Quote of the day: While we wait to see if U.S. voters will say no to right-wing thuggery, religionist loons elsewhere ramp up their war on decency

"The Rabbical Court has held a special session and discussed placing a pulsa danura on those who have a hand in organizing the march."
--Rabbi Shmuel Papenheim, editor of Ha'eidah, the weekly magazine of the Israeli ultra-Orthodox organization Eida Haredit, regarding the ultra-religious response (reported in Haaretz) to a Gay Pride parade planned for Friday in Jerusalem

Yessiree, Israel's ultra-Orthodox loonies--brave bullies who, you'll recall, aren't required to serve in the Israeli army--are on the rampage. The mere thought of a Gay Pride parade has sent them into the streets rioting. And now it appears that the brave rabbis are talking curse. Haaretz reports:

Pulsa denura--or "whip of fire" in Aramaic--is a curse with origins in Kabbalistic mysticism. It first came to light in Israel when far-right rabbis pronounced the curse on then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin during the turbulent period that preceded his 1995 assassination.

The ceremony, which is supposed to cause the death of the subject within a year, calls upon the angels of destruction to refrain from forgiving the subject his sins, to kill him and to call down all the curses named in the Bible.

Religious far-rightists also pronounced the curse against Ariel Sharon in the run-up to the summer, 2005, disengagement from Gaza.

Leftist Meretz party Knesset faction chair Zehava Gal-On said that Papenheim's remarks constituted "incitement to murder."

Gal-On called on the police and the attorney-general to investigate those responsible for the pulsa danura discussion for possible criminal prosecution. "I recommend taking this with utmost seriousness, and to relate to this on the level of criminal offenses, not as just free speech."

"Brakes must be placed on free speech, when it is liable to turn dangerous, and we have seen that this is possible."