Israel, a land of intolerance

MSNBC

Safety pins and screws are still lodged in 15-year-old Ami Ortiz’s body three months after he opened a booby-trapped gift basket sent to his family. The explosion severed two toes, damaged his hearing and harmed a promising basketball career.

Police say they are still searching for the assailants. But to the Ortiz family the motive of the attackers is clear: The Ortizes are Jews who believe that Jesus was the Messiah.

Israel’s tiny community of Messianic Jews, a mixed group of 10,000 people who include the California-based Jews for Jesus, complains of threats, harassment and police indifference.

The March 20 bombing was the worst incident so far. In October, a mysterious fire damaged a Jerusalem church used by Messianic Jews, and last month ultra-Orthodox Jews torched a stack of Christian holy books distributed by missionaries.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry and two chief rabbis were quick to condemn the burning, but the Ortiz family says vigorous police action is needed.

“I believe that it will happen again, if not to us, then to other Messianic believers,” said Ami’s mother, Leah Ortiz, a 54-year-old native of South Orange, N.J.

Proselytizing is strongly discouraged in Israel, a state that was established for a people that suffered centuries of persecution for not accepting Jesus and has little tolerance for missionary work.

Mormons refrain from missions
At the same time, Israel has warm relations with U.S. evangelical groups, which strongly support its cause, but these generally refrain from proselytizing inside Israel. Even the Mormon church, which has mission work at its core worldwide, agreed when it opened a campus in Jerusalem to refrain from missionary activity.

“Historically the core of Christianity … was ‘convert or die,’ so it was seen and is still seen as an assault on Jewish existence itself,” said Rabbi David Rosen, who oversees interfaith affairs for the American Jewish Committee. “When you are called to join another religion, you are being called on to betray your people.”

Messianic Jews consider themselves Jewish, observing the holy days and reciting many of the same prayers. The Ortiz family lights candles on the Jewish Sabbath, shuns pork and eats matzoth on Passover.

Ami Ortiz, interviewed at the Tel Aviv hospital where he is being treated, comes across as no different from any Jewish Israeli his age. He’s a sabra, or native-born Israeli, who speaks English with a Hebrew accent, has an older brother in an elite Israeli army unit and was hoping to join the youth squad of Maccabi Tel Aviv, a league-topping basketball team.

But his religion also holds that one can embrace Jesus — Ami calls him by his Hebrew name, Yeshua — as the Messiah and remain Jewish. Orthodox Jews, on the other hand, believe that the Messiah has yet to come, that he will do so only when he chooses, and that any attempt to pre-empt his coming is a grievous sin.

Rabbi Sholom Dov Lifschitz, head of the ultra-Orthodox Yad Leahim organization that campaigns against missionary activity in Israel, says Messianic Jews give him “great pain.”

“They are provoking … it’s a miracle that worse things don’t happen,” he said.

Messianic activists appear to have had some success among couples with one non-Jewish spouse, as well as immigrants from Ethiopia and the former Soviet Union who have loose ties to Judaism.

Did official encourage book-burning?
Or Yehuda, a town in central Israel with many immigrants as well as ultra-Orthodox Jews including a deputy mayor, Uri Aharon, was the scene of the May 15 book-burning.

Ami Dahan, a local police official, says hundreds of Christian religious books were burned on May 15 in an empty lot in town. He said Deputy Mayor Uzi Aharon, has been questioned on suspicion that he instructed youths to collect the books from homes where they had been distributed and told them to burn them.

Aharon denies ordering the burning. He says the books were collected from a neighborhood of mostly Ethiopian immigrants who are easily persuaded by missionaries.

“There are three missionaries who live and work in the town, and every Saturday they take people to worship and try to brainwash them,” Aharon said.

Many Messianic Jews say they recognize the sensitivities involved and do not distribute religious material or conduct high-profile campaigns. But Aharon noted a recent “Jews for Jesus” campaign with signs on buses that equated two similar Hebrew words — “Jesus” and “salvation.” Public outrage quickly forced the bus company to remove the signs.

