*The popular image of religious Zionists today is the uncompromising, politically far-right settler in the West Bank. However, as the article below shows, there is another side to religious Zionism.*
Religious Zionism can be broadly defined as a form of Zionism that believes Jewish autonomy in Israel has religious, not just political, significance. However, this is an expansive framework, encompassing numerous groups and ideologies. Traditional religious Zionism–influenced by Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook–understood Israel’s religious significance in messianic terms. The settling of the Land of Israel was considered a crucial step in bringing the Messiah, and political events were interpreted through this prism. Israel’s victory in the 1967 Six Day War seemed to validate previous settlement efforts, and thus awakened messianic fervor. [image: moderate religious zionism]In addition, the Six Day War expanded Israeli control of “Greater Israel” to include the West Bank and Gaza, which in turn yielded a parallel expansion of the religious-messianic arena: settling the Palestinian-inhabited, Israeli-occupied, territories became the next step in the messianic project for a large group of religious Zionists. The Gush Emunim movement was founded under this platform in 1974. Religion as Problem & Solution A year later, Oz Veshalom-Netivot Shalom was established to present a different vision of religious Zionism. As this group sees it, some religious Zionists–including devotees of Gush Emunim–turned the State of Israel into an end in itself, one that incorrectly supercedes the importance of justice, peace, and life itself. In the 1990s, Netivot Shalom actively supported the peace process. Its leaders advocated for the creation of a Palestinian state and equality for Israel’s Arab citizens. Netivot Shalom directed its platform inward as well, as it tried to cultivate better relationships between Israel’s secular and religious Jewish communities. Netivot Shalom believes that religion is at the root of the Arab-Jewish conflict, but also at the root of its solution. Its leaders suggest that religious fundamentalism is “the greatest threat to possible coexistence” and thus, “the only effective counter arguments would also need to stem from religious tradition.” In a speech at a Netivot Shalom conference, philosopher Aviezer Ravitsky cited an example of this alternative religious tradition. According to Jewish law, all land in Israel must lie fallow during the sabbatical year. However, the ancient Israelites who returned from their exile in Babylonia recognized that this ruling could have negative social implications: poor people who couldn’t work their land might starve. Thus the returning Israelites chose not to settle parts of the Land so it would not be officially Israel, and thus available to the poor.[image: land of israel quiz] <http://www.myjewishlearning.com/quiz/?tid=IS.JT> Ravitzky uses this text to show that aggressive settlement is not necessarily the truest expression of Jewish religion. Here is a Talmudic text that privileges social benefits over and above the settling of Israel. Ravitzky suggests that today too, it behooves us to choose the social benefits of peace over and above the inclination toward expansive settling. This choice is not counter-religious; it is prototypically religious. Meimad In addition to Netivot Shalom, Ravitzky is also a leader in Meimad, another moderate religious Zionist group. Meimad was established in 1988, and in 1999 it became a political party. Meimad was founded by Rabbi Yehuda Amital, the head of Yeshivat Har Etzion, a yeshiva in Gush Etzion, a block of West Bank settlements. Despite his yeshiva’s location, Amital is open to territorial compromise as part of a comprehensive peace agreement. Like Netivot Shalom, Meimad believes that placing the Land of Israel above all other values and concerns contradicts the Torah. Meimad also believes that political discourse and *halakhic* (Jewish legal) discourse should be completely distinct. Meimad’s official platform rejects appealing to *halakhah* to settle political differences. Meimad does, however, believe in the importance of retaining the Jewish character of Israel, insisting that democracy is achievable in this context. Non-Orthodox Groups Traditionally, the “religious” part of religious Zionism referred to some form of Orthodox Judaism, but in recent years, non-Orthodox religious movements have had an increasing voice in Israeli life. The Reform and Conservative movements have been particularly vocal about their desire to imbue Israeli life with