At our site, Joe Catron has been following the eliminationist language of Shas rabbi Ovadia Yosef. Andrew Sullivan is also on the case. (Thanks to Peter Voskamp)
“Destroy [the Iranian regime] God, obliterate them from the face of the earth,” – Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, after being briefed by Netanyahu’s administration on the Iranian threat.
“Obliterate them from the face of the earth.” Recall that the Shas party is an integral part of Neyanyahu’s coalition, and the briefing was designed to put religious pressure on the Shas minister in the inner security candidate still sane enough to oppose a pre-emptive strike on Iran.
Let there be no mistake: this is an Israeli rabbi calling for another people to be obliterated from the face of the earth. The ironies seem lost.
Well, I called Hagee about this and he told me it’s all part of God’s plan. He’s really looking forward to the end times but says he’s living “high off the hog” for now, but’s he’s ready.
The title of this post refers to “Iranian leaders” being obliterated. And the Daily Beast article by A. Sullivan that is referenced also emphasizes that he was referring to the leaders. In that case, isn’t this just equivalent to Iranian leaders calling for the “cancerous tumor” to be removed? Isn’t Ovadia Yosef just wishing for the Islamic Republic to “vanish from the page of time”? If so, then why does the post end w/ “Let there be no mistake: this is an Israeli rabbi calling for another people to be obliterated from the face of the earth. The ironies seem lost.”? You wouldn’t refer to Ahmadinejad’s statement about “vanishing from the page of time” as calling for another people’s obliteration.
On the other hand, this report
link to haaretz.com
puts it as, “When we say ‘may our enemies be struck down’ on Rosh Hashana, it shall be directed at Iran, the evil ones who threaten Israel. God shall strike them down and kill them,” in which case it’s not clear to me what he means by “Iran” here.
So just like w/ the Ahmadinejad quote, you need to indulge in years of linguistic analysis, parsing the grammatical inferences of his precious words to arrive at divergent conclusions.
Agree!
subconscious August 27, 2012 at 1:38 pm
A regime is a government, not a country. Jerusalem is a city, not a country and it’s not in Israel. Even the UNSC agrees with Iran on the regime illegally in Jerusalem.
Nice try. But, there’s no comparison. Ovadia Yosef, unlike his Iranian counterparts, has made clear that he adheres to a racial supremacist ideology:
“Goyim were born only to serve us. Without that, they have no place in the world – only to serve the People of Israel… In Israel, death has no dominion over them… With gentiles, it will be like any person – they need to die, but [God] will give them longevity. Why? Imagine that one’s donkey would die, they’d lose their money. This is his servant… That’s why he gets a long life, to work well for this Jew… Why are gentiles needed? They will work, they will plow, they will reap. We will sit like an effendi and eat. That is why gentiles were created.”
link to jpost.com
Let me say it again: there’s no comparison. He promotes a vision of racial supremacy in which the lives of Iranians and all other gentiles have no *intrinsic* value.
This is even worse, Ranjit, and it was published yesterday:
link to jpost.com
Since the comparison you’re imagining wasn’t mine, I’ll have to respectfully refuse your “nice try.” Obviously, I was only contrasting Weiss’ interpretation of O.Y.’s particular comment about “Iran” vs a specific oft-quoted comment of Ahmadinejad. Nobody compared the 2 figures in general.
i agree with your general point about the need to be as precise as possible with these translations, and reactions to the translated commentary. some context though: the rabbi’s view of human kind is a pretty sharp jewish/gentile dichotomy. i don’t believe that there is any question of his low opinion of goyim, which he has equated with donkeys (unless you tell me that translation was off). so if one presumes that the destruction of the iranian leadership is a spiritual imperative, one would also presume that potential collateral damage isn’t a great concern. a ‘let god sort ‘em out’ kind of mentality.
What makes this an important quote is the fact that Netanyahu and his advisors
were reported by Haaretz to have consulted with this rabbi regarding his support for their bombing Iran. Perhaps, an astute reader can point to an article wherein
Ahmadinejad has specifically consulted with Khameni regarding Iran bombing Israel? The information I read would indicate that the ayatollah has made it very clear that use of nuclear weapons is contravened by the Koran.
O.Y. is a fundamentalist cleric who, in all likelihood, has a literal interpretation of the bible. The bible often talks of “obliterating the enemies” of God and the Jewish people. So it would be hardly surprising if the Rabbi thinks in those terms and uses that sort of language. You can easily find clerics of all flavors talking in such catastrophic terms. Evangelical clerics who are close allies of the Israeli gov’t call for and work towards the destruction of Israel: they wanna bring about Armageddon (or Rapture), whereby Jews who don’t convert will be annihilated. Extremist Muslim clerics can be found who call for annihilating Israel and Jews.
These tendencies are only deserving of attention when they help influence and implement gov’t policy. The evangelical clerics are noteworthy only b/c their flock can influence US Mideast policy. Rabbi Yosef’s comment is only worthy of attention b/c, as has been pointed out by others, it may indicate Israeli gov’t's success in convincing the religious block in its coalition of the necessity of an attack. Otherwise, it’s pure waste of time to try to decipher O.Y.’s comments; quite possibly the nonagenarian fundamentalist wasn’t even clear in his own mind exactly which entity he wished obliterated.
I disagree on whether it is a waste of time to discuss this old racist’s babblings. I think it’s important that the face of hate that religion engenders not be pushed under the rug.
“Evangelical clerics who are close allies of the Israeli gov’t call for and work towards the destruction of Israel:”
How exactly do they “work towards” it?? From my understanding of Christian doctrine, they understand that it will happen when it does and there’s nothing they can do to change the date. They’re trying to anticipate it, not work towards it.
