Basic HTML Version
PAGE 8
PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, AUGUST 10, 1984
ON THE WORLD SCENE
! �RAEL! � CONFRONT , RI� ING RELIGI,O US FANATICISM (PART II}
� e may well be
w1tness1ng the beg1nn1ng of a twin-pronged "holy war" mentality among reli
gious extremists in the Middle East, within both the Islamic and Jewish
communities.
In the Red Sea more than two dozen ships have struck mines. A group calling
itself Islamic Jihad is claiming responsibility for having laid 190 mines
in the key waterway.
The little-known group (which also claimed re
sponsibility for blowing up the U.S. marine barracks in Lebanon last year)
was praised by Tehran Radio for aiding the Islamic struggle against "arro
gant powers."
Although the government of Ayatollah Khomeini disclaims ties to Islamic
Jihad--jihad means "holy war"--U.S. officials believe it nevertheless is an
active supporter of it, in an attempt to spread its conflict with Iraq to a
wider Mideast arena.
Meanwhile, in Israel, as we discussed last week, the specter of religious
based terrorist activity is also rising. Last January, for example, mosque
guards foiled an attack upon Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, located on the
Temple Mount. Grenades left behind by the attackers were similar to those
used in assaults on other Moslem and Christian shrines in the preceding two
months.
Sometime later, in March, four American Jews were charged with an attack
with automatic weapons on an Arab bus on the West Bank.
And in April
Israeli security officers blocked an attempt by Jewish extremists to blow
up Arab-owned buses in Jerusalem, in response to similar acts over the
years by PLO terrorists. An Israeli security official planted within the
ring of the suspected terrorist circle foiled the plot.
On June 18, the identities of 25 men were revealed who are alleged to be
members of a Jewish terrorist underground. The June 19 JERUSALEM POST pro
filed all of them, many of whom were active members of Gush Emunim, the ul
tra-nationalist organization of Jewish settlers on the West Bank. They are
all accused of planning or executing various terrorist attacks such as the
1980 attack on Arab mayors, the attempted bus sabotage and a 1983 attack on
Islamic University in Hebron. Sixteen of the 25 were implicated in a plot
to blow up the Islamic sites on the Temple Mount. One of the accused,
Ya
1
acov Heineman, had reportedly raised the idea of bombing the Temple
Mount from the air. The idea was rejected by his cohorts who feared damage
to the Western Wall.
The resorting to "terror against terror" by religious zealots is worrying
many Israelis. One of these is Chaim Pearl, Rabbi Emeritus of the Conserva
tive Adath Israel Synagogue of Riverdale, New York. He now lives in Jeru
salem, where he is a writer and lecturer.
In the
June 13 issue of THE JERU
SALEM POST, he penned an article entitled "Tora and Terror" (normally
spelled Torah in the United States). Here are key excerpts:
The title of this piece brings together two opposites, but so
joined they focus on a frightening situation, which deeply con
cerns many Israelis. Why is it that a large proportion of Ortho
dox Jews, particularly the youth, are identified with right wing
and extremist militant sections of the Israeli community?