May 2016 Traditional Jewish Attitudes Toward Poles

473 Oz Rosenberg, “Christian Monastery Near Jerusalem Vandalized, Door Set On Fire,” Haaretz, September 4, 2012; Nir Hasson, “Catholic Church condemns ‘price-tag’ attack on monastery, urges Israel to change ‘culture of contempt’,” Haaretz, September 4, 2012.

474 Ben Hartman, “Molotov Cocktail Thrown at Monastery Outside Beit Shemesh,” Jerusalem Post, August 21, 2013.

475 Associated Press, “Catholic Monastery Vandalized In Israel Ahead of Pope Francis Visit,” April 1, 2014.

476 Nir Hasson, “Jerusalem Church Defaced in Latest Hate Crime Attack,” Haaretz, May 9, 2014; Ilan Ben Zion, “Church Defaced in Jerusalem in Suspected ‘Price Tag’ Hate Attack,” Times of Israel, May 9, 2014.

477 Noa Shpigel and Barak Ravid, “Arson suspected at Church of loaves and Fishes in Northern Israel,” Haaretz, June 18, 2015; Ariel Schalit, The Associated Press, “Church near Sea of Galilee Damaged in Possible Extremist Jewish Arson Attack,” The Globe and Mail, June 18, 2015.

478 Isabel Kershner, “Israeli City Divided by Sectarian Violence,” The New York Times, October 12, 2008.

479 Ilan Lior and Tomer Zarchin, “Demonstrators Attack African Migrants in South Tel Aviv,” Haaretz, May 24, 2012.

480 Karin Laub and Mohammed Daraghmeh, “UN says pace of Israeli settler attacks up 4-fold,” Associated Press, January 15, 2014. See also Amira Hass, “Israeli Security Forces Stand By While Settlers Harass Palestinian Shepherds, Witnesses Say,” Haaretz, March 3, 2013; Gili Cohen, “Settlers Attack Palestinians’ House While Israeli Troops Look On,” Haaretz, January 9, 2014.

481 Chaim Levinson, Haaretz Service and The Associated Press, “Abbas slams ‘brutal’ settlers for attack on West Bank mosque,” Haaretz, December 11, 2009.

482 Patrick Martin, “Mosque Attack Outrages Israeli Leaders,” The Globe and Mail, October 4, 2011. Israeli Prime Minister’ Benjamin Netanyahu’s “outrage” must, in view of his abominable track record, be treated with a great deal of skepticism.

483 Oz Rosenberg and Nir Hasson, “Jerusalem mosque set alight in suspected ‘price tag’ attack,” Haaretz, December 14, 2011.

484 Patrick Martin, “Jewish Extremists Burn New West Bank Mosque,” The Globe and Mail, December 16, 2011.

485 Oz Rosenberg, “East Jerusalem man beaten in another suspected hate crime,” Haaretz, September 6, 2012.

486 Eli Ashkenazi, “Vandals slash tires of 40 cars in hate crime in northern Israel,” Haaretz, April 3, 2014.

487 “Jerusalem religious cites targets of Jewish extremist hate circles,” Al-Akhbar English, December 12, 2012, Internet: .

488 Gil Yaron, “Christian Immigrants Living in Israel a Growing Flock,” Toronto Star, December 26, 2010.

489 Amiram Barkat, “Christians in Jerusalem want Jews to stop spitting on them,” Haaretz, October 12, 2004; Amiram Barkat, “Jerusalem yeshiva student apologizes to Armenian archbishop for spitting,” Haaretz, October 18, 2004.

490 “Land giveaway ‘forbidden’: Rabbis oppose handover of captured territory,” Toronto Star, June 24, 2003.

491 “‘Stalingrad of Samaria,’” Toronto Star, June 19, 2005.

492 Patrick Martin, “Arab families in Jerusalem moving on up,” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), March 4, 2009.

493 Stefan Raczynski with Shoshana Raczynski, Rescuers Bios, Shtetl, Frontline, Internet: .

494 “Kronika religijna: Biblia na stosie,” Więź (Warsaw), February 2002, 123.

495 The Associated Press, “Orthodox Jewish Youths Burn New Testaments in Or Yehuda,” Haaretz, May 20, 2008; Amir Mizroch, “Or Yehuda Deputy Mayor: I’m Sorry About Burning New Testaments,” The Jerusalem Post, May 20, 2008. According to the Israeli newspaper Maariv hundreds of students took part in the burning. See also Aron Heller, “Israel arrests suspect in attacks on Arabs, leftist Jews,” Toronto Star, November 1, 2009, which reported that an ultra-Orthodox Jewish West Bank settler was behind the killing of two Arabs, the wounding of an Arab, the targeting of a peace activist, and an attack on Messianic Jews over a period of 12 years; he is not suspected of being responsible for the shooting attack against a gay youth centre in Tel Aviv in August 2009, in whcich two people were killed. Regarding the Haredim, Noah Efron has noted:
The image of the Haredim in Israel’s popular culture bears a striking resemblance to European anti-Semitic stereotypes of the Jews, which have maintained currency over the past two centuries. It is well known that many Enlightenment intellectuals—and, no less, several generations of European literati that followed—disliked Jews, feared them, and distrusted them. Scholars disagree about where to squeeze this “Enlightened” anti-Semitism into a typology of Jew hating. Because post-Enlightenment intellectuals were by and large enchanted by reason and ostensibly guided by it, their brand of anti-Semitism rarely rested explicitly on a foundation of rank fabrication or fantasy (Jews killing for blood…). And because their own ties to the Church were often attenuated, their dislike of Jews rarely had a dogmatic foundation (Jews killed Christ). The new “Enlightened” Jew hatred was, in keeping with its Enlightenment image, more a “science” of anti-Semitism. … Voltaire, perhaps the archetype of the “Enlightened” anti-Semite … Post-Enlightenment literature is filled with statements that echo Voltaire.
See Efron, Real Jews, 255–56.

