Members of the Orthodox Jewish community, organized by the Central Rabbinical Congress of the USA and Canada, plan to protest against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The demonstration will be held on Pennsylvania Ave, in front of The White House, Washington, D.C. Wednesday February 15 at 2:00 PM.
Under a 2014 law, the Israeli government has been forcing Orthodox Jewish young men to serve in its army. Those who refuse, due to their religious convictions, as well as those who protest against the law, are incarcerated for weeks and sometimes months Currently Rabbi Binumin Friedman, a father of seven, is held in prison for protesting against the draft. Authorities say they will hold him until his trial ends. No one can tell how long that will be – possibly more than a year.
“Netanyahu and his state don’t represent Jews or Judaism,” said Rabbi Shaye Weiss “This draft issue once again proves that their intention is to uproot religious Judaism.”
Very few countries in the world draft their citizens even in peacetime. Even those that do, grant exemptions in reasonable circumstances – certainly for religious convictions.
Furthermore, the current Israeli policy of oppressing peaceful protestors against conscription violates the most fundamental right accorded to each human being on the earth: the freedom of expression, the freedom of assembly and the freedom of religion
“Only the Israeli government breaks into people’s homes in the middle of the night, drags them out and throws them in jail for a year and a half, just because they don’t want to be influenced by the irreligious and immoral environment of the Israeli army. Furthermore, the very act of serving in the Israeli army is forbidden by Torah. According to Jewish law, Jews are not allowed to wage wars against other nations or to create a Jewish sovereign state of any kind before the messiah comes”.
Source: prnewswire.com
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