14 aug 2013
Rabbi Yisrael Dovid Weiss explains why he believes that Israel as a state is not legitimate.
When Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, visited Washington last week on the eve of the Purim holiday, he gave Barack Obama, the US president, what he considered a symbolic gift - a copy of the old testament book of Esther.
Netanyahu called it "background reading on Iran", since its story concerns relations with Jews in the Persian empire some 2,500 years ago.
It is considered by scholars to be mostly fiction, but for Netanyahu Esther represented justification for his stance against modern Iran.
”Israel must reserve the right to defend itself. And after all that’s the very purpose of the Jewish state. To restore to the Jewish people control over our destiny,” Netanyahu said.
But Netanyahu’s controversial reading of history, even his fight to preserve the state of Israel, are questioned by many of Judaism’s own religious authorities.
"This is against the will of the Almighty and this is not what it means to be a Jew," says Jewish religious scholar Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a spokesman for "Jews against Zionism", who believes that Israel as a state is not legitimate. He says that Zionism has created "rivers of blood" and he opposes the occupation of Palestine. View video here.
On the threat from Iran and President Ahmadinejad he says: "He gives charity to Jewish communities and he says one thing: he has a problem with the oppression of the Palestinian people. And the words "wipe out" he constantly says that Iran doesn't have a history and he is not talking about harming anybody he says that God will not allow this crime to happen. We concur with him that Jews are in danger because there is Zionism because it says in the Tora if you rebel against God, it will not be successful and there will be catastrophic results and Zionism has brought catastrophic results and it could be much worse."
Today on Talk to Al Jazeera Weiss explains why Zionism and Judaism are not necessarily the same thing.
This article was orginally posted on Aljazeera. View Original article and video here.
When Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, visited Washington last week on the eve of the Purim holiday, he gave Barack Obama, the US president, what he considered a symbolic gift - a copy of the old testament book of Esther.
Netanyahu called it "background reading on Iran", since its story concerns relations with Jews in the Persian empire some 2,500 years ago.
It is considered by scholars to be mostly fiction, but for Netanyahu Esther represented justification for his stance against modern Iran.
”Israel must reserve the right to defend itself. And after all that’s the very purpose of the Jewish state. To restore to the Jewish people control over our destiny,” Netanyahu said.
But Netanyahu’s controversial reading of history, even his fight to preserve the state of Israel, are questioned by many of Judaism’s own religious authorities.
"This is against the will of the Almighty and this is not what it means to be a Jew," says Jewish religious scholar Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, a spokesman for "Jews against Zionism", who believes that Israel as a state is not legitimate. He says that Zionism has created "rivers of blood" and he opposes the occupation of Palestine. View video here.
On the threat from Iran and President Ahmadinejad he says: "He gives charity to Jewish communities and he says one thing: he has a problem with the oppression of the Palestinian people. And the words "wipe out" he constantly says that Iran doesn't have a history and he is not talking about harming anybody he says that God will not allow this crime to happen. We concur with him that Jews are in danger because there is Zionism because it says in the Tora if you rebel against God, it will not be successful and there will be catastrophic results and Zionism has brought catastrophic results and it could be much worse."
Today on Talk to Al Jazeera Weiss explains why Zionism and Judaism are not necessarily the same thing.
This article was orginally posted on Aljazeera. View Original article and video here.
2 aug 2013
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All that is happening in Palestine today has been created or exacerbated because of the invention of Zionism, says Rabbi Dovid Feldman of Jews United Against Zionism.
“We find [the International] Quds Day to be a very important day... because what is happening in Palestine for decades is very painful... and we find this very painful as Jews, following Jewish religion where all these crimes are totally forbidden,” Rabbi Feldman said. “All what we see today in Palestine was created or at least exacerbated because of the invention of Zionism, and therefore, we say that the solution is not necessarily the two-state solution, the solution is that this entire occupation should be stopped, all rights |
should be restored to Palestinian indigenous population,” he added.
