been distributing leaflets saying, "accepting the peace process is haram (forbidden)." According to their ideas for Muslims to accept the peace process is to agree with "the occupation of Islamic lands, murdering of our Muslim brothers, raping of our Muslim sisters and the spilling of Muslim blood."