Thousands of Orthodox
Jews Gathered in Washington to Protest Netanyahu and his
State
Thousands of anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews demonstrated outside
the White House on Tuesday, July 6, as Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu arrived to meet with President Obama.
Their goal was to express their opposition to the existence
of the Zionist state and to protest the ongoing destruction,
permitted and encouraged by the Israeli government, of an
ancient Jewish cemetery in Jaffa.
An open letter to Netanyahu appeared in Tuesday's Washington
Post. The letter read in part: "Once again, news from
the State of Israel leaves us horrified and deeply saddened.
In heart-rending reports, we hear of the ongoing desecration
of ancient Jewish cemeteries across the length and breadth
of the country... For thousands of years, our sages and ancestors
had rested in these cemeteries in peace, undisturbed by the
various ruling gentile governments, who guarded the dignity
and rights of those buried there. Tragically, and in a brutal
twist of irony, these grave sites are destroyed now with
the full protection and support of the so-called 'Jewish'
government...
"In truth, this episode is but one link in the chain
of anti-religious activities perpetrated by the Israeli government.
Ever since its inception more than 60 years ago, the Israeli
government has violated and eradicated Jewish religion and
tradition whenever possible...
"Mr. Netanyahu: How dare you present yourself to the
President of the United States as the 'representative of
the Jewish People,' at the time that you and your government
are eradicating Judaism and violating the Torah?
"Finally, we wish to clearly reiterate one of the fundamental
tenets of the Jewish faith: Jews are forbidden by the Torah
to establish sovereignty or to revolt against any nation
or people. In fact, Jewish law commands that Jews be peaceful,
law-abiding citizens in whichever countries they reside until
the final Redemption, when peace and tranquility will come
to all mankind."
One of the speakers at the demonstration, Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro,
said, "They persecute Orthodox Jews, they persecute
Orthodox Judaism, but the worst crime, the most insidious
persecution that the State of Israel has ever perpetrated
against the Jewish people happened in 1948, when they dared
to call themselves the State of Israel - when they dared
to refer to themselves as a Jewish state... Do you know that
a week after the flotilla incident, Jews in Turkey were scared
to leave their houses? They didn't even go to the synagogue
because the local residents of Turkey blamed them and held
them accountable for the acts of the State of Israel. That
is the most insidious crime that that state has committed
against our people: the theft of our identity. We are the
Jewish people! We are Israel, here! We have been around for
thousands of years practicing our religion: scholars, laymen.
They have not been around long enough to collect social security!
They are impostors!
"Everybody knows the history of Zionism. They weren't
happy with the way Jews were. They had inferiority complex.
They were not accepted by the religious Jews because they
weren't religious, and they were not accepted by the non-Jews
because they were Jews. They thought in their great brilliance
that in order to eliminate anti-Semitism and in order to
protect the Jewish people, we have to change what the Jewish
people are, from a religion, a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation, to a nation of soldiers and warriors...
"The hate - that seething, psychopathic hate - that
the Zionist has for the Jew is not born out of bigotry, and
is not born out of ignorance. It's born out of fear - fear
because they thought by now there would be none of us left.
They thought that by now all the Jews in the world - all
that matter, anyway - would be remade in their own image.
That the world would be at peace with them. That they would
be able to vanquish their enemies with their army. And now
they see that we still live. They see that we are here and
we are rapidly expanding, and they see that we raise our
voices. They see that they are a failure! And that's why
they hate us.
"This is the greatest crime committed against the Jewish
people by the Zionists: the identity theft. We too are blamed
in the eyes of the world, we are held accountable for the
actions of the State of Israel. We need to tell the world
- because even though this is the worst crime they ever committed,
it's also the easiest to undo - we need to tell the world
that Zionism is not Judaism. We need to tell the world that
the State of Israel is not our elected official. They do
not speak in our name. We need to tell the world that that
credit card that they're using to do whatever they're doing
was stolen from us. We don't want credit for what they do
and we don't want accountability for what they do...
"And you, Mr. Netanyahu, do you recognize these words?
You should, because this is Judaism, untwisted and undistorted.
We will fight until we will triumph, and triumph we will
because you know what, Mr. Netanyahu? We do not fight alone.
At our side are generations of Jews. At our side are the
six million martyrs. At our side is our G-d, Who has kept
us alive over two thousand years - one of the reasons being
because we were not Zionists. Mr. Netanyahu, you can bring
your air force and your army to fight us, but we will triumph,
because with what we have on our side, you are outnumbered."
Following is the text of a flyer that was handed out to
listeners and by passers:
STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES
In view of the recent developments in the 'Middle East,
we find imperative to reiterate our principles concerning
the Zionist movement and the State of Israel.
In order that our stand be clearly understood, a brief historical
review is necessary.
About a century ago some self-styled Jewish leaders started
to propagate nationalistic ideals within the world Jewish
community. This eventually led the formation of the world
Zionist movement.
From the beginning, this concept was vehemently denounced
by the Rabbinical authorities of the time as being diametrically
opposed to Judaism.
One of the basic tenets of our faith is that since Divine
will has placed us in exile, we are forbidden to have any
nationalistic aspirations. We are bound by Divine oath to
accept the yoke of the Diaspora and live in peace and harmony
within the nations that Divine destiny has placed us. When
the demand for a Jewish state became insistent, the opposition
of our great Rabbis grew in intensity. They declared for
the whole world to know that the Jewish people do not want
a state before the advent of the messianic era.
This stand was in no way altered even by the de-facto establishment
of the State of Israel.
In addition to this basic ideological transgression, this
so-called State of Israel has consistently indulged in activities
which constitute a breach of our religious rights. Complete
communities were forced to expose their children to an atheistic
education; autopsies are performed against the wishes of
the deceased and their kin; the sanctity of the resting places
of our sages are being violated in a most shameful manner.
From all the above it follows that the Zionist organizations
and the State of Israel can in no way claim that they represent
world Jewry. We also declare that all the belligerent acts
perpetuated by the State of Israel are against our Divine
law (the Torah) and thus completely foreign and repulsive
to us.
It is our sincere desire to live in peace and tranquility
in the nations wherein we reside and be able to observe our
religious practices till our final Divine redemption, when
peace and tranquility will come to all mankind. |