The rabbi also noted that Muslims, Christians, and Jewish people co-existed and lived in peace in Palestine and there is no reason they should not be able to live together.
Quds Day is held annually on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan during which demonstrators call for the liberation of Palestine and an end to Israeli occupation.
Muslims in more than 80 countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia and Indonesia, attended Quds Day demonstrations to support the Palestinians and condemn the Israeli occupation.
In August 1979, the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, declared the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month International Quds Day, a day of global solidarity with Palestine.
Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds, and the Gaza Strip, and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories occupied in a war in 1967.
The rabbi also noted that Muslims, Christians, and Jewish people co-existed and lived in peace in Palestine and there is no reason they should not be able to live together.
Quds Day is held annually on the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan during which demonstrators call for the liberation of Palestine and an end to Israeli occupation.
Muslims in more than 80 countries, including Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Australia and Indonesia, attended Quds Day demonstrations to support the Palestinians and condemn the Israeli occupation.
In August 1979, the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, declared the last Friday of the Muslim fasting month International Quds Day, a day of global solidarity with Palestine.
Palestinians are seeking to create an independent state on the territories of the West Bank, East al-Quds, and the Gaza Strip, and are demanding that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories occupied in a war in 1967.
17 july 2013
Like a bucket of cold water poured on the head of a drunk, so the EU's decision reminded the power drunk government of Israeli of the reality in which we live," said Gush Shalom, the Israeli Peace Bloc. "From now on, should the government seek to sign agreements and maintain relations with the EU and its member countries, it will have to note officially that the agreement does not apply to the settlements nor to East Jerusalem."
In a press statement issued Tuesday, Gush Shalom continued, "Already for forty-six years, the State of Israel is maintaining by force of arms an occupation of the West Bank, amounting to more than seventy percent of the Israel's total history - yet nobody regards these territories as part of Israel (nor are they such under Israel's own laws). For forty-six years, successive governments are grabbing Palestinian land and constructing settlements on it, devoting an enormous part of the country's resources to this enterprise – yet nobody in the world accepts these accomplished facts. For forty-six years, the State of Israel claims East Jerusalem as part of its capital city - and nobody in the world recognizes it as such (and Israel itself treats the inhabitants of East Jerusalem as an occupied population)."
"The EU has started to confront the government of Israel – and every citizen of Israel - with a road sign that cannot be ignored. One path leads to peace with our Palestinian neighbors and the Arab countries, and to enjoying international esteem and sympathy. The other path - to war and more war, to being an international pariah. The time to choose between these two paths is running out," Gush Shalom concluded.
In a press statement issued Tuesday, Gush Shalom continued, "Already for forty-six years, the State of Israel is maintaining by force of arms an occupation of the West Bank, amounting to more than seventy percent of the Israel's total history - yet nobody regards these territories as part of Israel (nor are they such under Israel's own laws). For forty-six years, successive governments are grabbing Palestinian land and constructing settlements on it, devoting an enormous part of the country's resources to this enterprise – yet nobody in the world accepts these accomplished facts. For forty-six years, the State of Israel claims East Jerusalem as part of its capital city - and nobody in the world recognizes it as such (and Israel itself treats the inhabitants of East Jerusalem as an occupied population)."
"The EU has started to confront the government of Israel – and every citizen of Israel - with a road sign that cannot be ignored. One path leads to peace with our Palestinian neighbors and the Arab countries, and to enjoying international esteem and sympathy. The other path - to war and more war, to being an international pariah. The time to choose between these two paths is running out," Gush Shalom concluded.
13 july 2013
Anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Haredi Jews burn the Israeli flag. (file photo)
The mayor of the Israeli city of Bnei Brak is reportedly seeking to erase the Zionist identity of the city, which has an ultra-Orthodox Jewish majority.