MEMRI, w/ which I assume you’re familiar, routinely finds media clips of or articles by individuals making inciteful comments in the Muslim M.E., suggesting that the Muslims are fanatics posing grave danger to the Jews. Do you also think it’s important that they keep looking for these fringe fanatics in the Muslim world? O.Y., of course, is not just a fringe figure; he can affect viewpoints of the important religious block. And that’s what’s important about it. From that viewpoint, it doesn’t matter much even if Yosef tomorrow reassures everyone that he definitely meant the Iranian regime/leaders and not the country in general. If that convinces his flock that the Iranian gov’t should be attacked, then they’ll support the Israeli gov’t on that, and that’s all the gov’t needs. Bush II only needed the Americans to believe that the Iraqi gov’t was a mortal threat to them, in order to launch the war. He never claimed that the Iraqi nation as a whole was a threat that needed to be eliminated, and he didn’t need to. As far as the Shas block supporting the war effort, it doesn’t matter whether they believe the existential threat is just from the Iranian leaders or from every single Iranian.
As far as evangelicals, the End Times and Israel, I was referring to the likes of Pastor Hagee and his flock. I presume you’ve seen this M. Blumenthal video
link to youtube.com
And there’ve been accounts such as this
link to alternet.org
In polite company, meaning outside their communities, leaders such as Hagee deny such theological motivations, presenting it as a case of Christian solidarity with Jews. These characters believe that they’re hastening the 2nd coming by their political activities, although everyone else, including Israeli leaders, views it as chasing a fantasy.
“Do you also think it’s important that they keep looking for these fringe fanatics in the Muslim world? O.Y., of course, is not just a fringe figure; he can affect viewpoints of the important religious block. And that’s what’s important about it.”
If this old coot was just some random nobody, then I would agree that you treat him like a fringe figure and not give him much attention. However, he’s not a fringe person.
As for the evangelicals, I would draw a distinction between them making prediction or trying to shoehorn in modern life into ancient stories, on the one hand, and actively trying to bring about the fight, on the other.
“Do you also think it’s important that they keep looking for these fringe fanatics in the Muslim world? O.Y., of course, is not just a fringe figure; he can affect viewpoints of the important religious block. And that’s what’s important about it.”
If this old coot was just some random nobody, then I would agree that you treat him like a fringe figure and not give him much attention. However, he’s not a fringe person.
As for the evangelicals, I would draw a distinction between them making prediction or trying to shoehorn in modern life into ancient stories, on the one hand, and actively trying to bring about the fight, on the other.
what is so surprising. ???
Exactly!
I read these articles and its just regurgitation , with changes in the particulars, of countless other articles (no offence to Phil and Adam). Israeli society has been infected with violent hatred, xenphobia, and racism for decades, perpetuated primarily by the govt and elected officials themselves
So who can possibly be surprised to hear of this except for the American people of course being purposely kept in the dark by our leaders and media.
>> Let there be no mistake: this is an Israeli rabbi calling for another people to be obliterated from the face of the earth.
Well, at least he didn’t call for Iran to be wiped from the map AND pushed into the sea! ;-)
Benny Hinn and Pat Hagee have also prayed for the mass murder of Iranians.
link to youtube.com
So after the Christians go an kill Iranians, perhaps Hagee will send them off to Israel be slaves on Jewish settlements.
link to npr.org
The idea of Christian Zionists working as slaves on Jewish settlements made me grin. But I think Hagee will pass that on to the Palestinian Christians (preferably the people of Sabeel), not his own flock.
Elisabeth, they volunteer to work on the settlements. Ziocaine isn’t choosy
RE: “Destroy [the Iranian regime] God, obliterate them from the face of the earth” – Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
MY COMMENT: Well “hush my mouth”, this sounds a bit like something that might have been said by one of Georgia’s most notorious ‘white supremacists’, J.B. Stoner! ! !
FROM WIKIPEDIA [J.B. Stoner]:
SOURCE – link to en.wikipedia.org
P.S. PHOTOS OF J.B. STONER:
• Stoner as chairman of the National States’ Rights Party - link to google.com
• “Don’t Tread on Me”, St. Augustine, FL (1964) - link to google.com
• “I thank God all the time for AIDS” - link to flickr.com
P.P.S. THE WAY WE WERE (CIRCA 1939); LEST WE FORGET – link to mondoweiss.net
• Nelson Eddy sings Shortnin Bread 13.09.1939.wmv (VIDEO, 02:39) – link to youtube.com
P.P.P.S. PART ONE OF THIS WOULD BE FAR TO CONTROVERSIAL (HERETICAL) TO AIR ON PBS TODAY!
DOCUMENTARY: Joseph Campbell: Mythos, 1999-2011, NR, 2 Parts [Netflix Average of 75,068 ratings: 4 out of 5 stars]
Featuring lectures he delivered shortly before his death, this landmark documentary series encapsulates the life’s work and legacy of comparative mythology expert Joseph Campbell, including his insights into religion, spirituality and culture.
Hosted by Susan Sarandon. [A TOTAL OF NEARLY TEN HOURS]
• Netflix DVDs – link to dvd.netflix.com
• Netflix streaming (only available until 9/01/12) – link to movies.netflix.com
• Wikipedia [Mythos (film)] – link to en.wikipedia.org
• WATCH JOSEPH CAMPBELL MYTHOS FREE ONLINE – link to ovguide.com
Well I suppose that’s a wee bit better than Rabbi Dov Lior’s statements that all non-Jews (Christians, Muslims and others) are less than dogs are are perfectly OK to be killed because by doing so, you’re actually doing God’s work. I believe he’s state funded too.