LIVERPOOL OCT 2023
The tour ran as a Fringe event at Labour Conference on Monday 9th October. Rabbi Elhanan Beck spokesman of the Neturei Karta UK was alongside Palestinian academic, author and broadcaster Dr Azzam Tamimi, (who took the place of Taghrid Al-Mawed). (Palestinian Rabbi Haim Sofer was unable to attend due to a hand injury.) They explored why many Orthodox Jews don’t recognise Israel and what should stand in its place. One state, a Palestine for all its peoples? One Democratic Palestine chair and Gaza twinning campaigner Pete Gregson talked on the excesses of the British Mandate and the loss of freedom of speech on Israel. The recording of the talk is now on You-tube at https://youtu.be/LrxF9IxMZts and below.
The 1-hr version of this video can be seen with Arabic subtitles on Al Hiwar TV at https://youtu.be/6-ANL9pQndQ
This 5-minute clip on TikTok of Rabbi Beck on Islam has had almost 1 million views in 5 days: https://www.tiktok.com/@pete.gregson/video/7289394781338258720?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7286156359526893089
See it on You-tube at https://youtu.be/TmCIlawDXcY
Read more about Palestinian Rabbi Haim Sofer here. And more about Dr Azzam Tamimi here. And more about Pete Gregson here. There were Palestinian kefiyas on sale at £20 and scarves at £10 from Hadeel, the Palestinian Fairtrade shop in Edinburgh. Download the flyer for the event and associated information here.
BACKGROUND
Did you know that Lord Arthur Balfour, a Tory MP from Edinburgh, was the man behind the decision in 1917 to gift Palestine to the Zionist Federation, in order to keep the Jews out of Britain? (that was even before we took it from the Turks). And did you know that from 1920 to 1947 we encouraged 656,700 Jews to emigrate there, which changed their share of the population in Palestine from 8% to 82%?
Did you know we armed and trained and equipped the Hagganah, that was established by the settlers to protect these Jews? And did you know that we brutally suppressed the Palestinians every time they complained, through public executions, bombings and concentration camps? (Newsnight made a film about this last year- see it at www.tinyurl.com/bbcukapology )
In essence the UK created Israel when it enabled the survivors of Hitler’s death camps to emigrate to Palestine; we had trained the Jewish battalions to fight Hitler, after all, so there was no shortage of skilled commanders to organise the Nakba, when hundreds of Palestinians were massacred and 750,000 driven to the refugee camps where they languish to this day. And did you know that the UK is one of the greatest supporters of Israel at the UN? Which is surprising; a YouGov poll in May reported that 23% of the UK public support Palestine, with just 10% for Israel (see it at www.tinyurl.com/YouGovPal ). Did you know Israel makes its weapons in the UK though Elbit Systems, which are marketed as “battle-tested” thanks to their use on the Palestinians?
And did you know that prior the the British Mandate, the Jews and Muslims lived in great harmony for 1,400 years, a peace that was only broken when the Zionists started arriving in 1917 to take Palestinian land?
We have brought representatives of these religions together for our “Muslim and Jew Tour: Beyond Israel” at Labour Conference and we hope you will attend to learn more about the way forward for Israel/ Palestine.
It surely needs to change. But into what? Following the successful run of 15 UK cities in April, the Tour comes to Labour Conference to explore the way ahead.
There will be plenty of opportunities to ask questions.
Media Coverage of April ’23 Tour
The first tour ran April/May 2023 to 15 UK cities.