The office of Mayor Avraham Rubinstein, a rabbi himself, recently announced that a decision has been made to remove the names of Zionist figures from streets and rename them after famous rabbis.
According to a statement issued by the mayor’s office, the changes will be open to objections from Bnei Brak residents.
In line with the decision, Kibbutz Galuyot Street will be renamed after the late Rabbi Shlomo Berman, who headed the Ponevezh Yeshiva religious school in Bnei Brak.
In addition, Jerusalem Street will be renamed Rabbi Yitzchak Shlomo Ungar Street.
Rubinstein has already changed the names of streets that had been named after Theodor Herzl, who is known as the father of Zionism, and Moshe Sharett, the second prime minister of Israel, and renamed them after Jewish rabbis.
Bnei Brak has a population of over 178,000 and the largest population density of any city in Israel.
The majority of the residents are Haredi Jews, most of whom oppose Zionism because of its secular orientation. They also believe it is forbidden for the Jews to rule in Palestine before the arrival of the messiah.
The mayor of the Israeli city of Bnei Brak is reportedly seeking to erase the Zionist identity of the city, which has an ultra-Orthodox Jewish majority.
The office of Mayor Avraham Rubinstein, a rabbi himself, recently announced that a decision has been made to remove the names of Zionist figures from streets and rename them after famous rabbis.
According to a statement issued by the mayor’s office, the changes will be open to objections from Bnei Brak residents.
In line with the decision, Kibbutz Galuyot Street will be renamed after the late Rabbi Shlomo Berman, who headed the Ponevezh Yeshiva religious school in Bnei Brak.
In addition, Jerusalem Street will be renamed Rabbi Yitzchak Shlomo Ungar Street.
Rubinstein has already changed the names of streets that had been named after Theodor Herzl, who is known as the father of Zionism, and Moshe Sharett, the second prime minister of Israel, and renamed them after Jewish rabbis.
Bnei Brak has a population of over 178,000 and the largest population density of any city in Israel.
The majority of the residents are Haredi Jews, most of whom oppose Zionism because of its secular orientation. They also believe it is forbidden for the Jews to rule in Palestine before the arrival of the messiah.
11 july 2013
President Mahmoud Abbas mourned Wednesday the passing away of Ilan Halevy, a Jewish member of Fatah Revolutionary Council, who died in Paris at age 70. Halevy, born to a Jewish family from Leon, France, in 1943, joined the Palestinian resistance movement and Fatah in particular after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war.
He represented Fatah in several international forums, such as Socialist International, and served in the foreign ministry following the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.
Halevy was critical of the Zionist movement and thoughts and wrote several books criticizing it.
He used to describe himself as “100 percent Jewish and 100 percent Palestinian.”
President Abbas awarded him the Medal of Distinction for his role in support of the Palestinian struggle.
He represented Fatah in several international forums, such as Socialist International, and served in the foreign ministry following the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.
Halevy was critical of the Zionist movement and thoughts and wrote several books criticizing it.
He used to describe himself as “100 percent Jewish and 100 percent Palestinian.”
President Abbas awarded him the Medal of Distinction for his role in support of the Palestinian struggle.
On 29 June the AICafe hosted young Israeli activist Sahar Vardi. Drawing on her experience with protests and joint Palestinian-Israeli activities, Sahar spoke about how she broke out of what the Israeli education system had taught her to finally refuse military service and become part of a joint Israeli-Palestinian struggle for justice.
Sahar started with her own story, growing up as a child in Jerusalem and educated in a normal Israeli school which, as she says, by definition means a Zionist school. She highlighted two main elements that shape Israeli perspective when growing up: the concept of fear and the normality of the military.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
From a very early age, Sahar recounted, Israeli children are taught in school and through religious holidays that Jews are surrounded by danger. They are taught to fear everyone around them since from the exodus of the Jews from Egypt to the Nazis committing the Holocaust there is always someone trying to kill the Jews.
