Neturei Karta

[t.]

I spoke with a Jew once who told me that he hated Neturei Karta, despite the fact that he is against Zionism.
He also said that most Jews hate them, because they give them a bad name..

I'm assuming he meant all of their Messiah talk and all of that, but there you have it, the Zionists hate them, and the Anti-Zionists hate them. lol..

I've read quite a bit about them and have never come across anything distasteful in their philosophy. Basically they argue that a Jewish nation should not be created until the return of the Messiah, and that Zionism is racist and the way it is being implemented is politically hazardous as well as genocidal.....and that is something I can agree with.

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This is footage of some Neurei members being attacked by security guards at the site of a new motorway that is encroaching on a cemetery near Haifa.

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Jews for Gaza, Against Israel
US Neturei Karta's Jews Call for Dismantling Israel
By Hany Ramadan
IslamOnline.net

The "Viva Palestina" humanitarian campaign for the people of Gaza was launched in the United States, July 4, with Britain MP George Galloway's participation in starting the aid mission. More than 200 American participants from all walks of life, including journalists, politicians, peace activists, and religious figures — Muslims, Christians and Jews —arrived in Egypt on their way to Gaza through Egypt's Rafah crossing. Galloway and US activists have just been allowed into Gaza.

The US pro-Gaza activists' campaign included four Jewish Rabbis from the Neturei Karta movement, a US-based Orthodox anti-Israel group that opposes Zionism. Politics in Depth had this interview with Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, the international spokesman for the group, to understand the purpose of the group's participation in the humanitarian mission on Gaza and the reasons behind their opposition to Israel and the establishment of a Jewish state.

IslamOnline.net (IOL): What is the purpose of your planned visit to Gaza? Is it just to break the siege or to achieve some other goals?
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss: It is actually to turn attention to the unjust Israeli siege against the people of Gaza. We think we should bring peace to this suppressed part of the world. The reason we are here is mainly to provide crucial medical help to the people of Gaza.

One other reason is to convey a solidarity message from the Jewish community around the world to the people of Gaza, especially that we feel their real suffering. We want them to know that they have our support and harmonious solidarity all around the world. We feel frustrated and humiliated by what is done by Israelis against Gazans. The Israelis are raising the Torah to legitimatize their crackdown on Palestinians, but we want people to be careful about this false justification, and differentiate between the state of Israel, made by Zionists, and peaceful Jews around the world.

The second issue is that people in the Western world should also understand the truth of Zionism, and the truth of Judaism. There are Jewish people who are coming here to support Palestinians' rights. Some people may ask how religious Jews and religious rabbis are coming and supporting the people of Gaza. People should understand and comprehend that the whole issue about Israel as a Jewish-based entity is the fabrication of Zionists.

The world must break the deafening silence, save the people of Gaza, and save the whole people of Palestine. We should give them what they need: medical assistance, emotional, and physical help. We need the international community to respond to Israel's brutality as it did against South Africa's devastating racism. This has to be done here immediately to stop the suppression against the people of Gaza.

IOL: We understand that you are planning to cross over to Gaza with British MP George Galloway, but do you expect to face any complexity with the Egyptian authorities?
Rabbi Weiss: We hope that the Egyptian government becomes truly sympathetic to the people of Palestine. They are under enormous and illegal pressure from Israel. I think Egyptians are willing to help the people of Palestine. We started with a caravan in England, and we hope that Egypt's authorities allow the aid package to pass to Gaza. It is a sign of relief to the war-ravaged Strip. For me, I am advised not to go there myself as some Israeli threats may put my life in real risk.

IOL: Why are you against Israel and Zionism?
Rabbi Weiss: We, as true Jews, are united against Zionism, and we eagerly try to free the people of Palestine and Gaza, not only from the siege of Gaza, but also from the siege of Zionism that has continued for 100 years, not just 61 years since the establishment of the state of Israel. We, as religious people, are anti-Zionism, because it is contradictory to Judaism.

Jewish people and rabbis are still in opposition to the suppression of the Palestinian people. So, we are looking at every opportunity to show our sympathy and offer the help that we can. I personally go on in the United States, with my colleagues demonstrating constantly. We were demonstrating before the United Nations even before Muslims and Arabs in America. The Jewish community constantly demonstrates against every action of the state of Israel against the Palestinians. When Israel was ratified by the United Nations in 1948, almost immediately, true Jewish people took to the streets of the United States to demonstrate.

IOL: Is that just a matter of time and then when God wills, as you believe, you will "enter the holy land" of Palestine. What will you do with the Palestinians, and will we see another Israel?
Rabbi Weiss: Establishing the state of Israel is against Judaism. Judaism aspires to return to the holy land, but after we repent, and God ends our punishment of exile. So, we must repent and get ourselves with God's compassion to bring redemption. What does redemption mean? God makes metaphysical changes to the world, with all humanity recognizes one God, when everybody recognizes one God then, all nations will join on and go to the holy land, hand in hand.

