November 1, 2002     

MESSIANIC ACTION COMMITTEE UPDATE (excerpts from recent bulletins received from Israel)   

FREEDOM REPORT 80 

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GAFNI-LAPID BILL: BAD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS . . .

In May, the Messianic Action Committee had been anticipating the final rejection of ultra-Orthodox Rabbi Moshe Gafni's latest anti-religious freedom bill in the Knesset. The bill in question stated: "The distributor of a document by means of the mail, the fax, the electronic mail or by any other means, in which there is some form of persuasion to change religion, whether directly or indirectly, without obtaining the prior consent of the addressee thereto, is subject to three months' imprisonment."

The Constitution, Law, and Justice Committee, which studied the proposed bill, had already recommended removing it from the Knesset's legislative agenda in December 2001 (MAC Report #79), and the Committee's proposal had been on the Plenum's weekly agenda for two weeks without ever coming to a vote. Political events and pressing concerns seemed to have pushed the proposal aside for the present, since it was dropped from the Knesset's agenda as of May 27.

Only about two weeks later did we learn that the chairman of the CL&J Committee and Gafni had agreed to withdrawing the Committee'srecommendation from the agenda for the time being--a worrisome development. 

Shortly after the "mysterious disappearance" of the bill, it came to the  MAC's attention that the strangest of bedfellows--Gafni of the United  Torah Judaism party and Yosef (Tommy) Lapid of the liberal Shinui  party--have united in their common cause to restrict Messianic Believers  from proclaiming their faith. Before the final nail could be driven  into Gafni's previous bill--thus establishing a legislative precedent  rejecting such anti-democratic bills in principle--he and Lapid have  tabled [i.e., put forth for consideration] a new bill, the most far  reaching attempt yet to silence the Gospel in the Land.

The key provision of the bill states: "Anyone who attempts to persuade a  person to change his religion by approaching him directly, will be  liable to one year imprisonment; and if the person [approached] is a  minor, he will be liable to two years imprisonment."

Lapid has traditionally led the charge against attempts to impose  religious "theocracy" on Israeli society as a whole. He has made a name  for himself as a fighter against religious coercion and, thus, as a  champion of democratic principles for Israeli society. Unfortunately,  Lapid's efforts are not so much a result of a dyed-in-the-wool  commitment to enlightened democratic principles as they are an  expression of his deep opposition to the ultra-Orthodox and their  values. The only group that Lapid may oppose more is the Messianics.  A Holocaust survivor, he views "missionaries" (as he would label all  Messianic Believers) as enemies of the Jewish people who are continuing  Nazi extermination efforts by other means. Lapid has publicly declared  that he has no qualms about denying Messianic Believers their basic  civil right to freedom of religious expression.

This unlikely alliance promises to be a major threat to the Messianic  community, posing the best chance yet for restricting Believers' freedom  of expression and religion. This is especially so because of Lapid's  "democrat and liberal" image and his broad support in the  "anti-religious" camp. Thus the current bill might well appear to be  not just another religious attack on democratic freedoms but a  legitimate attempt to suppress a dangerous "superstition" and to protect  the citizens of our modern secular society from its enticements.

In addition, the Israeli political system's present chaos and the  necessary obsession with security and economic issues provide conditions  that are optimal for promoting questionable proposals with limited  critical scrutiny.

AND THE GOOD NEWS IS: The Knesset reconvened last week after its long  summer-High Holiday recess and we have just learned that the CL&J  Committee's recommendation to remove the Gafni bill from the Knesset's  agenda has been returned to the Knesset plenum's weekly agenda! We  cannot explain this sudden development, but with the new Gafni-Lapid  bill waiting in the wings, once again there is the possibility that a  legislative precedent will be set rejecting such anti-democratic  restrictions of religious expression in Israel.

The first meeting of the Plenum will be Monday, October 21, with  subsequent sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday. We on the MAC will be  busy updating Knesset members and warning them of the serious threat  that such bills pose to Israel's democratic character. Time is  obviously very short.

In such circumstances, divine intervention is necessary to protect the  powerless and to rally the true democrats in the Knesset to repel this  assault on Israel's democratic foundations. Please join us in praying  that the true implications of Gafni's bill will be exposed and that  Israel's leadership will reject it decisively; in order that we may  continue to proclaim God's salvation in Yeshua the Messiah freely and  effectively. *The preceding is a revised version of the MAC chairman's  article which appeared in the Messianic Times, July 2002 edition, page 1

HESED VeEMET LAWSUIT ON UNLAWFUL DISMISSAL

In what promises to be a  precedent setting case in several respects, the Hesed VeEmet  Congregation of Rishon LeTzion is going to court to challenge the  unlawful dismissal of one of its members at the instigation of the  semi-governmental "anti-missionary" organization, Yad Le'Achim. This is  but one of many instances where employers have been pressured to dismiss  believers from their jobs simply because of their faith in Yeshua as  Messiah. The congregation has appealed for the prayers and support of  believers worldwide in this important struggle.