At the same time, Israeli children are introduced to the normality of the military in everyday life. Militaristic elements are introduced to children by dressing kindergarten kids up as soldiers, having school classes send care packages to army units, and finally a week of basic military training with your classmates in the year before you enlist.
This gradual introduction of the military into everyday life of children growing up, as Sahar explains, leaves no room for questions anymore by the time young Israelis reach the age of enlistment “Enlisting connects the two concepts, you become part of what protects the Jewish people from what they fear.” How Israeli children are raised paints a picture where it is normal to constantly be afraid and it becomes the most natural thing to rely on the military to protect you.
Sahar explained how Palestinians are woven into that narrative of fear and the military. Seeing Palestinians through the lens of Jewish history, it is unnecessary to ask why they do what they do. Each time a Palestinian commits an act against an Israeli, they take on their historical role as the new people to be feared, making it necessary for the military to protect the Jewish people against them.
The turning point in Sahar’s upbringing was when she visited a Palestinian village with her father for the first time. After this experience Sahar became involved in demonstrations. Sahar described the collision of her education with what was happening on the ground: “Soldiers are supposed to protect me, that is knowledge deeply rooted in me by my education.” However, taking part in protests against the construction of the wall, the roles of soldiers and Palestinians were suddenly reversed. The soldiers were the ones trying to harm her and Palestinians the ones trying to protect her.
By the time Sahar was to enlist in the military it was no longer an option. Even though different functions and units exist within the army, Sahar explained, the main project of the military is still the occupation: “It does not matter if you are working at a checkpoint or bringing the decision-making general a coffee, you are always part of that project.”
“We could have gotten out of the army through a backdoor but wanted to make a public stand on why we were refusing.” Sahar was a co-initiator of the 2008 Shministim Letter, signed by Israeli high school students who declared their opposition to enlistment. Instead of keeping quiet, Sahar made the brave decision to speak to Israeli society and have an impact. She spent two months in prison for this decision.
Today, five years later, the topic of her refusal still comes up in Sahar’s everyday life, be it in daily conversations or in job applications. She still maintains that it has not affected her personal life negatively. However, it is important to see the trends, as she pointed out, with new legislation recently proposed that will allow for discrimination of people who did not serve in the army.
Sahar laments that the radical left in Israel in not heard by Israeli society, that it's not even part of the political discourse. Sahar asked “How can you change anything if your voice is outside the discourse? Often the radical left in Israel does not appeal to its own society, but counts on mobilising European and American audiences to put pressure on Israel. "
Sahar sees many opportunities to contribute to change. Building on her personal experience of coming to East Jerusalem, she believes that personal interaction of Israelis and Palestinians can make a difference. Even more than connecting on a personal level, however, is the necessity to overcome the system of separation between Israelis and Palestinians. “How do we make a connection to fight segregation and occupation together?” For her it is not about shedding the privileges that Israelis enjoy but how to use them to counter the system: “It is not that I don’t want those rights, I want you to have them as well.”
Finally, Sahar also believes in the important role of the international community since bad things can only happen when good people allow them: “If everyone who is for a two-state solution refused to serve in the military, there would be no occupation. If everyone who says settlements are illegal actually did not support them, there would be no occupation.”
To move people to act on their opinions, Sahar has a very simple but effective approach: Engage people in their comfort zone. And then push it.
Sahar started with her own story, growing up as a child in Jerusalem and educated in a normal Israeli school which, as she says, by definition means a Zionist school. She highlighted two main elements that shape Israeli perspective when growing up: the concept of fear and the normality of the military.
WATCH THE VIDEO HERE
From a very early age, Sahar recounted, Israeli children are taught in school and through religious holidays that Jews are surrounded by danger. They are taught to fear everyone around them since from the exodus of the Jews from Egypt to the Nazis committing the Holocaust there is always someone trying to kill the Jews.
