Jerusalem Institute of Justice is on our Do’s list! Eddie
Jerusalem Institute of Justice Messianic
Attorneys For the Advancement of Civil Rights, Freedom
of Religion and Social Justice in the Nation of
Religious Fanaticism and our Children Several weeks ago Rivka (Fictitious name used for confidentiality purposes),
an eleven year old girl, the daughter of a Messianic Pastor from a city in
the center of Israel, was asked by the principal of her school to leave her
sixth grade class, in the middle of a lesson, and come to the principal's
office. Not sure of why she was being singled out, Rivka
walked hesitantly from her classroom with the principal to the principal's
office. She was surprised to meet three men in the principal's office – a
well-known rabbi in the city and two others who have been identified by
undisclosed sources as Yad L'Achim
"anti-missionary" activists. The principal explained to Rivka that these men "wanted to help" her and
instructed her to fully cooperate with them. The principal proceeded to exit
her office and left Rivka alone with her "new
friends".
The three men asked Rivka questions for
the better part of the next hour; questions such as "Where does your
(Messianic) congregation meet?", "At what times during the weeks do
you have meetings?", "Can you give us names of members of the congregation?",
"Can you please give us their addresses?", and "What is your
family’s address?".
When the principal returned to this special meeting, she carefully
instructed Rivka not to disclose to her parents
anything that took place in her office. Rivka,
wanting to be a good girl, did not mention anything about her odd experience to
her parents when she came home from school that day.
It was only about two weeks later, when her father's car was firebombed in the
driveway adjacent to Rivka's bedroom window, that she
felt it would probably be good to tell her parents what had happened in the
principal's office.
Fortunately, the fire did not spread to the family's house and
none of the family members were injured. Damage from this act of arson was
limited to property only.
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice has initiated a public
complaint and a thorough investigation into this matter, via the Ministry of
Education, the Israeli Police and the Israel National Council for the Child (http://www.children.org.il/index_eng.asp).
We believe that it is of absolute importance to prosecute actions of this
nature, as we have learned that unchecked violence by radical religious
factions can become a slippery slope (see: The Ami Ortiz Story). Through your
support, we can continue to fight to ensure freedom of conscience, freedom of
religion and the protection of persons of all religious persuasions in
"Justice, and only justice, you shall pursue, that you may
live and possess the land which the LORD your God is giving you."
Deuteronomy 16:20