The following is an excerpt from their bulletin: "A few months ago,  Yad Le'Achim began to apply pressure on the Petach Tivka (a town in the  centre of the country) municipality in order to obtain the dismissal of  Ze'ev Bern, a computer and computer systems technician serving the  municipality's schools. Mr. Bern has an excellent professional  reputation and he is much esteemed by the school principles he served,  as well as by all his co-workers.

"After having various means of pressure applied to him in order to  obtain his resignation, Mr. Bern was finally dismissed due to his  religious beliefs and in spite of his excellent professional  performance. Needless to say, he had never used his contact with the  children at school in order to promote his religious views..

"If we do not contest this dismissal, we will have opened the door to  further such action against many believers in Israel.. We have,  therefore, decided to press charges against the Petach Tikva  municipality for unlawful dismissal on the grounds of religious  convictions..

"You are welcome to pass this information to the press or to any  potentially interested parties, who are welcome to contact us at  bmaoz@attglobal.net or at +972 51 393 521."

INTERIOR MINISTRY'S "BLACKLIST" EXPOSED

In our MAC report #78 (July  2001) we described the way in which Messianic believers have been  harassed by operatives of the Interior Ministry through withholding of  basic services, confiscation of ID cards and non-renewal of passports.  Over a year later, two major Israeli newspapers (the Hebrew daily Yediot  Acharonot and the English daily Jerusalem Post) have caught up with the  MAC with exposes of such abuses against a whole range of citizens whose  religious identity is questioned. The following is an excerpt from the  JP article, dated August 28, 2002:

"The Interior Ministry keeps a secret 'blacklist' of Israeli citizens,  apparently based on doubts regarding their religious status, and refuses  to grant them services, even though it does not tell them that such a  list exists and that they are on it, according to a petition submitted  to the High Court of Justice earlier this week....

"According to the petition, T.T. lost her identity card in April 2001  and applied to the Interior Ministry branch in Holon for a new one. At  the same time, she asked to renew her passport.

"The Interior Ministry refused to give her an identity card and renewed  her passport for only one year, instead of the standard five years. The  clerk did not explain why.

"Some time later, she asked the Interior Ministry to extend her passport  again. Her application was turned down and the clerk did not return her  passport.

"According to the petition, 'The Interior Ministry clerks behaved that  way because the Population Registry issued an illegal regulation.  According to that regulation, the ministry changed T.T.'s original  registration by canceling her classification as Jewish in religion and  nationality, and adding her name to a list of residents classified as  'service-restricted.' This illegal action was carried out without  summoning T.T. in person and without giving her the chance to defend  herself and bring proof [of her Jewishness.]' ..

"Corinaldi wrote that T.T. has not had an identity card since April 2001  and no longer has a passport, either. As a result, she is not entitled  to any of the services or rights that require presenting an identity  card or passport, even though she is an Israeli citizen in good  standing."

Messianic Jews and other Messianic believers continue to be prime  targets of the kind of oppressive treatment described in the above  article. Every week we learn of new cases where Messianic believers  have been refused passport or ID card renewal, or have had their  documents confiscated and have been told that their citizenship has been  revoked. The control of the Interior Ministry and the Population  Registry by ultra-Orthodox "anti-missionary" activists with wide  discretionary powers does not hold any promise of relief in the present  circumstances.

Please pray with us that the court battles being waged on behalf of a  few individuals would lead to a sweeping reform of this unjust  situation, and that unilateral decisions on the part of the Interior  Ministry which is hostile to believers in Yeshua (Jesus) would be  reversed and, in the future, prevented altogether.

 

MESSIANIC ACTION COMMITTEE
Paul Liberman, Chairman
Noam Hendren
Charles Kopp
Marvin Kramer, Esq.
Nizar Touma
Daniel Yahav

P. O. Box 5462, Herzliya  46153    Israel
Tel/Fax:  972-9-951-6118      
E-mail: themac@netvision.net.il
Wires:  Bank Leumi, 32 Maskit Street, Herzliya Pituach, Israel
Telephone:  972-9-970-6333, Fax No. 972-9-970-6355
Branch/Account No.: 864-12986      ABA Number = SWIST CODE =LEUMILIT864

See also:

AMFI's Religious Liberty in Israel Update Page

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