At the same time, Israeli children are introduced to the normality of the military in everyday life. Militaristic elements are introduced to children by dressing kindergarten kids up as soldiers, having school classes send care packages to army units, and finally a week of basic military training with your classmates in the year before you enlist.
This gradual introduction of the military into everyday life of children growing up, as Sahar explains, leaves no room for questions anymore by the time young Israelis reach the age of enlistment “Enlisting connects the two concepts, you become part of what protects the Jewish people from what they fear.” How Israeli children are raised paints a picture where it is normal to constantly be afraid and it becomes the most natural thing to rely on the military to protect you.
Sahar explained how Palestinians are woven into that narrative of fear and the military. Seeing Palestinians through the lens of Jewish history, it is unnecessary to ask why they do what they do. Each time a Palestinian commits an act against an Israeli, they take on their historical role as the new people to be feared, making it necessary for the military to protect the Jewish people against them.
The turning point in Sahar’s upbringing was when she visited a Palestinian village with her father for the first time. After this experience Sahar became involved in demonstrations. Sahar described the collision of her education with what was happening on the ground: “Soldiers are supposed to protect me, that is knowledge deeply rooted in me by my education.” However, taking part in protests against the construction of the wall, the roles of soldiers and Palestinians were suddenly reversed. The soldiers were the ones trying to harm her and Palestinians the ones trying to protect her.
By the time Sahar was to enlist in the military it was no longer an option. Even though different functions and units exist within the army, Sahar explained, the main project of the military is still the occupation: “It does not matter if you are working at a checkpoint or bringing the decision-making general a coffee, you are always part of that project.”
“We could have gotten out of the army through a backdoor but wanted to make a public stand on why we were refusing.” Sahar was a co-initiator of the 2008 Shministim Letter, signed by Israeli high school students who declared their opposition to enlistment. Instead of keeping quiet, Sahar made the brave decision to speak to Israeli society and have an impact. She spent two months in prison for this decision.
Today, five years later, the topic of her refusal still comes up in Sahar’s everyday life, be it in daily conversations or in job applications. She still maintains that it has not affected her personal life negatively. However, it is important to see the trends, as she pointed out, with new legislation recently proposed that will allow for discrimination of people who did not serve in the army.
Sahar laments that the radical left in Israel in not heard by Israeli society, that it's not even part of the political discourse. Sahar asked “How can you change anything if your voice is outside the discourse? Often the radical left in Israel does not appeal to its own society, but counts on mobilising European and American audiences to put pressure on Israel. "
Sahar sees many opportunities to contribute to change. Building on her personal experience of coming to East Jerusalem, she believes that personal interaction of Israelis and Palestinians can make a difference. Even more than connecting on a personal level, however, is the necessity to overcome the system of separation between Israelis and Palestinians. “How do we make a connection to fight segregation and occupation together?” For her it is not about shedding the privileges that Israelis enjoy but how to use them to counter the system: “It is not that I don’t want those rights, I want you to have them as well.”
Finally, Sahar also believes in the important role of the international community since bad things can only happen when good people allow them: “If everyone who is for a two-state solution refused to serve in the military, there would be no occupation. If everyone who says settlements are illegal actually did not support them, there would be no occupation.”
To move people to act on their opinions, Sahar has a very simple but effective approach: Engage people in their comfort zone. And then push it.
28 june 2013
Sahar Vardi
On Saturday 29 June, 2013,from 7:30 PM, AICafe invite you for Refusal, Pinkwashing and Gender in Israel with Israeli conscientious objector and activist Sahar Vardi.
Resistance from within colonial states and societies has historically been a crucial component, together with resistance from the colonised peoples, in changing policies and realities of occupation and oppression. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no exception.
Refusal to serve in the Israeli army is a powerful form of resistance to Israeli oppressive policies from within Israeli society. This is particularly true for Israeli women who refuse to serve in the military. In recent years and in direct response to local and international criticisms of its actions, the Israeli government and army have commenced a campaign of "pinkwashing", in which they attempts to hide the occupation with a seemingly liberal attitude to women.
