Supporters of rabbis' letter: We're not racists

Rightists gather in Jerusalem's Zion Square to express support for call to ban sale or rental of property to Arabs; organizers distribute religious edict banning negotiations on West Bank territories: 'PM conducting talks with Hussein Obama's emissaries'

Yair Altman|Published: 12.23.10 , 21:38

Three days after an anti-Arab rally was held in Bat Yam, some 2,000 rightists gathered in Jerusalem's Zion Square Thursday night to show their support for a letter signed by dozens of municipal rabbis forbidding the rental or sale of property to Arabs.

The demonstration, held under the banner "Yes to construction, no to concessions" was organized by the SOS Israel and Our Land of Israel organizations.

"The pathetic, dangerous left has launched an all-out attack," Knesset Member Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) told the rally. "The people despise them (leftists) because they want to turn the only state the Jewish nation has into a land of all nations, except the Jewish nation.

'Grave danger to Israel.' Zion Square rally (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

"(The leftists) call us racists, but they say haredim should live separately. This is hypocrisy. They attack the rabbis (who signed the letter calling to ban the sale of apartments to non-Jews) who are fighting for this land's identity," he said.

'People despise the left.' Protestors in Jerusalem (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

The guest of honor at the rally was Safed chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, one of the initiators of the rabbis' letter.

During the demonstration, organizers handed out flyers with a religious edict that prohibits negotiations on territories in the West Bank. "He (Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) is conducting talks with Hussein Obama's emissaries and is planning a mass expulsion that will make hundreds of thousands of settlers miserable, will allow Hamas to take control over the West Bank and endanger millions of Jews in the Holy Land.

"According to the Torah, the prime minister and defense minister (Ehud Barak) cannot remain in their posts, and the government which supports them is destined to be dissolved, because it poses a grave danger to the Israeli people and their land," the flyer reads.

Addressing US President Barack Obama, the head of the Shomron Regional Council said, "You should know that the Land of Israel belongs to the Israeli people. We have the bible, and (in spite of your efforts) we'll continue to thrive and Judea and Samaria.

During the rally in Bat Yam earlier this week, about 200 right-wing activists, headed by Baruch Marzel and Itamar Ben-Gvir, chanted racist slogans against Arabs and Islam.