Al Hiwar TV made a film of the London leg of the tour. It is in English with Arabic subtitles and lasts 48 minutes. See below- “Jew and Muslim tour in Britain for justice for Palestine” at https://youtu.be/_suTKqV-644
Al Hiwar TV also produces “The London Circle”; its first programme of 3rd May features Anas Altikriti interviewing all 3 speakers on the tour, introducing it thus: “Azzam Tamimi and Rabbi Weiss hit the road and travel across the United Kingdom to dispel the myth that the Palestinian cause is an Islam Vs Judaism issue, and to prove that much is shared once the barrier of Zionism is overcome and the history of its colonial project in Palestine is understood.” See the 1-hour show at https://youtu.be/B5uRi-rE4mI
The same programme is available as audio-only podcast on Soundcloud. Listen at https://on.soundcloud.com/hWYGo. It is also on Spotify at https://open.spotify.com/episode/1pIZSRU40Ql4mm6sukjBpd?si=2683f2bc86a94a0d and as an Apple podcast at https://podcasts.apple.com/tr/podcast/the-muslim-and-jew-tour-beyond-israel-the-london/id1668077174?i=1000611578487
Al Hiwar TV has made a 1-hr introductory programme on the tour, featuring Pete Gregson, broadcast on 29th April- https://youtu.be/VfzaoCPB4IM
Resist TV also interviewed Rabbi Weiss- their broadcast of 26th April is at https://youtu.be/umjbrARgies
Radio Asian Fever in Leeds recorded programmes of 28th April feat. Rabbi Weiss is at http://www.listenagain.canstream.co.uk/feverfm/index.php?id=31218 for the 11am- noon slot and http://www.listenagain.canstream.co.uk/feverfm/index.php?id=31219 for the noon to 1pm slot
Middle East Eye covered 2 minutes of the London event on the fly on Facebook with 145,00 views in just one week https://fb.watch/kpE0Pv2Iaq/.
On15th May, Middle East Eye released a 3.5 minute video filmed especially for webcast “Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weis’s message for Nakba Day”- see it on You-tube at https://youtu.be/xKv8Co79ZA0, on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/watch?v=6254909967909509 (In just 14 hours it had gained 22,000 views) and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/i/status/1657789116262785024 whilst on Instagram it achieved over 200,000 views in the same time- https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsOtodyKgJH/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== – a week later this had risen to 470,000 views.
Agitate Educate Organise publicised the tour and the Jewish Chronicle apology to Rabbi Weiss https://aeouk.com/Home/ViewPost/1258
TikTok users can see this 5-minute video of the Rabbi explaining why “Israel is Not the Jewish State” at https://www.tiktok.com/@pete.gregson/video/7232053205717372187?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7232025976217159194 and on Instagram at Pete Gregson (@pete.gregson) | Instagram and on You-tube at https://youtu.be/kwUBose1I10
On Friday 12th in Sheffield we had some trouble with Zionist students- it’s on Youtube https://youtu.be/ILDLLQ6F2K0 , on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/p/CsT4I-mPN7N/ and on TikTok at https://www.tiktok.com/@pete.gregson/video/7232641000571735323?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7232025976217159194. Since the Tik Tok video was posted, the 5-minute film has garnered 156,000 views.
Middle East Monitor published Pete Gregson’s review of Zionist attacks on the tour Beating the Zionists and their political ideology – Middle East Monitor ; also see an abbreviated version eighth letter in: “Zionist Defeat” at Letters – Weekly Worker
Dates and Cities:
Mon 24th April Edinburgh; Tues 25th April Newcastle; Wed 26th April Bradford; Fri 28th April Leeds; Sun 30th April London; Mon 1st May Cardiff; Tues 2nd May Bristol; Wed 3rd May Liverpool; Fri 5th May Leicester; Sun 7th May Coventry; Mon 8th May Birmingham; Tues 9th May Derby; Wed 10th May Manchester (venue TBC); Friday 12th May Sheffield, Sunday 14th May Glasgow. To see the venues and times, click here. The talks and discussion lasted between 2 and 2.5 hrs; all have been recorded on video.
The April ’23 Tour
For centuries Muslims and Jews lived in this part of the world in peace and harmony. Then suddenly a conflict erupts where claims and counter claims are made. What caused the change? What are the roots of conflict in Palestine?
The colony that Britain helped create needs to change. But into what? Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, spokesman of the Neturei Karta USA, toured Britain with Palestinian author and broadcaster Dr Azzam Tamimi. They explored why many Orthodox Jews don’t recognise Israel and what should stand in its place. One state, a Palestine for all its peoples? One Democratic Palestine chair and Gaza twinning campaigner Pete Gregson also talked on Britain’s role in creating Israel and the use of the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism to silence criticism of it.
Download the tour flyer here To download the flyer front page only, for posting on your Facebook feed, click here
To understand the reason why the tour mattered so much in the present political climate, see Open letter to Gideon Levy of Israel’s Haaretz newspaper on the “Muslim & Jew Tour: Beyond Israel” – Redress Information & Analysis (redressonline.com) published on 5th Oct 2022.
