Speech by Rabbi Feldman at the “National Arrest Netanyahu” Rally in DC
Speech by Rabbi Dovid Feldman from Neturei Karta International at the National “Arrest Netanyahu” Rally on July 24, 2024, in Washington DC During the Israeli Prime Minister's Address to the US Congress
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July 23, 2024 -
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Rabbi Dovid Feldman
Spokesman for Neturei Karta NY
We are standing here today while war criminal Benjamin Netanyahu is visiting Washington, D.C. He is addressing the US Congress while he has been carrying out a brutal genocide for the past 10 months in Gaza. He claims to supposedly represent the Jewish people and pretends that his state is acting in accordance with the Jewish religion. 
He is claiming that the Jews have a religious right to the land and that Jews are in danger from their supposed enemies, the Palestinian people, who want to drive them all into the sea. He is claiming that when Palestinians demand their freedom, it is because of anti-Semitism and that any reaction to Israel is unprovoked, “just because we are Jews.” All of this is misleading propaganda to fool politicians into blindly supporting his supposed “self-defense”. Nothing could be further from the truth.
According to Judaism, Jews during their divinely decreed exile are forbidden to have their own sovereignty. Jews are required by their religion to be loyal citizens of the lands where they live and be peaceful with their neighbors. Killing, stealing, or oppressing others are true violations of Judaism.
From day one, the indigenous Jewish community in Palestine opposed Zionism, and most Jews in other parts of the world opposed it too. To the present day, masses of Jews worldwide oppose the existence of the State of Israel and abhor its criminal actions. Currently, religious Jews are resisting being drafted into the Israeli army. They refuse to take part in its crimes. As a result, our communities face everyday arrest and brutal treatment at the hands of the Israeli forces.
Netanyahu does not speak in the name of world Jews, nor does the State of Israel represent the Jewish religion. Judaism and Zionism are diametric opposites. Judaism is a religion, while Zionism is a political movement.
Being anti-Zionist is not anti-Semitic. Accusing every criticism of Israeli crimes as anti-Semitic is a propaganda tool to silence the voices of righteous people who stand up for the oppressed. When the Zionists claim to act in the name of all Jews, or when they say that whoever criticizes their actions is anti-Semitic, this makes a dangerous statement: that all Jews are accountable for their horrific crimes. This is the greatest exacerbation of anti-Semitism. We blame the Zionist movement for endangering the Jewish people.
Palestinians never had anything against Jews or Judaism, and neither does the pro-Palestinian solidarity movement today. We should be against crimes, regardless of who the perpetrators are.
The Palestinian people are not our enemies. History bears witness that a Jewish community used to live in Palestine in peace, respect, and security because all that community wanted was to serve the Almighty and live in peace with their neighbors. We didn’t aspire to take over the land, so no one had a problem.
We lived side by side as neighbors until the terrorist movement of Zionism came and attacked the indigenous population in order to make room for their state. This tragically led to an endless cycle of bloodshed where Palestinians and Jews are suffering.
Therefore we are here today as a Jewish contingent, representing masses of the Jewish people, to condemn Netanyahu and the State he represents. You are a war criminal. Your hands are covered in blood. Enough with the brutal genocide, enough with the unjust occupation, enough with Zionist propaganda.
we demand an end not just to the current genocide, not just a permanent ceasefire, but a complete end to the entire occupation of Palestine,
In order to be able to see a better future, we need to realize what the root cause is to the ongoing rivers of blood. It is not because of the difference of religion, nor did all of this start on October 7th. All that we are witnessing is a direct result of the decades-long Zionist brutal occupation of Palestine.
Therefore we demand an end not just to the current genocide, not just a permanent ceasefire, but a complete end to the entire occupation of Palestine, from the river to the sea. Once this cause of conflict ends, once this obstacle to peace no longer continues, we can hope to see once again that historic peace, where all peoples can live in harmony under one state of Palestine.
We pray for the day that was foretold by the prophet Isaiah (2:4), “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift the sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” May we merit to see this soon in our lifetime.
