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The following is from Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss of the United Association for Studies and Research (UASR) in the Middle East The transcript of his speech delivered during a roundtable discussion organized by the publisher of Affairs Journal [MEAJ]. The discussion took place on March 14, 2002, under the chairmanship of Dr. Ahmed Yousef, editor-in-chief of MEAJ.
Today I would like to share a few thoughts on Judaism and Zionism. According to the view of the modern mass media, it is almost pointless to distinguish between these two concepts, since, in their view, these two terms refer to one and the same thing. In other words, Judaism and Zionism essentially mean the same thing. Is that not the case? Or are Jews, by definition, also Zionists? I can only hope that this assumption will be proven unequivocally false by the end of our discussion. In any case, this view has evidently become widely accepted, both among non-Jews and among misinformed Jews. Correcting any historical falsification can only be beneficial, for as we know, „the Creator’s seal is truth.” In the case of Zionism, moreover, this is not merely a matter of academic error. The ideology has caused so much suffering, death, and destruction in the past, and this will only continue if, God forbid, it remains uncorrected. In fact, I hope that today’s discussion will mark the first step in a process that will bring solutions to the agony of the Middle East, or at least alleviate the suffering of the people there.
The Triumph of Misconceptions
Let’s start with a very simple question: How did Judaism come to be identified with the lies of Zionism? And why, in the first place, was such an easily debunked lie able to take hold in the bastions of Western public opinion? And finally, what can we do to correct these misunderstandings? We know that history is written by those who emerge victorious from its struggles. In the case of the centuries-long struggle between the Zionists and the Palestinians, it is not difficult to conclude that the State of Israel, with its propaganda machine and influential international mediators and advocates, is the clear winner of this ideological battle.
Another reason is that what the Jewish people endured during World War II aroused unparalleled sympathy for them throughout the world after the war ended, and it was precisely this sincere and commendable sympathy that the Zionist propaganda machine has continuously exploited since 1945.
And finally, a constant and effective tactic employed by Zionist propagandists is the strategy of total suppression, coupled with well-targeted censorship. In this regard, it might be worth reading the work of former Congressman Paul Findley, They Dared to Speak Out his book *Those Who Dared to Speak Out*. The book reveals the immense financial and other resources the Zionist lobby is capable of mobilizing in order destroy the careers of any politicians in the United States who have questioned or opposed the almost subserviently favorable policy toward Israel.
Of course, anti-Zionist Jews—regardless of their political or religious beliefs—have long been the first to experience the attacks of Zionism.
In 1924, Dr. Jacob Israel de Hahnt, a Jewish scholar of Dutch origin who had served as secretary to Rabbi Josef Chaim Sonnenfeld (1849–1932), the Chief Rabbi of Palestine, was murdered in cold blood near the Shaarui Zedek Hospital in Jerusalem as he was walking home after evening prayers. His crime was that he had been involved in negotiations conducted by certain Jewish and Arab leaders who were seeking an alternative solution to the problems alongside Zionist hegemony. His murderers were members of a Zionist organization called the Haganah, which they called a „self-defense” organization. In any case, Dr. de Hahn can be considered the first victim of open Zionist violence or terror, murdered in the Holy Land for the sake of the cause.
Nevertheless, the fact of this cowardly and cold-blooded murder is almost completely unknown outside the rather limited circles of the anti-Zionist movements.
Similarly, other incidents in which Zionists used violence against their Jewish brethren were also effectively concealed from the general public, such as the sinking of the S.S. Patria in 1940, or the sinking of the S.S. Struma in 1941. In the first incident, 276 innocent people lost their lives, and in the second, 769, all because the Zionists sought to advance their goals by eliciting the world’s sympathy.
Further well-known and documented acts of terrorism were committed against both Arab and British citizens, including civilians. The movement’s members had no qualms about taking innocent lives to achieve their goals, and they would not tolerate public criticism. Fortunately, the most effective weapon in the Zionist ideological arsenal—the one that could lead any movement to success—was missing: the truth was not on their side. For this very reason, it is becoming increasingly clear that although the power of the Zionists is undoubtedly strong today—as the majority of politicians, the media, and educational institutions remain firmly under their influence—the historical deadlock is nevertheless beginning to dissolve.
