NEW YORK — T’ruah, a rabbinic human rights organization that represents over 2,300 rabbis and cantors and their communities in North America, reacted today to news of violence that erupted during the Flag March on Yom Yerushalayim this past Sunday in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Jill Jacobs, CEO of T’ruah, issued the following statement:
“Pray for the peace of Jerusalem; May those who love you be at peace. (Psalms 122:6)
“Jerusalem is the holiest city for the Jewish people, and a holy city for Muslims and Christians. Its very name includes the hope of shalom–peace–and shleimut–wholeness. The ugly display of racism and hatred that took place on Yom Yerushalayim this past Sunday violates the innate sanctity of the city.
“The responsibility for Sunday’s events lies with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his government, who made the decision to allow the annual Flag Parade to go through the Muslim Quarter, and to permit 2,600 marchers, led by extremist MK Itamar ben Gvir, to ascend to the Temple Mount with a clear intent to provoke Muslim worshippers there, in a week when ben Gvir called for detonating the Dome of the Rock.
“The Flag March, which this year drew tens of thousands of participants, has long been a show of violent extremism, not a celebration of Jerusalem. This year, marchers paraded through the Muslim Quarter, chanting racist and genocidal slogans, banging on the doors of Palestinian homes and stores, pepper spraying and throwing bottles at Palestinian residents, and attacking homes and cars in the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. Some waved the flag associated with Meir Kahane, the genocidal leader whose political party was banned from Knesset in the 1980s, but whose successor party sits in the current Knesset.
“For years, T’ruah has been advocating to the IRS to block U.S. foundations from transferring money to the groups that fund Lehava, the group leading this march and the successor to the Kahanist organizations designated by the State Department as Foreign Terror Organizations. We have also been asking Jewish donor advised funds, including the Jewish Communal Fund of New York, to ban donations to such organizations. Sunday’s events should provide the incentive to move forward in ensuring that U.S. tax exempt money does not go to a group that promotes and engages in violence.
“The fact that so many of the marchers identify as religious Jews is especially upsetting. Those who choose to carry out incitement and to terrorize a population while wearing kippot, tzitzit, and in some cases even tefillin have forgotten that Jews are meant to worship only God–in whose image all human beings are created–and not a modern state. The yeshivot that bring their students–including teenagers–to take part in this march are violating their moral obligation toward the next generation.
“Both the history of this march, as well as specific security warnings, should have been sufficient for the government to prevent the march from going through the Muslim Quarter, and to stop the ascent to the Temple Mount. And yet, Prime Minister Bennett made the choice to pander to extremists, and to allow incitement that threatened any fragile stability in the city
“Rather than confront the marchers, police chose to push Palestinian residents out of areas of the Old City, to restrict entry to the Temple Mount to Muslims over the age of 40, and even to ban Palestinian journalists from entering the Temple Mount. These decisions are a violation of the status quo agreement that governs the Temple Mount. Furthermore, the decision to protect marchers, not Palestinians, demonstrates once again the disregard that both the Municipality of Jerusalem and the Israeli government have toward Palestinian residents of Jerusalem. While the vast majority of marchers were not allowed to ascend the Temple Mount, the damage was done long before the marchers reached their final destination.
“The official response to the violence highlights the inequity that exists between Palestinians and Israelis. Sunday’s marchers, who were clear in their intent to terrorize Palestinians, were largely given a pass by police. Two weeks ago, the mere sight of Palestinian flags at the funeral procession of Journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in a Palestinian neighborhood was sufficient to provoke a violent response from Israeli police. Of the dozens of people arrested on Sunday, the vast majority were Palestinians–not the Jews who incited, engaged in violence, and terrorized Palestinian residents. This lack of consequences further proves how empty the Prime Minister’s insistence on zero tolerance really was and is.
“According to one midrash, Jerusalem was built in the area assigned to the tribe of Benjamin, as Benjamin was the only one of the brothers who did not participate in the sale of Joseph, or in the internal strife among the brothers (Yalkut Shimoni 957). Anyone who cares about the future of Jerusalem must recommit now to ensuring that the city be a place of peace and wholeness, that protects every single one of its residents.”
T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights mobilizes a network of more than 2,300 rabbis and cantors from all streams of Judaism that, together with the Jewish community, act on the Jewish imperative to respect and advance the human rights of all people. Grounded in Torah and our Jewish historical experience and guided by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, we call upon Jews to assert Jewish values by raising our voices and taking concrete steps to protect and expand human rights in North America, Israel, and the occupied Palestinian territories.