Towards a Lasting Middle East Peace

Each day’s news brings with it horrible tales of suffering from the Holy Land . The death toll on both sides mounts steadily. Indeed, so overwhelming is the seemingly never-ending stream of death and mayhem that it requires an exceptionally bloody day to merit significant media consideration. We have all grown accustomed to the fact that the Israeli state and its Palestinian opponents are locked in mortal combat. So it has been, so it is and so, it seems, it always will be.

Indeed, this pessimistic prognosis seems rooted in a century of precedent. The first Jewish settlers who came to Palestine with the intention of establishing a sovereign Jewish state there arrived towards the end of the nineteenth century. Palestinian nationalism – then generally subsumed under the title Arab nationalism but soon to assume its more particularistic title – began to flourish at about the same time.

The clash of these movements was played out through various wars, atrocities, revolutions and dispossessions throughout the twentieth century. Various strains of ideology in these rival nationalisms have attempted to bring the matter to closure, either by force of arms or, at times, by recourse to the negotiating table.

All these efforts, be they military or compromise oriented, have one fact in common. Their result is always the same. They have failed – failed utterly and totally. We may delude ourselves by yet dreaming, as many do, that there is one final war or one last peace plan which can calm all those concerned. Unfortunately there is no indication that such is the case.

We of Neturei Karta International find the toll of dead and wounded on both sides to be intolerable. We feel that it is high time for a radical departure from the assumptions that have governed and, effectively stifled free debate on the subject.

Our perspective is far from new. It is the centuries old view of the Torah. It was once universally shared by all Jews and it is only our people’s recent flirtation with assorted secularist dogmas that have caused it to be forgotten of late in some quarters.

Simply stated – The essence of Judaism is our faith -- our belief that G-d spoke to Moses and the assembled multitudes at Sinai and there gave His Revelation to the world. This was, is and always will be, Judaism.

The Jewish exile from the Holy Land , which followed the Roman destruction of the Second Temple close to two thousand years ago, was always viewed by our people as a Divine punishment. The state of exile in which we found ourselves was not seen as the result of military or political weakness. Rather, the Creator had decreed that until such time as He would chose to redeem the world, world Jewry was to remain in exile. The only possible means to alter what was and is a metaphysical state are spiritual. Repentance, prayer, Torah study, deeds of kindness and the like could hasten redemption. Nothing else would be effective. Any other means of ending exile is metaphysically doomed to failure.

Zionism was a movement dedicated to altering this traditional view of redemption. It posited that political maneuvering; revolutionary terror, war and dispossession would yield Jewish salvation.

However, Zionism not only broke with the teachings of our faith, it also entered upon a campaign, now over one hundred years old, to persuade and, eventually, force, when possible, Jews to abandon their allegiance to G-d and the Torah and recreate themselves as secular nationalists.

The Zionist movement was not only a heretical departure from Judaism and a practical attempt to lure Jews from their Torah. It was also monstrously blind to the indigenous inhabitants of the Holy Land . In the 1890s, less than 5% of the Holy Land ’s population was Jewish, yet, Theodore Herzl had the nerve to describe his movement as that of “a people without a land for a land without a people.”

Time and again both Revisionist and Labor Zionists, the former overtly and the latter under the clouds of deceptive rhetoric, have sought the elimination of the Palestinian people from their state. They have dispossessed thousands and refused them the right of return or minimum compensation. They have kept the people of Gaza and the West Bank stripped of basic political and human rights and denied them the dignity of self-determination.

This aggression has plunged the region into its never-ending spiral of bloodshed.

Sad to say, the bloody results of Zionism were not unexpected. They were foretold in the Talmud. There we read that a human based attempt to return en masse to the Holy Land would result in terrifying loss of life. This is an unpleasant truth but its seems quite validated by the past century’s events.

People of the Press, I have come before you today to offer a new perspective on the Middle East, a new explanation as to why all previous attempts at peace making have failed. It is our belief that they are inherently doomed to fail. All of them share one fatal assumption. They find it axiomatic that the state of Israel should exist. And, in contrast to the plain evidence of the past half-century of Jewish history they see its existence as a positive development for the Jewish people.

