Rabbi Urges Pig Fat on Buses to Stop Bombers

Who needs "high tech" when a bag of LARD will do the trick!

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JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A prominent Israeli rabbi has
proposed hanging bags of pig fat in buses to deter
Muslim suicide bombers who may want to avoid contact
with an "unclean" animal, an Israeli official said on
Thursday.

The idea -- suggested by Rabbi Eliezer Fisher, a
rabbinical judge, in a letter to police -- signaled
the extremes to which some Israelis may be willing to
go to stop Palestinian bombers who have killed
hundreds of Israelis in recent years.

Judaism, like Islam, considers pigs unclean. But the
ultra-Orthodox rabbi has ruled that special
dispensation can be given for placing bags of lard in
buses and public places in an effort to prevent
attacks.

Police had no immediate comment on the proposal.

Asked about the deterrent capability of pig fat on
Israeli buses, Palestinian sources called it an
exercise in futility.

Islamic militants are told by those who send them on
bombing missions that their souls enter Paradise
instantly after they explode despite any contamination
or defilement of their bodies.

"It's not a problem if it saves lives," Israeli Deputy
Public Security Minister Yaakov Edri said, referring
to the breaking of Jewish religious law.

"I personally support it," Edri told Reuters. "If it
can deter even one suicide bomber -- then wonderful.
Security authorities must consider it."

An article on the rabbi's proposal published on the
Web site of the Israeli newspaper Maariv drew dozens
of e-mail responses from readers ranging from
incredulous to complimentary.