In June of this year, Israeli President Shimon Peres convened a conference
in Jerusalem called “Tomorrow 2011“, which was attended by intellectuals
and industry leaders from all over the world. At one of the conference’s
most well-attended panel discussions, two of the highest-ranking
government ministers presided: Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister
Eli Yishai and Justice Minister Ya’akov Ne’eman.
The panel in question dealt with a controversial issue: Will conversions
officiated by non-ultra-Orthodox streams of Judaism be recognized by all
of the governing bodies in Israel, which are dominated by the
ultra-Orthodox? Most Jewish people living outside of Israel are
non-Orthodox; but in Israel, the political establishment is beholden to
ultra-Orthodox parties, who reject the legitimacy of the more liberal
streams of Judaism.
The two Israeli ministers who spoke on the panel, Yishai and Ne’eman, made
scandalously racist remarks. Yishai touted non-existent scientific studies
that purport to prove there is a ‘Jewish gene’, echoing eugenics theories
first proposed by the Nazis. Ne’eman then warned that Africans must not be
allowed to convert to Judaism, and repeated the disgusting refrain that
Jews who assimilate are perpetuating a second Nazi Holocaust.
The preoccupation with a fictional Jewish race — maintaining its purity
and increasing its numbers — represents the lowest form of fear-mongering
and panders to our basest xenophobic instincts. Of course, it is
inevitable that every ethno-cultural group will spawn its own racist
extremists. But it is disappointing and pathetic that these Jewish
supremacists are allowed to occupy positions of power in the Israeli
government.
gangreentv is an Israeli activist. You can see previous Mondoweiss posts from them here.
