I know conservative Jews who say there is no need for Israel, then can be Jews here in America where they live!!!
On Wed, Jan 27, 2016 at 6:34 PM, plainolamerican <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Yesterday I stood and watched as men doused Israeli flags with lighter > fluid and set them alight at a busy intersection in the heart of Stamford > Hill's Hasidic Jewish community. You would be forgiven for thinking that > this was a menacing pre-cursor to the much-hyped, neo-Nazi > "Anti-Jewification" demonstration that's supposed to be happening in the > area on the 22nd of March, but the guys doing the burning were in fact > Hasidic Jews themselves. > > Black smoke billowed down the street, past their confused neighbours at > the North London Mosque who looked on in disbelief, as one Hasid blasted > klezmer music from his car stereo. 20 others danced in a circle around the > flags shouting "down with Zionism!" > > "The whole state of Israel is not legal from the Jewish viewpoint," said > the flag burning's organiser Rabbi Elhanan Beck, adding, "The Messiah will > not be [Israeli Prime Minister] Netanyahu." > > > > Rabbi Beck and his followers are adherents of the Neturei Karta, an > anti-Zionist Orthodox sect that sees the very idea of a Jewish state as > heretical. They planned it to be a cutting rebuke of Israeli Prime Minister > Benjamin Netanyahu's address to US Congress, Tuesday. The flag burning > coincided with the Jewish festival of Purim. > > Some Orthodox Jews in passing cars beeped their horns in support. But it > wasn't all cheers and dancing as some very angry neighbours confronted > them. Members of London's wider Jewish community see their actions as doing > more harm than good at a time when anti-Semitism in the UK, stoked by the > by the 2014 war in Gaza, has reached an all-time high. > > "Israel can't represent us. Netanyahu is secular and doesn't believe in > God," said Rabbi Beck who has lived among Stamford Hill's 20,000-member > Hasidic community for 28 years. "When you are looking at Judaism, you have > to remember Judaisim is a religion, it's not a nation – it's not a race, > it's a religion," he said, adding that, "if somebody doesn't believe in God > he's not Jewish." > > > > In a nutshell, the Neturei Kata's beliefs are rooted in a deeply religious > fundamentalist reading of the Torah, taking to heart its more than 600 > laws. They believe the Jews were exiled from the holy land more than 2,000 > years ago by divine decree after being warned to repent. What they're > waiting for is a Messiah to bring them back. > > "But going by force is a rebellion against God, against the wishes of > God," Rabbi Beck explains. "It's like if you have a child and he's bad and > you say 'stay in the corner for 10 minutes!' If he refuses, what that says > is he couldn't care less about your punishment." If it were up to the > Neturei Kata the state of Israel would be dismantled. > > As the smoke from the burnings flags cleared, Jacob Weisz, a member of the > Neturei Karta, said he is saddened by the state of Israel's transformation > of Judaism into a political, rather than spiritual, entity. "On two levels > we are against Zionism," Weisz said, both in "what they have done to the > Jewish people and what they are doing now to the Palestinians. That's why > we burn the flag." > > The Neturei Karta chose the festival of Purim to make their stand because > it represents the triumph of good over evil, Weisz said. The festival's > roots lie in the Book of Esther, the story of a courageous Jewish Queen who > exposed the Persian viceroy Haman's plot to destroy her people. > > When Prime Minister Netanyahu addressed Congress Tuesday he said Iran > represents a similar threat today as the Persian Haman did in the Old > Testament. Iran poses a grave threat "not only to Israel, but also the > peace of the entire world," Netanyahu said, underscoring his belief Iran is > striving for nuclear weapons. "In this deadly game of thrones," Netanyahu > continued, "there's no place for America or for Israel, no peace for > Christians, Jews or Muslims who don't share the Islamist medieval creed." > > But Rabbi Beck said that "really the Jews have the best of times in the > Muslim lands," citing Iran's treatment of its 8,756-member Jewish > population who have their own schools, their own synagogues and a sitting > MP, despite their population dwindling from 150,000 since 1948 and > consistent marginalisation. "Just the state of Israel," Rabbi Beck said, > "creates all the hatred and all the problems that come out today." > > Rather than a heroic Esther, Weisz called Netanyahu "a warmonger," who > "wants to bring more bloodshed, more war into the Middle East," the thought > of which he says "is heartbreaking and outrageous." > > > As Weisz spoke, an angry resident Stamford Hill confronted him. "I > understand if you don't like Israel, but why do you go there?" she asked. > "Don't go to Israel and get social security and get your children married > there and get all the benefits and then come and burn the flag," she > continued. "You are using manipulation," she finished before storming off, > refusing to give her name. > > "I don't go there to be honest," Weisz countered, and Rabbi Beck holds a > Canadian passport. But the actions and stance of the Neturei Karta is of > grave concern not just to some of their neighbours, but also to the UK's > broader Jewish community at a time when anti-Semitism is on the rise in > Britain. > > The "Neturei Karta is obviously a Jewish group, but burning an Israeli > flag still carries the risk of inciting anti-Semitism in others," said Mark > Gardner, Director of Communications with the anti-Semitism monitoring group > Community Security Trust (CST) in an email. > > "Those who get excited by such things do not make neat distinctions > between people and states," Gardner adds, calling the link between hating > Israel and attacking Jews "particularly evident." > > Anti-Semitic incidents more than doubled in the UK in 2014 from 2013 > according to CST's latest tally. Of 1,168 incidents, 39 per cent were > driven by far right, anti-Israel or Islamist beliefs. And CST found the > violent conflict in Israel and Gaza between the 8th of July and the 26th of > August, 2014, which left 2,100 Palestinians and 72 Israelis dead, was the > "biggest contributing factor." > > It's not the first time this has happened. Antisemitic incidents in > Britain also peaked in January 2009 and in 2006. > > > Rabbi Elhanan Beck inside the Neturei Karta synagogue in Stamford Hill > > Mainstream Jews reject what they see the Neturei Karta's extremism. > "Neturei Karta are a fringe group with extreme views," wrote Rabbi Laura > Janner-Klausner, Senior Rabbi of the Movement for Reform Judaism, in an > email. "The vast majority of British Jews," she added, "like the vast > majority of all Brits, reject religious fundamentalism of any kind." > > The Neturei Karta's rejection of a Jewish state has seen them form some > weird alliances with people who don't like Israel for different reasons. > Their members travelled to a Holocaust-denial conference in Iran in 2006 > and spoke to an unltra-nationalist group in London called the New Right in > 2012. > > But people who believe Jews want to take over the world are "crazy," said > Rabbi Beck, who wants to open a dialogue with an antisemitic group planning > a march in Samford Hill at the end of the month. > > "Anti-Semites try to make Jewish people into racists [who] think that they > are the master race and all the others are the slaves," Rabbi Beck said, > "but this is completely wrong." > > Holocaust-denial, Weisz insists, is only a result of Zionists using the > Holocaust for their political means. "This is why we seek a dialogue," he > added. > > "Jews seek peace with everyone," Weisz continued, "whether it's > right-wing, whether it's left-wing – we seek peace." > > The group's interpretation of "peace" is one that a lot of people would > have trouble going along with, and burning flags is a weird way to convey > that message, but the Neturei Karta seem happy to confound expectations. > > -- > -- > Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. > For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum > > * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ > * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. > * Read the latest breaking news, and more. > > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "PoliticalForum" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- brine http://brineb.blogspot.com/ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