a sense of religious pluralism. Ismar Schorsch, chancellor of the Conservative movement’s Jewish Theological Seminary, has called for the dismantling of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate and its courts–which control marriage, divorce, and conversion. In general, Schorsch is heartened by the Conservative movement’s strides in Israel and believes that the Israeli public has gained interest in non-Orthodox religion. He’s noted that “the introduction of genuine religious pluralism is certainly possible. Perhaps as a harbinger of things to come, the faculty of Tel Aviv University decided recently to build on campus a panoply of three synagogues (Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox) rather than a single, exclusively Orthodox synagogue.” Not surprisingly, the liberal movements bring their general theologies to Zionism. Rabbi Richard Hirsch, honorary president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, puts the challenge this way: “The State of Israel is the testing grounds for keeping the covenant between God and God’s people. How do Jews as a people create a just society when they are given responsibility? How do Jews use political power? How do Jews apply Jewish values in everyday conditions of a Jewish society?” According to 170 religious Zionists who signed a manifesto published in major Israeli newspapers on May 9, 2003, these questions are particularly resonant. The signatories of this document were disturbed by the moral ramifications of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, and particularly disturbed by what they perceived as religious Zionism’s silence on this matter. They wrote: “In the absence of a worthy Religious Zionist leadership at this time, we have no choice but to take the initiative: We call upon the Religious Zionist public to recognize the necessity of giving up our rule in the Territories and turn its energy to dealing with the pressing and neglected issues on its own and on the general Israeli agenda.” Like secular Zionism, religious Zionism has gone through many changes over the decades of Israeli statehood. As the political and geographic landscape of Israel has shifted, so have the factors and factions influencing the intersection of religion and Zionism. Religious Zionism may have once been monolithically associated with the belief that control over land was necessary for messianic redemption, but today people calling themselves religious Zionists may sometimes offer the opposite view–and any and every view in between. On Monday, January 4, 2016 at 1:43:19 PM UTC-6, Travis wrote: > > > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Travis <[email protected] <javascript:>> > Date: Mon, Jan 4, 2016 at 1:09 PM > Subject: Fwd: [grendelreport] Moderate Muslims - Do Not Really Exist > To: > > > > > > > No. Impossible. > > > > B > > > > http://eaglerising.com/28287/moderate-muslims-do-they-really-exist/ > > > Moderate Muslims - Do they Really Exist? > > By Matt Barber <http://eaglerising.com/author/matt-barber/> / 4 January > 2016 > > *“When the sacred months are over slay the idolaters wherever you find > them. Arrest them, besiege them, and lie in ambush everywhere for them.”* > > – The Quran, Surah 9:5 > > When it comes to the global scourge of orthodox Islam, the Western world, > which Islamists expressly seek > <http://www.clarionproject.org/Muslim_Brotherhood_Explanatory_Memorandum> to > “destroy from within,” is an upside-down realm wherein objective facts, > logic and reason must yield to multiculturalist make-believe, “progressive” > propaganda and political correctness run amok. Faithful Muslims want to > kill you, and faithless progressives seem all too happy to help them along. > Look at the ongoing Muslim invasion of Europe. This progressive paradise, a > burgeoning multicultural dystopia, is beginning to look > <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ESI4pTDI9g> an awful lot like hell on > earth. > > Fact: Islam is about control. The word itself means “submission.” It is a > socio-political pseudo-religion based upon the incoherent scribblings of > one man – the “prophet” Muhammad, a warring tyrant who, as even the Quran > concedes <http://www.answering-islam.org/Shamoun/prepubescent.htm>, was a > murderous misogynist and pedophile. This unholy book is loosely plagiarized > from the Bible’s Old and New Testaments – Scriptures that, by contrast, > were seamlessly transcribed over centuries by roughly 40 men under the > direct and divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit. > > Muhammad taught, and the Quran stresses, that a central tenet of Islam is > to convert, enslave or kill the infidel. An infidel is anyone who is not > Muslim or, depending on who’s doing the killing, belongs to a different > sect of Islam. Those who fall into that elusive, perpetually mute category > tagged “moderate Muslim” are also infidels. They’re bad Muslims and so, > according to the Quran, not Muslims at all. > > [image: Description: moderate-muslims-flag-burning] > <http://eaglerising.