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RABBI Ahron Cohen
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Rabbi 'not welcome at synagogues'
Kathryn Ryan27/12/2006
AN ULTRA-orthodox Jewish group has said that Salford rabbi Ahron Cohen should be banned from all community institutions after attending a controversial conference in Iran.
Rabbi Ahron Cohen is under police protection after his tyres were slashed and eggs thrown at his home by protestors angry at his participation in the Review of the Holocaust: Global Vision.
The event, attended by Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, questioned whether the systematic killing of six million Jews by the Nazis happened.
Anti-Zionist Rabbi Cohen, 83, a member of a minority sect known as Neturei Karta, angered members of his community by taking part.
While he agrees the Holocaust took place, he believes the state of Israel should be dissolved.
Many Jews believe his association with the conference gives credence to the views of Holocaust deniers and he has since been barred from local shops and synagogues.
Now the influential organisation Machzikei Ha'dass, which has a base in Salford, has written to followers to call for the exclusion of those who associate with enemies of Judaism.
While the notice does not mention anyone by name, it is understood Rabbi Cohen is the target.
It says: "They should be excluded from our Kehillos (communities) and be denied entry to all our constituent shuls (synagogues) and institutions."
Rabbi Cohen declined to comment, saying it was a private matter for the Jewish community.
Rabbi Yehuda Brodie, registrar of the Jewish Ecclesiastical Court for Greater Manchester, said that decisions to exclude people were not taken lightly.
He said: "This kind of communal action is very rare indeed. Jewish people value freedom of speech, but Rabbi Cohen has gone beyond the pale.
"He is guilty by association.
"Although Rabbi Cohen does not deny the Holocaust took place, and will have lost members of his own family during that time, his attendance at this conference shows he sides with the deniers.
"It means he will no longer be welcome at synagogues or other Jewish centres. Rabbi Cohen will feel very ostracised by this."
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30/12/2006 at 00:48