anti-Semitic attack anti-Semitism Manfred Gerstenfeld

MANFRED GERSTENFELD: EUROPEAN JEWRY FEELING THE BRUNT OF RESTRICTIONS OF RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS……..

 

The Tundra Tabloids agrees that it is indeed a major dilemma. The problem is not that Islamic rituals bear some resemblance to those found within the Jewish religion, but that Islam however, seeks political conformity to its mores and rituals (Islamization) outside of its own community, Judaism does not.

It’s a gross miscarriage of justice for Jews who are once again discriminated against, as in times past, because this time around society has a justifiable beef with Islam, and Judaism is caught in the crossfire. To further complicate the problem, some with traditional anti-Semitic views are using the current situation as a convenient veneer to make those views into policies.

What’s the answer? How do you remove the threat of Islamization without discriminating against Jews who have no desire to politically manipulate the non-Jewish society for their own self interests? It’s the preverbal enigma wrapped in a riddle. KGS

NOTE: This was first published at Ynet and republished in full here with the author’s permission.

European Attacks on the Jewish Religion

By Manfred Gerstenfeld

Attacks on Jewish religious customs in Europe are becoming increasingly frequent. Last month in the Netherlands, The Royal Association for the Advancement of Medicine, the medical doctors’ organization, described male circumcision as “a painful and damaging ritual” and called for public campaigns against it. The Association did not propose prohibition, fearful that the practice would go underground.1

A few weeks earlier, the Norwegian Ombudsman responsible for children proposed to prohibit male circumcision under the age of 15 or 16.2 He ensures children’s rights in Norway. This was the first time that an official figure proposed such a prohibition. Previous debates focused on inherent health and hygiene issues. In April, the Ministry of Health proposed that circumcision could only be done under the supervision of a doctor or nurse.3 This proposal has been brought into Parliament, but has not been discussed there yet.

In Denmark, the same topic also comes up from time to time. The Social Democrats – who have recently come into power – along with other left wing parties, have in the past come out in favor of prohibiting the circumcision of boys.4 Denmark’s Chief Rabbi Bent Lexner said at the time: “If the law forbidding circumcision is ever passed in Denmark, Jews will have to leave the place they have been living in for hundreds of years.”

There is a great difference on this issue compared with the United States. In the past few days, a Californian state law was signed which makes it impossible for local governments to ban male circumcision. It was proposed to protect “parental rights and liberties,” after attempts in San Francisco and Santa Monica to try to obtain a vote on a prohibition of circumcision.6

Circumcision is just one among several rituals under attack. The debate in the Netherlands during the first half of this year on religious slaughter of animals without stunning the animal first was intense. It also generated strong criticism of the Netherlands from leading Jewish organizations on various continents.

A private law to prohibit religious slaughter without stunning passed the Lower Chamber in the Netherlands in June by a great majority. It will be brought up for approval in the Senate in the coming months. In Switzerland, Norway and Sweden, religious slaughter without stunning has already been forbidden for many decades; the main motive for these prohibitions was anti-Semitism.

From time to time, there have been verbal attacks on religious schools in the Netherlands. Henri Markens, a former chairman of the CJO, the umbrella organization of Dutch Jewry said, “I do not exclude the possibility that in the future there will be political attempts to abolish religious schools, or at least put major limitations on them.”7

In the U.K. in 2009, the Supreme Court decided that the Jewish Free School in London had broken the 1976 Race Relations Act by refusing to admit a boy who had converted to Judaism through the auspices of the Conservative Movement. The number of candidates is larger than the number of places available and the school preferred to accept halachic Jews.8

In 2009, a referendum in Switzerland banned the construction of additional minarets. This led to another proposal for the restriction of religious practices. Graves in regular cemeteries are emptied after a number of years. In Jewish and Muslim cemeteries, graves are eternal. Shortly after the referendum, Christophe Darbellay the leader of the CVP a Christian center party, proposed a ban on new Muslim and Jewish cemeteries. After many protests, including within his own party, he apologized.9

While these attacks come from different directions and their official rationale is varied, many have hidden common motives. In a xenophobic Europe, everything Muslim is viewed negatively by many. This has been enhanced by aggression from certain Muslim circles and abuses as far as circumcision and ritual slaughter are concerned. Muslim schools in some countries also fall very short of national requirements. Another important reason is the development of an increasingly intolerant secularism in Europe.

It is doubtful that without the major Muslim immigration to Europe these prohibitions of rituals would have even been proposed. Jews are rarely the prime targets of the attacks, though in the Dutch ritual slaughter debate, anti-Semitic motifs came up. Yet as Islam copied many Jewish customs with some changes, Jews by default become victims of this general trend. It is mistaken to treat all of these cases only as alarming incidents. They are rather indications that the uncomfortable outsider status of the Jewish communities — which have lived in Europe for centuries — is once again increasing.

Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld has published 20 books. Several of these address anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism.

1 Oproep artsen tegen jongensbesnijdenis,” Trouw., 14 September 2011.

2 “Innfør aldersgrense på omskjæring av gutter,” Ombudsman for Children Homepage, 2 september 2011 [Norwegian]. www.barneombudet.no/omskjaringavgutter/

3 Foreslår lovregulering av rituell omskjæring,” Regjeringen, Helse – OG Omsorgsdepartementet, 26 April 2011. [Norwegian]http:/regjeringen.no/nb/dep/hod/aktuelt/nyheter/2011/foreslar-lovregulering-av-rituell-omskja.html?id=641198

4 “Denmark: Proposal to ban child circumcision,” EuropeNews, 19 November 2008.

5 Yigal Rom, “Child circumcision to be banned in Denmark?” ynetnews.com, 20 November 2008.

6 Anthony York, “44 Bills Signed into Law by Brown,” Los Angeles Times, 3 October 2011.

7 Manfred Gerstenfeld, interview with Henri Markens, “Insights into the Situation of the Jews in the Netherlands,” Changing Jewish Communities 50, 15 November 2009.

8 Leslie Wagner, “Yet another defect in UK law,” Jerusalem Post, 16 December 2009.

9 ”Israelitischer Gemeindebund fordert von CVP weitere Schritte,” NZZ Online, 6 December 2009. [German]

2 Responses

    1. Thanks POTB, I really do appreciate that, it helps to receive support for views on such issues that are truly a difficult pickle to solve.

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