 

Lawyer Dan Yakir of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel says the law allows missionaries to preach provided they don’t offer gifts or money or go after minors.

“It is their right according to freedom of religion to maintain their religious lifestyle and disseminate their beliefs, including through literature,” he said.

But the obstacles are evident, raised not just from religious activists but by the state.

Calev Myers, a lawyer who represents Messianic Jews, said he has fought 200 legal cases in the past two years. Most involve authorities’ attempts to close down houses of worship, revoke the citizenship of believers or refuse to register their children as Israelis. In one case, Israel has accused a German religion student of missionary activity and has tried — so far unsuccessfully — to deport her.

In incidents of violence, police are reluctant to press charges, Myers said.

The book-burning caused shock among U.S. evangelicals.

Dave Parsons, spokesman of the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem, which represents evangelical Christian communities, said the test would be how vigorously authorities pursued the case.

“We believe there is a link to a series of incidents here in the land that involve harassment, intimidation and physical violence,” he said.

Family immigrated in 1985
The Ortiz family moved from the United States to Israel in 1985, qualifying as immigrants under Israel’s Law of Return because Leah, the mother, is Jewish. In 1989 they moved into Ariel, a Jewish settlement in the West Bank, and established a small Messianic group which now numbers 60, most of them immigrants from the former Soviet Union, according to David Ortiz, the pastor and Ami’s father.

He said that he built the community through conversations with friends and neighbors, but did not actually go door-to-door distributing religious material to strangers in the traditional sense of missionary work. David Ortiz says he has also proselytized in the Palestinian areas — prompting Islamic leaders there to warn against contact with him. Ortiz said he had “no problem” if Messianic Jews discuss their religious views with others and persuade them to believe in Jesus.

When the family began holding study sessions, a rabbi warned Ortiz not to speak about Jesus outside the home.

In 2005, fliers were distributed in Ariel warning that there were believers of Jesus in the community. One day, two men wearing the black skullcaps of Orthodox Jews knocked on the door and photographed Ortiz when he answered. Recently the photo turned up on a flier with the family’s address.

When the basket was left at the door Ami wasn’t surprised, since it was Purim, a holiday when Jews exchange gifts.

“I opened it up and I heard it and then I was on the floor and I didn’t hear anything, I didn’t see anything,” the lanky boy recalls.

Ami was in critical condition, with severe gashes in his legs and feet and one that just missed his jugular vein. His tryout for the Maccabi team was canceled.

Palestinians suspected at first
His family initially suspected Palestinians; Ariel is in the heart of the West Bank and surrounded by Palestinian towns and villages and, like most Jewish settlements, has been the target of Palestinian attacks. But police immediately told him the bomb was more sophisticated than those made by Palestinians since it contained plastic explosives.

“Nobody ever suspected that a Jewish group would do such a thing, that they would put a bomb in somebody else’s house,” David Ortiz said.

Police have since told the family that Palestinians were not behind the bombing. The family has footage from a security camera of a man delivering the package, according to a person close to the family who spoke on condition of anonymity because police say disclosing details could harm the investigation.

Police spokesman Danny Poleg would not discuss the case, saying only that no arrests have been made.

Meanwhile, the Messianic Jewish believers are taking no chances. These days they worship under the protection of an armed guard.

 

Absentee’s Property Laws = Discrimination

Most people who claim to know things about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have never heard of these laws, and why would they? Many “scholars” simply ignore the foundation of Israel as a nation and simply begin to talk about the anti-semitic nature of Arab culture and how Islam is unable to accept the freedoms of the West. The Absentee’s Property Laws are something that rival the Jim Crow Laws that used to be in place in the United States. I would argue even worse.

