Rabbi’s Reflections – Friday, November 24, 2023
(Early) Shabbat Shalom,
As I sit down to write this message, my anticipation is that this will be different from most RRs. We’ll pick up our review of the book of Romans on Sunday. But first, I became aware yesterday, from an email I received, that there is a pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel resolution before the Knoxville City Council. This is not a plan for peace, but a plan for the destruction of the one Jewish majority country in the world. I’m going to provide it to you for reference. I have requested to be added to the list of those who will speak publicly. Here are my prepared remarks.
Good evening City Council members, staff and guests. I am Rabbi Michael Weiner. I lead the Messianic Jewish Congregation, Shomair Yisrael, which means “watchman of Israel.” Our congregational building is located within the city limits of Knoxville near the Holston River at 3811 Boyds Bridge Pike. As a Messianic Jewish rabbi, I speak to you tonight from both the Jewish and Christian perspectives.
Distinguished council persons, before you pass judgment to approve resolution L (fifty), I invite you to go to the “hamas.com” website. On that website, I found these words in answer to the question, “What does Hamas stand for?” “Hamas promotes the liberation of Palestine, from the river to the sea by any means possible.” I went to their website in preparation to speak here tonight because I am aware of this truth… the eternal lesson of the Holocaust is “NEVER AGAIN!” That means that never again will Jewish lives be cheap. “NEVER AGAIN” will Jewish people be unable to defend themselves against those who want to destroy us.
The resolution before you mentions the collective punishment of Palestinians five times. It seems to dismiss the collective punishment of Jewish people on October 7th without ever calling it collective punishment in the opening line. This is a one-sided resolution that fails to address several realities.
To have peace, you have to have a partner for peace. This resolution does not acknowledge that simple truth. On the hamas.com website you will find unspeakable horrors, I should tell you what they are, but to do so would offend any sensible person. Suffice it to say, Hamas is celebrating the death and destruction of Jews. Videos of murders above a caption that celebrates how many Jews have been murdered, and the images of the charred remains of Jewish babies burned to death with the caption celebrating the 41 Jewish babies murdered. They even celebrate a video of a black lab being shot shot to death. Where is this in your resolution?
Please do not vote “yes” to this partnership with death. No one wants peace and prosperity more than the people of Israel, but to have peace, we need a partner for peace. The late prime minister of Israel, Golda Meir, famously said fifty years ago, ““We can forgive the Arabs for killing our children. We cannot forgive them for forcing us to kill their children. We will only have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us”
The resolution before you fails to address the right of Jewish people to live in peace. This resolution before you will further divide and alienate your constituencies. Please vote it down. Ephesians 5:11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. Finally, the Scriptures promise peace. Mica 4:1 But at the end of days… 4 …each man will sit under his vine and under his fig tree, with no one causing terror, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken. Again, I urge you to see the hamas.com website for yourself. In the name of the Prince of Peace, Shalom.
Reprint of the original City Council resolution:
R E S O L U T I O N
A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE RESPECTFULLY CALLING ON THE U.S. FEDERAL GOVERNMENT TO URGE AN IMMEDIATE DE-ESCALATION AND CEASEFIRE IN ISRAEL AND OCCUPIED PALESTINE AND TO EXPRESS THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE’S SUPPORT AND SOLIDARITY WITH THE PEOPLE OF PALESTINE FACING GENOCIDAL LEVELS OF VIOLENCE AT THE HANDS OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL
RESOLUTION NO: ____
REQUESTED BY: Councilmember Parker PREPARED BY:
Council APPROVED: APPROVED AS AN EMERGENCY MEASURE: MINUTE BOOK: PAGE
WHEREAS, 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas on October 7th and over 11,000 Palestinians, including over 4,000 children, have been killed by the state of Israel in this escalated conflict; and
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Knoxville mourns the loss of all civilian lives lost from October 7th to the present and also throughout the decades of displacement, occupation, oppression, and blockade endured in Gaza and the West Bank; and
WHEREAS, the Council stands in solidarity with the Palestinian people of Gaza, the West Bank, and those in the diaspora who are currently facing collective punishment by the state of Israel, resulting in levels of death and violence unseen in the area in the last 75 years; and
WHEREAS, collective punishment is considered a war crime under international law, and refers to a form of sanction imposed on persons or a group of persons in response to a crime committed by one of them or a member of the group; and
WHEREAS, the state of Israel is engaging in collective punishment against the Palestinian people in Gaza in response to Hamas attacks on Israel; and
