"As chairman of the welcoming committee, it's a pleasure to present a Laurel and Hardy handshake to our new [finally looks up]... nigger."

Saw this article in ha'aretz. (wow two posts in one day)

Soldier ousted from unit for refusing to shake Halutz's hand

By Amos Harel and Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondents

Sergeant Hananel Dayan, the decorated Israel Defense Forces soldier who caused a furor last week when he refused to shake hands with IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz "to protest the expulsion" of settlers from the Gaza Strip, was expelled from his unit.

Dayan, a resident of the West Bank settlement of Psagot, serves in the 188 Armored Corps Brigade ("Barak"). He refused the handshake during an Independence Day ceremony Wednesday at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. On Thursday, Brigade Commander Colonel Moshe Sheetrit decided on the disciplinary measure after speaking with Dayan.

Sheetrit decided that Dayan "chose to express a personal protest of a political nature and in so doing caused damage to military discipline and the value of service. In expressing his personal position, he violated the brigade's values of comradeship, mutual trust and partnership."

Meretz legislator Zehava Galon said Sunday she opposes the disciplinary action taken against Dayan.

Speaking on Israel Radio, Galon said "as an advocate for human rights I cannot approve of the measures employed against [Dayan]; this has nothing to do with being a leftist or a rightist."

This week the Head of the Personnel Directorate, Major General Elazar Stern, is to decide whether to withdraw Dayan's commendation and whether to bar him from any command positions in the IDF.

Stern also met with Dayan on Thursday in what he called a "hearing." Stern claimed that Dayan deceived his commanding officers because he had planned his protest ahead of time but denied any such intention when asked about it before the ceremony. He also refused to apologize for his action.

The Dayans' lawyer, Adi Keidar, claims that a handshake is not a military command and said the family was considering appealing to the High Court.

The Council of Rabbis of Judea and Samaria announced this weekend that it "shakes the hand" of Dayan, "who saluted properly but refused an act of friendship such as shaking the hand of a political chief of staff who is not friendly to the national-religious public, and that's an understatement."

The council called Dayan's expulsion from his brigade one more sign of the dictatorship that had taken over the country's leadership in general and had unfortunately even penetrated the IDF.

The anti-disengagement "Jew does not expel a Jew" movement plans to raise money for Dayan and to give him a commendation of their own.

The Orange Cell student movement also decided to award a commendation to Dayan for "proving his excellence both as a soldier who received the president's commendation and for sticking to his moral principles and refusing to shake the chief of staff's hand."

I think the Rabbinical council said it best "who saluted properly but refused an act of friendship such as shaking the hand of a political chief of staff who is not friendly to the national-religious public, and that's an understatement."

J.

Quote is from Blazing saddles
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The possibility that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just.
– Abraham Lincoln