‘Absentees’ property’ laws were several laws which were first introduced as emergency ordinances issued by the Jewish leadership but which after the war were incorporated into the laws of Israel. These laws were passed in an effort to gain as much land from the indigenous people as possible while circumventing International Law. Here are the Absentee’s Property Laws as they passed and enforced :

FULL TEXT OF LAWS

So lets break this down piece by piece. The first section defines “absentee” as anyone who lived in British Mandate Palestine and held citizenship to any of the following countries :Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, SaudiArabia, Trans-Jordan, Iraq or the Yemen. It also extended this terminology to anyone who was in one of these countries or in any part of Palestine outside the area of Israel, or was a Palestinian citizen and left his ordinary place of residence in Palestine during, before or after Israel’s war of independence. Notice how this law did not apply to Immigrants or land owners residing in non-Arab countries. So if a British citizen had owned land in Palestine, he would not be subject to this law. People who lived in Palestine were, and we can assume a vast majority of them were of Arab ethnicity and from any number of different religions (at least 5 large ones). (Click Here for Story about land given back to British Owner)

The definition of “absentee” in the law was framed in such a way as to ensure that it applied to every Palestinian or resident in Palestine who had left his usual place of residence in Palestine for any place inside or outside the country after the adoption of the partition of Palestine resolution by the UN.

So these people had left their homes for numerous reasons during this time period. The reason cited most often by survivors of the time was for safety. There was, of course, a war going on in the immediate area and like all peace loving civilians, they fled to safer regions to protect their lives and the lives of their children. Can anyone blame them after hearing about the massacres at Deir Yassin, Al-Tantura, and the Lod/Ramla killings?

These people had their homes and land taken from them and put into the custody of the The Minister of Finance who can appoint inspectors to designate whether a house has an absent owner. Once declared absent every right an absentee had in any property shall pass automatically to the Custodian at the time of the vesting of the property; and the status of the Custodian shall be the same as was that of the owner of the property. Meaning that if you were Arab and not home (because a war perhaps) you no longer had any rights to your property. Furthermore:

The fact that the identity of an absentee is unknown shall not prevent his property from being absentees’ property, vested property, held property or released property.

This part was created to ensure that no knowledge or documentation would be necessary when confiscating the land.

Now we can move onto those Palestinians who chose not to leave their homes.

Where vested property of the category of immovable property is occupied by a person who, in the opinion of the Custodian, has no right to occupy it, the Custodian may confirm such fact by a certificate under his hand describing the property. The certificate shall have the effect of a judgment in favour of the Custodian for the expulsion of the occupier of the vested property.

So, even if you chose to stay in your home and tend to your land the Israeli government could arbitrarily expel you from your home and claim it under these laws.  Sub-Section A under this heading also states that any homes deemed to be immovable and built without the authorization of the Minister of Finance should be demolished (no matter if the home was built before the foundation of Israel).

Section 35 of the law states that any Israeli citizen who fails to report land that is not currently occupied by its owner is subject to two years imprisonment and a fine of 500 pounds (remember this is 1947-1951).

As a result, two million dunams were confiscated and given to the custodian, who later transferred the land to the development authority. This law created the novel citizenship category of “present absentees” (nifkadim nohahim), that is, Israeli Arabs who enjoyed all civil rights-including the right to vote in the Knesset elections-except one: the right to use and dispose of their property”. About 30,000-35,000 Palestinians became “present absentees” - persons present at the time but considered absent.

How much of Israel’s territory consists of land confiscated with the Absentee Property Law is uncertain and much disputed. Robert Fisk interviewed the Israeli Custodian of Absentee Property, who estimates this could amount to up to 70% of the territory of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip

The absentee property played an enormous role in making Israel a viable state. In 1954, more than one third of Israel’s Jewish population lived on absentee property and nearly a third of the new immigrants (250,000 people) settled in urban areas abandoned by Arabs. Of 370 new Jewish settlements established between 1948 and 1953, 350 were on absentee property (Peretz, Israel and the Palestinian Arabs, 1958).

