The Muslim-Majority Character of Israeli Constitutional Law

2010 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Hofri-Winogradow
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Exclusive Jurisdiction ◽  
Civil Marriage ◽  
Marriage And Divorce ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
Israeli Supreme Court ◽  
Constitutional Discourse

AbstractThis article offers a novel interpretation of Israel's constitutional discourse. It is well-known that despite its Jewish majority, Israel orders marriage and divorce in a manner similar to that prevalent in most Muslim-majority countries: by granting the traditional religious community courts of the various religious groups which make up its population exclusive jurisdiction over community members' matters of marriage and divorce. What is less well known is that Israel's constitutional discourse, too, fits a pattern common in Muslim-majority jurisdictions, in espousing a double commitment to both a religion—in Israel's case, Judaism—and human rights. The Israeli Supreme Court has for decades emphasized Israeli constitutional law's commitment to liberalism and human rights while de-emphasizing its commitment to religion. Consistently with this approach, the Court has considered Israel's marriage regime an anachronistic blot on the law, and has constructed an alternative, civil marriage regime to serve the needs of Israel's secular liberals, whose views the Court often echos. I argue that the Court should strive to render its liberal policy choices more palatable for Israel's conservatives, by presenting them as the results of a harmonization of the religious and human rights pillars of Israel's constitutional discourse, investing in a close analysis of religious texts directed at legitimating those choices, where possible, in religious terms. A recent Israeli case hints in this direction. I conclude by suggesting that Israel's Muslim-majority type marriage regime, updated to include a civil marriage alternative, could be seen as a reflection of its complex constitutional order.

scholarly journals REGISTRATION OF RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES IN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

2010 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-117
Author(s):  
Sergej Flere
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Religious Liberty ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
European Court ◽  
Religious Cultures ◽  
Venice Commission

In the text regimes of religious community registration by statutory law in European countries is reviewed. Although freedom of religion is declared as a pricniple at the European level and individual constitutional provisions, varied obstacles to registering religious communities are set. They may reflect fear of abuse of religion or the intent to safeguard the hegemony of a traditionally entrenched religion. Some of these obstacles are historically entrenched, whereas in post-Communist countries they have been set during democrratic reconstruction. States differ in conditions for registration, in bodies competent to act upon such supplications, procedures in reviewing them and in practice. A trend toward reaching the standards set by the Europeaн Convention on Human Rights may be discerned. The major policies of the Venice Commission regarding religious liberty and a number of standard setting judgments by the European Court of Human Rights, regarding religious liberty, particularly within the registration of religious groups are reviewed in continuation. These policies and judgments ensue from a strict vision of individual and collective religious rights and may collide with traditional religious cultures favouring an entrenched church, within various confessional traditions in Europe. These opinions and judgments present a limited but important instrument of affirmation of religious liberty and suppressing state arbitrariness in the treatment of religious freedom, particularly of minority groups and beliefs. Problems of Orthodox cultures are stressed.

Civic Foreign Policy: Human Rights, Faith-Based Groups and U.S.-Salvadoran Relations in the 1970S

2004 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 217-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svenja Blanke
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
El Salvador ◽  
Central America ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
State Repression ◽  
Economic Elites

El Salvador, the smallest but most densely populated country of Central America, experienced one of Latin America's bloodiest civil wars, accompanied by widespread human rights violations. State repression was especially brutal against opposition groups such as peasant associations, unions, students, and religious people. Twenty-five church people were murdered and many religious workers were persecuted, expelled, or tortured. Several U.S. missionaries were among those murdered or expelled victims. Although the number of religious victims is relatively small in comparison to the tens of thousands of people who were killed in the three civil wars of El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala, the murders of religious personnel had a profound impact on the religious community in Central America, and particularly in El Salvador. This impact also reached religious groups in the United States. Given the traditional alliance between the Catholic Church and the political and economic elites throughout most of Salvadoran history, the murders of religious leaders by government or government-linked forces symbolized a remarkable shift.