What is the conscientious objection movement in Israel and who are these women and men who refuse to serve in the army? What is their current and potential impact on ending Israeli occupation and colonialism? And what is the reality of gender equality both within the army and Israeli society in general?
Although only 22 years old, Israeli activist Sahar Vardi has rich experience in protest actions and joint Palestinian-Israeli activities. Sahar was an initiator of the historic 2008 Shministim letter of high school students who declared their refusal to serve in the army. She spent several months in prison for refusing to serve in the Israeli army. Sahar is one of the core members of the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity movement, which has organized weekly demonstrations, together with the residents of East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, for the past several years. Sahar is also an active member of the Ta'ayush movement and has done extensive work with the South Hebron Hills Palestinian community.
The AIC is a joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization engaged in dissemination of information, political advocacy and grassroots activism. The AICafè is a political and cultural café open on Tuesday and Saturday night from 7pm until 10.30 pm. The AIC is located in the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, close to Suq Sha'ab (follow the sign to Jadal Center). We have a small library with novels, political books and magazines. We also have a number of films in DVD copies and AIC publications which are aimed to critically analyze both Palestinian and Israeli societies, as well as the conflict itself.
On Saturday 29 June, 2013,from 7:30 PM, AICafe invite you for Refusal, Pinkwashing and Gender in Israel with Israeli conscientious objector and activist Sahar Vardi.
Resistance from within colonial states and societies has historically been a crucial component, together with resistance from the colonised peoples, in changing policies and realities of occupation and oppression. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is no exception.
Refusal to serve in the Israeli army is a powerful form of resistance to Israeli oppressive policies from within Israeli society. This is particularly true for Israeli women who refuse to serve in the military. In recent years and in direct response to local and international criticisms of its actions, the Israeli government and army have commenced a campaign of "pinkwashing", in which they attempts to hide the occupation with a seemingly liberal attitude to women.
What is the conscientious objection movement in Israel and who are these women and men who refuse to serve in the army? What is their current and potential impact on ending Israeli occupation and colonialism? And what is the reality of gender equality both within the army and Israeli society in general?
Although only 22 years old, Israeli activist Sahar Vardi has rich experience in protest actions and joint Palestinian-Israeli activities. Sahar was an initiator of the historic 2008 Shministim letter of high school students who declared their refusal to serve in the army. She spent several months in prison for refusing to serve in the Israeli army. Sahar is one of the core members of the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity movement, which has organized weekly demonstrations, together with the residents of East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, for the past several years. Sahar is also an active member of the Ta'ayush movement and has done extensive work with the South Hebron Hills Palestinian community.
The AIC is a joint Palestinian-Israeli activist organization engaged in dissemination of information, political advocacy and grassroots activism. The AICafè is a political and cultural café open on Tuesday and Saturday night from 7pm until 10.30 pm. The AIC is located in the Alternative Information Center in Beit Sahour, close to Suq Sha'ab (follow the sign to Jadal Center). We have a small library with novels, political books and magazines. We also have a number of films in DVD copies and AIC publications which are aimed to critically analyze both Palestinian and Israeli societies, as well as the conflict itself.
4 may 2013
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Authorized entry only
All Credit to - Israel Social TV, a social change organization (non-profit) working as a civilian communications Independent, to promote social agenda in Israel. How would you feel if walking on the main street of your city would suddenly be forbidden? This Imaginary scenario unperceived to most of us is a reality for Palestinian residents of Hebron. Shuhada Street was a pivotal and vibrant street in Hebron and since 2000, was blocked to Palestinians, even those who live in it. Another example of Israel's undeclared racial segregation policies |
2 may 2013
This day in history / An anti-Zionist rabbi dies in Jerusalem
Rabbi Moshe Hirsch with Yasser Arafat
Rabbi Moshe Hirsch's arranged marriage to the daughter of the leader of an anti-Zionist sect helped him to become a surprising confidant of Yasser Arafat.