Only blind dogma could at this date see Israel as something good for the Jewish people. Established as a so-called safe haven it has consistently over the past five decades been the most dangerous place on the face of the earth for a Jew to live. It has been the source of tens of thousands of Jewish deaths, of families torn apart and has left a trail of grieving widows, orphans and friends in its wake.

Not to mention the countless thousands of Jewish souls diverted from religion. And our Rabbis state “If you cause one to sin, it is worse than killing him”.

And, let us not forget that this tale of physical Jewish suffering is far magnified among the Palestinian people, a nation condemned to poverty, persecution, homelessness, all pervasive hopelessness and all too often, a far too premature, death.

This web of pain, the cries and tears of the grieving, demand of us as Jews that we return to the wellsprings of our faith. We must accept our task to serve G-d in humility and peace. This is the essence of a Jew.

And, when so doing we will inevitably reject the bizarre and malicious doctrines of Zionism, the falsification of Judaism.

We will realize that defying the Divine decree of exile is doomed to bloody failure.

We will realize that our people’s hopes cannot be built by shattering those of another people.

We will demand and with G-d’s, help live to see the peaceful dismantling of the state. We will return the land to those who dwelt upon it for centuries, the Palestinian people. Under their sovereignty, we will work towards a just solution to any Jewish – Palestinian problems created by the brief period of Zionist ascendancy.

There are I’m sure some skeptics here in the audience who feel that a Palestinian state would represent a threat to the Jewish people. My friends, I have been there time and time again as Neturei Karta International has visited Palestinian and Islamic organizations and I have been greeted with extraordinary warmth and brotherly concern. We have visited Iran , been hosts of the government. We were allowed to speak in Iran to both Jewish and non-Jewish audiences, without any prior censorship. We have discovered time after time, that Muslims in general actually yearn for good relations with Jews and, that when the evil face of Zionism is stripped away, the naturally good relations between our peoples bubbles to the surface.

Actully history bears witness that through out the centuries Muslim countries were extremely hospitable to the Jews. In fact as a general rule the Jews faired far better in those countries than in other host lands.

And in Palestine alone our grandparent have testified to the fact that the Muslims and Jews lived in peace and harmony up until the advent of Zionism.

Many stories of the close friendship that existed at that time circulate in the Jewish communities, for instance, baby sitting each others children was a daily occurrence

We also operate a web site. There isn’t a day goes by when we don’t receive e- mails from around the Islamic world. They are all positive. They bless, express love and brotherhood. Often they credit us with having cured them of anti Jewish sentiments. From Yemen to Great Britain the delight these people experience in finding anti Zionist Jews is palpable.

This then is the image we offer as an alternative to the current horror – of a Jewish people free of the need to kill and be killed, free to pursue their Divine task of Torah practice and free to live in peace and respect with all men. May the Creator grant that we all be worthy of seeing that day. And ultimately the day when all will recognize the one G-D and serve Him in harmony. AMEN

I would like to see the text of the speech. The ADL hasn't exactly proven itself a reliable source. But somebody else has also said that the rabbi has said similar statements so perhaps it's true.

This is a laughable assertion. I did a search on google and it's filled with this kind of crap by "Rabbi" Weiss. Here you would post this kind of trash ideology by this guy, with the pretence it's just for discussion purposes, where in point of fact you agree with his position only because it plays well with your anti-Israel position. Don't play the "I don't believe it game" if all you can come up with is a phony bash ADL canard.

It wasn't my purpose to back him up. Again you are trying to create a conflict where none exists.

Of course it was. Until of course the guy is caught with his ideological and historical pants down. Then you retreat behind claims of being ill treated. Is this your usual methodology?

It's the same kind of stuff they always post. Their versions of our religion are often as bizarre as the Mullahs' who call us vampires who drink Arab blood and scare their children by telling them Jews will grind them up to make matzo. We can sit and give them facts 24/7, but as you see in this thread, no matter what you say, it gets twisted into something else when they *reply*. This wasn't an article any one of them wanted to know about. It was bait. But if no one answers, these things show up on google searches and G-d only knows where else. So if there is no rebuttal, stupid people will believe it. Van Guard, Storm Front, Christian Identity, Aryan Nations are all well represented in this crew. They change their screen names, but not their purpose, though why they would want to wreck Jim's site is well beyond me.
You are wise, rebdov. I appreciate your posts very much.

