On March 6 a vote was scheduled on the floor of the House of Representatives, at the center of which were comments made by Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, D-MN. Rep Omar was accused of making anti-semitic remarks even though there was not even a hint of antisemitism in her comments

By Miko Peled

 

According to a report on NPR, it all began in February, when Rep. Omar responded to a tweet from journalist Glenn Greenwald, who posted about House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy threatening to punish Omar and another congresswoman for being critical of Israel.

Omar wrote back, "It's all about the Benjamins baby," a line about $100 bills from a Puff Daddy song. Critics jumped on the tweet and said Omar was calling up a negative and harmful stereotype of Jewish Americans. She spoke against AIPAC  and the power and influence it has over Congress.

The Haredi or Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Community

The Haredi Jewish community is a community that lives according to the strictest interpretation of religious Jewish law. The daily lives of each individual and of the community as a whole is governed by the Torah and Jewish law that was established over the centuries in the Talmud and the Shulkhan Aruch - two bodies of law that dictate the laws by which orthodox Jews must live. Observance to the Almighty and the Torah is part of every moment of every day of their lives.

According to the strict reading of Jewish law, the Jewish people are united as a people but not by a country, state or language. They are united by their faith and their observance of Jewish law. That is why there are Jews who speak Arabic and have dark skin and Jews who speak Yiddish and have light skin and they are all part of the Jewish people. Furthermore, Jewish law strictly prohibits Jewish people from sovereignty in the Holy Land.

In the year 1900, the leading Rabbis of the Jewish world published a book - called Or Layishrim, or light to those who are honest -in which they explain their opposition to the creation of a Jewish state. The Zionist movement was still very young then and the prospects for the creation of a Jewish state were slim. Still, these Rabbis saw fit to warn Jewish people around the world not to be swept by this idea that they felt was dangerous.

Besides it being contrary to a central religious decree, their opposition to the Zionist idea of creating a Jewish State in Palestine can be summed up by saying the following:

1. A Jewish State in Palestine will inevitably bring violence to the Holy Land.

2. A Jewish State in Palestine will ruin the good relations that existed between Jews and Arabs in Palestine and Jews and Arabs and Muslims everywhere.

3. A Jewish State in Palestine will harm Jewish people around the world because it will cast doubt as to where their loyalty lays as citizens.

Reading this today one is struck by their ability to foresee over one hundred years ago what we know now to be a reality.

Neturei Karta

Neturei Karta, which means “Guardians of the City,” in Aramaic, is a group of Ultra-orthodox activists who have gained a reputation for their principled stance against the oppression of Palestinians by Israel. They are a loosely organized yet dedicated movement within the Haredi or ultra-orthodox Jewish community which is well known and respected within Palestine.

The community, in general, has always been opposed to the creation of the state of Israel and even though today certain segments of the Haredi community cooperates with the State, by and large, it is an anti-Zionist community. Be it in Jerusalem, New York State, London or Montreal, you will never see an Israeli flag in the ever-growing and flourishing neighborhoods of this community.

Neturei Karta could be described as the activists within the Haredi community. They actively oppose the State of Israel, they organize protests and they attend protests organized by other groups where there is clear opposition to Zionism. Established in Jerusalem’s Me’a Sha’arimneighborhood in the mid-1930’s it has been and continues to be a clear Jewish voice for tolerance and justice.

While their opposition to the state of Israel is grounded in their faith that Jewish people must wait for a heavenly decree before they may return en masse to the Holy Land, they have stood with Palestinians in their struggle for justice and tolerance and refuse to accept the the crimes of the state of Israel are committed in their name.

In their desire to see tolerance and good relations between Jews, Arabs, and Muslims in generals revived, leading Rabbis from within Neturei Karta have traveled to Gaza to express their support for the people trapped within the concentration camp that Israel built around them. They traveled to Iran, Yemen, and they regularly travel to Palestinian communities within Palestine to express their solidarity and support and to participate actively in the Palestinian struggle for justice.

At a recent event in the old city of Hebron commemorating the 1992 terrorist attack where an Israeli doctor murdered worshippers at the Ibrahimi mosque, a delegation of Neturei Karta came to participate. When wishing to visit holy sites that are within Palestinian control areas, the group coordinates with the Palestinian authorities and come as guests. One recent visit was to the holy shrine of Yehoshua Bin Nun, in the town of Kifl Hares, in the West Bank. The visit was done to express solidarity with the Palestinian citizens of the town, who are subjected to attacks by the settlers during their frequent visits to the religious shrines in the town. The visit took place after the delegation was received by the governor of Salfit earlier in the day.

A Solidarity Visit to Ilhan Omar

On March 6 a delegation of twenty members of Neturei Karta embarked on a long day trip from Monsey, New York to Washington, DC to express their support for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Wanting to discredit anti-Zionist voices and to intimidate politicians who would even listen to these voices, Zionist outlets falsely claimed that members of Congress including congresswoman Omar, refused to meet with our group.

I accompanied the group throughout the day, and as we walked through the halls of the Capitol their presence attracted a great deal of attention and press. One video of their visit posted on Facebook has hundreds of thousands of views.

While Rep. Omar was not in, the group was cordially met by members of her staff and Rabbi Weiss, who headed the delegation made a statement in support of the congresswoman and making it clear that opposition to AIPAC and to Israel does not equate to anti-semitism.

From there the group went to visit offices of other members, including Speaker Nancy Pelosi and their own representative Eliot Engel.  Rabbi Weiss gave the same statement and was received well everywhere. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who is from New York, spoke with the group personally.

The videos of the visit have been posted and shared widely, a sign that people appreciate the important message that was conveyed by this group of dedicated Haredi Jews. Opposition to AIPAC, to Israel and to Zionism is completely congruent with Jewish values.

*(Anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews express solidarity with Rep. Ilhan Omar. Credit: Yasin Öztürk/ AA)