Of religion in conflict

 
or Jewish religious 
law
 
(Sprinzak 1991b)
. 
He believed in the necessity of a physical struggle 
against the Gentiles, with ‘Jewish violence sanctified and glorified for 
its own sake’, since it ‘proves the might of God by reversing the history 
of humiliation’ (Sprinzak 1998, 120). Kahane argued that God could 
no longer put up with humiliation after the Holocaust and created the 
State of Israel as revenge against the Gentiles, with ‘the very definition 
of Jewish freedom implying the ability to humiliate Gentiles’ (Sprinzak 
1991b, 50). Concepts such as ‘Kiddush Hashem’
 
(sanctifying the name 
of God) are used to justify grave acts of terror, including the 1994 
Hebron massacre and the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin 
(Sprinzak 1998). Sprinzak (1998) also explains the use of certain rulings 
that underpinned the attack on Rabin, although there was no Rabbinical 
sanction. 
‘Din Rodef’ 
refers to a ruling against someone who provides 
Gentiles with information about Jews or gives them Jewish property 
and ‘din moser’
 
refers to the ruling on Jews who surrender Jews to 
Gentiles. Jews are obliged to kill a 
‘moser’ 
(a Gentile that surrenders 
Jews to Gentiles)
 
without trial (Sprinzak 1998). Kahane also called for 
violence against Jewish Hellenists (Boudreau 2014), that is those open 
to the infiltration of Western values into Judaism. This underpinned 
some of the ‘price tag’ attacks against left-wing peace organisations 
in Israel. In these more radical groups, the term ‘Amalekite’
 
is used to 
identify enemies of the Jewish people. The Biblical story, where God 
demanded the destruction of the Amalekites
 
by the Children of Israel, 
is used to sanctify violence (Jones 1999).
The Hill Top Youth, while inspired by the teachings of Kahane, do not use 
messianic language and the land is seen as the end in and of itself, not 
just a means to redemption. Settling the land as their biblical ancestors 
had done is their form of redemption (Carton 2001). 

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52
The Role of Religion in Conflict and Peacebuilding
// British Academy
5.3. Religious actors
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade all promoted 
violence with reference to Islam. Leaders of the political movements, 
as well as Sheikhs and Muftis, can be identified as key actors. Youth 
movements played a role in education and mobilising, as did mosques. 
Individuals identified in Frisch’s (2005) study of suicide bombing showed 
few similarities, however. They were not core members of the political 
organisations and went through a significant period of training from the 
organisations before undertaking the task. They were recruited from 
mosques and schools (Kushner 1996).
Rabbis played a significant role in inspiring certain religious worldviews 
through interpretations of the Bible and the Halakha
. 
They were also 
consulted in order to sanction certain acts of violence; the two greatest 
acts of Jewish terrorism were conducted by a rabbi and an unconnected 
individual, who had apparently been raised with these interpretations 
(Sprinzak 1991a). A number of Kahane’s followers had been members 
of the Jewish Defense League in Brooklyn, New York, and moved to 
Israel to follow their rabbi (Friedman 1986). The Hill Top Youth are young, 
second or third generation settlers. The ideology they espouse was 
disseminated through synagogues or institutes of higher Jewish learn-
ing (Newman 2005), as well as from the Bnei Akiva youth movements, 
encouraging younger participation (Newman and Hermann 1992).
5.4. Evidence
In the case of the Palestinian studies cited here, evidence was drawn 
from speeches of leaders from the political movements, and from their 
websites (Frisch 2005). Quotes from sheikhs and muftis and publica-
tions from the organisations were also used (Moghadam 2003; Hatina 
2005), as were newspaper articles (Milton-Edwards 2006; Moghadam 
2003; Litvak 1988). In his study of the motivations for suicide bombings, 
Frisch (2005) consulted the obituaries of the martyrs. Milton-Edwards 
(2006) conducted interviews. Gunning (2009) did interviews and 
observed participants. The Qur’an and commentaries of it were also 
consulted (Hatina 1999; 2005). 
Evidence for the studies on Israel also came from a wide variety of 
sources. In particular, the writings of the leading rabbis were sourced, 
including those of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook and his students (Lustick 1987; 

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British Academy // 
The Role of Religion in Conflict and Peacebuilding
53
Sprinzak 1998, 1991a, 1987), and the speeches and writings of Rabbi 
Kahane (Sprinzak 1991b). The writings of the leaders of the movements 
were also consulted, including the Gush Emunim