I am a regular reader of Haaretz, so really all of these stories are about Israeli extremism. So if you have a story about Palestinian extremism in the last week or so I would be happy to add it to this diary.
via volleyboy1:
Man arrested for 'cursing God'
QALQILIYA (Ma'an) -- Palestinian police arrested a man on Thursday for "cursing God" while arguing with his father in Qalqiliya.
Police responded to a call reporting a fight between a father and son in the northern West Bank town, officials said. A police report said the father called police to break up the fight after his son "cursed God."
Police took the man, who was not identified, into custody in accordance with Article 273 of the Jordanian Penal Code, which criminalizes insulting the religious feelings of other persons or their religious faith, officials said.
The ultra-Orthodox are changing the face of the IDF
The 19 reservist major generals who signed the letter to Chief of Staff Benny Gantz on Monday, warning of extremist religious trends in the Israel Defense Forces, "were in the army long ago," Rabbi Avichai Rontzki declared this week. Brig. Gen. (res. ) Rontzki, who was chief army rabbi until a year and a half ago, claimed that the veteran officers don't know what the IDF is like anymore. "Things are different nowadays," he explained.
The signatories, who were prompted to protest by events - such as male soldiers boycotting official ceremonies where women were singing, and the ousting of female staff officers from combat units - are indeed detached from the reality of being in the army today. Much has changed since people like Ori Orr, Menachem Einan and Yeshayahu Gavish were among the top brass.
Orr says he never encountered religious soldiers boycotting events featuring female singers. He certainly never imagined stories such as these, culled randomly from the media this week: about the IDF gradually adopting stricter (kasher lemehadrin ) dietary standards (from the army's weekly Bamahane ); about Rabbi Eli Sadan, head of the pre-military academy in Eli, lecturing about the "dedication and courage" of Baruch Goldstein and Yigal Amir (Yedioth Ahronoth ); and about the IDF Education Corps' directive that soldiers not attend the annual memorial rally for Yitzhak Rabin (Haaretz ).
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Israel's shameful attack on Arabic must be stopped
The proposal by some members of the Knesset to strip the Arab language of its current status as one of the official languages of the State of Israel is a senseless move and, what's more, a sign of disrespect toward the more than one million citizens of Israel whose mother tongue is Arabic.
It is difficult to fathom what got into the heads of some legislators to propose this change. Why demonstrate such lack of respect for our Arab citizens at a time when the most important challenge facing Israel is to integrate its Arab citizens into Israeli society and to make them feel at home in Israel?
Adopting the language of a minority population as one of the official languages of a country is a common thing in this day and age. It is a demonstration by the majority population of sympathy, consideration and respect for the minority.
linnk
Knesset passes controversial bills amid criticism of an 'assault on Israeli democracy'
The Knesset approved on Monday evening a bill proposing to abolish the rule that a justice cannot be appointed Supreme Court president unless he is at least three years short of the mandatory retirement age of 70. The bill would pave Justice Asher Grunis' way to becoming Supreme Court president. 52 MKs voted in favor, 35 voted against the bill.
Grunis is seen as a conservative judge who mostly refrains from intervening in decisions made by the executive and legislative branches, and is thus popular with right-wing politicians. But when Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch retires at the end of February 2012, Grunis will be five weeks short of three years from retirement.
Another bill, dubbed 'the Sohlberg bill,' and is sponsored by MK Robert Ilatov (Yisrael Beiteinu ) was also approved. The bill would change the way the Israel Bar Association's two representatives on the Judicial Appointments Committee are selected. Currently, the bar's national council picks both; the bill would require one to be the bar chairman and the other a member of the bar's internal opposition.
The bill paves the way for Jerusalem District Court Judge Noam Sohlberg to sitting on Israel's highest tribunal of justice. Sohlberg, who lives in the settlement of Alon Shvut, has in the past been criticized for rulings thought to infringe freedom of the press.
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U.S., EU pressure Netanyahu to scrap proposed bill against Israeli NGOs
EU ambassador to Israel, Andrew Standley, warns prime minister's national security adviser, Yaakov Amidror that passage of legislation could harm Israel's standing.
The European Union and the United States, as well as other countries, have begun applying pressure on the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, urging that proposed legislation limiting funding by foreign governments of Israeli nonprofit organizations be scrapped.
The Ministerial Committee for Legislation will consider Likud's version of the proposed law, sponsored by MK Ofir Akunis, on Sunday. It would bar political nonprofit organizations from receiving more than NIS 20,000 from foreign governments or international agencies such as the UN or the EU.
An explanation in support of the bill - which is also supported by Netanyahu himself - said it was necessary in light of what were called "acts of incitement by many organizations operating in the guise of human rights organizations that seek to influence political discourse, the character, and policy of the State of Israel."
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