Sunday, April 10, 2011

Eugenio García Gascón on the religion in Israel (I).

Yoram Cohen was appointed new Shabak director. The Shabak (an acronym for Sherut haBitahon haKlali or General Security Service), formerly known as the Shin Bet, is Israel's security service for operations inside the State of Israel itself and the Palestinian territories.

Público's Eugenio García Gascón wrote an article about the issue, published on Wednesday, March 30, 2011, under the title Kipot y uniformes (Kipot and uniforms). The journalist describes how religious Jews are taking the control over the State of Israel, putting Yoram Cohen as an example. On what grounds did Eugenio García Gascón base his theory? Yoram Cohen usually wears a kippah (whose plural form is kippot). This means Yoram Cohen is a religious Jew, and for Eugenio García Gascón this is enough to think that "a doubt concerning his professional behaviour will always exist."

He also wrote that many appointments recently made in Israel fell on religious Jews, as well as there are many religious military high commanders. On these grounds he argues that Israel is becoming a more nationalistic and religious country.

Well, he seems to forget that, in spite of the presence of religious Jews in Israel, Israel's Supreme Court sentenced against imposed gender segregation in mehadrin buses, used precisely by religious Jews; that Israeli homosexual couples are granted the right to adopt children and take paternity or maternity leaves, being the homosexuality a sin according precisely to the Jewish religious law or halakha; that religious Jews can be arrested for having committed hate crimes based precisely on religious laws; and that in Israel there is a free press legally able to criticize precisely religious Jews.

Please notice that the aforementioned facts happened during the last years, being Israel under Netanyahu-led coalition Government, usually portrayed as too much nationalistic, too much religious and of a right-wing extremist nature by the Spanish media. So, is there a regression in Israel, as Eugenio García Gascón literally wrote? Should we be alert, as he recommends us?

Should somebody tell Público's journalist that protraying Yoram Cohen as he did just because the new Shabak chief usually wears a kippah is an anti-Semitic argument in nature?

1 comment:

  1. Decile a este buen hombre que realmente hace falta que revise sus prejuicios. El hecho de que Israelies, igual como muchos europeos se han vueltos mas tradicionalistas frente a las locuras que han impuestos los fanaticos postmodernistas, no ha hecho Israel ni mas ni menos militarizado, o "agresivo".
    Si va a escribir estupedeces, que averigue antes como esta el resto del mundo!
    Lo cierto es, que cada vez Israel ha ofrecido algun gesto de paz, de convivencia, del otro lado responden con bombas, matanzas, cohetes.

    Que recapacite!

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