Opinion: Wrong day for a Satmar protest

In my view

by Michael Fragin

On Memorial Day there were two demonstrations in Manhattan at the intersection of 2nd Avenue and 42 Street in front  of the Israeli Mission to the United Nations. The smaller one was made up of those protesting Israel’s raid on the flotilla bound for Gaza. This rally hurled the requisite accusations of  Israeli war crimes — both “massacring” the peace-loving people on the boat and the crime of starving the people of Gaza.

The larger rally was made  up of Satmar chasidim, led by the Satmar Rav of Kiryas Joel who was present to protest desecration of “Jewish” graves in Israel. A third rally that was to be held in Washington, DC, led by the Satmar Kehilla of Wiliamsburg, was cancelled due to Prime Minister Netanyahu’s decision to return to Israel.

It should concern us that on a day when Israel was under tremendous diplomatic and political pressure from around the world, two adjacent anti-Israel rallies here in New York prominently featured chasidic Jews. The mainstream Satmar will tell us that it is a mistake to link them with the Neturai Karta that participated in the rally with the pro-Palestinian groups. While those well-versed in inside particulars of the Chasidic world are able to differentiate between Satmar, and the Neturei Karta who embrace Hamas and Iran, the outside world certainly cannot and does not.

Anyone with experience in politics or media knows the optical power of such images and the ways in which they will be propagandized by those who wish ill towards Jews everywhere. Does the Satmar leadership of Williamsburg and Monroe want our elected officials in New York to cease in their strong support for Israel, particularly when congressional support is more critical than ever as a counterweight to President Obama’s policies? And, if the answer is that they aren’t really interested in influencing anyone’s vote in Washington, then exactly what is the point of a demonstration in midtown Manhattan?

I have great respect for the Satmar community and its myriad chesed organizations. I have worked closely with them on many worthy projects. There is no question that a great many of us, even those who do not say Hallel on Yom Ha’atzmaut, firmly disagree with the Satmar ideology on Zionism and the State of Israel. The issue here is not Israel’s religious legitimacy. It is whether a moment of peril and danger for the Jewish state, and consequently for the Jewish people, is the proper moment to alert the world to “Zionist grave desecration.”

The irony of the protest against the relocation of graves in Ashkelon is that the archaeological evidence, unearthed in the form of an ancient pagan altar, indicates that the graves are not those of Jews. In addition, there is halachic precedent to move graves for an hospital emergency room to save lives. While I don’t insist that everyone hold of the same poskim is this an issue worth even potentially put Jewish lives at risk?

While the protests on 42nd Street were civil and peaceful those in Israel were not. Chareidi elements have regularly become violent and destructive in their own neighborhoods. These activities reinforce an inaccurate image of the Chareidi community as not respectful of the rule of law or civil society.

The favored method of protest in Meah Shearim and its environs is to burn the neighborhood’s garbage. Aside from the obvious hazards to health and property, is this the proper method for B’nei Torah to register disapproval? When Charedi Shas Minister Eli Yishai came to the neighborhood to be menachem avel Maran haRav Elyashiv, he was pelted with stones and had to be shielded by his security detail.

Almost weekly a different incident sets Meah Sheraim, Geula, and even further north, aflame. Last week, this contagion spread from Jerusalem to Bnei Brak. Some will tell us that this is the work of younger hooligans and elements that are outside the control of the community, that these activities are clearly not endorsed by any rabbinic leaders. When every other facet of life is tightly controlled, that excuse falls far too short.

At what point do we realize that the mob, and not the respected leadership, is driving the behavior of the community? Last week, major rabbonim in Bnei Brak issued a proclamation against these who resorted to violent protest against grave desecration. Similar statements from the Eida Chareidis have not materialized.

Only four years ago, on Tuesday, April 5, 2006, hundreds of chasidim set fires in Boro Park after an elderly gentleman was arrested during a traffic stop. Two NYPD cruisers were set ablaze together with garbage. Courageously, Assemblyman Dov Hikind wrote in the Jewish Press shortly afterward: “What people in the community did is unconscionable...How could this happen? How could people who learn Gemara all day turn into hoodlums? ... For what? It’s ridiculous....The anti-Semitism created this week — you can’t even measure it.”

Every advocate must be cognizant of the impact, positive and negative that a specific protest action could have. While violence is so clearly out of bounds and needs to be condemned here and in Israel, perhaps the visuals generated last Monday confirm that it was not the best day for thousands of chasidim to be seen half a block away from Israel’s enemies.

Michael Fragin is a trustee of the Village of Lawrence, a member of the OU Institute of Public Affairs and a member of the Vaad Honholoh of Agudath Israel of America.

The views expressed are his own.