Tuesday, June 28, 2011

profiles in delusion

There's been some activity recently with Torat Hamelech, which I blogged about previously here and here.

The police wanted to question Rabbi Dov Lior, the head rabbi of Kiryat Arba who endorsed Torat Hamelech. He refused to cooperate. In February, the police issued an arrest warrant. Now, at the end of June, the police finally executed the warrant. In response to news of his arrest, protesters tried to block the entrance to Jerusalem. Check out the photo gallery on that last article.

I'm posting now because I want to continue to follow the Torat Hamelech story and also because I want to point out a person who showed up in one of these stories. Gershon Mesika, the head of the Shomron / Northern West Bank Regional Council, has grabbed my attention several times now.

Haaretz:
Police said they stopped Lior's car near the tunnel at the southern entrance to Jerusalem. A policeman replaced Lior's driver and drove the rabbi to the offices of the Serious and International Crimes Division in Lod, where he was questioned for about an hour in an amicable atmosphere.
I'm not sure because the article in Arutz Sheva only has one quotation mark, but I think most of what follows is a direct quote:
Samaria local authority head Gershon Mesika said Rav Lior’s abduction was an attempt by Soviet Russia to make a comeback and take over the only democracy in the Middle East.
That was exhibit A.

Here's exhibit B: After an incident in which settlers obstructed the demolition of an illegal house, Haaretz quoted Mesika as saying that Israeli police had used "rubber bullets tipped with glass". That would indeed be a cruel weapon, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't exist. Police said they fired paint cartridges.