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Posted on 05/08/2005 9:10:26 PM PDT by Alouette
Police said Sunday they had collected sufficient evidence to press charges against Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar's wife, daughter and son in connection with the alleged kidnapping and beating of a 17-year-old haredi youth romantically involved with Amar's 18-year-old daughter.
"We believe we have sufficient evidence to press charges against the suspects and will recommend that the prosecution do so," said a senior police officer involved in the investigation.
The officer stressed that police have yet to obtain concrete evidence against Amar, who is currently in Thailand on business and is scheduled to return on Tuesday. Police confirmed that Amar was at home when the youth was brought to the family's Jerusalem apartment following a night of abuse in Kalansua, but said there were conflicting versions regarding his level of involvement in the affair.
Ayala Amar, the rabbi's daughter, met the 17-year-old boy from Bnei Brak over the Internet some three months ago, police said. Meir – the chief rabbi's 31-year-old estranged son who turned secular some 15 years ago – kidnapped the youth in an effort to persuade him to break off the relationship with his sister.
During the night of the kidnapping last month, Meir took the youth to Kalansua where two of his acquaintances – Abdullah and Ahmed Maslawah – tied him up, cut off his peyot, cut his kippa in half and beat him for several hours. In the morning, the youth was taken to the Amar home, were the beating continued.
On Sunday, police confronted Amar's wife Mazal with the abducted youth. During the confrontation, the youth reportedly told police the chief rabbi was not only present while he was beaten, but also knew of the abduction. Police have said they intend to request permission from Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz to question Amar upon his return.
While police suspect Meir was the mastermind behind the kidnapping, they said he was ordered to do so by his mother, who told him of Ayala's illicit relationship and asked him to "take care of the problem."
On Friday, the three Amar family members were brought to Tel Aviv District Court which extended Meir's remand by an additional eight days. Ayala and her mother were released to house arrest. Sources close to Amar said Sunday that while he admits to being home at the time of the alleged beating, he was not aware of the abduction.
"Maybe that boy was brought to the rabbi's house in the early morning hours when Amar was sleeping," one source said. "But that does not mean the rabbi was aware of what was going on."
"First, the rabbi's apartment is big and the distance from the family room to the bedroom is far enough so that the rabbi probably never heard anything," the source added. "In addition, there are always people coming and going at the rabbi's house. It's like a train station. So even if the rabbi saw the boy on his way to morning prayers, it is not clear he would think twice about it."
"Rabbi Amar is a respected Torah figure. If he would have known about the kidnapping and the beating he would have stopped it immediately," he said.
Sources close to Amar placed the blame squarely on the shoulders of Meir, who left home some 15 years ago. Of Amar's 12 children – four boys and eight girls – Meir is the only one who abandoned religion.
Sources close to Amar also rejected claims that Ayala reciprocated the young man's love. These sources said that the youth is a known haredi juvenile delinquent.
"He forced himself on her against her will. The brother found out and decided to do something about it," one source said.
The youth belongs to a well-respected Sephardi family in Bnei Brak. Since he is a minor, there is a police ban on the publishing his name.
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual mentor of Shas, spoke by phone with Amar. "I am sure everything will work for the better in the end," he told him. "I pray that God will bring your son back to the fold."
Maybe it is more morally logical but nevertheless it was not really necessary to resort to violence and now it is a crime.
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What is a peyot and a kippa? SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME!
Sounds like something that would happen in the back desert of Saudi Arabia.
tied him up, cut off his peyot, cut his kippa in half and beat him for several hours.
And what's a peyot and a kippa? There must be some significance to it.
peyot are sidelocks and a kippa is a skullcap.
>What is a peyot and a kippa?
Peyot are the sidelocks which a male wears; the kippa is a skull cap.
Haredi is another name for "Ultra-Orthodox" Jew.
This is wrong and shouldn't have happened, but it is a far cry from what often happens in the case of a certain other religion.
You know... the one where the girl would most likely be stabbed, shot or otherwise punished for offenses against family honor... TRO-pieces...
These "ultra-orthodox" are obstacles to a peaceful resolution of the horrible situation that exists in that region, as are the militant jihadists on the other side. They both have backed away from reason so far that their asses are touching. They should join together and go away.
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... Side Curls (Peyot) Why do male Chasidic Jews have the long curls in their hair?
... Why do Jewish men cover their heads with a yarmulke (kippa)? ...
http://judaism.about.com/od/prayersworshiprituals/
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I wondered the same thing...
Ouch. Seventeen and eighteen year-old Sephardis, with a secular 31 year-old brother of the female who cuts off the curls and cap of the young male......there's a soap opera somewhere in this.
I don't see how this is an honor crime. It sounds like the victim did something to piss the daughter off, and she sicced the black sheep of the family on him. Sounds more like a jilted lover or maybe the victim got too fresh.
Your post clearly illustrates your total lack of understanding of the realities in the Israeli/ Palestinian situation.
Sorry Charlie, I was talking about obstacles to a peaceful resolution. Read.
When was the last time you saw them make a distinction between Palestinian Christians and Muslims? I'm just sayin...
There was an article in my local paper about a year ago about a group of Israeli Jews forcing a Palestinian Christian family off their farm whose ownership predated Israel's existance by about 50 years. They just wanted the land and so the corrupt Israeli court let them take it away from them. The reason it was in the paper is that the wife was an American born and raised in our area who was sorta appealing to American interests to help her family. She and her Palestinian husband, and their children, are Christians.
The real religious minorities, the Christians, Druze and Zoroastrians have always been victimized primarily by Islam, but that doesn't mean that they have any real equality in Israel either. I am very pro-Israel because it is a fairly peaceful, democratic state that is turning capitalist, but I am well aware of its darker side. Part of that has been that Israel has really never given a rat's ass about the Palestinian Christians, and now they pay the price for that. I think it's because Christianity is such an affront to so many Jews that they'd rather deal with Islam in a military conflict than Christianity in a religious one.
For the record, I oppose the "roadmap to peace" and support full Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories as they are part of the covnenant lands.
I disagree with everything that you wrote about "ultra-orthodox" Jews. Why do you believe that they are obstacles to a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian Arab violence against innocent Israelis? Why do you compare them to militant Jihadists who want to kill innocent people? In what way are they comparable?
They wear peyot because the Torah (the five books of Moses) command that Jews should not cut the hair at the corners of their head, and they take this commandment to mean that they should not cut the hair that grows above their sideburns.
A yarmulke is a symbol of G-d's protective cover over the world, and of the wearer's obedience to G-d.
And it's Mr. Charlie to you.
I think that you are misinformed about Israel's relationship with the Arab Christian community. If you would post the article from your local paper that alleges that a Christian family was forced off of their farm, I'm sure that someone here will be able to tell you the other side of the story. In fact, Christians, Druze and Zoroastrians, as well as people of every other religion -- or no religion -- have equal rights in Israel. There are Israeli citizens who are Christians and Druze (I don't know about Zoroastrians), and in fact there are many Druze who have significant roles in the Israel Defense Forces (the Israeli army).
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