Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Manny's concedes defeat to extortion of Sikrikim


After 20 months of attacks and a quarter million shekels in damage, a religious bookstore in the ultra-Orthodox Mea She’arim neighborhood of Jerusalem decided on Monday to accede to the demands of extremists responsible for the violence.

Under the terms of the compromise, Ohr Hachaim/Manny’s put up a large sign requesting that all customers dress modestly. A mashgiach, who checks the store’s inventory to make sure there are no controversial books, will go over the books in the coming week and require that some books be removed from the shelves, though they will not be permitted to remove any English books, said Marlene Samuels, one of the store’s managers. [...]
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17 comments:

  1. MO SpokesmanNovember 30, 2011 at 8:23 AM

    What choice did they have? They should continue to sacrifice profit on the alter of standing up against them. Clearly accepting the conditions is more profitable than customers being chased away and damage incurred.

    Smart move.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNovember 30, 2011 at 11:58 AM

    Do not go gentle into that good night.
    Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
    Dylan Thomas

    KT
    Joel Rich

    ReplyDelete
  3. OU family valuesNovember 30, 2011 at 2:41 PM

    http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4637&Itemid=53

    This old age home in Winnepeg which is run by corrupt tyrants who cause the death of residents is under the supervision of Western Kosher which is a subsidiary of the OU.

    The OU runs a tight ship in Winnepeg. First a mashgiach sleeping on the job at the world's largest producer of gefilte fish that also processes non-kosher species. Now senior citizens in their 90s going into septic shock because an OU supervised nursing home lets them wallow in severe bedsores. If the family members complain they are banned from the property in retaliation by the criminal management.

    We knew this since August. Now an update:

    http://www.jewishtribune.ca/TribuneV2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5086&Itemid=53

    Criminal charges are now being laid against the home for the patients who were abused to death including an elterra rov who passed away 2 years ago at 95. The niftar, Rabbi Berkal who grew up in Uzpaliai, Lita, was a musmach of R' Yisroel Yitzchok Kahanovich, alter Grodner & Slabodker who had semicha from the Aruch Hashulchan.

    http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_In1T-FZEreI/TDP2Z8D42DI/AAAAAAAADCg/evzgZEXi3dE/s1600/Kahanovitch.jpg

    He was rov of Scranton in 1905 and later in Winnepeg.

    Hasn't Rabbi Genack said repeatedly that the OU will remove hashgocho from companies that are criminally charged? Or at least that was his empty promise for Rubashkin.

    ReplyDelete
  4. yeshayaNovember 30, 2011 at 3:22 PM

    I don't understand. How expensive could it be to have an armed security guard outside the door at all times, effectively preventing any damage by these Jewish terrorists? In the U.S. such guards are barely paid minimum wage.

    At least they can't remove any English-language books.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Recipients and PublicityNovember 30, 2011 at 7:29 PM

    Books can be ordered online, presumably they have a web site for E commerce.

    People can order from this store on the Internet and have their orders either shipped locally or picked up.

    It's a Pyrrhic victory for the hoodlums who should be arrested and sit in jail for acts of violence.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Mighty Garnel IronheartNovember 30, 2011 at 8:19 PM

    Here's a counterpoint: boycott Manny's. Now that they have given in, nobody shop there. Let the place go bankrupt. Other targeted business should be given a choice: you want our business? Don't give in to these freaks.
    That, and find a group of counter-goons to hang out at the store each night as "protection".
    And these are the "most" frum amongst us, eh?

    ReplyDelete
  7. sbNovember 30, 2011 at 10:05 PM

    Suggesting a boycott of manny's in terrible. What could he do, he has to make a living. The police should be taking care of this.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kosher manNovember 30, 2011 at 10:07 PM

    What books do they have to take down that are "not kosher"?!?!

    ReplyDelete
  9. PaulDecember 1, 2011 at 1:09 AM

    The police are helpless too. Are the police supposed to have a 24/7 presence? Should they have a 24/7 presence everywhere there is a protest/boycott of some bookstore somewhere?

    ReplyDelete
  10. sbDecember 1, 2011 at 6:08 AM

    A "protest"? These people were/are continually breaking windows, throwing feces, physically harassing people, etc. They should be cracking down on this group as hard as possible and sending as many to jail as possible for as long as possible.

    ReplyDelete
  11. PaulDecember 1, 2011 at 6:32 AM

    So the police need to be 24/7 anywhere vandals are breaking windows? The police cannot possibly provide such a force. That's just the reality.

    ReplyDelete
  12. AnonymousDecember 1, 2011 at 11:58 AM

    The Police need to investigate and make arrests. The article states that a few of the leaders of the Sikarim were arrested, but that was for terrorizing another store, and only after they severely beat the owner.

    Extortion and racketeering are crimes. With phone call death threats and such, there are phone records ect. The police need to step in and do their job. They need a 24/7 presence. Its not vandals that we are worried about, it is what in any other place would be called organized crime, no matter who is carrying it out.

    As far as what Manny could do, a 12 guage, some rock salt, and few sleepless nights probably would have helped as well.

    ReplyDelete
  13. yeshayaDecember 1, 2011 at 3:24 PM

    There is not a single person in the world willing the donate the few thousand dollars necessary for a 24/7 private security guard? If they couldn't afford it, and they'd asked around, someone would have given the money in the name of preserving freedom of the press from the thuggery of zealots!

    Right on, SB. All these wannabe terrorists need to be cracked down on, identified and arrested. One's religious opinions must not be enforced by mob violence -- that is the opposite of the peaceful society we want, and any kind of Jewish society Chazal would have been happy about.

    ReplyDelete
  14. DDecember 1, 2011 at 3:53 PM

    24/7 protection from either police or private security is not a realistic option. It cost much more than the benefit. And police do not provide such a service.

    ReplyDelete
  15. sbDecember 1, 2011 at 5:16 PM

    I don't understand. These people are mafia thugs, not "vandals". Would you expect the Mafia to be addressed by police/fbi in the US? Well, they have been. So why is this any different? This group should be completely dismantled.

    ReplyDelete
  16. sbDecember 1, 2011 at 5:17 PM

    Also:

    "As far as what Manny could do, a 12 guage, some rock salt, and few sleepless nights probably would have helped as well"

    this is very, very true :)

    ReplyDelete
  17. Student VDecember 4, 2011 at 3:15 AM

    Mafiosos for God.

    But they were never taught, God does not love mafiosos.

    ReplyDelete

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