Please also see post of 6th Nov 2022 Against Zionist Invaders – Why Race Matters in Palestine – One Democratic Palestine (onepalestine.land)
The Speakers: Rabbi Weiss
TO PROMOTE DEBATE, American anti-Zionist Rabbi Ysrael Dovid Weiss came to the UK for a tour. He was accompanied by the Palestinian author and broadcaster Dr Azzam Tamimi. On a few occasions Dr Tamimi was unavailable and his place was taken by Dr Ibrahim Hewitt and Dr Daud Abdullah. Also speaking was Chair of One Democratic Palestine, Pete Gregson.
The case presented was that Israel is an apartheid state which has lost touch with its Judaic roots- and we explored the long-term future for Palestine and Israel. The two-state solution is unachievable and a majority of Palestinians want a single state. How should it look? We may reflect upon why Hamas has been criminalised, although it is the elected voice of the Palestinian people from 2006. While the West says Hamas rule means an Islamic state, Hamas have said the future shape of a free Palestine must be decided by the democratic will of the people. What would the Zionists agree to? How do we get there?
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss is a spokesman for Neturei Karta International – Jews United Against Zionism. He attended the UN World Conference Against Racism in Durban in 2001 as part of the Islamic Human Rights Commission delegation and helped the NGO conference adopt the historic declaration condemning Zionism as racism and Israel for genocide – which resulted in a US/Israel walkout. He’s descended from Hungarian Jewry; his grandparents were exterminated by the Nazis at Auschwitz. He lives with his family in New York. He believes that Jews should peacefully oppose the existence of Israel. More here
The Speakers: Dr Azzam Tamimi
Dr Tamimi is chairman and presenter at Al Hiwar TV Channel; (more at www.alhiwar.tv ). Affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood, he headed the Institute of Islamic Political Thought until 2008 and has written several books on Middle Eastern/ Islamic politics, including Power-Sharing Islam and Hamas: Unwritten Chapters.
He has stated that the War on Terror launched by the US and its allies in the wake of the Sept 11 attacks is perceived by many in the Islamic world as a war on Islam. He accused President George W. Bush of attempting to stop terrorism through war, political oppression and violations of human rights, saying that this would not work and would instead have the opposite effect.
He states he would never confer legitimacy upon Israel, “a state that is created on land robbed from my father, from my grandfather and from my mother”. He also classifies Zionism as a racist ideology. Nonetheless, he favours talks between Hamas and Israel, believing that co-existence between Palestinians and Israel may be possible. In January 2006, he wrote that if Israel withdrew from territories occupied in 1967, Hamas would end its armed resistance. He has stated that “peace may still be achieved by talking about how to co-exist.” For the long run, Dr Tamimi advocates what he calls a post-apartheid South African solution, in which Israel “is dissolved just like apartheid was, and all people within mandatory Palestine become equal citizens”.
Dr Tamimi has been a member of One Democratic Palestine since its early days. See his 13-minute talk from a fringe event at 2019 Brighton Labour Conference A Free Palestine . He is author of Hamas- Unwritten Chapters. See this 1-hr interview with Dr Tamimi recorded in early April 2023 on the Thinking Muslim video channel.
Ibrahim Brian Hewitt (for Leeds, Liverpool, Leicester, Manchester and Glasgow dates)
Ibrahim is the Senior Editor of Middle East Monitor, as well as the joint founder (in 1998), former head teacher and current Chair of Trustees of Al-Aqsa School in Leicester. Honorary positions held include Chair of the Board Trustees of the Palestinian Relief & Development Fund (Interpal) from 1997-2020. Ibrahim was an Assistant Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain from 2004 to 2006.
In 2005 he was awarded the Alia Izetbekovic Prize for Citizenship at the Muslim News Awards for Excellence in London.
Ibrahim has been engaged with the people and issue of occupied Palestine since a visit there in March 1988. On a visit to Gaza in August 2011, he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Islamic University of Gaza for his “dedicated efforts and continuous support to the Palestinian people and the university”.
From 1977 to 1981, Ibrahim served in the Band of the Royal Northumberland Fusiliers, part of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, and then in London with the Band of the Inns of Court and City Yeomanry, Royal Armoured Corps.
Ibrahim embraced Islam in 1981 from a nominally Christian background, two years after visiting Muslim friends in apartheid South Africa. While there he was intrigued by the fact that Islam united people of different races, even in that divided country. After reading about Islam for 18 months or so, he made his declaration of faith in London Central Mosque.
