Anti-Zionist rabbi gives Hezbollah chief in Beirut gift ‘from the Jewish people’
Attending Palestinian solidarity meet, Rabbi Dovid Weiss of Neturei Karta says, ‘We pray every day for a free Palestine. We want it returned to the Palestinian people’
Sue Surkes is The Times of Israel's environment reporter
A rabbi from an ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist fringe group on Tuesday addressed the Fourth Global Convention of Solidarity with Palestine, held in Beirut, and pledged that Judaism would never accept the “unholy occupation in any shape or form of any part of Palestine.”
Rabbi Dovid Weiss of Neturei Karta said, “This is not a conflict between Jews and Muslims. This is the despicable narrative of the Zionist state.”
Zionism and Judaism were diametrically opposite, Weiss told delegates, Zionism having been established mainly by people who “despised” the Jewish religion. “We declare that Judaism, as subservient to the Almighty, will never accept this unholy occupation in any shape or form of any part of Palestine.”
Weiss added, “We pray every day for a free Palestine. We want it returned to the Palestinian people. The Muslim people were so good to us. They… embraced us in our suffering throughout the exile. We want to show our gratitude.”
Before his address, Weiss presented Sheikh Naim Qassem, the Deputy Secretary-General of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah terror organization, with a gift for Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah “from the Jewish people, from my brethren in Palestine and around the world.”
The anti-Zionist, ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta sect holds a theological view that sees the founding of the State of Israel as a violation of God’s plan for history. Israeli members of the fringe group burn Israeli flags on Independence Day. In 2013, when president Barack Obama visited Israel, it sent him a letter urging him to save the Jews from Zionism. Weiss previously led a Neturei Karta delegation to meet with Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
On receiving the gift, which was not shown to the gathering, Qassem said, “In Palestine, the Jews are with us, the Christians are with us, and the Muslims are with us. We are all with Palestine.”
In remarks translated and posted by the MEMRI watchdog group on Wednesday, Qassem told the convention the only way to regain what was once Palestine was through resistance and “first and foremost, armed resistance.”
Rabbi Weiss addressing the Beirut Convention for Palestine [Arabic translation]
Video of Rabbi Weiss addressing the Beirut Convention for Palestine [Arabic translation]Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss of Neturei Karta addressing today the Forth Global Convention of Solidarity with Palestine, held in Beirut Lebanon. Hosted by The Global Campaign to Return to Palestine.Video is below. Following is the text of the speech:Asalam Aleikum! I pray to the Almighty to bestow upon me His wisdom in order that I may convey His truth to this distinguished gathering, and so, Inshallah, sanctify His name and bring peace to the world. First, I thank H. E. Sheik Yussif Abbis and all the organizers of the “Global Convention of Solidarity with Palestine” for graciously honoring me to represent Jews true to the Torah – the Jewish religion – and address this crucial conference here in Beirut, Lebanon. I thank them for granting me the honor to present the authentic Jewish perspective in regard to the entire Nakba – the calamity, the occupation of Palestine. I also thank the honorable Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and this entire esteemed gathering for giving of your precious time to listen to my words. May the Almighty bless you all. With the help of the Almighty. Our religion, Judaism, is just that: a religion, subservience to the Almighty. It is our covenant with the Almighty that we entered into 3000 years ago on Mount Sinai. Zionism is a mere materialistic ideology of nationalism created around 130 years ago mainly by Jews who despised and rejected our religion. These Jews rejected subservience to the Almighty. Judaism and Zionism are diametrically opposite; they clash. Zionism was created to be an “ersatz” Judaism – a transformation from the yoke of acceptance of the words of the Almighty to an existence free of heavenly responsibility. I humbly believe that these facts and the confusion of the two, Judaism and Zionism, is the master key to this conflict, this quagmire, this Nakba, the occupation of Palestine – and likewise the key to the solution that has been so tragically lost. Zionism, in order to gain world acceptance, parades and masquerades in the mantle and the façade of our holy religion. They intimidate and accuse any objector to their vile acts and occupation as being “anti-Semitic.” They portray the Palestinian-Israel conflict as a religious conflict, a Muslim-Jewish conflict or Arab-Jewish conflict. We declare that Judaism, as subservience to the Almighty, will never accept this unholy occupation in any shape or form, in any part of Palestine. The Almighty clearly decreed in the Torah, His covenant with the Jewish people, that since the destruction of the Jewish Temple 2000 years ago, we the Jewish people are forbidden to have even the minutest sovereignty. Even if a land would be gifted to us and even if it would be uninhabited, we would be forbidden to create a Jewish state. Jews throughout their 2000 years of exile, throughout their tremendous suffering, trials and tribulations, upheld the word of the Almighty and never created this rebellion, a so-called Jewish state. Likewise, the Torah clearly forbids us to kill, steal or oppress another people. On the contrary, we are to emulate the Almighty, as the Torah states, “Just as the Almighty is compassionate, so must you be compassionate.” How much more so to a people, the Muslim and Arab nations, who embraced us and gave us, the Jewish people, a safe haven throughout history, in our times of need. It is deeply engrained in our hearts how we flourished and how we coexisted in harmony in the Arab and Muslim world, which of course includes Palestine, right up until the advent of Zionism.Regarding such nations, the Torah clearly teaches us to show gratitude to those who have done us kindness. Our non-acceptance of the occupation, of the Zionist State of Israel, is the position of the hundreds of thousands of Jews worldwide, including in Al Quds- Jerusalem and the entire Holy Land, who are true to the Torah.Our hearts cry with the suffering of the Palestinians, and we are mortified that it is being done in our name and in the name of our religion. Immediately upon the Zionist encroachment on Palestine, Chief Rabbi Sonnenfeld of blessed memory, in the name of Judaism and the Palestinian Jewish community, stood up in vehement opposition to Zionism. After his passing, when the UN was about to ratify the creation of a “Jewish state,” the next Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Dushinsky of blessed memory, pleaded with the UN not to create this so-called Jewish state. Since the beginning of Zionism, Torah-true Jews living in the Holy Land have been viciously beaten, arrested and murdered for simply voicing their opposition to the Zionist State of Israel. They are likewise arrested and beaten for refusing to serve in the Israeli army. Our hearts cry with all these victims, the Palestinians and the Jews. Although we religious Jews demonstrate in the tens of thousands in Palestine and throughout the world, there would be multitudes more publicly opposing the Zionists occupation if not for the fear of the ruthless Zionist attacks. Likewise, our many demonstrations worldwide and the beating of Jews and Palestinians in Palestine are ignored in the press, for fear of being attacked and accused of being anti-Semitic. Let the world know: this is not a conflict between religions. The Zionist state of Israel is not a Jewish state, only a Zionist state, and should never be referred to as a Jewish state, neither does Zionism or its state represent the views of Jews worldwide.The occupation of Palestine is just that, simply an unjust occupation, and the victims are the Palestinians and the Jews.We plead with the world’s bodies to rethink the justice in establishing a state against the will of its original inhabitants, the original Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities. Cooloo Boona ma Al-Quds, Cooloo Boona ma Falasten.We plead with the world leaders and world bodies to free Palestine in its entirety from an unjust occupation. We pray to the Almighty to bring the end of the occupation speedily and peacefully. May we merit to see the revelation of the Almighty throughout the world, when all humanity will serve Him in peace, harmony and joy, Amen. Asalam Aleikum.
Posted by Neturei Karta International on Monday, March 12, 2018