Questioning Non-Discrimination, Equality, and Human Rights in Contemporary Turkey from the Perspective of the Alevi Religious Community

2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melih Uğraş Erol
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
International Community ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Justice And Development Party ◽  
Turkish State

AbstractFor several decades, the international community has criticized Turkey for failing to uphold the human rights and freedoms of its citizens and for not realizing the principles of non-discrimination and equality within its borders. As Turkey’s European Union (EU) candidacy proceeds, religious groups such as the Alevis claim to face discrimination and violations of their human rights and freedoms by the Turkish state. The Justice and Development Party (JDP,

Interview with Omar Shakir

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 127-137
Author(s):  
Noura Erakat
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Committee Member ◽  
Editorial Committee ◽  
Rutgers University ◽  
Human Rights Advocacy ◽  
University Professor ◽  
The Government ◽  
Israeli Supreme Court

In late November 2019, the Israeli Supreme Court upheld the Ministry of Interior's order to deport Human Rights Watch (HRW) director for Israel and Palestine, Omar Shakir. The court based its decision on a 2017 amendment to Israel's 1952 Entry into Israel Law enabling the government to refuse entry to foreigners who allegedly advocate for the boycott of Israel. The same law was invoked to deny entry to U.S. congresswomen Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar in the summer of 2019. The campaign against Shakir began almost immediately after he was hired by HRW in 2016, and the court's decision marked the culmination of a multi-year battle against the deportation order. In this interview, JPS Editorial Committee member, Rutgers University professor, and author Noura Erakat discusses the details of his case with Shakir in an exchange that also examines the implications of the case for human rights advocacy, in general, and for Palestinians, in particular. The interview was edited for length and clarity.

PERSOALAN KEHIDUPAN KONTEMPORER: MENGGAGAS KAJIAN SACHEDINA TENTANG THEOLOGI PLURALISME

EMPIRISMA ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Limas Dodi
Keyword(s):  
Religious Pluralism ◽  
Main Argument ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Common View ◽  
The Public ◽  
The People ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Religious Differences

According to Abdulaziz Sachedina, the main argument of religious pluralism in the Qur’an based on the relationship between private belief (personal) and public projection of Islam in society. By regarding to private faith, the Qur’an being noninterventionist (for example, all forms of human authority should not be disturb the inner beliefs of individuals). While the public projection of faith, the Qur’an attitude based on the principle of coexistence. There is the willingness of the dominant race provide the freedom for people of other faiths with their own rules. Rules could shape how to run their affairs and to live side by side with the Muslims. Thus, based on the principle that the people of Indonesia are Muslim majority, it should be a mirror of a societie’s recognizion, respects and execution of religious pluralism. Abdul Aziz Sachedina called for Muslims to rediscover the moral concerns of public Islam in peace. The call for peace seemed to indicate that the existence of increasingly weakened in the religious sense of the Muslims and hence need to be reaffi rmed. Sachedina also like to emphasize that the position of peace in Islam is parallel with a variety of other doctrines, such as: prayer, fasting, pilgrimage and so on. Sachedina also tried to show the argument that the common view among religious groups is only one religion and traditions of other false and worthless. “Antipluralist” argument comes amid the reality of human religious differences. Keywords: Theology, Pluralism, Abdulaziz Sachedina

Repressive Religious Regulation and Political Mobilization in Central Asia

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin Gamza ◽  
Pauline Jones
Keyword(s):  
Political Action ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Political Mobilization ◽  
The State ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
State Repression ◽  
Religious Persecution ◽  
Muslim Majority ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Perceived Harm

What is the relationship between state repression of religion and political mobilization in Muslim-majority states? Does religious repression increase the likelihood that Muslims will support acts of rebellion against the state? This chapter contends that the effect of repression on attitudes toward political mobilization is conditional on both the degree of enforcement and the type of religious practice that is being targeted. When enforcement is high and the repressive regulation being enforced targets communal (rather than individualistic) religious practices, Muslims expect state persecution of their religious community to increase, and that this persecution will extract a much greater toll. They are thus more willing to support taking political action against the state in order to protect their community from this perceived harm. The chapter tests this argument with two novel survey experiments conducted in Kyrgyzstan in 2019. It finds that the degree of enforcement has a significant effect on attitudes toward political mobilization, but this effect is negative (reducing support) rather than positive (increasing support). The chapter also finds that repression targeting communal practices has a stronger effect on attitudes toward political mobilization than repression targeting individualistic practices, but again, these effects are negative. The chapter’s findings suggest that the fear of collective punishment increases as the degree of enforcement increases, particularly when it comes to repression targeting communal practices. Thus, while Muslims are motivated to protect their community from harm, it may be that the certainty of financial and physical harm outweighs the expectation of increasing religious persecution.