WHEREAS, this collective punishment of the Palestinian people includes a mass bombing campaign and military operation as well as the shutting off of all access to electricity, drinking water, food, and humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza by the state of Israel; and
WHEREAS, the collective punishment and bombardment of hospitals, schools, and refugee camps of Palestinians by the state of Israel, aided by billions in U.S. taxpayer dollars, is a violation of international law, per Common Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which also bans the severe restriction of aid as a punishment in response to the actions committed by a select member(s) of the group; and
WHEREAS, the Gaza strip has been blockaded over the course of 20-plus years, is referred to by a variety of scholars and human rights groups as “the world’s largest open air prison,” and is one the most densely populated places on Earth; and
WHEREAS, Israel’s blockade on Gaza has resulted in a 42% unemployment rate, with 84% of the population relying on humanitarian aid, and 60% of Palestinian children suffering from anemia; and
WHEREAS, the UN Relief and Works Agency has reported that 1.6 million Gazans have been displaced, and has corroborated the count of over 11,000 Palestinians killed since October 7th including at least 4,700 Palestinian children; and
WHEREAS, Israel has historically exercised full control of Gaza’s access to drinking water, food, electricity, and humanitarian aid, which has been further restricted since the events on October 7th; and
WHEREAS, the UN says approximately 2 million people in Gaza may soon run out of drinking water and all medical care; and
WHEREAS, Tennesseans and the broader population of Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, Jewish people, and allies across the U.S. who have and are taking part in protests and demonstrations against Israel’s disproportionate counter-assault on Hamas in Gaza and the West Bank have faced harassment, doxxing, and threats of violence, including anti-Arab sentiment, Islamophobia, and anti-Semitism; and
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Knoxville condemns the claims that advocacy, protest, and demonstration for Palestine is synonymous with anti-semitic beliefs, and that this serves to exacerbate anti-Arab and Islamophobic sentiments and actions; and
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Knoxville recognizes the conflation of the state of Israel with all Jewish peoples is harmful, and further serves to exacerbate anti-Semitic sentiments and actions; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. government has financially enabled the state of Israel to continue its onslaught and attacks on Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank; and
WHEREAS, hundreds of thousands of lives are at risk of further starvation, injury, displacement, and death if a cease-fire and end to the blockade is not achieved, and humanitarian aid and support provided immediately.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KNOXVILLE:
SECTION 1: The Council of the City of Knoxville takes seriously that the entreaty “Never Again” in memory of the Holocaust means preventing apartheid and ethnic cleansing everywhere, regardless of religion, ethnicity, race, or creed; and
SECTION 2: The Council of the City of Knoxville calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the safe passage of substantial humanitarian aid to Gaza; and
SECTION 3: The Council of the City of Knoxville calls for the immediate release of all Israeli hostages taken by Hamas; and
SECTION 4: The Council of the City of Knoxville calls for an end to Israel’s apartheid, occupation, and military blockade of Palestinian land and peoples; and
SECTION 5: The Council of the City of Knoxville renounces the targeting and surveillance of Arabs, Palestinians, and fellow allies in the city of Knoxville; and
SECTION 6: The Council of the City of Knoxville calls on everyone to respect the rights of freedom of speech and peaceful protest, and to not retaliate against anyone for expressing solidarity with the human rights of Palestinians or Israelis;
SECTION 7: The Council of the City of Knoxville calls upon President Biden to use his extensive political and financial leverage to demand an immediate ceasefire, the immediate deployment of humanitarian aid to Gaza, and the immediate release of all hostages and prisoners of war; and
SECTION 8: The Council of the City of Knoxville endorses the Congressional Resolution submitted by Representatives Cori Bush (MO-01), Rashida Tlaib (MI-12), André Carson (IN-07), Summer Lee (PA-12), and Delia C. Ramirez (IL-03), alongside Representatives Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), Bonnie Watson Coleman (NJ-12), Jesús “Chuy” García (IL-04), Jonathan Jackson (IL-01), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), Ilhan Omar (MN-05), Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), and Nydia Velázquez (NY-07) and urges Knoxville’s U.S. Congressional delegation to vote in support of the resolution.
SECTION 9: Upon adoption, the City Recorder is hereby respectfully requested and directed to forward a true and correct copy of this Resolution to the City’s U.S. Congressional delegation to apprise them of City Council’s respectful request.
____
Daily Bread, reading plan by Lars Enarson (https://www.thewatchman.org/)
Fri 24-Nov-2023 11th of Kislev, 5784
Ge 31:17-42 1 Sa 1 Ps 43 Mk 3 (1 Co 3)