More and more people are daring to question the historical narrative presented to us by the Zionists. In UN member states, and particularly in Europe, people are not only asking questions about the causes of these problems, but are also offering solutions. In their responses, they frequently criticize the State of Israel with critiques spanning multiple areas. Some speak out primarily against the State of Israel’s methods, while others blame the philosophy behind them.
A Neturei Karta International has always been at the forefront of those who speak out against Zionism. In our struggle against Zionism, we are active worldwide; last year we were in Yemen, Iran, South Africa, and Geneva, where we also participated in the UN conference against racial hatred (to my knowledge, we are in possession of the audio recordings of the speeches delivered there).
Our supporters have stood up and spoken out against Zionist censorship in Jerusalem, Manhattan, London, Manchester, Montreal, and everywhere else where Orthodox Jewish communities are present. But we’ve gotten a little ahead of ourselves. If we truly want to understand the Middle East’s current painful state, we must first define our terminology. Most importantly, what is Judaism, and what is Zionism?
Definitions
Judaism is the faith and religion of the Jewish people. Its roots trace back to the divine revelation at Mount Sinai, when God gave the Torah to humanity. God bound the Jewish people forever to the teachings and laws set forth in the Torah. In the centuries that followed, Jewish sages and teachers provided commentaries on the Torah, which also became part of our traditions. Judaism was a generally defined and accepted concept among Jews until the so-called „Enlightenment” in Europe. From that point on, Jews turned their backs on God en masse, just as many Christians and Muslims did at that time, renouncing their former faith. Reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist Judaism emerged within the spirit of man-made religions. These movements shared a common trait: to a greater or lesser extent, they rejected the fundamental beliefs of the Torah.
Exile and Redemption
One of the most fundamental teachings of the Torah is that the Creator rewards or punishes humanity according to their merits. Most biblical prophecies warn the Jewish people of the terrible fate that awaits them if they rebel against God and His will. If they do not change their ways, the destruction may escalate to the point where the Holy Temple is destroyed, the Jewish nation ceases to exist, and they are scattered throughout the world.
And my friends, it is precisely with these Old Testament prophecies that the conflicts between Judaism and Zionism begin. For the time has come for all that the prophets warned of to be fulfilled. The Jews had to leave their homeland, their homes, and their land. The first such exile took place during the Babylonian captivity, which lasted seventy years. Miraculously, after these seventy years had passed, they were able to return to their homeland and even rebuild their temple. This second temple stood from 2,500 to 1,900 years ago, and it too was eventually destroyed. As before, this destruction was also caused by the people’s return to sin, even though they were required to live according to the strict demands of the divine way of life.
However, prophecies foretelling decay, danger, and destruction were always followed by hopeful promises of restoration. Exile will not last forever! Yes, generations had to live in the Diaspora, often amid persecution, but always keeping in mind the promise that one day they would be able to return to their homeland. One thing was perfectly clear: their return was beyond their own strength and will. The return will be announced by the prophet Elijah himself upon his appearance, which he will accomplish through miracles. And at that time, salvation will come not only for the Jews, but for all of humanity. All nations will cease their wars and together enjoy the Creator’s care. There will be no wars, nor any famines. A true spiritual renewal will unite humanity in divine service. That is why the exile following the destruction of the Second Temple continues to this day! For two thousand years, the Jews have prayed for the end of their exile, and thereby for the salvation of the entire world. From the words of the prophets and the sages of old, they knew full well that their exile was due to their sins. This naturally means that the path leading to return, and the only solution, the sole method: is complete repentance and the practice of prayer.
Naturally, any view that holds that the Creator’s decrees can be circumvented through the use of political and military means and through manipulation is considered heresy, since this essentially denies divine providence, the punishment of sin, and its forgiveness. For many centuries, the Jewish people waited in prayer for the miraculous events of the restoration.
Throughout these long centuries, there was not a single Jew—among those who studied the sacred texts and wrote volumes of commentary—who would have claimed that the exile could be brought to an end by human will and power.
The Holy Land was, of course, revered, and small communities of Jews had always lived there, devoting themselves to prayer and worship.
It was not until the end of the nineteenth century that the view began to take hold among certain Jews who had strayed far from their faith that the exile had occurred because of the weakness of the Jewish people. Theodore Herzl and a handful of his like-minded companions, all of whom were ignorant of the Torah and did not practice its teachings, they set in motion the process that, by the end of the following century, had caused unspeakable suffering to both Jews and Palestinians.
