Jerusalem’s holy war

Press, 28 August 1986, Page 21

Jerusalem’s holy war

From

GEOFF MEIN,

a former staff

reporter of “The Press,” in Israel.

Surgeons at a private hospital in Jerusalem are reluctant to perform heart transplants for fear of having their car tyres slashed. They have received threatening letters from ultra-orthodox Jews “reminding” them that, according to strict religious law, removing a heart or liver is tantamount to killing the donor. Recent outbursts of religious extremism in Israel have shown that such threats should be taken seriously. A campaign against advertising posters displaying women in bikinis has led to stone-throwing riots and violent . confrontations with the police. Youths carried away with the excitement have even spraypainted posters showing tins of mayonnaise. Secular extremists have responded, ironically, by setting fire to a synagogue, and by pasting cut-outs from pornographic magazines on the walls of buildings owned by the ultraorthodox. Religious polarisation has become Israeli society’s major problem, according to the President, Mr Chaim Herzog. He likens the conflict to a keg of dynamite which, if not defused, could explode in the faces of people in both camps.

Demonstrations by ultra-Ortho-dox Jews have been legitimised by the participation of religious leaders. In a prelude to the poster campaign, chief rabbis led hundreds of protesters in rallies opposing the openingof cinemas on Friday evenings. Screening films was considered desecration of the Sabbath. One rally outside a cinema in Petah Tikva had to be dispersed by force. After repeated warnings that the gathering was illegal, police armed with truncheons started to push back the demonstrators, hitting out at those who resisted. The protest ended with scores of orthodox Jews running through the city’s streets followed by squads of police in hot pursuit. But it has been the posting of swimwear advertisements in public bus shelters that has provoked the most vociferous opposition. “Lewd” posters showing r women in bikinis aj<e said to give

one thoughts of sin, which is “even worse than sin itself.” A well-known leader, Rabbi Shlomo Goren, said in a recent interview that anything which disturbed one sector of the population should be forbidden. The “pornographic” posters have driven wide sections of the religious public — not just a fringe minority — on to the barricades. Rabbi Goren believes Israel has become one of the most immoral countries in the Middle East. “Even in Europe they haven’t reached such peaks. There is nothing holy any more.”

Spray-painting offending posters has been the most common method of protest. Groups of ultra-orthodox Jews, including rabbis, have defaced the posters on broad daylight, openly inviting arrest. Subsequent court appearances have been turned into political forums. One activist declared defiantly that the court had no jurisdiction to try him. “Only our courts can try us. It is a question of the State or the Torah (divine law) ... This is not a trial about pictures. It is a trial of the whole state of Israel. We must do away with the whole Government of Israel.” Moderate members of the orthodox community have been caught in the middle of the conflict. They complain that their image has been tarnished by the “deplorable actions of a small group of extremists.” The influence of the small group, however, continues to grow. Some moderates feel bound to follow suit for fear of reprisals. An opinion poll, the results of which were published in late June, found that twothirds of Israelis considered the actions of the ultra-orthodox unacceptable. Yet the religious lobby still enjoys tremendous political leverage. It has succeeded in -grounding the national airline on the Sabbath, at huge cost to the economy. It is also responsible for bans on public transport once a week in two large cities, and the prohibition of civil marriage throughout Israel.

Police break up protest

State or Torah