On May 2, 2010, Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, a longtime leader of the Neturei Karta sect, died in Jerusalem. Deeply committed to the anti-Zionist ideology of his group, with something of the showman about him, Hirsch gained great notoriety for his decision to serve as the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s “advisor on Jewish affairs,” and for sending a delegation of Neturei Karta representatives to Tehran in 2006 to participate in a Holocaust-denying conference.
Hirsch was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1923. He grew up in an Orthodox – though not ultra-Orthodox – home, and according to his cousin, longtime Jerusalem Post journalist Abraham Rabinovitch, was a good-natured and witty redhead who liked to play punchball, a baseball-like game played with a rubber ball and the hand in place of a bat. As an excellent student, when he reached college age, Hirsch went to study for rabbinic ordination at the prestigious Lakewood Yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey. Legend has it that a roommate there was Shlomo Carlebach, who later gained fame as the “Singing Rabbi.”
According to Rabinovitch, who eulogized Hirsch in his paper after the rabbi’s death, the turning point in his life came when the head of the Lakewood Yeshiva was asked by Jerusalem Rabbi Aharon Katzenellenbogen to choose his best student and send him to Israel to serve as a groom for Katzenellenbogen’s daughter.
Aharon Katzenellenbogen, as it happened, was one of the two founders. The other was Rabbi Amram Blau, of Neturei Karta (literally, “guardians of the city,” in Aramaic). The Mea She’arim-based group had split off in 1937 from the ultra-Orthodox political Agudat Yisrael, which was seen as being too lenient in its anti-Zionism.
Rabbi Moshe Hirsch's arranged marriage to the daughter of the leader of an anti-Zionist sect helped him to become a surprising confidant of Yasser Arafat.
On May 2, 2010, Rabbi Moshe Hirsch, a longtime leader of the Neturei Karta sect, died in Jerusalem. Deeply committed to the anti-Zionist ideology of his group, with something of the showman about him, Hirsch gained great notoriety for his decision to serve as the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s “advisor on Jewish affairs,” and for sending a delegation of Neturei Karta representatives to Tehran in 2006 to participate in a Holocaust-denying conference.
Hirsch was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1923. He grew up in an Orthodox – though not ultra-Orthodox – home, and according to his cousin, longtime Jerusalem Post journalist Abraham Rabinovitch, was a good-natured and witty redhead who liked to play punchball, a baseball-like game played with a rubber ball and the hand in place of a bat. As an excellent student, when he reached college age, Hirsch went to study for rabbinic ordination at the prestigious Lakewood Yeshiva in Lakewood, New Jersey. Legend has it that a roommate there was Shlomo Carlebach, who later gained fame as the “Singing Rabbi.”
According to Rabinovitch, who eulogized Hirsch in his paper after the rabbi’s death, the turning point in his life came when the head of the Lakewood Yeshiva was asked by Jerusalem Rabbi Aharon Katzenellenbogen to choose his best student and send him to Israel to serve as a groom for Katzenellenbogen’s daughter.
Aharon Katzenellenbogen, as it happened, was one of the two founders. The other was Rabbi Amram Blau, of Neturei Karta (literally, “guardians of the city,” in Aramaic). The Mea She’arim-based group had split off in 1937 from the ultra-Orthodox political Agudat Yisrael, which was seen as being too lenient in its anti-Zionism.
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Neturei Karta is a non-Hasidic sect, with its members descendants of students of the Vilna Gaon, the 18th-century leader of the opposition to Hasidism. In the 1950s, Holocaust survivors set up Neturei Karta communities in New York, France and England, but Jerusalem is the center of its institutions, all of which are called, collectively, Torah Veyira (Torah and Fear of God).