scholarly journals European Identity and the Challenges of Turkish Accession to the European Union

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Sara Duodu
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Middle East ◽  
Human Rights Violations ◽  
European Identity ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Full Membership ◽  
Member States ◽  
Muslim Majority

In 2005, Turkey entered into negotiations for membership with the European Union. Turkey has been an important strategic ally to the European Union in the Middle East, explaining the mutual desire for closer ties between the two. While these negotiations showed promise early on, it has become increasingly apparent that Turkish accession to the European Union will not come easily, if at all. Officially, the European Union cites Turkey’s shortcomings on issues such as human rights as the reason for the stall in negotiations. However, upon closer inspection, it is evident that there is more at play, particularly as the European Union has been inconsistent in their approach to addressing human rights violations. Member states such as Poland and Hungary, which have recent human rights violations, have not faced the same kind of condemnation that Turkey has from the leaders of the European Union. The reality is that the European Union is largely united by its shared Europeanness and Christianity. As a result, due to questions over Turkey’s Europeanness and its large Muslim majority, the European Union is apprehensive to afford it full membership. It can be said that the European Union has maintained that Turkish accession is still possible in order to continue reaping the strategic benefits from close relations with Turkey.

Religion as a Predictor for the Support of Judicial Human Rights?

2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-197 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans-Georg Ziebertz
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Age Group ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
Empirical Survey ◽  
Research Survey ◽  
The People ◽  
Low Degree ◽  
Constitutional Right ◽  
Political Perception

Abstract Human rights are the cornerstones of modern liberal democracies, but this does not mean that they can be taken for granted. Human rights need the support of the people. But how willing are people to support them? This question points to the problem of the legitimacy of human rights. This research paper focuses on judicial human rights such as freedom from torture, the rights of accused persons and the inviolability of the home. A quantitative, empirical survey was carried out among 2,244 German youth in the age group of 16 years, and this paper explores what attitudes these young German respondents have towards the rights referred to above. The assumption is that several other factors influence attitudes towards judicial rights; the paper considers human dignity, which is a constitutional right in Germany, but also religious beliefs, personality traits and society’s socio-political perception. The findings show that only two judicial rights (freedom from torture and the inviolability of the home) are positively valued by the respondents. From all predictors included in the research survey, the two strongest are sex (being female) and a low degree of authoritarianism. The comparison of religious groups shows that Muslims differ strongly from Catholics, Protestants and non-religious youth.

Intellectual Elites

2019 ◽  
pp. 81-101
Author(s):  
Sarah Stroumsa
Keyword(s):  
Religious Community ◽  
Religious Communities ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Small Minority ◽  
Intellectual Elites

This chapter focuses on Andalusian philosophers. Philosophers, in al-Andalus as elsewhere in the medieval Islamicate world, were committed to what can be called “the philosopher's life,” namely, the unremitting effort to attain human perfection. At the same time, as intellectuals integrated into their own societies, they could significantly shape their communities' cultural, communal, and even political profiles. Philosophers in al-Andalus truly shared a common philosophical tradition. Jews and Muslims alike read scientific and philosophical works translated from Greek into Arabic, as well as books by earlier Muslim and Christian thinkers. Being a small minority within their respective religious communities, and sharing the same education, interests, concerns, and ideals, philosophers constituted, in some ways, a subculture of their own. While they lived fully within their own religious community and adhered to the boundaries between it and other religious groups, they were acutely aware of the commonality of philosophy. The chapter then evaluates the philosophical curriculum which guided the advancement of students to become philosophers, as well as the friendships formed between philosophers. It illustrates the inherently elitist nature of the philosophers' life qua philosophers.

Hospital management

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Mayall Brasher
Keyword(s):  
Hospital Management ◽  
Religious Community ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Poor

In this chapter the various structures of hospital management are examined. As the model for charity in the eleventh and twelfth centuries was almost exclusively religious, these institutions were universally organized within some format of religious or semi-religious community that provided housing for staff and administrators as well as, patients, the poor, and pilgrims. Confraternities, converse, regular canons, neighbourhood associations and semi-religious groups such as the Humiliati were all involved in managing hospitals. This chapter provides an analysis of the groups and individuals who administered the hospitals and their affiliations with other larger religious and community entities.

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