[Paleopsych] Yeditoth Internet: Rabbi: Hurricane punishment for pullout

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Rabbi: Hurricane punishment for pullout
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3138779,00.html
5.9.7

[What has Pat Robertson blamed for the hurricane? I haven't heard.]

Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef: Hurricane Katrina result of Bush's support 
for disengagement, failure of New Orleans' black residents to study Torah. 
`This is the punishment for what Bush did to Gush Katif,' rabbi says Zvi Alush


Hurricane Katrina is a punishment meted out by God as a result of U.S. 
President George W. Bush's support for the Gaza and northern West Bank 
disengagement, Shas spiritual leader and former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Ovadia 
Yosef said Tuesday.


Notably, the rabbi chose to openly declare what many ultra-Orthodox believers 
have said for a while now, namely that recent naturally disasters in the U.S. 
are a direct result of American support for the pullout.


  Punishment from God? New Orleans (Photo: AP)

In his weekly sermon, the rabbi said: "There was a tsunami and there are 
terrible natural disasters, because there isn't enough Torah study... black 
people reside there (in New Orleans). Blacks will study the Torah? (God said) 
let's bring a tsunami and drown them."


"Hundreds of thousands remained homeless. Tens of thousands have been killed. 
All of this because they have no God," said the rabbi, who already found 
himself in hot water in the past following controversial remarks of one kind or 
another.


Yet Rabbi Ovadia was not done there, and proceeded to explain in detail why 
Americans deserved the Hurricane.


"Bush was behind the (expulsion of) Gush Katif," he said. "He encouraged Sharon 
to expel Gush Katif...we had 15,000 people expelled here, and there 150,000 
(were expelled). It was God's retribution ..God does not short-change anyone."


"He (Bush) perpetrated the expulsion. Now everyone is mad at him...this is his 
punishment for what he did to Gush Katif, and everyone else who did as he told 
them, their time will come, too," the rabbi said.

Ovadia concluded: "Where can evil escape to from God? Its time will come and it 
will be slapped on the head."


Knesset Member Eliezer Cohen (National Union) dismissed Ovadia's comments in a 
talk with Ynet.


"I know meteorology well enough not to believe such rubbish," he said.


Meanwhile, Knesset Member Ronny Brison said: "What, God is cross-eyed? He metes 
out punishments at the wrong place? We're sick and tired of Rabbi Ovadia's 
primitive worldview. He already did his part, he can remove himself from public 
life."


Ilan Marciano contributed to the story