496 See the experiences of Eliezer Urbach described in Weigand, Out of the Fury, 189–97. Jewish Christians were ostracized, fired from their jobs, evicted from their apartments, beaten and harassed by the Orthodox religious community. Ultra-Orthodox rabbinical students laid siege to the home of one missionary, and when they managed to escape, his family was mobbed. Anonymous threatening letters were received by people who associated with Jewish Christians. Many simply practiced their faith underground to be safe and to protect their families. Urbach witnessed a Bible store burned and destroyed. Mission school windows were broken out.

497 Carolynne Wheeler, “Women Taking a Stand to Sit Up Front: Canadian Joins Group Bringing Segregation on Buses to Court in Israel,” The Globe and Mail (Toronto), February 3, 2007. See also Ruth Marcus, “The Ultra-Orthodox Tighten Their Grip in Israel,” Washington Post, August 7, 2012, who reports that even observant, Orthodox, modestly dressed Jewish women continue to be harassed by the Haredi, often finding themselves abused verbally—being called shikseh, the deragoratory term for a Gentile woman, or prutzah, whore, spat upon or pelted by stones.

498 Reuters, “Israel jails 8 Jewish neo-Nazis,” Toronto Star, November 23, 2008. The teenagers, aged 16 to 19, were sentenced to between one and seven year in prison for a “skocking and horrifying” year-long spree of attacks that targeted foreign worlers, ultra-Orthodox Jews and homeless men. They teenagers, one of whom was the grandson of Holocaust survivors, also painted swastikas in a synagogue and planned a birthday party for Hilter.

499 Anti-Semitic acts have also been carried out by Jews rather frequently in the United States, and also in France and Poland, possibly to keep up the siege mentality promoted by some Jewish constituencies by painting non-Jews as anti-Semites. For example, two Jewish students, allegedly victimized by anti-Semities, were actually caught in the act of painting swastikas at George Washington University in November 2007. Pierre B. and his wife, who have ties to Jewish activist groups, made several reports to to the Paris police in 2014 alleging that swastikas and anti-Semitic slogans were painted on their building. In February 2015, they were caught spray painting “Juif” on twenty cars. An investigation revealed that they were actually responsible for the prior reported incidents.

500 Tzvika Brot, “MK Ben Ari Rips Up New Testament,” Israel Jewish Scene, July 18, 2012.

501 Dow Marmur, “A Stand Against Intolerance,” Toronto Star, January 7, 2013: “Christian priests have been spat upon in Jerisalem and elsewhere by ultra-Orthodox thugs who, in the guise of love of the land and love of God, commit crimes that have scandalized Jews everywhere.”

502 Amiram Barkat, “Christians in Jerusalem Want Jews To Stop Spitting On Them,” Haaretz, February 16, 2009.

503 Larry Derfner, “Mouths Filled With Hatred,” The Jerusalem Post Magazine, November 26, 2009.

504 “Christians in Jerusalem Want Jews To Stop Spitting On Them,” The European Union Times, December 14, 2009.

505 Oz Rosenberg, “Ultra-Orthodox spitting attacks on Old City clergymen becoming daily,” Haaretz, November 14, 2011.

506 Three men, who, according to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency), belong to the Jewish extremist group Lehava, were charged with the attack.

507 Jack Khoury, “Galilee Christians, Clergy Protest Ch. 10 Sketch on Mary,” Haaretz, February 23, 2009; Barak Ravid, “PM ‘Sorry’ For Offensive Skit,” Haaretz, February 24, 2009.

508 Gil Yaron, “Christian Immigrants Living in Israel a Growing Flock,” Toronto Star, December 26, 2010.

509 Amos Harel, “IDF Rabbinate Publication During Gaza War: We Will Show No Mercy on the Cruel,” Haaretz, January 26, 2009; Amos Harel, “IDF Censures Officer for Distributing Incendiary Religious Pamphlets to Troops,” Haaretz, January 28, 2009; Ofri Ilani, “Vatican Teaching Hezbollah How to Kill Jews, Says Pamphlet for IDF Troops,” Haaretz, July 19, 2009.

510 Os Rozenberg, “Right-Wing Group Mapping Jerusalem Businesses That Employ Arabs,” Haaretz, November 21, 2011.

511 Chaim Levinson, “Police Release Rabbi Arrested for Inciting to Kill Non-Jews,” Haaretz, July 27, 2010.

512 Yaakov Lappin, “Yitzhar Rabbi Freed After Arrest for Incitement,” The Jerusalem Post, August 20, 2010.

513 Natasha Mozgovaya, “U.S.: Rabbi’s ‘Offensive’ Remarks Harm Peace Efforts,” Haaretz, August 30, 2010.

514 Jonah Mandel, “Yosef: Gentiles Exist Only to Serve Jews,” The Jerusalem Post, October 18, 2010.

515 Marius Schattner, Agence France-Presse, “Homes Not For Sale to Non-Jews: Israeli Rabbis,” National Post (Toronto), December 10, 2010; Chaim Levinson, “Top Rabbis Move To Forbid Renting Homes to Arabs, Say ‘Racism Originated in the Torah’,” Haaretz, December 7, 2010.

516 Patrick Martin, “Israel Rabbi’s Edit Targets Arabs,” The Globe and Mail, December 12, 2010.

517 Chaim Levinson, “Rabbis’ Wives Urge Israeli Woman: Stay Away from Arab Men,” Haaretz, December 28, 2010.

518 Kobi Nahshoni, “Gentile Sperm Leads to Barbaric Offspring,” Israel Jewish Scene, January 12, 2011, Internet: