(JNi.media) Australia’s largest Orthodox Jewish congregation, The Great Synagogue in Sydney, has barred visiting Israeli politician Moshe Feiglin from speaking there, The Sydney Morning Herald reported Monday. The synagogue’s Chief Minister Rabbi Benjamin Elton, who attended Cambridge University and the University of London, and served as the Lord Chancellor’s private secretary, announced: “He wouldn’t be welcome here,” adding, “I’m absolutely opposed to any sexism, racism or homophobia,” by which Elton suggested Feiglin was sexist, racist and a homophobe.
Feiglin, who recently founded a new political party in Israel, named Zehut (Identity), having finally given up his dream of conquering the Likud party from within, has gained a reputation during his single-term as Likud MK for reaching out to the LGBT community, advocating the legalization of weed, and standing up to Prime Minister Netanyahu (for which he was punished in a resounding fashion). Known for his curt, direct style, Feiglin has ruffled many feathers, but in Israel’s rough and tumble political circus, who hasn’t?
The New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies did not care for those subtleties, when its chief executive Vic Alhadeff issued a statement saying “The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies rejects and is deeply offended by the bigoted remarks which Mr Feiglin has made on a range of issues, including gays and Arabs. … The presence of such an individual in our city will do nothing to advance social cohesion and it is extremely disturbing that he has been given a public platform.”
The gay and lesbian community, clearly having heard nothing about Feiglin’s open discussions with their gay brethren and sistren in Tel Aviv, joined the persecution: “Moshe Feiglin’s views are antithetical to the values of diversity and inclusion which the vast majority of Australians hold,” Gay and Lesbian Rights Lobby convenor Justin Koonin stated. “I trust that Australians will have the good sense to see prejudice for what it is.”
A group of Jewish and Zionist organizations from all over the continent issued a joint statement saying: “Moshe Feiglin’s views on women, homosexuality and Palestinian citizens of Israel are inconsistent with Jewish values.”
That statement was tough to sustain through fact checking, since his “sexist” remarks were noted as such when he wrote in objection to homosexual politics, so that calling him both homophobe and sexist is using one Facebook status for two insults. As to Israel’s “Palestinian citizens,” it is a dubious term, especially coming from Zionist organizations, since Israel only has Israeli citizens, and has long since relegated Palestinian citizens to the Palestinian Authority next door. It is also difficult to ascertain which specific Jewish values Feiglin has been offending.
It would be extremely difficult to prove Feiglin’s alleged racism, since in all his public expressions he has never belittled or degraded anyone, including Arabs and other Israeli minorities. Feiglin, for instance, never urged his followers to vote for him because “the Arabs are boarding buses to the polling stations,” as his arch-nemesis Netanyahu has done. Recognized by many in Israel’s media as a democrat to a fault, even naively so, Feiglin believes in a three-tier approach to permitting the Arabs in the land of Israel to decide their fate: 1. Pay an adequate sum of money to Arabs wishing to emigrate, to enable them to start a new life in Europe or the US. 2. Offer Arabs who wish to stay and are not Israeli citizens a residency status, contingent on their disavowing terrorism and swearing allegiance to Israel. 3. Offer Arabs full citizenship through a process reminiscent of the US naturalization system, permitting them absorption into the majority-Jewish society.
As to the homophobia, in August 2012, Feiglin posted a short article on his Facebook page, where he wrote: “Homosexuality has long since been considered a sexual aberration, having become the issue of individuals with whose private lives no one wishes to interfere. [Instead, Homosexuals who] have long been out of the closet, are now serving as the cutting edge of the “post” culture. This is nothing short of undermining the family unit which is the cornerstone of every national society.”
