Israeli ultra-Orthodox in mass rally over army draft
By Yolande Knell BBC News, Jerusalem
Hundreds of thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews have held a mass prayer in Jerusalem against plans to conscript more of their young men into the Israeli army.
New legislation that would end wholesale exemptions for students at Jewish seminaries is expected to pass in the coming weeks.
A draft bill sets quotas for ultra-Orthodox men to join military or civilian public service.
Those who refuse could face prison.
The ultra-Orthodox demonstration closed off the main entrance to Jerusalem and blocked off many roads to traffic.
Men and teenagers dressed in black hats and coats carried signs that read "The holy Torah will win" and "Please save me from the hands of my brothers".
Rabbis read prayers against the draft over loudspeakers as crowds joined in, swaying backwards and forwards.
In an unusual display of unity, all the three major ultra-Orthodox Jewish streams were represented: Lithuanian, Hassidic and Sephardic.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews insist their young men serve the nation through prayer and study.
The ultra-Orthodox or haredim, say that army service would stop them devoting themselves to the study of religious scriptures, which is seen as a foundation of Jewish life. They are a relatively poor social group. Most ultra-Orthodox men are unemployed because of their religious studies and rely on donations, state benefits and their wives' wages to live."
"There are a lot of different types at this one demonstration. The real issue is that this new law will stop us practising the Torah as we should," says a yeshiva student, Yehudi. "This is another threat to the Jewish nation."
"We want to stay in education," adds another student, Shmoli. "If we are forced to go into the army there will be a lot of dangers to our religious beliefs."
"For example you have mingling of the sexes. This is not the way we were brought up."
The demonstration closed off large parts of Jerusalem
Exemptions from military conscription were given to the ultra-Orthodox when Israel was created in 1948. At that time there were only 400 yeshiva students.
Now owing to their high birth rate, the ultra-Orthodox account for about 10% of the country's population of about eight million people.
They are a relatively poor social group. Most ultra-Orthodox men are unemployed because of their religious studies and rely on donations, state benefits and their wives' wages to live.
This has long caused resentment among Israel's secular majority leading to a demand for the ultra-Orthodox to share the so-called social burden.
In the past, Israel's coalition governments have often relied on the support of ultra-Orthodox partners, making it hard to make political changes that affect their communities.
However the current Israeli cabinet has no ultra-Orthodox members and parties are pushing for the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to make reforms.
Some Israeli political leaders hope that a new approach will ultimately see more ultra-Orthodox men also entering the workplace.
It is narrated that, the Messenger of Allah :saws: said: "None of you should say: "Oh, Allah , Forgive me if You will," or: "Oh, Allah, Have mercy upon me if You Will." Rather he should always appeal to Allah firmly, for nobody can force Allah to do something against His Will." (Bukhari)
It is narrated that Rasoolullah :saws: said:
"One should appeal to Allah with firm determination for nothing is too much or too great for Allah to give it." (Muslim)
India 'In 1861 the government launched a
campaign against the Qur'ān. 300 000 copies of the Noble
Qur'ā were set alight by the government. Thereafter, they
made a resolution to eradicate the ulemā'. An English
historian, Mr. Thompson writes in his memoirs:
"From 1864 to 1867, the British government firmly resolved to eradicate all
the ulemā' of India. These three years are one of the most
heart-wrenching periods of Indian history. The British hanged
14 000 ulemā' to death. From Chandi Chowk of Delhi up to
Khaibar, not a single tree was spared the neck of the ulemā'.
The ulemā' were wrapped in pig-skin and hurled alive into
blazing furnaces. Their bodies were branded with hot copper
rods. They used to be made to stand on the backs of
elephants and tied to high trees. The elephants would then be
driven away and they would be left hanging by their necks. A
makeshift gallow was set up in the courtyard of the Shāhī
Mosque of Lahore and each day up to eighty ulemā' were
hanged. The ulemā' were at times wrapped up in sacks and
dumped into the Rawi river of Lahore after which a hail of
bullets would be pumped into each sack." Thompson writes
further:
"As I got into my camp at Delhi, I perceived a stench
of putrefied flesh. As I stepped out and went behind my camp,
I saw a blazing fire of live coals. I saw a group of forty naked
ulemā' being led into the fire. As I was witnessing this scene,
another group of forty ulemā' were brought onto the field.
Right before my eyes, their clothes were taken off their
bodies. The English commander addressed them thus: 'O
Molvies! Just as these ulemā' are being roasted over this fire,
you will also be roasted. To save yourselves, just one of you
must proclaim that you were not part of the 1857 uprising of
freedom. I will release all of you the moment I hear just one of
you affirming this."
Thompson writes: "By the Lord who has created me! Not one
of the ulemā' said any such thing. All of them were roasted
over the fire and another group was also brought and roasted
over the blazing fire. Not a single ālim surrendered to the
demands of the British."
By 1867 not a single Islamic institute remained. One would be
quite astonished to realize that in 1601 when the British
arrived in India for trade, there were a thousand Islamic
institutes in Delhi alone'.
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
We apologise but you have been denied access to report posts in this thread. This could be due to excessively reporting posts and not understanding our forum rules. For assistance or information, please use the forum help thread to request more information. Jazakallah
