Avraham Yurovitch, who died in 2002, was a rabbi of some prominence in Jerusalem’s ultra-Orthodox community. He was also a mystic who taught meditative techniques to his followers. His son recently published a book based on his ideas, which draw heavily on the works of the 13th-century Spanish kabbalist Abraham Abulafia, recent academic findings about the history of kabbalah, and Buddhist techniques for meditative breathing. Alan Brill dissents:

Almost any contemporary natural-health book in the last decades has [instructions on] basic meditation for health. Yurovitch probably obtained his knowledge from those works. . . .

[First, Yurovitch’s] directions of how to sit [while meditating] are nowhere to be found in Jewish literature. Second, in no place in Jewish literature do we find directions on how to breathe, [such as] “empty your lungs,” lesson number one in any yoga or [Buddhist] teaching on breathing. Third, [Yurovitch elevates] breathing as an end itself, its own form of meditation. . . .

In 50 years, Yurovitch’s instructions will be seen as the true Jewish tradition of breathing and meditating. A new ancient tradition . . . is being constructed. In the meantime, a younger generation is being raised on these practices.

Established in 2012 and maintaining branches in Europe, North America, and Iran, the Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Network claims its goal is merely to show “solidarity” for imprisoned Palestinians. The organization’s leader, however, has admitted to being a representative of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a notorious terrorist group whose most recent accomplishments include murdering a seventeen-year-old girl. As Arsen Ostrovsky and Patricia Teitelbaum point out, Samidoun is just one example of how the European Union allows Iran-backed terrorists to operate in its midst:

The PFLP is a proxy of the Iranian regime, which provides the terror group with money, training, and weapons. Samidoun . . . has a branch in Tehran. It has even held events there, under the pretext of “cultural activity,” to elicit support for operations in Europe. Its leader, Khaled Barakat, is a regular on Iran’s state [channel] PressTV, calling for violence and lauding Iran’s involvement in the region. It is utterly incomprehensible, therefore, that the EU has not yet designated Samidoun a terror group.

According to the Council of the European Union, groups and/or individuals can be added to the EU terror list on the basis of “proposals submitted by member states based on a decision by a competent authority of a member state or a third country.” In this regard, there is already a standing designation by Israel of Samidoun as a terror group and a decision of a German court finding Barakat to be a senior PFLP operative.

Given the irrefutable axis-of-terror between Samidoun, PFLP, and the Iranian regime, the EU has a duty to put Samidoun and senior Samidoun leaders on the EU terror list. It should do this not as some favor to Israel, but because otherwise it continues to turn a blind eye to a group that presents a clear and present security threat to the European Union and EU citizens.