(9 Nov 1995) English/Nat
The Israeli Supreme Court has denied permission for a memorial ceremony to be held for Rabbi Meir Kahane.
Kahane was the founder of the Jewish Defence League, based in New York, and was killed five years ago.
His son, Benjamin Kahane, told reporters the decision was an infringement of freedom of speech in a democratic society.
Rabbi Meir Kahane was the founder of the Jewish Defence League in the late 1960s.
In the 1970s, he set up the Kach movement, which advocates expelling Arabs from Israel and the occupied territories and turning Israel into a Jewish theocracy.
The group caused some heated controversy and, perhaps as a result, Rabbi Kahane was murdered in November 1990.
Israeli police are now investigating whether Rabin's confessed assassin, Yigal Amir, had ties to offshoots of Kahane's Kach movement, which is banned in Israel.
One splinter group is Kahane Chai, or Kahane Lives, which is led by the rabbi's son, Benjamin Kahane.
On Thursday, he was denied permission by Israel's Supreme Court to stage a memorial ceremony for his father in Jerusalem.
The crackdown on right-wing groups is seen as a direct result of the assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
But Benjamin says it's just plain undemocratic.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"If they're not going to let us make a memorial for my father, that means that all of this ceremony that they're making for Rabin is hypocrisy. We're going to make a memorial in a different place."
(Question: The same day?)
"Not the same."
SUPER CAPTION: Benjamin Kahane, son of Rabbi Kahane
Members of the group came along to the courthouse to lend their support.
While Kahane Chai (Kahane lives) - is an illegal group in Israel - members who've come over from New York for the memorial find the ruling ridiculous.
SOUNDBITE: (English)
"We want to throw the Arabs out, that's all. There's no solution. Either it's Rabin and Arafat or Kahane. There's no other solution. If that's incitement it's a sorry thing."
SUPERCAPTION: Lenny Goldberg, Kahane Chai supporter from New York
In a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, acting Prime Minister Shimon Peres promised to move quickly against Jewish extremists.
The government also ordered a full-scale probe into why the Shin Bet secret
service didn't have better intelligence on Jewish extremists.
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...
Негізгі бет ISRAEL: PERMISSION DENIED FOR RABBI KAHANE MEMORIAL SERVICE
Пікірлер: 59