If Shas is racist Israel is racist....

And Shas is racist.

Here's Kobi Niv in Ha'aretz. No, hold on a sec. Check out this post and then read on:

Waves of righteous indignation from the stratosphere of Israeli enlightenment were heaped on Shas' innocent election broadcast against fake conversions, which was not just declared benighted and racist, but even Nazi-like, heaven forbid. Why? What was in that video that so incensed the enlightened ones?

All that it showed was a short, not particularly handsome guy of North African origin under the wedding canopy with a beautiful, tall, blonde Russian woman who suddenly discovers that his intended is not Jewish and that her conversion was not done according to Jewish law. True, once again the Mizrahi is portrayed as inferior and stupid, and the Ashkenazi as tall and beautiful, but so what? How does that differ from the usual Israeli racism? What was all the fuss about? What racism did the enlightened ones see here? What Nazism?

Perhaps the illuminati saw racism against Russians, Ashkenazim, one of their own? Perhaps they felt that the Russians were presented as too tall and too attractive, or as not Jewish enough? It's possible. But why is presenting Russian immigrants as tall and not necessarily Jewish worse or more racist than presenting Mizrahim as short and not necessarily bright? What's the problem here, really?

It seems that what really sparked the precious dears' outrage was the question the brown groom asked his white bride: "What, you're not Jewish?" This question, this careful examination of the blonde's pedigree, was the straw that broke the progressive camel's back. What would we say, the annointed ones cried, if in any country - some of the real sticklers hinted grossly at Nazi Germany - they would ask the woman, the bride, if she was Jewish or not? And the approved response is, of course, Racism! Shame! Nazism! Disgusting!

But of course, this is the essence of a religious wedding, the only kind permitted by Israeli law, which permits marriage only between people of the same religion. Didn't you, your parents and your children get married this way? Didn't you check before the ceremony whether the other party was Jewish? If so, what was wrong with the campaign ad

The unsurprising explanation came from the heart of the civilized gloom. "If there won't be two states here," warned the sage Amos Oz, "there will be an Arab state here." This is the real danger seen by the so-called left. Not that there will be, God forbid, a racist, benighted, undemocratic state, but that there will be a non-Jewish state, and worse, an Arab state.

So if that's the case, what's the essential difference between Oz and Shas? Why is Oz's racism applauded by the high-minded ones, while Shas' apparent racism is condemned?

The answer is written in white on black. Racism in the eyes of urbane Israel is when Mizrahim, Arabs and all kinds of dark people say not-nice things about European white Ashkenazim. By contrast, when the European white Ashkenazim say terrible things about Mizrahim, Arabs and the other darkies, this is the height of anti-racism and democracy at its best.

One more thing all those cursing the Shas broadcast should consider: It's not just at Shas weddings that the Judaism of the parties is checked out. The existence of the State of Israel and its entire essence are built on this examination. The Law of Return, which is the foundation stone of our country, states that the single criterion for getting citizenship is that those requesting it be Jewish.

Thus, if we say that the Shas party is racist and Nazi, the same must be said of the State of Israel. The ugliness you see in the mirror is your own.

So there we have it. Shas is simply a zionist party restating zionist principles.

Who is a Jew? Who wants to know and why?

Here's a handy and mercifully short lesson in the kind of racism which lies at the heart of the zionist project and Israeli society.  It's a video by the Israeli political party, Shas, suggesting that "native" Israeli Jews might be in danger from Russian gentiles because Yisrael Beteinu is too lax with conversions.

Have a look at this video:

Jerry Haber of the Magnes Zionist blog picked up the story from Ha'aretz and pointed out that the original writer, Yair Ettinger, missed the point of the importance of an issue like who had the right to authenticate a person's Jewish identity:

The problem is with the liberals, like Haaretz writer, Yair Ettinger, who concludes his article saying:

One good thing could come out of the controversy: perhaps the conversion crisis, which continues to deepen in the Netanyahu-Shas era, will finally make its way to the national agenda.

The conversion issue is only on the national agenda because the state interferes with religion. If some folks don't think that some rabbis' conversions are kosher, what business is that of the state? Let the religious communities decide who they accept and who they don't, and leave the state out of it.

Ah, but this is Israel, where religious affiliation makes you automatically into a returning citizen

The only country in the world, by the way. And that includes the Muslim world.

Apparently there have been complaints about the video by people who want it banned from public broadcasting but so far no ban has been imposed.  This stand in stark contrast to the treatment of the
Balad video showing various fascist Israeli politicans singing the zionist anthem, HaTikvah, only to an Arab sounding tune and rythm:



It didn't take long to get that one banned.  Ah but that one involved the "national" anthem.  Well, as 972 Mag points out, so did this one:



That didn't get banned.

Funny old business that Jewish democracy...

UPDATE: According to this Yahoo news report, Shas has now pulled the video.  N/B it still didn't get banned.