The reasons given by the rabbinical opposition
The early Zionists immediately came into conflict with the rabbinical leaders of the time. The rabbis, who were faithful to the Torah, identified four main reasons for this conflict, as follows:
1) The ideas of Zionism rejected and dismissed the traditional interpretation of the Torah, according to which the dispersion of the Jewish people was a punishment for disobedience, and that redemption and liberation from it would come through divine intervention, the condition for which was repentance and conversion—that is, a return to God.
2) The overwhelming majority of Zionists have never come from the deeply religious Jewish community. Thus, their claim that they are the representatives of the Jewish people as a whole is simply a ridiculous lie. After all, isn’t it absurd even to consider that people who themselves reject and renounce the faith, values, and views of biblical Judaism could be the true representatives of Judaism’s interests? By their very nature—or, if you will, instinctively—Zionists are opposed to the Torah, and their practical goal is to reject and abolish the values and commandments of the Torah.
3). Generally speaking, Zionists have a dangerous lack of concern for the fate of non-Jewish people, particularly the local Palestinian population. Their heavy-handed tactics have caused much suffering and, moreover, have unnecessarily brought the Jewish people into conflict with the rest of the world’s nations.
4). Due to the expectations and demands of the Zionists, many Jews began to question their loyalty to their host country, regardless of where they lived in the Diaspora. This weakened the host country’s love for the Jews it had accepted and increased conflicts between Jews and non-Jews.
Among the Jewish diaspora, committed Zionists have always been in the minority. Even the majority of Jews who had drifted away from Torah traditions recognized that Zionism was a short path to disaster. Even within the Zionist movement, there is a tiny minority that is in constant conflict with the Labor and Revisionist factions, which represent the movement’s main forces. This group is associated with the British Shalom movement and would even support the creation of a democratic state with dual nationality, where Jews might be in a minority. One of the main spokespeople for this group is Judah Magnes, the Hebrew University his chancellor, who said: „If we cannot find a way to live together in peace and accept one another, if we can only maintain our power through the force of bayonets, then it is all for nothing, and it would be better for the eternal people to remain in patient waiting.”
These words came from the mouth of a non-believer, but one of sound mind. His views—and those of his small number of supporters—were rejected by the mainstream Zionist majority. Of course, from the perspective of the Torah, even the very idea of Jewish self-determination in the Holy Land is forbidden! It should also be noted that among those intending to return were fundamentally honest people who foresaw the difficulties and were aware that some kind of agreement would have to be reached with the Palestinians.
Waves of Zionist immigrants poured into Palestine in the 1920s and 1930s. The British tried to find a solution acceptable to both sides, but their efforts were unsuccessful. The means of Zionist conquest was initially emigration, which soon turned into armed conquest, with a series of brutal acts of terror committed day after day against Palestinians, British, and Jews of differing views.
If World War II—and the tragedy suffered by the Jewish people during that war—had not occurred, the Zionists would not have been able to establish the State of Israel, despite all their scheming and violence.
As we have already mentioned, in the aftermath of the Holocaust there was an outpouring of sympathy for the Jewish people, which the Zionists immediately appropriated and exploited to further their own goals. In that situation, they completely ignored the deep-seated demands for independence of the Palestinians living on their own land, nor did they give any thought to the wishes of the anti-Zionist Jews living there.
It was a bit like someone who had been driven from their own home going into someone else’s house, driving out the person living there, and then moving in themselves. Just because a person has suffered persecution from others does not give them the right to expel another family from a place that has been their home for centuries.
I do not in the least doubt that if the Palestinian people had remained independent in their own homeland, and if—like other nations—they had been asked after the Holocaust to take in Jewish refugees, they would have agreed without hesitation. But no one can expect them to leave their homes, their property, and their national identity without a word in order to make room for hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees who wish to drive them out or rule over them. During the twentieth century, the majority of Orthodox Jewry was immune to the temptations of Zionism. At the same time, unfortunately, there were also elements within Orthodox Judaism who embraced Zionist ideology, while others attempted to coexist with Zionism.
