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Book burning (illustrative photo)
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| By Israel Insider staff May 21, 2008 |
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Israeli Jews burned copies of the New Testament in the town of Ohr Yehuda after its deputy mayor called for a purge of missionary texts following an accelerating campaign by evangelists seeking to convert residents to Christianity.
Israel's daily Ma'ariv carried a front-page story Tuesday about a bonfire of the New Testament and other Christian texts held in Ohr Yehuda on Monday at the prompting of Deputy Mayor Uzi Aharon. A vehicle with a loudspeaker made its way down Nevei Rabin Street, calling on Jews to bring the copies of the new testament and other materials given to them by the messianic Jews for burning. Officials of the Shas religious party in Ohr Yehuda explained that missionaries are working fervently in the city. Aharon stated the level of missionary activities in his city is intolerable, with messianic Jews going house-to-house to distribute their materials.
An attorney for the missionaries told Galei Tzahal (Army Radio) on Tuesday that the action of the Orthodox Jews is illegal and immoral, drawing an analogy to the Nazis who burned Jewish books, leading to violence and the Holocaust. Meyers called on the state prosecutor and police to file charges against people taking part in the burning.
Asked about Monday's incident in an Army Radio interview, Aharon acknowledged calling on community members to throw out missionary literature delivered to their homes. But he denied involvement in the book-burning or knowing that the Christian New Testament were included. He said he was acting alone and not on behalf of the municipality.
A lawyer representing Israel's messianic Jewish community demanded that police investigate the incident, arguing that it could incite violence. Aharon noted that Israeli law places curbs on proselytizing Jews and said those who had distributed the Christian pamphlets in Ohr Yehuda should be prosecuted.
Since the establishment of the state, no one has ever stood trial for missionary activities, which is only illegal when seeking to entice minors, not adults. He stated that to his knowledge, there are about 10,000 missionaries in Israel today, stating the law is compelled to protect their basic rights. The attorney for the missionary stated that messianic Jews see themselves as members of the Jewish People and are entitled to the full protection of the law and the basic civil rights enjoyed by all Israelis and residents of the country.
Dr. Efraim Zuroff, who heads the Israel office of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, stated that the act of burning books has a negative association to the Holocaust. "It would have been preferable to find another way to dispose of the books and materials -- but the main problem, the missionaries, remains."
"We must respect holy writings of Islam and Christianity," Dr. Zuroff added, "but we may not permit missionary activities targeting our youth." In recent days, the Israeli branch of Jews for Jesus has launched a large-scale campaign in Hebrew promoting their beliefs that Jesus is the Jewish messiah. |
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