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/moderate-muslims-flag-burning.jpg>To > > be sure, “moderate Muslim” is a contradiction in terms. It is intrinsically > oxymoronic. Whereas “moderate” (read: liberal) “Christians,” such as those > belonging to the PCUSA, embrace certain apostasies that run directly > counter to the biblical teachings of Christianity (e.g., the pagan embrace > of homosexual sin and child sacrifice by way of abortion), “moderate > Muslims” likewise embrace an apostate version of Islam that runs directly > counter to the clear teachings of the Quran. > > While devout followers of Jesus Christ, who is Life – God incarnate – are, > like He, characteristically peaceful; devout followers of Muhammad, the > dead, child-raping, woman-beheading founder of Islam – demon incarnate – > are, like he, characteristically violent. Whereas “Muslim extremists,” that > is, faithful Muslims, kill people extremely; “Christian extremists,” that > is, faithful Christians, love people, including their enemies, extremely. > > Islam explicitly requires a worldwide caliphate (global domination and the > violent imposition of Islamic Shariah law). This fact is not open for > serious debate and is available for all to read, hear, see and, tragically, > experience. Islam, therefore, is inherently at odds with freedom, democracy > and the United States Constitution. While devout followers of Muhammad > readily admit this reality, the suicidal left yet remains hell-bent, head > in the sand, on “tolerating” itself, and the rest of us, to death. > > According to the Islamic watchdog group TheReligionofPeace.com > <http://thereligionofpeace.com/> – a fantastic resource for the > unfiltered facts on Islam – “The Quran contains at least 109 verses > <http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/quran/023-violence.htm> that call > Muslims to war with nonbelievers for the sake of Islamic rule.” The aim of > these verses is to dehumanize all non-Muslims, making it easier for Muslims > of every stripe to slaughter them with impunity when the time is right. In > addition to Surah 9:5, cited above, here are but a handful of Muhammad’s > bloody calls to arms: > > - “Strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be > unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is the destination.” > – Quran (9:73) > - “O you who believe! Fight those of the unbelievers who are near to > you and let them find in you hardness.” – Quran (9:123) > - “And when We wish to destroy a town, We send Our commandment to the > people of it who lead easy lives, but they transgress therein; thus the > word proves true against it, so We destroy it with utter destruction.” – > Quran (17:16) > - “Muhammad is the messenger of Allah. And those with him are hard > (ruthless) against the disbelievers and merciful among themselves.” – > Quran > (48:29) > > From the Hadith (sayings of Muhammad): > > - “The Hour will not be established until you fight with the Jews, and > the stone behind which a Jew will be hiding will say. ‘O Muslim! There is > a > Jew hiding behind me, so kill him.’” – Bukhari (52:177) > - “Fight everyone in the way of Allah and kill those who disbelieve in > Allah.” – Ibn Ishaq/Hisham 992 > - “Allah’s Apostle said … ‘I have been made victorious with terror.’” > – Bukhari (52:220) > > “But the Bible says to kill unbelievers too!” cry the Muslim apologists. > Nonsense. “Unlike nearly all of the Old Testament verses of violence > <http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Bible-Quran-Violence.htm>,” > observes ReligionOfPeace.com <http://religionofpeace.com/>, “the verses > of violence in the Quran are mostly open-ended, meaning that they are not > restrained by the historical context of the surrounding text.” (Christian > theologian Dr. Michael Brown has penned a brilliant contrast/comparison > <http://barbwire.com/2015/12/16/verses-of-violence-comparing-the-bible-and-the-quran/> > between > the Quran and the Old Testament, which thoroughly debunks manipulative > false equivalencies often drawn by those who wish to sow confusion.) > > Still, we need only look to the many polls > <http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/pages/opinion-polls.htm> to affirm the > alarmingly high percentages of Muslims (hundreds-of-millions in number) who > seek, through the most violent means imaginable, Islamic world domination. > Again, here are but a few: > > - 83 percent of Palestinian Muslims, 62 percent of Jordanians and 61 > percent of Egyptians approve of jihadist attacks on Americans. World > Public Opinion Poll > <http://www.worldpublicopinion.org/pipa/pdf/feb09/STARTII_Feb09_rpt.pdf> > (2009). > - 5 Million British Muslims support the Islamic State, about half > their total population. ICM (Mirror) > > <http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/muslim-leader-isis-supporting-brits-disenfranchised-6018357>Poll > > 2015. > - Two-thirds of Palestinians support the stabbing of Israeli > civilians. Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research > > <http://www.france24.com/en/20151214-two-thirds-palestinians-support-knife-attacks-poll> > (2015). > - 6 percent of Western Muslims believe 9/11 attacks were justified. > Gallup > > <http://elderofziyon.blogspot.com/2008/05/that-tiny-percentage-of-radical-muslims.html> > (2011). > - 45 percent of British Muslims agree that clerics preaching violence > against the West represent “mainstream Islam.” BBC Radio > <http://www.comres.co.uk/polls/bbc-radio-4-today-muslim-poll/>(2015). > - 38 percent of Muslim-Americans say Islamic State (ISIS) beliefs are > Islamic or correct. (Forty-three percent disagree.) The Polling Company > > <http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/150612-CSP-Polling-Company-Nationwide-Online-Survey-of-Muslims-Topline-Poll-Data.pdf>CSP > > Poll (2015). > - One-third of British Muslim students support killing for Islam. Center > for Social Cohesion > > <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1340599/WikiLeaks-1-3-British-Muslim-students-killing-Islam-40-want-Sharia-law.html>(Wikileaks > > cable). > - 78 percent of British Muslims support punishing the publishers of > Muhammad cartoons. NOP Research > > <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/14/opinion/main1893879.shtml&date=2011-04-06> > . > - 80 percent of young Dutch Muslims see nothing wrong with holy war > against non-believers. Most verbalized support for pro-Islamic State > fighters. Motivaction Survey > > <http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2014/11/young-dutch-turks-radical-views-worry-mps-call-for-more-research/> > (2014). > - Nearly one-third of Muslim-Americans agree that violence against > those who insult Muhammad or the Quran is acceptable. The Polling > Company > > <http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/150612-CSP-Polling-Company-Nationwide-Online-Survey-of-Muslims-Topline-Poll-Data.pdf>CSP > > Poll (2015). > - 68 percent of British Muslims support the arrest and prosecution of > anyone who insults Islam. NOP Research. > > <http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/08/14/opinion/main1893879.shtml&date=2011-04-06> > - 51 percent of Muslim-Americans say that Muslims should have the > choice of being judged by Shariah courts rather than courts of the United > States (only 39 percent disagree).The Polling Company > > <http://www.centerforsecuritypolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/150612-CSP-Polling-Company-Nationwide-Online-Survey-of-Muslims-Topline-Poll-Data.pdf>CSP > > Poll (2015). > - 81 percent of Muslim respondents support the Islamic State (ISIS). > Al-Jazeera > > <http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2015/05/25/shock-poll-81-of-al-jazeera-arabic-poll-respondents-support-isis/>poll > > (2015). > > Bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster and the moderate Muslim: Even as we hear of > the occasional sighting, most reasonable people remain skeptical as to > whether, in reality, these mysterious creatures even exist. > > > > > __._,_.___ > ------------------------------ > Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected] <javascript:>> > ------------------------------ > > > Visit Your Group > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmdGhpcjVmBF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0NTE5MjYzMzc-> > > > > [image: Yahoo! Groups] > <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlNzNvOGk4BF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQ1MTkyNjMzNw--> > > • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • > Unsubscribe <javascript:> • Terms of Use > <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> > > __,_._,___ > > > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
