Friday, October 04, 2013

European Parliament Outlaws Circumcision; Israel Calls It "A Moral Stain"

A resolution to outlaw male ritual circumcision, calling it a “violation of the physical integrity of children” was passed overwhelmingly by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

The Jewish rite of Brit Millah was compared in the resolution to the female genital mutilation (FGM) common in a number of Muslim and African countries,although no specific recommendations or resolutions condemning that practice or recommending that member states outlaw FGM was passed.

The resolution Called on member states to "adopt specific legal provisions to ensure that certain operations and practices will not be carried out before a child is old enough to be consulted,” which targets Jews specifically since only Jews ritually circumcise their male children when they are eight days old, symbolic of the Covenant of Abraham.

The State of Israel's Foreign Ministry was quick to respond:

"Circumcision of male children is an ancient religious tradition of two important religions, Judaism and Islam, and it is also common among some Christian circles," the Foreign Ministry staid in a statement.

"Any comparison of this tradition to the reprehensible and barbaric practice of female genital mutilation is either appalling ignorance, at best, or defamation and anti-religious hatred, at worst."


The resolution, the statement continued, is "an intolerable attack both on the respectable and ancient religious tradition that lies at the base of European culture, and on modern medical science and its findings. This resolution casts a moral stain on the Council of Europe, and fosters hate and racist trends in Europe. We call on the Council of Europe to act without delay in order to annul it."

The Israeli Foreign Ministry statement also said that the claims that circumcision harms the health of young boys are false and runs contrary to scientific evidence.

Needless to say, the European Parliament won't annul it.

My friend Carl has the right of it.

"Whenever the gentiles want to attack us, the first things they attack are circumcision, Torah study and ritual slaughter. Not necessarily in that order."

He's got that right.

3 comments:

FresnoJoe said...

And So It Starts Up Once Again

Praying For The Peace Of Jerusalem
And For The Joy Of Israel

""For thus saith the LORD of hosts; After the glory hath he sent me unto the nations which spoiled you: for he that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye. For, behold, I will shake mine hand upon them, and they shall be a spoil to their servants: and ye shall know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me. Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD." Zechariah 2:8-10

In The Name Of My LORD And My God
In The Name Of Yeshua
Amen~!

Armani said...

Let's call a spade a spade. Circumcision is mutilation and to classify it as another other than that is ignorance and bias at best. We have conclusive studies that show the trauma experienced in infants and adolescent males who undergo circumcision and studies that factor the death toll attributed to circumcision (roughly 117 infant males die annually in the alias due to circumcision) when conducted in infancy adolescence and adulthood (see the Xhosa tribe). We have conclusive data that shows the degradation of sensation attributed to circumcision and it itself is a violation of human rights just as the EU stated. It has yet to be outlawed. No in the Islamic culture a common form or female circumcision is the Sunna pinprick - a little prick to the clitoris. It is non-invasive and severly less harmful than male circumcision yet still illegal and classified as a human rights violation. So tell me , how does a near harmless variant of female circumcision still hold that massive stigma yet were going to be fine with male circumcision - an invasive procedure that causes sever amounts of pain to the recipient ? How dare this part of the Jewish community ask the EU pander to them when they are a minority and this initiative is meant to protect all male infants - Jewish, Muslim, American, African, and so on. This isn't about the Jewish community (which reminder - a massive portion of Jews are vehemently against circumcision) it's about the boys and men who are being violated and mutilated. Absolutely disgusting. I love the Jewish people but find this aspect of their culture deplorable

Rob said...

Well Armani,
I'm going to take this at face value, that you're not trying to be deliberately offensive.

I believe you are factually mistaken on a number of points.

I speak here only for Jewish ritual circumcision, as performed by a mohel.

It is a sacred rite, symbolizing the covenant between G-d and the Jewish people through their patriarch Abraham.I doubt you would find a single Jewish male child who died as a result, because of the way the rite is performed.Bringing an African tribe into the mix has no relevance to this article or to Jews.

As to the 'degradation of sensation', how would you or anyone else know, unless you were circumcised as an adult and could compare before and after? I personally have no complaints about 'sensation', and the added benefits of cleanliness and health benefits are a definite bonus.

There is significant scientific evidence that male circumcision does in fact act as a preventive in penile cancer, venereal disease and the transmission of AIDS.

That's why in America, something like 80 of all male children are circumcised, usually in a hospital if they're not Jews.

You are totally incorrect about the nature of Muslim female circumcision. You should read what Aya'an Hirsh Ali, who actually underwent this procedure as a young girl has to say about it. Or the Muslim Brotherhood's spiritual adviser, Sheikh Qaradawi. It is not a 'pinprick'(although some young girls may be lucky enough to only receive that) but designed to be a clitorectomy, an excising. It has none of the health benefits associated with male circumcision.

It is designed to help 'control' women's sexual urges and pleasure in the sexual act by removing all or part of the clitoris or even 'stitching' up a young girl's vagina as a form of domination.

As for a 'massive amount of Jews' being against circumcision, I have no idea whom you're talking about, but it is simply not factual. Even largely secular Jews have their male infants circumcised.

Here in the United States the anti-circumcision lobby is largely populated by homosexual activists and garden variety anti-Semites. It's no accident that legislation to put in place city ordinances banning circumcision got on the ballot in San Francisco and in Santa Monica, both 'progressive' cities with active and powerful gay populations and lobbies.

In Europe, I think there's an additional factor at work, the desire to get Jews to leave. Just as Kosher slaughtering is outlawed in Norway while Halal slaughtering is permitted, I'm sure you will see the EU's restive Muslim population get a pass on having to give up male and female circumcision.

You appear to approve of this idea Armani. If that's really the bottom line, to create a climate inhospitable to Jews..well, that wouldn't be a first for Europe, now would it?