We all are going to serve God in harmony together. This concept of a Jewish nationalist state is against the Torah. That is why we always like to state that in history during the heyday of Islamic religion; Muslims held the Quran and Shari'a, and at the same time, they simply co-existed with the Jewish community that held the Talmud and lived in co-existence in Palestine.

Many people who come to demonstration remember the co-existence in the old city of Jerusalem. People of the three monotheistic faiths co-existed all the time in harmony. Zionism is based on establishing a false nationalist, Jewish identity. Remove Zionism from the scene and Jews would connect with Muslims and Christians. This is a simple solution.

People will always say that the only solution is a two-state one. This has to be a state against the will of the Palestinian people. You know, if somebody stole a bank or something like that for ten years, does that give them legitimacy? No. First, we are forbidden to return to the holy land in large numbers. Secondly, we are forbidden to be against any nation. We have to be loyal to every country we live in. We are not attempting to make anything to end that punishment of exile ordained by God.

This concept of trying to end the exile cannot accomplish anything. You cannot oppose the decree of God. Now, it is getting worse with tension and suffering. That is the reason, because you cannot disobey the order of God. You want to know the solution. Simply, stop fighting God. Then, there would be peace, and look at history about living together.

IOL: You see the dismantlement of Israel as a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Would you please elaborate on that ?
Rabbi Weiss: When we are talking about the end of Israel, we are talking about its peaceful dismantlement, and the dismantlement of its nationalism. It does not mean the destruction of the Jews living there. Throughout history, we have taught our children that Jews have found a safe haven in Muslim and Arab countries — except when we have Crusades and the Spanish inquisition — and we are thankful for that.

History shows that we can co-exist. Zionists turn history at its head. The Israeli propaganda is that Arabs want to bloodshed Jews, and that there is Arab hatred towards the Jews, but what Arabs and Palestinians want is self-respect and restoring their legitimate rights. IslamOnline.net can lead other groups to open windows of opportunity for people who are seeking the truth.

IOL: If so, do you agree with Iran's president Ahmadinejad regarding the termination of Israel? How do you read his views on Israel?
Rabbi Weiss: First of all, Zionists offend anybody who stands against them, even the devil himself. They defame anybody who stands against their corruption and evil doings. We met President Ahmadinejad in New York three times, and in each time he clearly expressed his respect and friendship to the Jewish people. He is against the state of Israel and its aggressions against the Palestinians.

The claims that Ahmadinejad is calling for "wiping out all Jews" are not true. Ahmadinejad speaks the words exactly he speaks that Judaism is a good religion, but to do evil in the name of religion is evil too. He said that the main cause for all sufferings whether be of Palestinians, Arabs, or Jews is Zionism. People are asking why there are violent actions in Gaza, and we say that it is the result of oppression and occupation.

IOL: How do you envisage the Israeli PM Netanyahu's recent declaration about "Jewish identity" of the state of Israel?
Rabbi Weiss: First, people speak about the Jewish history, or the Jewish identity of Israel in contrast to the Torah, because it is evil done in the name of Jews by that Zionist movement. The whole concept of Zionism is that God is not protecting us [Jews]. Zionists are mixing nationalism with religion, breaching every rule of the Torah, oppressing people, and then they falsely claim the Jewish identity of Israel.

Sometimes they use the Bible, and sometimes they do not. Sometimes they come with an approach of peace, but at the end of the day, their movement is evil, criminal, and has no right to exist. The existence of this state is the cause of the Palestinian suffering, and according to Judaism, it has no legitimacy.

IOL: Do you think the Zionist Lobby in the United States is somehow affected by the new US administration of President Obama and his new foreign policy pressuring Israel for a peaceful solution to the conflict?
Rabbi Weiss: We hope President Obama, who has an open ear to different opinions and views, can do something in this regard, although he did say that he has to support the state of Israel. This approach comes, unfortunately, from the propaganda and the Zionists' control of the media.

However, Obama listens to the other side and speaks about the presence of a Palestinian state. We hope that God opens the heart of President Obama for the truth, and we will wait and see. The problem is always Zionism. So, the solution is to give the Palestinian people a Palestinian state. In order to give the remedy, you must know what the problem is.

IOL: You mentioned the "Zionists' control of media" in the United States. How much is the US media influenced by such pro-Israel lobbying groups?
Rabbi Weiss: Personally, we talked to the Pro-Israel AIPAC, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee that has influence in the United States. Many of AIPAC people are Zionists and they say it is a Zionist organization. They control media not only in the United States, but also in Canada. Besides that, they have a mediawatch apparatus. A newspaper may for example rewrite a story about Palestine many times, as they simply ask editors to cut out this or that.

Simply, they say that they have to do mediawatch that gets broad range of advertisers, and that could pressure them using the weapon of anti-Semitism. The more religious [the Jews], the more anti-Zionist. And this is all around the world. Our name has been hijacked and kidnapped by the state of Israel.