The opposition of Neturei Karta to the State of Israel is less the fact that it is a secular state, not run according to Jewish law, but rather that the act of establishing the state was a rejection of a basic tenet of Judaism, that redemption would come with the coming of the Messiah, when the Jews would be restored to their homeland. According to one Talmudic passage, the Jews had promised God not to try to prematurely end their exile, or to rebel against the nations of the world, so that the decision to create a Jewish state was an act of impudence and rebellion. Hirsch did indeed move to Jerusalem, where he married Rabbi Katzenellenbogen’s daughter, but he never became a citizen of Israel. He lived in Mea She’arim, and made a living as a dealer of etrogim (citrons) for the Sukkot festival. Unlike other anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox groups, Neturei Karta gave their opposition a very public political complexion, reaching out to the Palestinians and other enemies of Israel to express their support in the struggle against Zionism. This was where Rabbi Hirsch was a specialist, and the hatred that his activities stirred up among other Jews, in particular in Israel, only seemed to inspire him to keep up his efforts – even after an opponent threw acid in his face in the 1990s, causing him to lose an eye. His fine English and his outgoing personality led him to become the unofficial “foreign minister” of Neturei Karta. In 2004, while Yasser Arafat lay in a coma in a Paris hospital for two weeks, Hirsch, who had already become a confidant of the PLO leader while the latter was still in exile in Tunis, led a delegation to France to hold an extended prayer vigil for his recovery. (Arafat died that November, and Hirsch and a number of associates were in attendance at his funeral in Ramallah.) |
By the time of Hirsch’s death, three years ago, he had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for some time, and his eldest son, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Hirsch, had taken over many of his responsibilities. VIDEO
4 mar 2013
Anti-AIPAC posters in downtown Washington greet conference delegates
Sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace and the Avaaz global advocacy group, billboards read: 'AIPAC does not speak for me. Most Jewish Americans are propeace. AIPAC is not.'
Hundreds of anti-AIPAC billboards have been posted across central subway stations in downtown Washington D.C. proclaiming that “AIPAC does not speak for me”.
Sponsored by the left-wing Jewish Voice for Peace and the Avaaz global advocacy group, the posters were highly visible to many of the 13,000 delegates attending the pro-Israel lobby’s annual conference.
“AIPAC does not speak for me. Most Jewish Americans are propeace. AIPAC is not,” the billboards say.
Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said: “AIPAC is the NRA of foreign policy lobbies, pushing a rightwing agenda that does not represent the majority of Jewish Americans: Its support for military buildup and endless settlement expansion makes peace impossible. It cannot claim to speak for all American Jews.”
The posters are part of a concerted effort by left-wing groups outside the Jewish establishment to get their voices heard during the three-day AIPAC conference. Protesters from various radical Jewish and Palestinian groups have held vigils outside the entrances to the Washington Convention Center, where the conference is being held, leading to some scuffles with police and AIPAC delegates.
Hundreds of anti-AIPAC billboards have been posted across central subway stations in downtown Washington D.C. proclaiming that “AIPAC does not speak for me”.
Sponsored by the left-wing Jewish Voice for Peace and the Avaaz global advocacy group, the posters were highly visible to many of the 13,000 delegates attending the pro-Israel lobby’s annual conference.
“AIPAC does not speak for me. Most Jewish Americans are propeace. AIPAC is not,” the billboards say.
Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director of Jewish Voice for Peace, said: “AIPAC is the NRA of foreign policy lobbies, pushing a rightwing agenda that does not represent the majority of Jewish Americans: Its support for military buildup and endless settlement expansion makes peace impossible. It cannot claim to speak for all American Jews.”
The posters are part of a concerted effort by left-wing groups outside the Jewish establishment to get their voices heard during the three-day AIPAC conference. Protesters from various radical Jewish and Palestinian groups have held vigils outside the entrances to the Washington Convention Center, where the conference is being held, leading to some scuffles with police and AIPAC delegates.
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