His publications include Faith, Hope and Charity: the Interpal Story (Editor, Interpal, 2019); Israel and Gaza: Behind the Media Veil (Editor, MEMO Publishers, 2015); MEMO to the Editor: letters 2009-2011 (MEMO Publishers, January 2013) and The battle for public opinion in Europe: changing perceptions of the Palestine-Israel conflict, co-editor with Dr Daud Abdullah (MEMO Publishers, 2012).
He climbs too many mountains for his left knee’s liking, but carries on nevertheless. Ibrahim is also a born-again cyclist thanks to Big Ride 4 Palestine, in which he has taken part annually since 2018.
Dr Daud Abdullah (for Sheffield date)
Dr Abdullah is director of Middle East Monitor and lecturer in Palestinian affairs. Originally from Grenada, he obtained his first degree from the University of Guyana in 1981 and was awarded a scholarship to study Arabic language at King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. In 1984 he joined the University of Khartoum to pursue postgraduate studies and was awarded his doctorate in 1989.
Since moving to the UK with his family in the mid-1990s Dr Abdullah has been senior researcher at the Palestinian Return Centre, London. He has been a regular contributor to Impact International and the Palestine Times. He is a trustee of the Centre for the Study of Terrorism and set up the British Muslim Initiative.
His books include: How the Zionist Colonization of Palestine Radicalized British Muslims, Islamic Political Radicalization – A European Perspective, A History of Palestinian Resistance and
The Israeli Law of Return & its Impact on the Struggle in Palestine
The Speakers: Pete Gregson
Pete Gregson is chair of One Democratic Palestine and the Edina-Gaza Twinning Association. He’s the only trade unionist to be expelled from his union (the GMB, where he was NHS shop steward) for breaching the IHRA Definition of Anti-semitism, when he declared that Israel was a racist endeavour, that it exploits the Holocaust for political ends and for naming his accuser, Rhea Wolfson. He was defended at the hearings by Rabbi Ahron Cohen, spokesman for Neturei Karta UK, but the GMB still declared him to be an antisemitic Holocaust denier, a completely unfair claim; Pete only said that Israel exploited the Holocaust for political ends. He has campaigned for years, as he sought to challenge the widespread adoption of the IHRA Definition of Antisemitism, cooked up by Israel to silence Palestine activists. (Read more on Pete on our Rogue’s Gallery page here ).
Pete’s interest in Islamophobia and the “othering” of those from the Asian subcontinent grew from his early work as a community film-maker; it led to his making the film An Asian Family in Edinburgh in1985, which came about through Pete’s youth work with skinheads from the National Front. He realised they were being fed lies about Asian businesses and set about making a film which was ultimately screened in all Edinburgh’s Primary schools.
Pete is promoting the idea of British businesses getting their websites built in Gaza Your Website- Built in Gaza – Twin Edinburgh with Gaza (twingaza.com). See him at the Al-Awda Rising to Return Conference in New York explaining how twinning and trading on the net with Gaza and Palestine is the way forward in this 28-minute illustrated talk at https://youtu.be/lIo7FrPM8KM
The OED states a Jew is a member of the people and cultural community whose traditional religion is Judaism and who come from the ancient Hebrew people of Israel, or, a person who believes in and practises Judaism.
Zionists claim Judaism confers a religious right to settle in Palestine. But the Torah declares that Jews cannot return to their homeland en masse until the Messiah has come. Jews accept that that has not happened. The Zionist movement, with all its criminal oppression of the Palestinian people, is flagrantly breaching the Torah and not following Judaic doctrine. How, religiously, can they continue to be Jews? Truly religious Jews reject Israel.
Donations
Each time we run the tour, we need to book hotel accommodation (typically £200 for 3). And venue hire (typically £300) . And cover transport costs (about £150). And advertising £300. Any funding to help cover costs gratefully received. [Pete paid previous shortfalls from his Edinburgh Council compensation for a trams-related wrist injury.]
By supporting this tour, you will be helping to publicise the absence of any religious justification for Zionist settlement and you’ll be advancing the call for a single-state solution for Palestine.
As well as reaching out to new activists, we aim to draw the media – and the UK political parties- into changing their position on Palestine.
