Divine Incitement
18 August 2001
Palestine Media Center
http://www.palestine-pmc.com
An Israeli Rabbi notorious for his racism and spite towards Arabs in general and
Palestinians in particular is once again being probed for inciting to violence and
racism. Rabbi Yitzhak Ginzburg, a prominent spiritual leader of the Od Yosef Chai
Yeshiva groups, has been known to publish and advocate calls for violence against
Palestinians and Arabs in general.
In his latest book, Tipul Shoresh (“Root Treatment”), Rabbi Ginzburg makes the claim
that the “land of Israel” belongs solely to the Children of Israel. According to a 16
August Ha’aretz article, the Rabbi states in his book, “no goy (non-Jew) has the right
to live in the area unless he is a convert or a righteous Gentile”. The spiritual
leader also calls for the expulsion of Palestinians from Israel (which includes the
Occupied Palestinian Territory in the Rabbi’s mind). He calls for the land to be
“cleansed” of foreigners and urges his followers not to employ or trade with
Palestinians. Of course, the Rabbi refers to Palestinians as “Arabs”, refusing to so
much as recognize the existence of a Palestinian People.
The Israeli head of the State Prosecutor’s Office’s special tasks division, Talia
Sasson has ordered an investigation in the Rabbi’s latest book.
Just two months earlier, a similar investigation was launched against Rabbi Ginzburg
because of comments he made to the Jerusalem weekly newspaper Kol Hazman and the daily
Ma’ariv. In both commentaries, the Rabbi expressed his support for Baruch Goldstein’s
massacre of Palestinian worshipers as they prayed in Hebron’s Ibrahimi mosque. In the
1994 massacre, Goldstein butchered over 60 Palestinians.
The investigation was dropped and no charges were filed.
Rabbi Ginzburg had published Baruch Hagever (“Baruch the Man”) in 1998. The Rabbi,
apparently a fan of massacring Palestinians, published a book praising Goldstein and
his final act of mass murder. Following the publication of this book, the Rabbi was
investigated for inciting to violence and racism. However, the investigation was
quickly botched and no charges were filed.
Unfortunately, Rabbis of higher spiritual influence have made even far more racist
remarks without so much as being questioned, let alone investigated. For example,
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Shas, Israel’s third largest party has
recently stated that Arabs “multiply like ants” and wished that they would “all go to
hell”. Earlier in the year, he called for the extermination of Arabs altogether. On
the other hand, Rabbi Lau, one of Israel’s Chief Rabbis has justified and blessed the
extra-judicial executions carried out by the Israeli occupation forces against
Palestinians.
The investigation comes at a time when the United States is threatening to boycott a
United Nations Conference on discrimination in which over 50 nations want to discuss
the issue of Zionism as a form of racism. Knowing that its absence would undermine the
international conference, the United States has threatened to boycott it altogether if
the item is discussed, claiming that such a discussion would be anti-Semitic. This is
despite the fact that all Arab Peoples in the Middle East are Semitic.
