There’s nothing sinister about Haredi (traditional Orthodox) Jews who do not support the modern secular state of Israel. They are being consistent with their understanding of Judaism. Prior to WWII, most Jews were not Zionist aka were not pushing for the creation of a Jewish state of Israel.
BLOG: On May 4, Neturei Karta Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss capped off the annual anti-Israel week of events at UC Irvine by speaking on the topic, “The difference between and anti-Zionism and antisemitism”. at least that was what he was supposed to speak about. This appearance was sponsored by the Muslim Student Union, Students for Justice in Palestine, the American Indian Student Association, and Jewish Voice for Peace. Weiss’s audience consisted of about fifty people, mostly students and mostly Muslim Student Union members. There was a handful of Jewish people in the audience including one local rabbi. I was also present and videotaped it.
Neturei Karta is a fringe sect that is not even recognized by mainstream Judaism. It consists of a few thousand members. They believe that Jews are mandated by the Torah not to return to the Land of Israel until the Messiah appears. As a result, they are against the modern day state of Israel. Going to the extreme, Weiss has aligned himself with anti-Israel activists the world over including the Iranian regime and its former head of state Mahmoud Ahmadinejad-people who want to wipe Israel off the face of the Earth..
Weiss spoke for an hour and basically gave us a history of Judaism 101. His basic theme was that Zionism is against what Jews believe. Describing how “well” Muslims had protected Jews over the centuries, he stated that Anti-Jewish feeling among Muslims only began with Zionism, a very dubious claim. After about 30 minutes, he began to lose his audience, which he never seems to notice as he drones on and on in his usual speaking style. (His first words at the podium were to ask the moderator how much time he had to speak.) In spite of that obvious lack of preparation, Weiss spoke without notes, which meant he rambled on without any organization.
After his talk, a break was called before Q and A. During that time, two Jewish members of the audience asked Weiss questions which are also on video. Weiss took exception to both questioners. His typical response to critical questions is to accuse the “Zionists” of creating diversions to avoid the real topic (Israel’s “mistreatment” of the “suffering Palestinians”).
