Kahanism
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kahanism is a term used in Israeli political parlance to refer, first of all, to the ideology of Rabbi Meir Kahane, and, more generally, to other right-wing Religious Zionist movements or groups that share a belief in the fundamental tenets of that ideology, chief among them being the idea that the State of Israel should be governed theocratically, should accord full citizenship exclusively to Jews, and that all non-Jews should be either deported or allowed to remain as resident aliens with full economic and personal rights, but no political rights.
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[edit] Premises
The central claim of Kahanism is that all Arabs are, and will continue to be, enemies of Jews and of Israel, and that a Jewish fundamentalist state, absent of an Arab population and that includes Israel, the West Bank and Gaza Strip and also possibly areas of modern-day Jordan, should be created. The Kahanist movement proper also argues that such a state should be ruled according to Jewish theocratic law known as Halakha, but the term "Kahanist" is sometimes used loosely to describe any Zionist group which seeks a (often Arab-free) Greater Israel.
[edit] Outlawed
Since 1985, the State of Israel has outlawed groups espousing Kahane's ideology as being racist, and forbids their participating in the Israeli government. The Kach party was banned from running for the Knesset in 1988, while the existence of the two Kahanist movements formed following Kahane's assassination were proclaimed illegal terrorist organizations in 1994 and the groups subsequently officially disbanded.
The banning of Kahanist groups is highly controversial. The banning stemmed from the explicit mention of the Arab population as enemies of the Jews who should be removed from Israel. Kahanists however deny any inherent racism and explain that the call to remove Arabs is based on the reality of Arab-Israeli Conflict and not on any inherent racism towards Arabs. Critics of the banning note that parties who have called for and subsequently carried out the forced removal of Jews have not been called racist let alone banned. Clear differences, however, between removal of Israeli settlements from the occupied territories, and the idea of removing all Arabs from Israel (including the occupied territories, and possibly parts of Jordan) have limited the efficacy of this line of argument for Kahanist sympathizers.
[edit] Alleged Kahanist actions in Israel and the West Bank
[edit] Baruch Goldstein
The deadliest attack was when Dr. Baruch Goldstein, affiliated with Kach through the JDL, killed 29 Arabs at the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in Hebron, in 1994. After this attack, members of Kach praised Goldstein's actions, and in the ensuing political turmoil, the Knesset banned Kach in Israel. Kahanists believe the attack prevented a repeat of the 1929 Palestine riots of Jews in that city.
[edit] Suspected Kahanist violence
Roadside shootings, stabbings and grenade attacks against Palestinians have been carried out in Jerusalem and the West Bank by individuals or groups suspected of having ties to the former Kach group. Aliases such as "The Committee for the Safety of the Roads" [1], "The Sword of David" and "The Repression of Traitors" have been used. There is no evidence that real organizations with these names exist. The US government claims that these are all aliases of "Kach", [2]. The Israeli group Yesh Din, founded in 2005[3], has published a report documenting extensive settler violence against Palestinians [4]. Their website includes testimony of a deadly drive-by shooting of a Palestinian factory owner in the West Bank on August 6, 2006 [5].
[edit] Eden Natan-Zada
On August 4, 2005, Eden Natan-Zada, an AWOL Israel Defense Forces soldier, murdered four Israeli Arab citizens and wounded several others when he opened fire on a bus in the northern Israeli town of Shfaram. Natan-Zada then surrendered to police who turned him over to an angry Arab crowd. Natan-Zada was beaten and killed by the mob. He had originally become involved with Kahanist activists via the internet, and hid from service in the religious West Bank settlement of Kfar Tapuach, home of deceased Kahane Chai leader Binyamin Kahane. No group has taken credit for Natan-Zada's attack or claimed that he was acting on their wishes, and members of the Kfar Tapuach community have condemned his attack against Arab civilians.
[edit] Asher Weissgan
On August 17, 2005, Asher Weissgan, 38, a settler who drove Palestinian workers for a living, stole a soldier's gun and shot to death four Palestinian workers near the settlement of Shiloh in the West Bank. A Ha'aretz analysis writes that "The new murderer is another of the wild grapes produced by Israel's extreme right. Under the circumstances, it is almost impossible not to generalize. It cannot be forgotten that the murderer of a prime minister also came from those extremist circles. From there sprang the AWOL soldier, Eden Natan Zada, who murdered four people he encountered on a bus in Shfaram... Baruch Goldstein, who killed dozens of worshipers in a mosque in Hebron, also came from these groups."[6]
[edit] Kahanism in Israel Today
Former Kach leaders in Hebron today run the Hilltop Youth, particularly Noam Federman and Itamar Ben-Gvir. Baruch Marzel, another former Kach leader in Hebron is the head of the Chayil Party.
Former Kahane Chai leaders in Kfar Tapuach are today split between the factions of Mike Guzofsky and David HaIvri. Guzofsky runs the Jewish Legion, the Voice of Judea, and Kahane.org. HaIvri runs Revava and HaMeir L'David.
[edit] Kahanism in the USA
Kahanist groups in the United States include Kahane Net which runs the Kahane.org Website, the Jewish Defense League, B'nai Elim, and the Jewish Task Force. Kahane Net was formed out of the remnants of "the Kahane Movement" of Mike Guzofsky. The latter was formed by former Kahane Chai leadership after its disbanding.
Less than a month after the DC Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the redesignation of Kach and Kahane Chai as Foreign Terrorist Organizations, Kahane Net sent out a fundraising appeal, using apparently old postage-paid non-profit envelopes, crossing out with a black magic marker the name "www.kahane.org," which was and is still listed as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the US Department of State and the Treasury Department. [7]
The appeal cited the Kahane Chai Legal Defense Fund, a special fund licensed by the Treasury Department specifically for their legal appeal, and administered by Kach and Kahane Chai counsel Kenneth Klein, in a call for donations for "other legal battles." The letter emphasizes that "All money collected for this purpose will be forwarded to the appropriate parties with no expenses deducted," and instructs donors to "simply include a separate piece of paper indicating the purpose of your donation so that it will be designated appropriately. For more information please visit http://www.kahanechai-legaldefensefund.org/" [8]
This solicitation may be in violation of current US law.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- An analysis of terrorism
- An analysis and history of Kahane and Kahanism, based on an episode of "Frontline"