The Land Acquisition (Validation of Acts and Compensation) Law, 5713-1953 legalised expropriations (retroactively in many cases) for military purposes or for the establishment of (Jewish) settlements.

The law allows the Government to claim the property of lands which are not in the possession of its owner as of 1 April 1952. Article 2 (a) states:

Property in respect of which the Minister certifies by certificate under his hand–

(1) that on the 6th Nisan, 5712 (1st April, 1952) it was not in the possession of its owners; and

(2) that within the period between the 5th Iyar, 5708 (14th May, 1948) and the 6th Nisan, 5712 (Ist April 1952) it was used or assigned for purposes of essential development, settlement or security; and

(3) that it is still required for any of these purposes

The Prescription Law was first enacted in 1958 and amended in 1965. It repeals critical provisions of, and reverses British practices in relation to, the Ottoman Land Code (1858).

According to COHRE and BADIL (p. 44), the Prescription Law is one of the most critical to understanding the legal underpinnings of Israel’s acquisition of Palestinian lands. Although not readily apparent in the language of the law, the purpose behind this legislation was to enable Israel to claim as ‘State lands’ areas where Palestinians still predominated and where they could still assert their own claims on the land (for example, in the north of the country). The authors claim that this law, in conjunction with the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance (Amendment) Law, 5720-1960, the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance (New Version), 5729-1969 and the Land Law, 5729-1969, was designed to revise criteria related to the use and registration of Miri lands – one of the most prevalent types in Palestine – and to facilitate Israel’s acquisition of such land.

Under this law, farmers are required to submit documentation proving uninterrupted cultivation of designated plots of land

over a 15-year period (the ‘prescription’ period). Article 5 states:

The period within which a claim in respect of which an action has not been brought shall be prescribed (such period being hereinafter referred to as “the period of prescription”) shall be

(1) in the case of a claim not relating to land - seven years;

(2) in the case of a claim relating to land - fifteen years or, if the land has been registered in the land register after settlement of title in accordance with the Land (Settlement of Title) Ordinance(1), twenty-five years.

The law adds the proviso that lands purchased after 1 March 1943 would be subject to a 20-year verification period. The law also specifies a five-year hiatus between 1958 and 1963 that would not be counted toward this ‘prescription’ period. According to COHRE and BADIL, by 1963, much of the lands in question had still not been surveyed. Therefore, calculations of the requisite 20-year verification period were in effect halted, and the State was in a position to press its own claims to these lands. The authors consider that the Prescription Law had even more complex ramifications. For example, Israel decided that British aerial photographs of 1945 would be used to verify cultivation. Arab farmers who had not yet begun tilling their lands at the time the photographs were taken found they were by definition unable to meet the requisite 15-year ‘prescription’ period. Also, as Israel did not accept other evidence of cultivation, such as tax records, many Palestinians fell victim to a ‘Catch-22’: in the process of trying to establish their legal ownership they (retroactively) lost their lands.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_and_Property_laws_in_Israel#The_.27Absentees_Property_Law.27

Here is a somewhat complete list of the villages taken over and demolished during the enforcement of these laws (ie: The past 60 years)

District of Acre

al-Amqa Arab al-Samniyya al-Bassa al-Birwa al-Damun Dayr al-Qassi al-Ghabisiyya Iqrit Iribbin, Khirbat Jiddin, Khirbat

al-Kabri Kafr Bir’im Kafr ‘Inan Kuwaykat al-Manshiyya al-Mansura Mi’ar al-Nabi Rubin al-Nahr al-Ruways

Suhmata al-Sumayriyya Suruh al-Tall Tarbikha Umm al-Faraj al-Zeeb

District of Baysan

Arab al-’Arida Arab al-Bawati Arab al-Safa al-Ashrafiyya al-Bira Danna Farwana al-Fatur al-Ghazzawiyya al-Hamidiyya

al-Hamra Jabbul Kafra Kawkab al-Hawa al-Khunayzir Masil al-Jizl al-Murassas Qumya al-Sakhina al-Samiriyya

