[Fegasderty]

Before even getting into any more details, compare these two headlines:

The New York Times:
2 N.J. Mayors Arrested in Broad Inquiry on Corruption
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/ny...y.html?_r=1&hp

vs.

The BBC:
US rabbis arrested in crime probe
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8165607.stm

This twisting and manipulating of the reporting by the BBC is absolutely a shameful display of anti-Semitism. It shows that the BBC's probe of its proven bias against Israel has not yet produced satisfactory results in cleansing the BBC of its anti-Semitic staff. It's sickening that the British taxpayer is bankrolling racism and religious hatred. This combines with the BBCs daily dose of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda reminds me of the pre-WWII Nazi propaganda. I believe that the BBC is specifically hoping to achieve an ethnic cleansing of Jews from Britain, no less.

As for the particular facts: It seems that money was laundered by a handful of rabbis. Of course, keep in mind that while it is common for hassidic men to be ordained as rabbis, they are rarely practicing rabbis, and 99% of them do not serve congregations at all. So, when we hear the term 'rabbi,' in this context, we should not assume that they are pulpit rabbis. Rather, for the most part, the term rabbi applies to someone who graduated from a religious school.

The money which is claimed to be laundered originated from transactions which involved the mayors of two major New Jersey cities, at least one councilman, and many more prominent non-Jewish members of the New Jersey community. So far, 30 arrests have been reported.

The politicians are being accused of providing special political favors, much like Obama provided in Chicago when he was a local politician.

Of course, we've seen many accusations of this kind in the past. Some have resulted in prison terms, and some have evaporated into dust. We'll see how this one winds up. If the allegation turn out to be true, I hope that those involved are punished severely enough to dissuade any other members of the Jewish community from participating in anything that is illegal or even unethical. I'm disappointed that, like any other community, we have our share of swindlers, and I wish it wasn't so because we're better than that. But, in this case, it's too early to jump to conclusions and we will see what turns up at trial.

In the meantime, the only conclusion one can draw, is that we are witnessing anti-Semitic propaganda and incitement to hatred and even violence against Jews from certain news outlets.