Russian Panthers against Racism in Israeli Schools
ISRAELI ARMY’S RACIST GENERAL
A commanding officer in the Israeli army for cadet training, Brigade General Elizar Stern, in an address to a group of soldiers-repatriates, made several sharp and critical statements after he learned, that they are going to accept the army oath on the New Testament, instead of on a Jewish text of the Old Testament.
The dispute is centered on the soldiers – who are not Jewish--serving on bases in the north of Israel. In front of many reliable eyewitnesses, Stern has stated, "Non-Jewish soldiers - are worse, than are Jewish ones ". Many military personnel were disturbed by the remarks made by the brigade general, and they voiced their anger to the news agency " Ynet " to bring these scandalous remarks into the public eye.
This incident took place on an army base in Mixve-Alon. One of sections of the base is devoted to the training and education of the immigrant soldiers (such as the improvement of their knowledge of Hebrew, an acquaintance with Israeli culture, and training for service in military situations). The purpose of this section is to provide for the successful acclamation of young immigrants into Israeli society.
In the course of General Stern’s visit to the base, it was discovered that, a group of soldiers had expressed a desire to take the army oath not on the TANAX , but on the New Testament. Stern immediately called a meeting of all the section heads at the base. The statements made by Stern, offended many of the soldiers present at the meeting, many of whom were repatriates - Non-Jews and Druzes.
" These people must accept the Jewish faith, - declared Stern. - I am not a missionary and have no desire to appear as one, but today there are many convenient procedures in place for giour (the transition into Judaism). There are the conservative giour, as well as others. The soldiers are not obligated to convert into an orthodox giour. They also, are not obligated to observe Saturday and can conduct a secular way of life, but they are obligated to be Jews. If they have not converted to Judaism within a few years, their children will not be allowed to serve in our army. They will have to live within their own groups ".
During his address Stern also noted, that Non-Jewish soldiers - " are not that good ", because their loyalty to the state was not very strong. He further stated that, this was not applicable to the Druzi and to the Bedouin, who are connected to Israel with blood ties, but only to the soldiers who had emigrated from Russia.
Some of the people present during Stern’s remarks filed protests against Stern, but the majority of people have not reacted in any way to his statements.
However, after Stern’s departure, many officers voiced sharp criticism concerning the comments made by their commander. "Even if that was his opinion, he has no right to infringe upon a person’s religious freedom and their fundamental rights ", - stated one of the base commanders.
Brigade General Stern has lately made several public statements, which have caused bewilderment in the public. For example, recently he declared, that the army is not obligated, at any cost, to rescue the wounded on from the battlefield.
Russian Panthers
Published in many Russian newspapers