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Dr. Yehuda Stolov: refuses to retract or correct the anti-Semitic claims he published and distributed.
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| By Reuven Koret August 29, 2007 |
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On August 26th, Dr. Yehuda Stolov, Executive Director of the Interfaith Encounter Association in Israel, sent to an email list of journalists and supporters the following report of an "Encounter on the theme of Anti-Semitism" that took place in Eilat on April 18th.
Following is the complete English summary of the "encounter," translated accurately from Hebrew as reported by Malca Levin, one of two coordinators of the group.
"The term Anti-Semitism is relatively new and was formed in Germany. In the sources, referring to Christianity, the term was "Hate of Israel". Christianity came to complete Judaism. Jesus is the messiah and in his time Torah was opened for all. The Jews did not accept Jesus as a messiah and here starts the hatred. On the cross four letters are written, which are the abbreviation for "Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews". There are two kinds of Anti-Semitism: religious -- which allowed the possibility to convert to Christianity and save the life; and racial, as that of the Nazis -- in which there is no way to save the life and the solution is extermination."
Stolov, who I queried by email about this shocking summary, at first suggested that the "translation was not good enough -- I already got messages indicating lack of clarity that led to misunderstanding."
When I noted that the translation from Hebrew was accurate, Stolov took a more circuitous tack: "My difficulty to respond comes from the fact that I do not understand what you see problematic in the report. It is, of course, less than partial from the perspective of the theme itself but what can be expected from a few lines or an hour and a half of free conversation? For example: Christianity has certainly been one of the sources of Anti-Semitism, but not the only one and in other contexts Jews also suffered from it. Similarly: the distinction between the two kinds of Anti-Semitism (one in which the Jew has to die and one that not necessarily) is definitely correct from that perspective, but definitely does not cover all types of Anti-Semitism. As these are basically the two statements of the report -- I do not see what exactly concerns you."
I then asked directly Stolov whether he agreed with the most offensive part of the text from his report: "Christianity came to complete Judaism. Jesus is the messiah and in his time Torah was opened for all. The Jews did not accept Jesus as a messiah and here starts the hatred." Stolov responded: "Of course not and I am very sorry for the misunderstanding!! This explains the claim of the Christian antisemites!!!!!!"
But he later added: "I took the time, before replying to you, to go through all responses to this report and saw that fortunately no one else made this mistake."
This contradicted his initial claim that he had received correspondence "indicating lack of clarity that led to misunderstanding."
Stolov did not respond to my suggestion that there was an urgent need to retract or clarify the statement, so that his organization would not be associated with it. Nor did he provide access as requested to the writer of the report or any participants present at the Eilat Encounter so that the matter could be clarified with eyewitness sources.
Thus an organization dedicated to interfaith dialogue leaves as the unchallenged summary report of its encounter on anti-Semitism a repetition of the classic Christian anti-Semitic claim against the Jews. No rebuttal, no qualification, no declaration that the report repeats uncritically the false arguments of anti-Semitic Christians and the Church throughout the centuries.
Stolov, a Jew educated in the traditions of Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, who advocates candor in debates among ideological adversaries and indeed appears quite candid himself in published interviews, apparently refuses to change or retract such an offensive report or repudiate a patently anti-Jewish series of Christian claims against Jews.
It remains uncertain whether this was just an incompetent report parroting anti-Semitic canards as the factual substance of the encounter, or if indeed reflects the substance of what transpired, with Christianity's anti-Jewish claims presented uncritically and left uncontested, Either way it is now in the public recording, an embarrassment to Stolov and the IEA.
The anti-Jewish paragraph published by the IEA raises doubts about the purpose of Jewish participation in and backing of such encounters, where the Jew is, either for his alleged persecution of fellow Jew Jesus two thousand years ago, or of contemporary Israeli Arabs (or rather, Palestinian Arabs who enjoy the benefits of Israeli citizenship and socioeconomic perks) and Palestinians, put on the defensive and assigned the blame.
But perhaps this kind of "guilt trip" is a motive of such interfaith encounters: to weaken the Jew's convictions in his own faith and his own nation, to cause him to bend over backwards to apologize for his religion and his country. If even the head of such an organization lacks the courage or the awareness to clarify publicly a series of published anti-Semitic statements from his own organization, distributed under his own name, such dialogue may seem futile if not worse.
Contrast the anti-Jewish calumnies with a more recent report, from a July 9, 2007 encounter on "Rights of Women in Islam" (presumably a short lecture):
"Zainab Abu Ta'a spoke about the theme and it was discussed in warm atmosphere."
"Zainab explained all the rights the woman has in a precise way and pointed to the differences between the religion and the traditions in the Arab and Muslim society."
Islam grants the woman the right to work but with certain limitations, her right with money and to choose her husband. Her parents have to supply all her needs.
Islam respects the woman and protects her."
The reporter, it turns out, was none other than the speaker: Zainab Abu Ta'a. Needless to say, no comments on wife-beatings, honor-killings, minders, cultural repression, and clitoridectomies. Some dialogue.
Perhaps some insight on this dichotomy of extreme criticism of Jews, uncontested rationalization of Christian anti-Jewish theology, and total non-criticism of Muslims can be drawn from the list of the largest donors, public in the group's 2006 annual report.
European Union
David Scheim
Global Ministries, Protestant Church of the Netherlands
US Embassy to Israel
Diane & Morton Goldin Foundation
Lester and Edna Shapiro Family foundation (Nathan Shapiro)
Len & Libby Traubman
Sara A. Gottesman
Randall Paul ? Foundation for Interreligious Diplomacy
Dr. Jodi Prinzivalli
Middle East Peace Dialogue Network
Dr. Anthony L. Klug - The Ploughshares Trust
Mr. Karl Price - Community 2000
Educational Encounters International
Barbara J. Meislin
Islamic Dialoog and Information Center
City Council of Hasselt
Ben N. Teitel Charitable Trust - Gerald Cook Esq
Kathryn Goetz Wolf
Rotary Club of Geneva
The donor list raises questions about which tune those who pay the piper -- or is he a puppet? -- are calling. |
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