Sirin Tall al-Shawk al-Taqa, Khirbat al-Tira Umm ‘Ajra Umm Sabuna, Khirbat Yubla Zab’a al-Zawiya, Khirbat

District of Beersheba

• al-Imara
• al-Jammama
• al-Khalasa

District of Gaza

Arab Suqrir Barbara Barqa al-Batani al-Gharbi al-Batani al-Sharqi Beit Daras Bayt ‘Affa Bayt Jirja Bayt Tima Bil’in Burayr Dayr Sunayd Dimra al-Faluja Hamama

Hatta Hiribya Huj Hulayqat Ibdis Iraq al-Manshiyya Iraq Suwaydan Isdud al-Jaladiyya al-Jiyya Julis al-Jura Jusayr Karatiyya Kawfakha

Kawkaba al-Khisas al-Masmiyya al-Kabira al-Masmiyya al-Saghira al-Muharraqa Najd Ni’ilya Qastina al-Sawafir al-Gharbiyya al-Sawafir al-Shamaliyya al-Sawafir al-Sharqiyya Simsim Summil Tall al-Turmus Yasur

District of Haifa

Abu Shusha Abu Zurayq Arab al-Fuqara Arab al-Nufay’at Arab Zahrat al-Dumayri Atlit Ayn Ghazal Ayn Hawd Balad al-Shaykh Barrat Qisarya Burayka al-Burj, Khirbat al-Butaymat Daliyat al-Rawha’ al-Dumun, Khirbat al-Ghubayya al-Fawqa al-Ghubayya al-Tahta Hawsha

Ijzim Jaba’ al-Jalama Kabara al-Kafrayn Kafr Lam al-Kasayir, Khirbat Khubbayza Lid, Khirbat al-Manara, Khirbat al-Mansi al-Mansura, Khirbat al-Mazar al-Naghnaghiyya Qannir Qira Qisarya Qumbaza, Khirbat

al-Rihaniyya Sabbarin al-Sarafand al-Sarkas, Khirbat Sa’sa’, Khirbat al-Sawamir al-Shuna, Khirbat al-Sindiyana al-Tantura al-Tira Umm al-Shawf Umm al-Zinat Wa’arat al-Sarris Wadi Ara (village) Yajur

District of Hebron

Ajjur Barqusya Bayt Jibrin Bayt Nattif al-Dawayima Dayr al-Dubban

Dayr Nakhkhas Kudna Mughallis al-Qris Horkins al-Qubayba Ra’na

Tall al-Safi Umm Burj, Khirbat az-Zakariyya Zayta

District of Jaffa

al-’Abbasiyya Abu Kishk Bayt Dajan Biyar ‘Adas Fajja al-Haram Ijlil al-Qibliyya Ijlil al-Shamaliyya

al-Jammasin al-Gharbi al-Jammasin al-Sharqi Jarisha Kafr ‘Ana al-Khayriyya al-Mas’udiyya al-Mirr al-Muwaylih

Rantiya al-Safiriyya Salama Saqiya al-Sawalima al-Shaykh Muwannis Yazur

District of Jerusalem

Allar Aqqur Artuf Bayt ‘Itab Bayt Mahsir Bayt Naqquba Bayt Thul Bayt Umm al-Mays Bir Nabala al-Burayj Colonia Dayr Aban Dayr ‘Amr Dayr al-Hawa

Dayr Rafat Dayr al-Shaykh Deir Yassin Ein Karim Ishwa’ Islin Ism Allah, Khirbat Jarash al-Jura Kasla al-Lawz, Khirbat Lifta al-Maliha Nitaf

al-Qabu al-Qastal Ras Abu ‘Ammar Sar’a Saris Sataf Sheikh Badr Suba Sufla al-Tannur, Khirbat al-’Umur, Khirbat al-Walaja

District of Jenin

• Ayn al-Mansi
• al-Jawfa, Khirbat
• al-La