To donate to the costs of the tour, go to Help get the Rabbi on the Road for the Beyond Israel tour | Chuffed | Non-profit charity and social enterprise fundraising
Background
Britain bears prime responsibility for the suffering of the Palestinian people, with the 1917 Balfour Declaration and what followed under the British Mandate after we took over Palestine following the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in WW1. Through a combination of antisemitism, misguided Christian evangelism and colonial social engineering, we encouraged those calling themselves Jews to ignore their Torah and move to Palestine. (see Modern Israel: a British Creation)
The British oversaw the movement of those declaring as Jewish from 60,000 in 1918 to 630,000 when our mandate ended in 1947, an increase from 8% to 32% of the population. The following year of the Nakba saw 800,000 Palestinians driven from their homes, which pushed those calling themselves Jewish to 82%. In the intervening period and most especially between 1936 and 1939 the British brutally suppressed Palestinians objecting to the changing demographics as they saw their country taken over by Europeans clearly intent on stealing their country. The British role was exposed in October 2022 when a Palestinian sought a UK apology for British war crimes in Palestine” – see www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-63145992 to get some idea of what our country did there in the 1930s. The BBC Newsnight broadcast on 6th October 2022 provides visual shocking evidence.
Israel claims a right to exist. But does a state founded on the questionable gift of territory from the British Government have a right to exist? Does a state that declares one ethnicity superior to another have a right to exist? Israel’s 2018 ‘Nation State Law‘ , embeds apartheid in its legal system because it says only Jews have a right to self determination. By excluding most Palestinians, does this indicate it is democratic? (There are presently over 65 laws in Israel that discriminate against Palestinians (more here – with more info in the “Israel Palestine Apartheid Explainer” video, at www.tinyurl.com/amnesty-israel ).
Israel claims to be the state of the Jewish people; it is largely populated by people who says the bible gives them a right to be there, but do they? Jews originated as an ethnic and religious group in the Middle East during the second millennium BCE, in a part of the Levant known as the Land of Israel.
Zionists claim Judaism confers a religious right to settle in Palestine. But both the Bible and the Torah declare that Jews cannot return to their homeland until the Messiah has come. And all Jews accept that the Messiah has not yet come. (more here)
Rabbi Weiss posits this view- see Neturei Karta International website and Open to Question: Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss (inminds.co.uk)
Zionists also claim an ethnic right to settle in Palestine. However, genetically, no more than 2 per cent of those calling themselves Jews in Israel are descended from the Israelites- so genetic ancestral claims are questionable too. The Palestinians have near 100% genetic matching with the ancient Hebrews; they are not Jews because many converted to Islam in the 9th Century AD; others remained as Christians. (more here). Many Israelis who identify as Jews originated outside the Middle East and cannot prove ancestral links to the area, which makes their claim of heritable rights nonsensical. For instance, many Ashkenazic Jews in Israel are descended from medieval Khazars, a semi-nomadic Turkic people who founded a powerful polyethnic state in the Caucasus and north to the Caspian, Azov and Black seas. This was revealed by Jewish genome work carried out at Johns Hopkins University in the USA; the research work was published by the Oxford University Press in 2012 on behalf of the Society of Molecular Biology and Evolution (more here)
It’s becoming accepted that Israel cannot continue on its present course and a majority of Palestinians consider that the two-state solution is dead (Israel will never give up one inch of land (more here)). It is time to look beyond Israel. What would Hamas seek? Since1994, the group has frequently stated that it would accept a truce if Israel withdraws to the 1967 borders, paid reparations, allowed free elections in the territories and gave Palestinian refugees the right to return. (In May 2021, a Jewish writer in the Guardian, Peter Beinart, suggested how the right to return could be achieved)
Palestine Governance
Whilst Fatah rules the Palestine Authority from the West Bank, Hamas is the official, democratically elected Palestinian government; Jimmy Carter was present during the elections and stated that they were free and fair. In the Palestinian legislative election of January 2006, Hamas gained a large majority of seats in the Palestinian Parliament, defeating the ruling Fatah party. The majority of the Palestinians were behind Hamas simply because they recognized Hamas as a Palestinian resistance movement, with the goal of Palestinian independence. It’s important to note that Hamas carries out no attacks on Zionists outside Palestine- their resistance is confined to the land they seek to recover.
