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Lichvod HaRav Aharon Feldman, and Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky shlita
I wanted to share with you some relevant articles to this case that has been in the news in Yeshiva World, Vosiznaias, the Jewish Press and Israel National News. As you can see this matter is very upsetting to many Jews from a wide spectrum ranging from Chareidi religious, Dati Leumi Religious and secular. This is just a drop in the bucket.....
Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah can be a real game changer in how this is played out in securing Meir Ettinger's release from prison. Thank you for listening!
Kol Tuv.
Mrs. Robin Ticker
From Yeshiva World News
Meir Ettinger's Wife: "We Will Not Hold the Bris in Prison"
(Monday, April 4th, 2016 02:30 AM)
On Sunday 24 Adar-II, Beersheva District Court Judge Yisrael Pablo Axelrod rejected the petition filed by Honenu Attorney Sima Kochav on behalf of administrative detainee Meir Ettinger and ruled that he will not be permitted to participate in his son's brit milah, which is expected to take place the following day. The Prison Service suggested that the bris be held at the prison. Moriya Ettinger, the wife of administrative detainee Meir Ettinger, stated that the family refuses to hold the bris milah at the prison, which the court conditions on the presence of only 15 people who will undergo meticulous searches by the Prison Service before entering the prison.
Other members of Ettinger's family stated that they will refuse to hold the bris milah in prison in a manner in which not all of Ettinger's siblings and close relatives will be able to participate in the event, and whoever will able to participate will be forced to undergo humiliating searches.
"This is not our private matter, but rather the struggle for Jewish identity, for the differentiation between friend and foe, and between Israel and the nations. With G-d's help, the bris milah will take place at its time, with Meir. I call on everyone to support our struggle," said Moriya Ettinger. Ettinger also wrote a letter to the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Rabbi David Lau and Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef' requesting their assistance in obtaining furlough for her husband to participate in their son's bris milah.
Supreme Court Justice Mani Mazuz scheduled a deliberation for 9:00 A.M. today, Monday 25 Adar-II at the Supreme Court Building for the urgent appeal filed by Honenu Attorney Adi Kedar on the matter of Meir Ettinger's participation in his son's bris milah. A panel of three judges will rule on the appeal.
Friends of the family were shocked that Justice Mazuz scheduled the deliberation for Monday, the day of the bris and not Sunday when it was requested.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
From Vosizneias
Jerusalem - Supreme Court Rules: Meir Ettinger Will Not Attend Son's Brit
Jerusalem - The Supreme Court rejected Monday afternoon the appeal of Jewish radical activist Meir Ettinger for leave from prison to attend his son's brit mila.
The ceremony, for Ettinger's first son, was scheduled to take place at 2 p.m. Monday afternoon.
Ettinger has been detained on administrative detention for close to eight months, having been arrested in August following the infamous Duma terrorist arson in which most of a Palestinian family was burned to death.
He has however not been charged with any crime.
A panel of three Supreme Court justices rejected Ettinger's appeal to attend, saying that he is a dangerous individual, and that the only solution they would agree to is to conduct the brit mila in the prison where Ettinger is being held with the participation of 15 guests.
Ettinger's family said yesterday they would not agree to such an arrangement, labeling it "humiliating."
A brother of Ettinger shouted at the justices following their verdict, calling them "Bolsheviks," said the Honenu legal advocacy organization, which is representing Ettinger and provides legal representation for Jewish militants and settlers accused of violence against Palestinians.
He was subsequently removed from the hall by security officials.
Attorney Ariel Atri, representing Ettinger, said the decision was "outrageous," considering that it was based on the Prison Service's assertion that it could not prepare the security logistics for the event, "in light of the fact that we requested [from the Prison Service] to stage the event eight days ago."
The Ettinger family has invited the public to the brit mila ceremony in Jerusalem, where several public figures are expected to attend, including rabbis from the hardline national-religious community.
From Jewish Press
{Originally posted to the author's website, Israel Thrives}
Be'er Sheva district court judge Yisrael Pablo Axelrod on Sunday rejected the petition to release Meir Ettinger from his administrative detention for several hours on Monday so as to attend the brit milah (circumcision) of his firstborn son.
Ettinger has been held for the past eight months without trial or charges against him on administrative orders, a relic from the British Mandate which has almost exclusively been used against Arab terror suspects.
Meir Ettinger is the grandson of the much despised Meir Kahane… who many Jews confuse with the Devil. Kahane's Kach Party was, in the late 1980s, deemed a racist political party and the government barred members from running for the Knesset.
Ettinger is what is commonly referred to as a "Hilltop Youth." That is, he is among the generation of young Israelis who believe strongly for religious reasons in the connection of the Jewish people to our traditional homeland and are willing to risk the unhappiness of the government by settling non-annexed outposts in Judea and Samaria beyond that Holy of Holies, the "green line."
I am the kind of guy who is often accused of thinking that Israel can do no wrong. In fact, I have plenty of criticisms concerning Israel and the fact that they are holding people in prison without charge is one of them.
I don't care if the person is an Arab or a Muslim or a Jew or a Rosicrucion, it is a violation of the most fundamental premises of the political Enlightenment for a government to detain anyone for an extended period of time without charges being brought against the person.
This is a little thing that we in the West like to refer to as Habeas Corpus.
There is no right derived from the European liberal tradition more basic than the right to not be thrown into the clink without charges being raised, without access to an attorney of law, and without being allowed to face one's accuser.
Perhaps I am just biased towards the Constitution of the United States and its fourth amendment within the Bill of Rights that guarantees that the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated…"
In other words, it is against the law in the United States to throw anyone in prison without due process and due process requires a trial by jury.
There are certain things that anger me about Israel, such as its policies in regard the Temple Mount, but this issue is something that I can agree upon with the most virulent demonizers of Israel.
It violates basic standards of human decency to hold people without charge for months on end. It is simply wrong and, to the extent that people are held in detention within Israel without access to a fair trial, the practice must end.
It may have been a story around Meir Ettinger that caught my eye, but the fundamental principle of a right of trial by jury needs to be extended to every citizen of the State of Israel no matter what their ideological beliefs.
Pyotrkovsky writes:
Ettinger is being imprisoned in extreme conditions of solitary confinement and is not being allowed any phone calls except to several close family members, even though there has been no evidence or indictment presented against him for any crime.
I would not care if this guy was the grandson of Yassir Arafat, this is unacceptable.
About the Author: Michael Lumish is a PhD in American history from the Pennsylvania State University and has taught at PSU, San Francisco State University, and the City College of San Francisco. He regularly publishes on the Arab-Israel conflict at his own blog, Israel Thrives (
http://israel-thrives.blogspot.com/). Lumish is also the founding editor of the scholarly on-line discussion forum H-1960s. He can be contacted at
mike.lumish@gmail.com.
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Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch. May their memories serve as a blessing.
