RABBIS VISIT IPCI AND ENGAGE IN DEBATE ON THE ISRAELI ISSUE

On the 31st December 2008, the IPCI were priviledged to host a delegation of the Neturei Karta, a group of Haredi Jews formally created in 1935 and which opposes Zionism and calls for the dismantling of the State of Israel in the belief that Jews are forbidden to have their own state until the advent of the Messiah. Mostly concentrated in Jerusalem, this group has branches in London, New York City and various other parts of the United States.
 
The spokesman was Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss who had met IPCI lecturer Yusuf Ismail on a stimulating interactive discussion on Radio Al-Ansaar and was
thereafter invited to address a press-conference held at the IPCI lecture room. The topic selected for discussion was –
"Israeli Zionism-is it set up for spiritual discussion?"

Weiss often speaks at rallies and conferences in the United States and internationally, criticising Israel and Zionism. In 2001 he attended the UN-organized World Conference against Racism in Durban, South Africa as part of the Islamic Human Rights Commission delegation. During the conference, US and Israeli delegates walked out over an unsuccessful attempt to condemn Israel for racism. as a result of his stand for justice, Rabbi Weiss is often monitored by the Israeli Mossad and the FBI.

In an interview with Inminds.co.uk, a pro-Palestinian Website, Weiss stated that "We are always a thorn on their (zionist) side... they are afraid of us..." Weiss also praised Iran, stating that:
"When we traveled to Iran, the humbleness we found ... it is a country where people are God fearing.. they believe in God and they serve God... you can see the difference between that society and the society here - depravation is so great, where you have television, immorality, immodesty and so forth. Your children grow up with they say democracy but democracy originally meant freedom to serve God...but unfortunately today many are preaching freedom to exclude God, in other words free from God..."

Weiss defended Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against accusations of Anti-Semitism in the Question and answers session. Furtheron In March 2006, Weiss released a statement to Iran’s official IRIB radio in which he stated that:
“it is dangerous deviation to pretend that the Iranian president is anti-Jewish and anti-Semitic. He is extremely friendly and he understands the difference between the Zionists and the Jews who do not embrace the state of Israel... We don’t look at him as an enemy.”

Weiss stated that though Israelis have used the Holocaust to gain sympathy and advantage, he does not believe the Holocaust toll is exaggerated. Weiss said that "The Zionists use the Holocaust issue to their benefit. We, Jews who perished in the Holocaust, do not use it to advance our interests. We stress that there are hundreds of thousands Jews around the world who identify with our opposition to the Zionist ideology and who feel that Zionism is not Jewish, but a political agenda...What we want is not a withdrawal to the '67 borders, but to everything included in it, so the country can go back to the Palestinians and we could live with them..."

Among his arguments against Zionism was a Talmudic discussion about portions in the Bible regarding a pact made between God, the Jewish people, and the nations of the world, when the
Jews were sent into exile. One provision of the pact was  that the Jews would not rebel against the non-Jewish world that gave them sanctuary; a second was  that they would not immigrate en masse to the Land of Israel.  By rebelling against this pact, he argued, the Jewish People were engaging in a rebellion against God. The thrust of the matter which he left the audience with, was that morally, intellectually and spiritually, the Jews have absolutely no right to Palestine and the logical conclusion would be for Jews to live under Palestinian rule for there to be eternal peace and goodwill.
 
Readers are urged to request for DVDS of this highly stimulating lecture which is now available to the public by forwarding requests via email to ipcisa@yebo.co.za or by calling 031-3060226 or faxing (031) 304 0326