In late April, 2014, Hamas produced a truce with conditions based on human rights, which Netanyahu refused. It’s clear, Netanyahu et al do not want peace, only land and resources. It was not Hamas targeting children and massacring thousands with illegal DIME, white phosphorous etc. in built-up residential areas, and elsewhere. It was Israel, and according to international human rights laws and the 4th Geneva Conventions, it’s perfectly legitimate that the occupied, namely the Occupied Territories of Palestine, are permitted “armed resistance” when the Occupier, Israel, illegally uses an air force, army and navy (the world’s 4th most powerful) to remove an indigenous population, living on their own land. United Nations resolution 37/43, dated 3 December 1982, “reaffirms the legitimacy of the struggle of peoples for independence, territorial integrity, national unity and liberation from colonial and foreign domination and foreign occupation by all available means, including armed struggle.”
If one consults the Hamas Policies of 2017 there was a clarification on who exactly Hamas oppose :
“Hamas does not wage a struggle against the Jews because they are Jewish but wages a struggle against the Zionists who occupy Palestine… Hamas is of the view that the Jewish problem, anti-Semitism and the persecution of the Jews are phenomena fundamentally linked to European history and not to the history of the Arabs and the Muslims or to their heritage.” Zionists declare they would be slaughtered by Hamas if Hamas had more power but the truth is that Hamas would support a peaceful transition. Their policies declare “However, without compromising its rejection of the Zionist entity and without relinquishing any Palestinian rights, Hamas considers the establishment of a fully sovereign and independent Palestinian state, with Jerusalem as its capital along the lines of the 4th of June 1967, with the return of the refugees and the displaced to their homes from which they were expelled, to be a formula of national consensus.”
The countries that recognise Hamas and do not regard it as a terrorist organization are Iran, Russia, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, China, and Brazil. Those who do not, are frequently settler-colonial societies themselves- the USA, Australia, Canada and of course the UK. That they do is surprising- Hamas, unlike others deemed to be terrorists (such as Al-Qaeda, Provisional IRA and the PLO), have vowed never to take their struggle outside Palestine’s borders. They do not- and will not- attack Zionists outside of their land. So why are they seen as a threat to the West?
The State of Palestine is officially recognized by 80% of world population, namely 136 States, from the 193 UN members.
The Likud Charter denies the right to a Palestinian State and it is the Israeli government, not the Palestinians, who have been engaged in ethnic cleansing for 70 years.
This is the truce Hamas produced in 2014, which Netanyahu refused:
- Withdrawal of Israeli tanks from the Gaza border
- Lifting the siege and opening the border crossings to commerce and people
- Establishing an international seaport and airport which would be under U.N. supervision
- Increasing the permitted fishing zone to 10 kilometers
- Internationalizing the Rafah Crossing and placing it under the supervision of the UN and some Arab nations
- International forces on the borders
- Easing conditions for permits to pray at the Al Aqsa Mosque
- Prohibition on Israeli interference in the reconciliation agreement
- Re-establishing an industrial zone and improvements in further economic development in the Gaza Strip
Israel likes to proclaim that under Hamas all Jews would be killed or expelled. But this is not the case. Even as far back as 2006 Hamas was saying this was untrue. Ismael Abu Haneieh, a prominent leader of Hamas in Gaza Strip at that time, rejected the idea of expelling the Jews into the sea. He said “We did not say we want to throw the Jews in the sea or feed them to sharks. We just said that there is a land called occupied Palestine. It was burglarized and it needs to be returned to the Palestinian people.”
And what do Palestinians want? A poll published in 2021 by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research revealed that only 39% of Palestinians now support the two-state solution. 60% of Palestinians said the final goal of their national movement should be “to work toward reclaiming all of historic Palestine from the river to the sea”. All would agree that the implementation of UN resolution 194 on the right to return be honoured. (more here)
The challenge ahead is to convince the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the Labour Party, the SNP, the Lib Dems, the Tories and the rest of the Westminster establishment to recognise that a single state with equal rights for all is the only viable just solution. Anti-zionist Jews , Muslims, Christians and all other antiracist campaigners in the UK are key to moving these arguments for Palestine.
