The Awesome Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu Interview - in English!

I already blogged about this interview, which fellow blogger Yaak described as "awesome". I agree with Yaak, and I searched in vain for an English translation of the interview. I was unwilling to accept the fact that those that haven't mastered Hebrew would miss this gem. So the Cosmic X translation team, which includes me, myself and I, have worked hard to bring the interview that was the talk of Israel to the English speaking public. Here it is:

Interview of Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu in an Arab-Israeli Newspaper

Q: To respect a neighbor and nation, and others is considered a biblical commandment. How does that fit in with your declarations against the Arabs?

A: It is certainly a commandment to respect every person that was created in God's image, be it Arab or Jew. Certainly it is a mitzvah to respect a neighbor and nation. But there is no commandment to respect those that wage warfare against us. If the Arabs of Israel identify with Hezbollah and Hamas, who have inscribed on their flag (the goal of) destroying us - they are no longer in the category of a close neighbor.

Apart from that there are other biblical commandments that God has written. The main one among them is that God swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that the land of Israel will belong to the nation of Israel. We respect God's will. I think that the Muslims must also respect it especially since Muhammad himself wrote in the Koran in the name of Allah that the land of Israel belongs to the Jews:

In Sura 5 verse 21-22 is written in the words of Moses to the nation of Israel: "O my people, enter the holy land that God has decreed for you, and do not rebel, lest you become losers." In Sura 7 line 137, the words of Allah: "We let the oppressed people inherit the land, east and west, and we blessed it. The blessed commands of your Lord were thus fulfilled for the Children of Israel." Even regarding these very days Muhammad says that the people of Israel will return to the land of Israel. In Sura 17 which deals with the end of days it is written in verse 104: "And we said to the Children of Israel afterwards, "Go live into this land. When the final prophecy comes to pass, we will summon you all in one group."

We are now in the age where the prophecies regarding the ingathering of the nation of Israel that was dispersed all over the world are being fulfilled - how can a true Muslim that believes in the word of God go against God? How can one fight against the return of the nation of Israel to the land that was promised to it by God?

Q: There are Arabs in the hospitals and the clinics and there are construction workers...why did you come out with these proclamations specifically now?

A: This is not something that I made up. I mentioned this law twenty years ago when I became Rabbi (of Tzefat). This law was mentioned by rabbis 500 years ago and 1000 years ago. That is the law and it is the word of God. It is not something that we made up. We do not have permission to change the words of God. For if we change them they will not be the words of God but the words of man.

Q: One can understand from your proclamations that you are in favor of and call for deporting the Arabs. And in your opinion we cannot live together in coexistence?

A: God gave the Arabs twenty-two states and gave the nation of Israel one. This is the state of the nation of Israel, the Chosen People. Even according to Mohammad in the Koran this nation is the Chosen People and one must respect them because of that. It is true that the nation of Israel sinned and was expelled from the Land but since then many years have gone by and God has brought us back to the Land of Israel just as He promised.

According to Jewish law if there is an Arab who recognizes this fact and he comes here as a guest of the Israeli nation - he is welcome. If he comes to undermine God's promise and imagines taking the Land for himself, if he thinks that the Arabs should have twenty-three states and that the nation of Israel shouldn't have a state at all - we must expel him from the Land of Israel immediately.

Q: You have declared that you wish to guard the Jewish character of Tzefat. Are you also in favor of guarding the Arab character of Akko?

A: Akko, Yafo, Tzefat, and Jerusalem should be Jewish cities. Even if Arab families are living there now - these cities are part of the Land of Israel that was promised by God to the nation of Israel. And therefore if the Arabs in Akko will respect Israeli rule in the land of Israel they can in the future enter the category of "ger toshav" (resident alien) who according to God's Torah can live in the land of Israel. In any case the character of Akko and every city in the Land of Israel will be, in the end, Jewish.

He who thinks differently does not believe in the word of God. It's a shame for a man to fights God's words. In the end he will lose.

Q: You claimed that Arabs are sexually harassing Jewish females...on what are you basing yourself after all this is a matter for the police?

A: According to Jewish Law one must love his wife as he loves himself and honor her more than he honors himself. Not all Jews are behaving in this manner however that is the goal and objective of their lives and they are continually progressing towards it.

To my dismay, in Arab society women are not being properly respected. I do not want to interfere in your lives; however it is a mistake to degrade women. Apart from that, if an Arab man would harass an Arab woman like they harass the Jewish ones - they would stone them in the streets in the manner that you do when family honor is desecrated. I personally witnessed married Arab men harassing young Jewish women on the streets of Tzefat. Have you no shame? Where is your faithfulness to your wives?

I think that the harassment of Jewish women is not just our problem, it is yours as well. Also according to the Koran it is forbidden for an Arab to marry a Jewish woman. This is unfaithfulness and adultery.

To sum things up: in the end we are all humans and we must know that the word of God is above all. If we fulfill them - we will be able to exist in this world. If we go against it - we shall be obliterated. It's a shame to go against God and against his promises and oaths which he swore that the land of Israel will be the place of the nation of Israel.