Arrests at protests against Israeli interfaith wedding

[rug]

17 August 2014
Last updated at 21:05 ET

Four far-right Jewish protesters have been arrested at the wedding of a Jewish-born woman who converted to Islam and an Arab Muslim man in Israel.

Several hundred demonstrators rallied outside the reception hall in Rishon LeZion on Sunday, amid high security.

The groom, Mahmoud Mansour, had sought a court order to try to stop the protest from taking place but failed.

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin has condemned the demonstrations against the couple's union.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-28831114

1:01 video at link.

[hrmjustin]

1. Over a wedding they do this!

[rug]

2. Gotta keep those religions separate.

[hrmjustin]

3. Just plain bigotry.

[okasha]

4. But if she converted,

it's a marriage between two Muslims.

Oh well. No wedding cake for the party crashers.

[rug]

5. That's why an interfaith perspective is important.

The ones arrested think she's an apostate not a Muslim.

[okasha]

6. True enough.

[cbayer]

7. This is really tragic (the protests, not the arrests).

Glad that Rivlin has condemned it, but the extremists in Israel need to be reined in, imo.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

8. I was born in England in April 1948, six weeks before Israel became a state

Soon after that, my English father left the British navy, and my parents had decided to emigrate from the U.K. My mother is a Jew, and they were seriously considering going to Israel. They decided not to, for two basic reasons. They did not want to go to a war zone; and since my father was a gentile, they were not sure how their marriage would be received in Israel.

They went to Canada, and when I was six, they came to the U.S.

[cbayer]

9. I'm not sure there are a lot of issues with Jewish/gentile marriages.

I think the issue in this case is that she converted to Islam.

Interesting history on your family. Thanks for sharing it.

[Fortinbras Armstrong]

10. You're right. It was just that they were uncertain about how their marriage would be received.

That and the fact that Israel was a war zone in the middle of 1948.

[cbayer]

11. I've not been to Israel, but people I know who have been loved it.

I'm sure it is a fascinating place, but it really isn't that high on my list. The conflict just seems never-ending.