We, who continue to uphold the faith that has been preserved for centuries and passed down to us, have always been enemies of Zionism, both in the Holy Land and throughout the world. These Jews, many of whose descendants still live in Jerusalem today, have refused to recognize the Zionist state. They do not participate in elections, nor do they serve in the army. At the same time, they do not accept any financial support from the state to maintain their own schools, which is why they must constantly hold public fundraisers.
In their view, the very existence of the State of Israel violates the fundamental teachings of the Torah. Furthermore, the daily practices of the Zionists contradict the way of life prescribed by the Torah. Their claim that they are the representatives of the Jewish people is a despicable and ridiculous assertion. For Jews faithful to the Torah, it is a blasphemy against God and a grave sin when these unbelievers present themselves as the leaders of the Jewish people.
God-fearing Jews—of whom the members of Neturei Karta are but one group—are now seasoned anti-Zionist veterans. If anyone knows, we know how difficult it is to break through the media blackout, especially in the United States. But we must break through if we want to see peace in the Middle East. The Talmudic sages of old warned us that if we attempt to return from exile before the time is right, it will lead to massive bloodshed. And the bloodshed has come and is ongoing. Since the establishment of the State of Israel, more blood has been shed than anyone could have imagined. It began a few decades before the establishment of the Zionist state, and ever since then, the unrest, murder, and suffering have continued unabated.
The death toll continues to rise to this day. The hopes of both the hardliners and the more flexible factions have been dashed. Both factions supported the government, and both have failed completely.
My friends, there will be no peace in the Middle East as long as the Zionist state of Israel exists.
The Torah cannot be circumvented, and we cannot fulfill the expectations that must be met during the time allotted for exile if we agitate, through human effort alone, for the end of the Diaspora. We cannot allow the current State of Israel to be the fulfillment of our true hope for redemption.
Of course, as a first step toward a solution, we would like to see the immediate dismantling of the West Bank and the settlements in Gaza, and for the people living there [Jews] must leave those areas as soon as possible and in the most humane manner possible. This, of course, is only part of the complete solution. Common sense also dictates that a Palestinian state must be established as urgently as possible. All of this, of course, would be merely a temporary solution. The true solution according to the Torah would be for all of Palestine to be immediately returned to the Palestinians, including the Temple Mount.
This, of course, also means that all Palestinian refugees could return, as this is what basic justice demands. This solution is dictated by both the Torah and common sense.
The Jewish people have been given just enough mitzvot (commandments) to live by in the Diaspora, and the slaughter of unarmed Palestinian children is certainly not one of them.
Of course, we know that millions of Jews live on Palestinian land today, and whether all of them, some of them, or even a single one will be able to live there under Palestinian rule is a matter for the rightful owners of the territory—the Palestinians—to decide. Only then can the peace process between Palestinians and Jews begin.
In the meantime, what can we do, especially given that the majority of Jews living in the Holy Land have fallen victim to Zionist propaganda? For our part, we remain committed to the cause; we will continue to provide the Jewish community with ongoing information about the doctrinal errors of Zionism and its actions, which can practically be described as evil.
Standing in solidarity with our Palestinian cousins, we will continue to protest against the evils of Zionism, seeking peace with all nations and all people alike. We wish to remain committed to the practice of our faith, in which we serve the Creator with humility and purity. But let us also examine what impact anti-Zionist Jewry might have on the Islamic world. It is important to us that the Palestinians, and the Muslim world in general, do not confuse Zionism with Judaism, neither in daily life nor in the moral sphere. On the one hand, this would only invite anti-Semitic accusations; and on the other hand, it would only benefit the Palestinian cause if they openly promoted their good relations with anti-Zionist Jews, as this would undermine the negative perception created and spread by the media that they are capable of nothing but hatred.
This anti-Zionist Jewish-Palestinian coalition, which exposes the inhumanity of Zionism, may well grow into a moral force in our world.
We leave this meeting resolved to remain committed to this shared moral compass. Let us make it clear that Torah-observant Jewry does not wish to act in a hostile manner toward either the Palestinians or the Muslim world as a whole. As time goes on, the number of civilian fatalities and the level of violence continue to rise on both sides.
May it be the will of our Creator that the State of Israel cease to exist as soon as possible and in a peaceful manner, and that the Jews once again live in peace alongside the Palestinians, both throughout the world and in the Holy Land, and may the day come as soon as possible when humanity merits heavenly redemption and submits to the kingdom of Is-en.
