The Movement for Reform Judaism

There are just too many things to talk about this week. National Holocaust Memorial Day and the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz; the G8 Summit and the Africa Commission; Michael Howard’s policy statement on asylum and refugees; the return and subsequent release of the Guantanamo Bay prisoners; the detention without trial for suspected terrorists being transmuted to a form of house arrest. Each of these is worthy of a sermon looking at the Jewish aspects and values, and the implications of them for our lives as modern Jews. And that’s apart from this week’s sidrah reading that contains the events at Sinai leading up to the Giving of Torah. So where to begin?

Let’s start with a few questions about the Conservative plans. First of all, is, as they maintain, immigration completely out of control? Next, are asylum seekers generally welcome in this country? Is it possible to separate out the genuine from the fraudulent refugees? Are the Tory plans racist? Is Michael Howard a racist? Can we unilaterally pull out of the 1951 United Nations Convention on Refugees? Is it acceptable to restrict immigrants just to those who can provide the skills we are lacking? Perhaps surprisingly, my answers to all those questions is ‘No’. However, I have to add ‘but’, in fact quite a few ‘buts’. I think that Michael Howard is abusing his ‘son of immigrants’ status for party political advantage and I believe that the Tory policy is flawed in that while not intended to be racist, its implementation will work out that way. I am greatly concerned that genuine asylum seekers will be barred from entry here and that those who might ultimately make a contribution to this society will never get the chance. I am also aware that many of our parents or grandparents would never have been admitted to this country under the proposed plans, because they would have been labelled economic migrants. Nevertheless, something has to be done, because the perception, if not the reality, is that we have become overwhelmed by immigrants, all of whom are living the life of Riley - whoever he was - on benefits; the majority of whom are criminals and the rest are potentially terrorists.

Which leads me to how do we treat suspected terrorists. The idea of allowing people intent on doing harm to the rest of us free to roam the streets is more than a little frightening. But the concept of detaining people without bringing them to trial, because we can’t prove it is even worse. I am delighted that the Law Lords have stood up against the Government in applying the law. It’s very similar to the recent situation in Israel when the Supreme Court ordered the Government to move the route of the Security Fence. Elected Governments are responsible for passing legislation, but they cannot be above the law and the Courts have the right and obligation to implement laws fairly and justly. The fact that it was European Law rather than English law that the judges were upholding does not diminish that one iota. But again I have a 'nevertheless' and this time it’s that we should be making far more use of extradition and sending back foreigners whose presence in this country is regarded as detrimental to our best interests. I know that requires extradition treaties and long argued cases, but there really is no reason for the excessive delays that seem to be the norm in such situations. Terrorism must not be allowed a freedom pass in the UK. But that, of course, only applies to foreign suspected terrorists. What about the home-grown variety? Well, if we are waging a war against terrorism, as the Government tells us, then anyone on the other side is guilty of treason. We have to bring people to trial, present the evidence and leave it up to the jury to decide. If found guilty, they should be locked up and the key thrown away until such time as they have fully recanted and repented or until the war is won - as ultimately it must be.

And that leads us to Africa. The reasons behind terrorism must be understood and dealt with. For the most part people are not born as terrorists. Something in their situation makes them so, and generally it has to be something pretty big, for it to overcome normal standards of behaviour. The terrorism we’re seeing is primarily carried out by Muslims, the majority of whom have been brainwashed by fanatical religious leaders with extremist ideas and ideals. They have been aided and abetted by a complacent western world, which has condoned poverty, illiteracy, persecution of minorities and even provided armaments and weapons to enable this to happen. Throughout the Arab Middle East democracy is a dirty word, without a single democratically elected Government. The concept of democracy is Greek to the Muslim world. And that world is expanding. Something like forty percent of all Africans are Muslims and, unless the developed world does something about the ills of that continent, it will become the fastest growing breeding ground for terrorists. While Mr Blair in his speech this week put forward positive programmes, including the remission of debt repayments and a fight against AIDS and other fatal illnesses, the request for money from the richest developed countries was dwarfed by the donation of one man, Bill Gates, who has pledged £400 million. Admittedly, he’s the richest man on the planet. Nevertheless - there’s that word again - unless the leaders of the western world put their hands in their pockets as deep down as they can, we’ll be faced with increased terrorism and the danger of Africa becoming an Islamic continent, which, if a danger to the Christian world, will be a disaster for the Jews.

And that brings me to the Holocaust commemorations. It was absolutely essential that these should have taken place in as widely publicised and international way that they were, not just because it was the sixtieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, not just because the survivors are aging and will not be around forever, not just because it helps to give lie to those who claim the Holocaust a hoax, but primarily because it reminds the world why Israel exists and why its precarious existence in the heart of the Arab world must be strengthened. The rights to the Land, promised to our ancestors, have been a remarkable factor in maintaining the Jewish people through milennia of persecution and oppression. Our liturgy is full of yearning for an end of exile and a return to the Land. Our national pride is totally interlinked with a love of the Land. But we must always remember that the right to the Land is dependent on the terms of the Covenant received at Sinai, according to Torah, is conditional on acceptance of God and Torah. The threefold polemic: God, Torah and Israel, is just as much about the Land as it is the People. Belief in God and the words of Torah were certainly the crimes of some of Hitler’s victims, but just being part of the peoplehood was sufficient for many more to be sent to the extermination camps. At that time the world stood by and let it happen. Far too few countries opened their doors to the Jews who wanted to leave Germany and Austria in the 1930’s. Their immigration policies led to far higher numbers being killed during the Shoah .

And that’s why - completing the circle - I have such concerns about Michael Howard’s immigration plans. He, one who benefitted from special provisions in the UK immigration policy of that time, allows no such provisions for those who find themselves in similar situations. ‘Never again’ was the cry of the forties and fifties. Well perhaps the establishment of the State of Israel has ensured that for the Jews. But there have been far too many catastrophes perpetrated by some humans against others for 'never again’ to be a truism for everyone or for all time. Much more thought needs to go into any immigration policy and it needs to be a policy above party politics, agreed to by all the major parties, so that the subject doesn’t come up for grabs at every election, so that the so-called ‘racism card’ doesn’t get played each time. The factors surrounding asylum and refuge are matters requiring values and morals, not politics.

May we never again have need for asylum and refuge. May the world never see another Holocaust. May the proponents of terrorism learn that it can never succeed. May poverty and illiteracy, often the fuel for terrorism, be eliminated from our world. Amen.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed