Israeli 'neo-Nazi gang' arrested

[T_i_B]

Source: BBC

Israeli police say they have broken up a gang of neo-Nazis who are accused of carrying out attacks on foreigners, gay people and religious Jews.

The eight suspects, aged 16-21, are all Israeli citizens from the former Soviet Union. They were arrested a month ago, but the news only emerged on Saturday. Police say searches of their homes yielded Nazi uniforms, portraits of Adolf Hitler, knives, guns and TNT.

The arrests follow a year-long inquiry which began after a synagogue in Petah Tikva, a city east of Tel Aviv, was desecrated with graffiti of Nazi swastikas and the name of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. Police say the gang members would target homosexuals, Jews who wore a skull cap and drug addicts, often video taping their attacks.

"It is difficult to believe that Nazi ideology sympathisers can exist in Israel, but it is a fact," Revital Almog, the police official who led the investigation, told Israeli public radio.

Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6985808.stm

---

What a bunch of idiots.

[Wcross]

1. Very last place I would expect that kind of stupidity.

Whats up with "Nazi's" anyways? Or "hate groups" in general? I can understand a "square dancing" group. I can understand a "motorcycling group" or a "quilting" group. Groups that enjoy the same activity wanting to get together and share. But a group whose sole purpose is to hate? I don't get it.

[formercia]

2. They are being encouraged by reactionary ultra right wing elements.

It is an international campaign to force back the socialist and left leaning shifts in society that have occurred in recent years. Communism may be dead but the boys will attack anyone who doesn't agree with them or those that they consider to be untermench.

[whistle]

3. Who are the right wing elements in Israel?

[formercia]

6. The Russian emigre population brought a lot of baggage with them.

The Nazis are becoming common in Russia.

There are many right-wing extremists in Israel as well.

[The Stranger]

32. Typically, one thinks of the Settler parties and Likud as Right Wing in Israel.

Is Meir Kahane's group still around?

[htuttle]

12. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me

As I've understood the history of modern day Israel, I've always been under the impression that the government and society were much more socialist and 'leftist' in the past than in recent years. When the State of Israel was founded, I thought I remember them being labeled decidedly 'socialist' from an economic standpoint, and that in recent years much of that social safety net was being dismantled, much like in post-Reagan America.

[formercia]

13. You wouldn't expect Nazis in Russia either

Eric Hoffer provides a good view of the Mass Movement phenomenon.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_True_Believer

The True Believer: Thoughts On The Nature Of Mass Movements ISBN 0-06-050591-5 was Eric Hoffer's first and most successful book, published in 1951. It discusses the psychological causes of fanaticism.

The premise of the book is as follows: Mass movements spread by promising a glorious future, and they need people to be willing to sacrifice all for that future, including themselves and others. To do that, they need to devalue both the past and the present. Therefore, mass movements appeal to the frustrated; people who are dissatisfied with their current state, but are capable of a strong belief in the future and to people who want to escape a flawed self by creating an imaginary self and joining a compact collective whole to escape themselves. Some categories of such people are the poor, the misfits, the creative thwarted in their endeavors, the inordinately selfish, the ambitious facing unlimited opportunities, minorities, the bored, and sinners. The book also explores the behavior of mass movements once they become established (or leave the "active phase").

With their collapse of a communal framework people can no longer defeat the feelings of insecurity and uncertainty by belonging to a compact whole. If the isolated individual lacks vast opportunities for personal advancement, development of talents, and action (such as those found on a frontier), he will seek substitutes. These substitutes would be pride instead of self-confidence, memberships in a collective whole like a mass movement, absolute certainty instead of understanding.

--snip--

[ikojo]

28. OH no...Israel, thanks to the Likud party, is taking

on a much more laissex faire capitalist orientation. They, like the US, are privatizing as many state functions as they can. They are also experiencing an increasing gulf between rich and poor and predictably it falls along skin color. The Ashkenazic (European) Jews tend to be wealthier than the Sephardic (Middle Eastern) Jews.

http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/inequal/income/2003/1101israel.htm

Poverty Becomes Israel’s New Enemy (November 1, 2003)
Once the most egalitarian society in the developed world, Israel is now among the least so. In the West Bank and Gaza, 60 percent of Palestinians live in extreme poverty. But also in the rest of Israel, people suffer from the government’s decision to shrink its role as a welfare provider to force people back into the labor market. (Inter Press Service)

From the article

snip

Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the prime mover behind this economic policy based in part on trying to force people back into the labour market by cutting welfare benefits. Other measures include privatising state-owned corporations, reducing the top income tax rate, slashing the public sector, and clipping the wings of organised labour. The Finance Minister, who served as prime minister from 1996-99, argues that the expansion of state handouts has spawned a culture of unemployment where people have become used to living off government support. The treasury says benefits have grown 12-fold in the last two decades.

snip

For all the growing anger among Israel's poorer classes, an effective political framework has yet to be found to channel it. There have been outbursts of social protest in recent months, like the dozens of single mothers who marched on government offices in Jerusalem after their benefits were cut. But they have all lost steam. The opposition Labour Party, still battling to recover from the collapse of the peace process three years ago, does not appear to be the answer. Labour, says Arnon, "doesn't believe in this neo-conservative approach of small government and smashing organised labour, but it is still too identified with economic conservatism to be an alternative."

[Posteritatis]

10. Most of them spin it as a "[opposite of whatever they hate] pride" group

At least, that's how most of the really bigoted ones tend to do it. I haven't seen any serious We Hate Blacks Or Jews Or Catholics Or You type groups; I've seen a lot of, say, "Nordic Pride" groups, though. Dominionist groups will describe themselves as "Christian Pride" or whatnot. It's silly.

(ObDisclaimer: Obviously, I'm not counting gay pride groups under this!)

[Wcross]

20. I have seen the Klan, they are a "I hate blacks group".

Living not to far from Pulaski, Tennessee the birthplace of the Klan I have been to a Klan rally (counter protesting) on the town square. We outnumbered them by about 20 to one and they were the most pathetic looking people you have ever seen. Oh, I also live very close to the birthplace of the Klan's founder- Nathan Forrest. I wish I could say racism is dead in the south but it isn't. We are making progress though.

[Posteritatis]

24. Oh, they definitely are

The ones I've seen describe themselves as "white pride" or "European pride" groups, though. That's what I'm talking about - the spin, the self-description and self-deception, rather than what they actually are.

[IndianaGreen]

21. It's all those damned Russians that Israel took years ago

Anyone claiming the slenderest of Jewish background was accepted as a Jew by Israel, without regards to verifying their claims or the consequences.

Russian mob.

Russian quacks.

It was them damned Russian quacks that are responsible for Sharon having a stroke.

[Bosso 63]

4. "I'm going to be what ever you hate the most."

If you want to find kids that "worship Satan", go to the bible belt. My guess is these kids don't believe in Hitler as much as they like the idea of pissing people off.

[Ian David]

5. As much as I hate them, these are probably the only neo-nazis in the world with any balls.

How much guts does it take to be a neo-nazi in Dumbfuck, Iowa and torment the only two Jews in town?

But to be a neo-nazi in Israel... surrounded every day by armies of armed Jews with machine guns... and then to pull that shit?

That takes big balls and small brains.

I say, every neo-nazi in the world should either put their money where their mouth is and go to Israel, or hang-up their uniforms for good and call it quits.

Any neo-nazi who does not go to Israel is the equivalent of the Repubicker Yellow Elephants.

[amandabeech]

7. We progressives are supposed to respect everyone and every culture.

That includes people who live in small towns, whether in Iowa or Zimbabwe.

"Dumbfuck" is a derogatory word, not a town in Iowa, according to my Rand McNally Atlas.

I suggest that we all refrain from using such words to refer to individuals or groups unless we can point to specific, idiotic acts done or words said.

Cheney is a Dumbfuck. Shrub is a Dumbfuck. There are a few Dumbfucks in the small Midwestern town where I grew up, but most of the people are fine, just like everywhere.

Let's not get in the habit of alienating voters in swing states or voting districts.

[derby378]

8. And, last I heard, Texas has a TRUCKLOAD of electoral votes...

Trust me, the last thing you want to do is piss off Texas voters in 2008. Do that, and kiss any chance of a Democratic White House bye-bye.

[amandabeech]

18. I hear that!

I worked in Texas for a year. There is absolutely no way that I would purposefully piss off a Texan.

Living there was a lesson in diplomacy, and a good one at that.

[bunkerbuster1]

14. Ok, so move "Dumbfuck" to my state of Georgia

I'm more than willing to admit that there are many deep pockets of stupidity in this otherwise great country of ours, where ignorance thrives.

[amandabeech]

17. It sounds like you speak from experience.

But let's not give the Pubbies any more ammo right now.

They hover here looking for ammo.

[Ian David]

23. Good idea. From now on, it's Dumbfuck, Georgia. n/t

[Seabiscuit]

25. "Dumbuck" is already on the map.

It's called Crawford, Texas.

[Scurrilous]

9. MKs suggest amending Law of Return in wake of neo-Nazi arrests

<snip>



"The Interior Ministry said Sunday that it would consider revoking the citizenship of eight teens suspected of running a neo-Nazi cell in Petah Tikva, if they are convicted.

The suspects, aged 17 to 19, confessed to assaulting dozens of people, mainly foreign workers around Tel Aviv's central bus station and Carmel market, causing many of them serious injury. The eight were arrested a month ago, and a gag order on the arrest was lifted Saturday.

According to police, the neo-Nazi cell comprised individuals who have distant ties to Judaism and nonetheless immigrated to Israel from the former Soviet Union under the Law of Return, which grants all Jews the right to immigrate.

Army Radio reported Sunday that Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit instructed the ministry to look into the legal aspects of such a procedure. The law allows the state to strip the citizenship of anyone involved in an act against the state."

http://haaretz.com/hasen/spages/902093.html

[phusion]

16. Those guys walked around Tel Aviv...

dressed like that?!

Wow.

[Taverner]

11. Reminds me of the South Park ep about "Anti-Semetic Jews"

[bunkerbuster1]

15. Can you say "childish?"

I'm surprised they're as old as they are. This sounds like a bunch of 12-year-olds trying to upset Mommy and Daddy.

[Frogger]

19. This just blows my mind.

This is so illogical. So.....wrong.

I don't mean that as in 'incorrect' or 'evil', although that too. I mean it sets up a dissonance in my cranium that won't go away. A bad acid trip, or something.

[ohio2007]

22. They have nothing compared to the under reported stories of Putins Russia

http://youtube.com/watch?v=Qn5g6qodduI

[zonkers]

26. Wow, it takes guts or stupidity to attempt to be a neo nazi in Israel.

[ikojo]

27. Many of the Russian immigrants are not

halachically Jewish (meaning their mothers were not Jewish or they had not undergone an orthodox conversion to Judaism). I think Israel allowed Russians in if they had at least one Jewish grandparent. I recall reading somewhere in the Jewish press about problems finding places to bury Russian Jews because the orthodox establishment does not accept the Jewish status of many of the Russian immigrants.

[entanglement]

29. In Russia, these "one-quarter Jewish" neo-Nazis would be scorned by the "pure" "Aryan" neo-Nazis

as "Jewish infiltrators".

[David__77]

33. Are you sure of that?

I know that the original Nazis certainly did tolerate those who were one-fourth Jewish, even among their own ranks. They received provisional certificates indicating their acceptable "racial" status, to be later examined after a supposed German victory after the war. It is entirely possible these acolytes would have been purged at this time, we'll never know. In any care, it is disgusting that these individuals would support such an anti-human ideoology.

[entanglement]

34. Yes. Modern neo-Nazis are LESS tolerant than historical Nazis when it comes to

matters of racial classification. The reason is simple - they are small groups and do not have to make what they consider is a "compromise" when it comes to racial "purity" unlike Hitler's government.

Modern neo-Nazism is really more of a white supremacist movement. The Jews and their descendants are excluded because they are considered a separate (and inimical) race. OTOH, most modern neo-Nazis (in the Anglosphere, at least) don't consider the Slavs 'untermensch' anymore. "Slavic" is considered a valid ethnic category of white like Nordic or Irish.

[David__77]

35. I just remember a part-white Nazi in my area.

He was part Latino, and it seemed like he was mestizo. His associates didn't have a problem with it. Maybe local little gangs are more opportunistic than the ideologues.

There are also two homosexual Nazis in my area. They currently deny being gay, but it's easily verifiable than they are from just browsing old letters to the editor they wrote to our local paper. Now, their associates do not press the issue so it seems. I just imagined that it's precisely due to their small numbers they would welcome not just Slavs but also "mixed-race" types into their fold.

[TheLastMohican]

36. Sorry sir, but you are definetely talking out of you arse

You seem to have never been to Russia. I can forgive your ignorance on the subject.

To put it short, every country has a certified number of idiots and just plain mean people.
Russia and USA included. The majority are very nice people. And I am talking from my own experience.

This just turns into another Putin and Russia-bashing thread. I don't know about you but Putin enjoys over 70% rating approval by Russians unlike our dimson. That says that he is probably doing something right for his country.

[entanglement]

38. Read my post carefully - I refer to Russian neo-Nazis, not regular Russians

Besides, I am a socialist - I'm firmly opposed to jingoism, nationalism or 'country-bashing' of any variety. The ruling classes are fair targets, however :)

[shenmue]

30. Of all the stupid--

It just boggles the mind. :grr:

Wonder what'll happen to them in a prison in Israel? :eyes:

Good riddance, assholes.

[frankieT]

31. it's dialectics !

Action brings reaction.

[Ellen Forradalom]

37. That's right, blame L.Ron Hub---

Oh, dialectics. Never mind.