Baruch Marzel
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Baruch Marzel (Hebrew: ברוך מרזל) is an American-born Israeli, Orthodox Jew and political-religious activist, described by mainstream Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth as part of the "extreme right-wing".[1] [2] He lives in an Israeli settlement in Hebron with his wife and nine children. He is the leader of the Religious Zionism orientated Jewish National Front party, which some Jewish leftists consider a fascist party.[3] He has a violent criminal past and long list of convictions in Israeli courts. He claims he was the "right hand man" of Rabbi Meir Kahane, acting as spokesman for the American Rabbi's Kach organization for ten years, [4] before it was outlawed in Israel and the US as a terrorist organization.
The Supreme Court of Israel deemed Kach "racist" and disqualified it from the 1988 elections because it advocated the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.[5][6]
Marzel was elected head of the Kach movement's secretariat after Kahane was assassinated in New York. A splinter group from Kach, Kahana Chai, was led by Kahane's son Binyamin Ze'ev Kahane. Both groups were designated terrorist organizations by Israel and the US in 1994, following the groups’ statements in support of Baruch Goldstein’s massacre of 29 Palestinians in Hebron.[7]
According to a 2003 report in the most popular Israeli paper Yedioth Ahronoth, "Marzel had acquired a police record of some 40 files before he was 30".[8] The report goes on to detail his violent criminal past, including assault on a Palestinian that earned him a 12-month suspended prison sentence, assaulting an Israeli police officer and assaulting Israeli journalist and peace activist Uri Avnery.
In 2003, Marzel joined Herut and Paul Eidelberg's Yamin Israel party to become the number two candidate on the party list after Michael Kleiner in the bid to enter the 16th Knesset session. The election advertisements featured him prominently with the slogan strong and blessed (Hebrew: חזק וברוך), Hazak U'Baruch, a pun on Marzel's name). Herut narrowly missed the minimum number of votes needed to enter the Knesset.
In 2004, he founded the Jewish National Front and headed its Knesset list in the 2006 elections. During the election campaign, Marzel called on the Israeli military to "carry out a targeted killing against Israeli journalist and activist Uri Avneri and his leftist collaborators" whilst being interviewed on Channel 10.[9][10] Avneri had earlier been quoted on Israeli radio station Kol Israel saying that the assassination of Rehavam Zeevi was a Palestinian "targeted killing", much like the killing of Palestinian political leaders by the Israeli military. The radio did not quote Avneri's next words: "I am against all assassinations, both by Israelis and Palestinians".
Ultimately the Jewish National Front received 24,824 votes (0.79%), less than half the minimum 2% required to enter the Knesset.
Marzel has also advocated violence toward homosexuals in Israel, calling for a religious war against them during a radio interview. He is quoted as saying that the stabbing which occurred at the previous year's gay pride parade in Jerusalem would "seem minor" compared to what was coming.[11]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Kahane supporters praise Gaza killings as 'holy'. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
- ^ Thousands arrive in Homesh. Retrieved on March 27, 2007.
- ^ Not All Fascism Looks Like This. Retrieved on November 15, 2006.
- ^ Barch Marzel - C.V. and Highlights of his Public Activities. Retrieved on May 7, 2006.
- ^ Council on Foreign Relations: Kach, Kahane Chai (Israel, extremists). Retrieved on May 8, 2006.
- ^ Institute for Counter-Terrorism, Israel: Kach and Kahane Chai. Retrieved on May 8, 2006.
- ^ US Department of State: Country Reports on Terrorism, 2004: Kahane Chai (Kach). Retrieved on May 7, 2006.
- ^ "Israel: Article Profiles Kakh Activist, Knesset Election Candidate Barukh Marzel" via a Foreign Broadcast Information Service report, Jan. 3, 2003.. Retrieved on November 11, 2006.
- ^ Marzel to cabinet: Kill left-wing leader. Retrieved on May 7, 2006.
- ^ Gush Shalom: Incitement To Murder. Retrieved on May 7, 2006.
- ^ J'lem gay pride parade may be put on hold over security alert. Retrieved on November 15, 2006.
