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February 25, 2014 – New York City
The Rabbinical Council of Neturei Karta International issued the following statement:
The Zionists are now demanding that the Palestinians recognize the State of Israel as "a Jewish state" and "the nation state of the Jewish people".
But authentic Torah Jews around the world declare that the State of Israel is a Zionist state, not a "Jewish" state; likewise, the name "Israel" is a false and hijacked name.
Judaism means subservience to the Almighty and acceptance of the Torah. Zionism means nationalism and is totally contradictory to the tenets of Judaism. Furthermore, Judaism teaches that we are in exile by Divine decree and are forbidden to create our own sovereignty. We must act humbly toward all nations. We must not make any attempts to leave exile, until the day when the Almighty alone will redeem us, without any human intervention, as He promised. And the Torah forbids us to kill, steal or harm others in any manner. Therefore, on all accounts, Zionism is contrary to Judaism.
Authentic Religious Jewish leaders have always opposed the existence of the State of Israel. As Rabbi Yosef Tzvi Dushinky, Chief Rabbi of Palestine, states in a declaration to the United Nations in 1947: "We furthermore wish to express our definite opposition to a Jewish state in any part of Palestine". (The Rabbis Speak Out, The 130-year Record of Religious Jewish Opposition to Zionism, p. 81)
This new Zionist demand that the world recognize them as a Jewish state is a double act of theft. The Zionists want to cement their expulsion of the Palestinians in 1948 by forcing them to, in effect, forfeit their right of return to their ancestral land. And likewise they are once again attempting to steal the Jewish identity from the true Jewish people: the people who keep the Almighty's laws and waits in exile in obedience to His decree.
Among all the crimes Zionists have committed over the years against the Palestinians and against faithful Jews, one of their worst has been their false appropriation of Jewish identity, symbolized by their use of the name "Israel" - the Biblical name of the Jewish people. By acting in our name, they implicate us in their offenses and drag us into their conflicts.
Faithful Orthodox Jews throughout the world have always been embarrassed by the Zionist State and its claim to act in their name. The current Zionist demand that the world recognize it as the official Jewish state only adds to the insult.
On the contrary… we ask the world to recognize that the Zionist state is not a "Jewish" state, has no connection with the Jewish people, and it has no right to use the name "Israel".
May we live to see true peace under a Palestinian state, in which Jews and Palestinians will live side by side in harmony as they did in centuries past. Amen.
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