Transcript of speech by Rabbi Mair Hirsh of Neturei Karta from Jerusalem, addressing the International Conference on Jerusalem in Doha, Qatar on 26-27 February 2012
In the name of the A-lmighty.
Our greetings to all the esteemed guests who have come to participate in this important gathering organized by the Arab League and hosted by the State of Qatar.
First and foremost, we bless the esteemed Emir of the State of Qatar, his Royal Highness, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-thani, the exalted host of this outstanding gathering, taking place in his country. Also, our beloved President His Excellency, Mr. Mahmoud Abbas, President of the State of Palestine; the General Secretary of the Arab League, His Excellency Dr. Nabil Al-Arabi and all our honourable and respected brothers and sisters, fellow participants in this valuable conference. May they all be blessed by the A-lmighty with success in all their undertakings.
Firstly we wish to congratulate our beloved President Mr. Mahmoud Abbas on his determination to achieve the conciliation agreement between the different Palestinian factions. Since only with a united effort will we be able to surmount all the difficulties that face us in liberating the land of Palestine from the Zionist occupational forces.
We Jews, who believe in the A-lmighty and his Torah and do not recognize the legitimacy of the Zionist entity, have come here to express the clear opposition of the authentic Jewish People to the abhorrence of Zionism and our absolute sympathy with the inhabitants of Jerusalem, whether Muslim, Christian or Jewish. So as to declare unshakably, our total opposition to the Zionist occupation of Jerusalem, and to express the tremendous importance we attach to the hoped for ending of the harsh Zionist occupation of the Palestinian land, the holy land, and especially the holy city of Jerusalem.
The Jewish people are a G-dly people, faithful to the authority of the holy Torah, and to the fulfillment of its commandments and statutes. A Jew is only one who observes faithfully the statutes of the Jewish religion and does not take part in any activities which are a rebellion against the wishes of the A-lmighty. This includes, not to rebel against the Divinely decreed exile, in which the Jewish people now find themselves, and about which we are under oath not to fight against. It also includes treating all with compassion and certainly not to carry out the horrific oppression of the Palestinian people, something which the Zionists do.
The Jewish people became a nation without any land of its own, it existed for centuries after going into exile from its land, and will continue to exist in this manner. For the Jewish people, our identity is defined by the Torah and its commandments, not by a piece of land. Without Torah, we are not a people.
The founders of the Zionist vision made it their goal to divert the Jewish people away from our Torah and its commandments, from being a people of faith to being an atheistic people. They wished to uproot the Jewish people from its roots, as is clearly stated in the diaries of the accursed founder of Zionism, Herzl.
The use by the Zionists of the facts of the Nazi Holocaust is cruel and cynical. It is merely their way of obtaining an international seal of approval for the very existence of their State. The international community continues to believe the blatant lie that the Zionists are the representatives of the Jewish people. They thus continue to compensate them for the victims of the Holocaust, as if the Zionists represent those victims. In truth, the Zionists were actually pleased with the destruction of European Jewry because they knew it would lead to their State being recognized by the nations of the world. This is well known to every student of the history of the period.
During the Nazi Holocaust, not only did the Zionist leadership do nothing to save the Jews, but on the contrary, they added fuel to the fire so that more and more Jews should be killed. Their slogan in those days, "Only through blood will the land be ours," is well known.
The Zionists worked on planting terror in Jewish communities in Muslim countries, in order to frighten the Jews into emigrating to Palestine, so that they would have more cannon fodder for their despicable wars.
To this very day, we continue to publicize in every form possible, that the Zionists do not represent the Jewish people, they have no authentic connection with the Jewish people, they are not the messengers of the Jewish people, the name "Israel" which they use is a forgery. They have no right to Palestine, whatsoever.
Therefore, it is my personal request to all of you, both the delegates of this conference and others outside of it, and especially to the world Islamic and Arab media, that whenever you refer to the Zionists and their crimes, do not call them "Jews" or "Israel", they should be called by their true name "Zionists", to emphasize that they are not Jews.
I appeal today from this platform in the name of the authentic Jewish people, to all you precious and respected friends, not to sit with folded arms. The time has come to take down the barrier from in front of the Zionist crimes, and to end, once and for all, the harsh Zionist occupation of Jerusalem. Certainly not by discussions with the Zionist enemy, but only through an independent declaration, You must not allow the dignity of the Muslim nations to be used as a circus ball, in the hands of the Zionist enemy. You must stop the so-called "judaization" of Jerusalem, which is coming about by placing Zionist settlers in the properties and on the lands of the Palestinian occupants, the expulsion of long-time Palestinian residents from their homes and the demolition their houses. As well as the destruction of the Shepherd Hotel, belonging to the respected Al-Husaini family. All in order to steal more and more stretches of land in occupied Jerusalem, for the purpose of being occupied by the settlers, in violation of intentional law. We must work to achieve an immediate decision by the United Nations to return all of our Palestinian brothers who have been expelled by murderous Zionist terror from their houses, their property and their land. We must not allow the Zionist war criminals to rule undisturbed. We must break down the 'apartheid wall', which violates international law.
We declare!!! Enough Zionist terror! Enough cruel occupation! Enough murder and cruelty against our Palestinian and Jewish brothers! Enough suffering by our Palestinian and Jewish brothers!
We must make it clear that Zionism is a tragedy for all of humanity, and is the true Holocaust of the entire Jewish people. The Zionists are the true anti-Semites.
We bless all participants in the conference, with success in all their endeavors to bring to an end the unfortunate occupation of Al-Quds and Palestine, so should be the wish of the A-lmighty
I would like to take the opportunity of this royal gathering to bless His Majesty Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-thani, in my name and in the name of the Jewish Rabbis from around the world who are here with us today to represent the Jewish people, with the blessing that Jewish law commands us to recite when seeing the Ruler of a land. This is a once-in-a-lifetime privilege for me.
Blessed are You, L-rd our G-d, King of the universe, who has given some of His glory to a human being.
It is my great honor to extend my hand to His Majesty and give him my personal blessing. |