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Prominent rabbis in the UK have come out in support of British sanctions on illegal Israeli settlements after the country\u2019s chief rabbi, Ephraim Mirvis, said the move represented a \u201cdark day for British Jews,\u201d The Guardian reported.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Wittenberg of Masorti Judaism said he was present in the Palestinian village of Umm Al-Khair in Hebron as Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who is Jewish, delivered his speech announcing the sanctions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is taking place today in the West Bank is a Chillul HaShem, a violation of God\u2019s name of the worst order. We cannot stay silent,\u201d Wittenberg said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is terrible for Palestinian people who want to get on with their lives in peace. It is terrible for Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must speak out. We must do so out of deep concern for what is human and just, and for the sake of Israel and Judaism. We cannot turn away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alexandra Wright, a rabbi from the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in London and vice chair of the British Friends of Rabbis for Human Rights, said action is necessary as \u201cthe occupation and escalating violence are harming Palestinians and Israelis.\u201d She added: \u201cThe sanctions are the UK\u2019s commitment to a two-state solution.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Jeremy Gordon of the New London Synagogue said: \u201cIt is wrong to argue for silence, inaction or \u2018the use of carrots\u2019 \u2014 appeasement \u2014 before the settler movement and those who support it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe playbook of these settlers is predicated on the notion that they will be appeased or ignored, and that well-meaning Jews the world over overlook their illegal and criminal actions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Lev Taylor of the Kingston Liberal Synagogue said the sanctions signify that the government is \u201cmoving in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added: \u201cSome of my Israeli members have been campaigning for sanctions exactly like this \u2026 The Judaism in which I believe repudiates this brutal occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n
The co-leaders of Progressive Judaism in the UK, rabbis Charley Baginsky and Josh Levy, urged British Jews opposed to the sanctions to offer more than condemnatory statements against settler violence, adding: \u201cInaction is not neutral. It too is a political and moral choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s measures, announced on Tuesday, were coordinated with France, Canada and nine other countries that are also introducing sanctions on Israel over the growth of settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law and are designed to thwart the creation of a Palestinian state.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n