But if no one answers, these things show up on google searches and G-d only knows where else. So if there is no rebuttal, stupid people will believe it. Van Guard, Storm Front, Christian Identity, Aryan Nations are all well represented in this crew. They change their screen names, but not their purpose, though why they would want to wreck Jim's site is well beyond me. You are wise, rebdov. I appreciate your posts very much.

Excellent point Nix 2 which is why it has to be responded too. Otherwise this site will resemble any number of neo-nazi anti-Semitic sites (especially Arab Islamic sites) on the internet. Jim doesn't deserve to have this mark against his site.

This is a laughable assertion.

Since you are complaining about fine distinctions what about that post was an assertion? Where I said that the ADL hasn't proven itself reliable or where I said it could be true that the rabbi said the Jews were being punished by god during the Holocaust?

At least be fair.

In all sincerety, I thought I was being kind, which is much more than the rest of you have given much thought to. FYI, I have been threatened with physical harm to my person by your friend Bucky, but this time, he was nice and just called me a liar. Shotgun-in-butt is beneath contempt. And YOU are a manipulator...or at least you give it the old college try. So fair is for fair. I have been fair. I answered your questions honestly and you replied dishonestly. What can I say?
You set up the thread. If I choose not to allow you to pretzel logic me to death, well, I guess that's just the way these things they go.

Instead of pointedly agreeing with the overwhelming evidence you equivocated. Your equivocation was what passes for an assertion because to do it any other way would indicate another circumstance where you've posted a piece which reflected your position but upon finding out the individual is an idiot, you played dumb and claimed being hard done by in the responses.

No it wasn't. Now your just making things up. Again, you are creating conflicts where none exist.

Ok, so let's have your complete repudiation of what this character has stated. Moreover, you still have not ansered my question concerning his sleight of hand pseudo-history. Better left marginalized or maybe forgotten? Too embarrasing?

Instead of pointedly agreeing with the overwhelming evidence you equivocated.

A press release by the ADL is hardly "overwhelming evidence." I said it could be true. Two people have said that the rabbi said such things neither of which has been known to be that honest. Hope that helps.

Ok, so let's have your complete repudiation of what this character has stated.

Not even scholars of the Torah and Talmud won't completely repudiate what he has said. Give it a rest already. What you're saying in reality is that if I don't agree with you I must agree with him. That nonsense logic is for you to practice and enjoy all by yourself.

Why don't you do a google search on this character and quit feigning ignorance? Please, I'm sure you don't like to be hand-held but since I proved he stated it you have nothing but denials or ambiguous statements. The proof has been laid at your feet. If you play dumb then we'll have little doubt left about how disengenuous you really are (I personally have no doubt).

Maybe those cigars are a bit much for you if you have a bad heart. Chewing on 357s isn't exactly good for you either. I'm so awfully sorry to have given you such a start, but I calls 'em as I sees 'em. Henceforth, I will take your health into consideration before responding. Okay?

Why pretend that his religious notions have any bloody resonance with you? Why hide behind assertions which you don't believe yourself and even if you did you couldn't defend his position from his standpoint if you tried? You know the only reason you posted it was to post some dissenting marginalized position of a kook and by that posting to suggest that the Jews don't have unanimity on the issue of Israel. Well, isn't that shocking? Isn't it shocking that in American gentile society you have people who are leftists, kooks, idiots, criminals, liars. On this forum it is the habit of the bash Israel as well as the anti-Semitic crowd to exploit those kinds of characters amongst the Jews for the very purpose of denying fundamental aspects of Jewish thought and experience. Count yourself in that dubious crowd.

You have now evaded the question numerous times. I have asked you is his historical assertions false because he is stupid or because he is dishonest?

Thanks. Maybe its (Talmud) available now, but it was NOwhere when I was taking my philosophy of world religion courses and really needed to find it. At that time (about 15 years ago, admittedly) it was about the only religious book that wasn't available at any of the public or university libraries in my city and, of course, I wasn't online yet. I'm glad to hear that's changed and I will make a renewed effort to get it.

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.