Protest against boycott law (archives)
Photo: Ofer Amram
Reform rabbis against boycott law
Dozens of members of Council of Progressive Rabbis sign 'manifesto' calling controversial bill adopted by Knesset 'a dangerous move unlike any other, which repeatedly erodes Israel's Jewish character'
Dozens of Reform rabbis have signed a "manifesto" against the boycott bill adopted by the Knesset
this week and are calling on the wide public and religious leaders to act against it.
The 85 men and women state that they are committed towards God and man to justice and integrity, to the love of the Jewish people and to maintaining the image of character of its state. Therefore, they are rising up against the law, which they define as "a dangerous step unlike any other on a slippery slope, which repeatedly erodes the Jewish character and democratic quality of Israel."
In the letter, members of the Israeli Council of Progressive Rabbis strongly criticize the controversial law, ruling that "it's a mitzvah to protest against it and fight it until it disappears."
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According to the Reform rabbis, the right to voice an opinion, convince and protest is one of the most important human right, and without it society and the state cannot stand.
"The settlement supporters and opponents, those fearing anti-Israel boycotts, and fearing losing our way, Right and Left – they all must have a place of freedom among us," they wrote.
The boycott law, the Reform rabbis believe, critically injures these basic rights, and therefore "it shouldn't have been approved and no person should accept it."
They accused the law's supporters of being "the predatory majority seeking to prevent those with the opposite opinion and those committed to a different moral stance from expressing them and fighting for them."
The Council of Progressive Rabbis noted in its letter that the mitzvah of protesting injustice is one of the cornerstones of the Torah, and therefore those who seek truth and justice – regardless of their political-Zionist outlook – must join forces in the struggle and show solidarity for those slated to be hurt by the law.
The Reform rabbis concluded their letter by calling on the leaders of all Jewish factions and of other religions in Israel "to take part in educational-religious activity aimed at strengthening Israeli democracy and fighting those plotting to destroy it."
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