More About the Speakers
Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss is the leader of the Neturei Karta (NK) in the US and is a profound anti-Zionist. In November 2006, Weiss stated at a protest in New York City that, “Zionism is a fundamentally heretical movement which denies the Divine imperative that Jews remain in exile until the day when all mankind will be miraculously redeemed”. He repeated his claim at a 2011 conference in London, calling for Israel to be “dismantled” and saying the country is a “Zionist state that has kidnapped the name of Judaism”. See him on Al Jazeera at https://youtu.be/oUppu2OHVTY He recently addressed the NY Al Awda: National Palestine Right to Return Conference . Here is Rabbi Weiss on the 30th January 2023 along with other anti-Zionist Jews, taking part in a protest in Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, NYC, in protest of the murder of over 35 Palestinians by Israeli troops so far this year.
As Prof James Petras notes: Haredi religious teaching claims that the Jewish people are bound by three oaths: (1) not to settle in Israel by using force or violence, (2) not to make war with other nations and (3) not to act as if the other nations of the world would persecute Israel
More About the Tour
The Rabbi hails from New York and will come to the UK in March 2023 to visit mosques, synagogues and community halls across the land, preaching the message that Zionism is racism and that Israel is an illegal state.
He spoke at the Al-Awda Rising to Return Conference in May and spoke fluently, passionately and articulately about Israel and the harm it has done to the Palestinian people.
He is a devoutly religious man- his religion is based on the Torah, a book that Israelis appear not to have read. The Torah is most widely known as the five books of Moses. The Torah is the entirety of Jewish laws and traditions. (Remember, there is also no such thing as the New Testament in the scriptures of the Jews.) The Torah is the Jewish Bible. The Torah forbids a Jewish state until the Messiah has come; as we all know, this Messiah has not yet come. (We will know when the Messiah has come because it will bring world peace!), So Rabbi Weiss is clear on this- no true Jew can accept Israel.
But this is just one aspect of the Rabbi’s views- he speaks clearly on the political aspect too- the rights of the Palestinian people are fundamental and have for too long been ignored. The Rabbi is well-known in Gaza- he has been there a few times, before the Israeli siege began. He is known in Palestine and the US- but hardly at all in the UK. Whilst Rabbi Weiss is the most senior of the NK Rabbis in the US, he bows to the wisdom of the most senior of the NK Rabbis here in the UK, Rabbi Ahron Cohen. ODP Chair Pete Gregson declared “Rabbi Cohen is the wisest and bravest man I have ever met. He came to my GMB hearings (along with Tony Greenstein) and declared that the union had no right to expel me for criticising Israel; they ignored him.” [See the 20-minute video at www.tinyurl.com/gmbihra ]
These two Rabbis have been on the road together before; in 2005 they famously went to Iran to lecture, at the invitation of then President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose aim was to see a world free of Zionism. Dovid Weiss says “This desire is nothing more than a yearning for a better, more peaceful world. It is a hope that with the elimination of Zionism, Jews and Muslims will live in harmony as they have throughout the ages, in Palestine and throughout the world.” Their message was, at the time, attacked by Zionists across the globe.
But these two Rabbis are immensely brave and wise and we in ODP are delighted that Rabbi Weiss is up for a UK tour; Rabbi Cohen is nearly 90 and less keen to rove the land.
If you live in any of the target cities and want to help- or if you feel your city has been unfairly left out of the planned tour, please contact, soonest, ODP Chair, Pete Gregson at info@onepalestine.land We need to identify venues we can use and mosques that would like to hear the Rabbi speak.
Three Short Videos
Even American chat shows know that Muslims protected other religions, but have been demonised by Zionists https://www.facebook.com/100002338413528/videos/850119285985812/
To really understand what is happening in Palestine watch the 8- minute film “Daily Life in Occupied Palestine” by If Americans Kew at https://youtu.be/o22x81SCBiU
Pre-tour Media Coverage
Summer 2022 saw our request for assistance with venues published in Redress at UK tour: “Rabbi on the Road” – Beyond Israel – Redress Information & Analysis (redressonline.com) and in Palestinian Shoa at UK tour: “Rabbi on the Road” – Beyond the Nazi entity – SHOAH and in the Weekly Worker- see last letter at Letters – Weekly Worker
The tour was attacked for the first time on 16th Sept 2022 in the Jewish Chronicle https://www.thejc.com/news/news/jewish-group-helped-arrange-tour-for-disgraced-anti-israel-activist-Ax2R8aB0eZP8VCSFqGSYt – their language has been challenged by Pete Gregson as they have slandered the tour speakers; Pete has taken the matter to IPSO