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"Kill men, women and children (and cattle)"

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By Mary Turck, News Day blog
June 04, 2009
St. Paul Chabad Rabbi Manis Friedman was one of several rabbis asked to respond to the question "How Should Jews Treat Their Arab Neighbors?" in Moment magazine's current issue. His answer, which focused on war and advised, ""Kill men, women and children (and cattle)," drew immediate, outraged response from both Jews and Muslims. The Council on American Islamic Relations-MN called on Jewish and Muslim groups to denounce Friedman, and quoted Rabbi Haim Beliak, executive director of the national educational foundation HaMifgash, who said: “The original quote and the apology by Manis Friedman suggest a debased morality and an atrophied ethical sensibility. Friedman does not speak for Judaism." The Chabad Lubavitch world headquarters in Brooklyn also denounced the statement, saying, "We vehemently disagree with any sentiment suggesting that Judaism allows for the wanton destruction of civilian life, even when at war."

News with attitude, mostly from MN but with occasional forays abroad.News Day summarizes, links to, and comments on reports from news media around the world, with particular attention to Minnesota news.
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©2009 Mary Turck
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Omission of fact

Submitted by Nachman (not verified) on Thu, 2009-06-04 15:53.
Miss Turck may have missed the subsequent response by Rabbi Friedman: "Additionally, my answer, as published, is misleading. For it is, in truth, an answer to a different question. It is obvious, I thought, that any neighbor of the Jewish people should be treated, as the Torah commands us, with respect and compassion. Fundamental to the Jewish faith is the concept that every human being was created in the image of G-d, and our sages instruct us to support the non-Jewish poor along with the poor of our own brethren. The question my statement addresses is: how should we act in time of war, when our neighbors attack us, using their women, children and religious holy places as shields. I attempted to briefly address some of the ethical issues related to forcing the military to withhold fire from certain people and places, at the unbearable cost of widespread bloodshed (on both sides!)—when one’s own family and nation is mercilessly targeted from those very people and places! (I look forward to further clarifying my brief words, too, in a future issue.)" http://momentmagazine.wordpress.com/2009/06/03/a-statement-from-rabbi-fr... With their miserable record, the Council on American Islamic Relations needs a lesson in humility. I'm surprised that Miss Turck didn't mention any relevant facts about CAIR that would seriously damage their credibility in discussing the question asked of Rabbi Friedman.

Nachman and Friedman - a schande to the nations

Submitted by Mary Turck on Fri, 2009-06-05 18:22.
Nachman does a nice job of bobbing and weaving all over the place without ever acknowledging the fact that Rabbi Manis Friedman was writing in answer to the question posed to half a dozen rabbis by Moment magazine: How should Jews treat their Arab neighbors? Like Friedman, Nachman pretends that the question was something else, and tries to excuse his hero's hateful, racist rhetoric. Instead of referencing Moment's actual article, which has the responses of Friedman AND the other rabbis, Nachman points readers to Friedman's excuse for his original answer. It's hardly surprising that Friedman would try to evade responsibility for his original hateful words -- which have been denounced by Chabad headquarters, as well as many other Jewish leaders and publications. (See, for example, the summary in the Jewish Forward.) Even if Friedman were truthful in saying that he was only talking about extreme circumstances of war, he is still wrong. And even the Chabad headquarters agrees that he is wrong, saying, "We vehemently disagree with any sentiment suggesting that Judaism allows for the wanton destruction of civilian life, even when at war.” It's hardly surprising that Jewish leaders and people of conscience would denounce Friedman's hateful words. What is surprising is that Nachman -- or anyone -- would defend them.

It's better to be an unpopular Jew than a dead Jew.

Submitted by Nachman (not verified) on Sat, 2009-06-06 21:04.
Rabbi Friedman answered a moral question that many Jews (as well as leftists and the chattering classes) refuse to confront and are embarrassed to answer: How do you fight an enemy that calls for the annihilation of Israel and the extermination of Jews? Answer: You kill them, to the very last Jew hater, to the very last jihadist that uses civilians as human shields, the jihadist who calls for your destruction, who launches missile attacks against your cities, who murders your civilians in bus, restaurant, dance club, and religious observance bombings; kidnappings, and shootings. You kill them to the very last jihadist that carries a rifle, gun, bomb, or missile and who calls for your murder. You kill them as you would any Nazi soldier. In case you haven't noticed, the Islamists want to exterminate the Jews. Refer to the Hamas covenant, Fatah, Palestinian (Arab) Islamic Jihad, the Islamic Republic of Iran, et. al. http://www.memri.org would be a good place for you to start in your education and bring you out of your dark hole of ignorance. Don't lecture me about the moral responsibilities of Jews. The Jews have conducted themselves well considering the tactics and behavior of their enemies. Would you survive a state of siege for over 60 years after your people were slaughtered by the millions? I'd like to see your reaction if jihadists launch in excess of 4,637 random missile attacks against your neighborhood in 3 years, or if an Arab Islamist detonates a bomb-belt on the Route 21 Metro bus westbound during rush hour, G-d forbid. What will you say then? Will you finally confront evil?

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