The backdrop was the most famous address in America - 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue! Standing in front of the White House, on Thursday, May 26, 2005, was a man I have seen at just about at every pro-Palestine demonstration in our Nation’s Capital, going back to the massive peace rally of Oct. 26, 2002. On May 23, 2005, he was also in front of the Washington Convention Center denouncing AIPAC and Israel’s Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. Today, he was standing up for the Palestinian people and sending his greetings to the new Palestinian Authority President, Mahmoud Abbas. In my opinion, Rabbi Yisroel David Weiss a one-man truth squad and an unrepentant and courageous foe of the Zionist Movement. (1)

While Abbas was inside the White House meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush and requesting direct aid for his government, Rabbi Weiss was outside, on a bright sunny afternoon, saying, “The entire land of Palestine should be under Palestinian rule and that according to Torah law, while in exile the Jewish people are forbidden to have their own state. Prior to the founding of the Zionist movement, by non-religious Jews, some 100 years ago, Jews and Muslims coexisted peacefully in Palestine,” he insisted.

According to today’s Washington Post, when Abbas made the rounds on Capitol Hill yesterday, he met “resistance” in the Congress to direct funding to the Authority by the U.S. The Palestinian Foreign Minister, Nasser Kidwa, believed the blockage is coming from the powerful pro-Israeli lobby. He dared to raise this question, “Is it really allowed under American law for a foreign entity to endlessly lobby Congress to achieve certain political goals?” (2) It is beyond dispute that the pro-Israeli lobby has a lot of clout in this country, especially with the Congress itself, which is dominated by Zionists, like: Rep. Tom Lantos (D-CA), Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT), Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA), to name just a few.

Like other intrepid truth tellers before him, Rabbi Weiss, is mostly ignored by the Establishment press. He said, “We have rallies in NYC, at the Israeli Mission, and thousands of protesters show up and the media totally ignores us because of its fears of the Zionists. It’s the same in Jerusalem, as well, where we have had demonstrations of over 100,000 people protesting the Zionist state. Supporting Rabbi Weiss point, the Washington Post’s coverage of the Anti-AIPAC and Anti-Sharon rally, in D.C., on May 23rd, receive marginal notice in its newspaper. Instead, the Post prefers to give maximum exposure to the sordid Michael Jackson trial; that looney runaway bride, Jennifer Wilbans; the rantings of the silly gossipmonger, Tina Brown; the latest antics of actor, Burt Reynolds, and also to columnist, Art Buchwald, whom nobody really reads anymore, including, I suspect, his editor!

Despite the tremendous odds against him, Rabbi Weiss, and his delegation of Orthodox Rabbis, representing the “Anti-Zionist Jewish Community,” from Neturei Karta International, fight on. Rabbi Weiss said, “The Israeli state is illegitimate and is in violation of the Torah, God’s law. Zionism is the biggest cause of Anti-semitism in the world. It has brought fifty years of bloodshed - one continuous stream of bloodshed and suffering, all because it won’t obey God’s law,” the Rabbi emphasized.

Another protester, standing outside the White House, near the Rabbis’s delegation, and waving a Palestine flag, was Eric C. Anderson. His point of view on Israel is similar to a growing contingent of Americans. A human rights activist, Anderson said that he was there, “to support the Palestinian people who have been treated terribly by the Israelis.” He continued, ”It’s hard to take Ariel Sharon seriously since settlements are being built everyday in the West Bank.” He added that, “AIPAC can bring enormous pressure on American politicians. The specific thing Israel wants us to do for them now is to invade Iran and to invade Syria.” Anderson concluded, “Israel wants America to the dirty work for it. It gets the benefits of increased security and we go to war with Syria and with Iran. We get the benefit of the expenses and coffins coming back home. It’s always a raw deal that we get when we’re dealing with the Israeli government.”

Getting back to Rabbi Weiss, he said religious Jews are paying a severe price for daring to oppose the Zionist juggernaut. “We have been beaten, killed and maimed by the Zionists. They have destroyed one of our synagogues in Jerusalem. They have tear gassed us at demonstrations. We want a peaceful and speedy dismantling of the Zionist state of Israel. Readers can see the pictures for themselves of the victims at the hands of the Zionists that I’m talking about on our web site. The Press has been fearful to cover these kinds of events.”

Rabbi Weiss underscored, “Judaism and Zionism are different and incompatible concepts diametrically opposed to each other. Zionism and the state of of Israel are tragedies for the Jewish people, as well, of course, as they have been for the oppressed Palestinian people.” He labeled what the Zionists have done in Occupied Palestine, “a litany of evils.” He added how the then-Chief Rabbi of Palestine, in 1948, strongly urged the U.N., not to approve the creation of the “heretic” state of Israel, because it was “against God’s law to do so.” The Chief Rabbi had prophetically argued that it would bring “endless rivers of blood.” Rabbi Weiss said, the failure of the founders of Israel, non-religious Jews, to heed the Torah, God’s law, and Gods’ will, will bring “catastrophic results for the Jews of the world.” He said he prays constantly to see the day come in the Holy Land “where Arab and Jew can come together and dwell in peace and harmony under a rule which is entirely in accordance with the wishes of the Palestinian people.”

Finally, the only thing I know for sure is this: Rabbi Weiss will continue, no matter what the obstacles, to bring his Torah-inspired truth, his dream of justice, his quest for a Palestine of peace and happiness, to all who will listen to him! May our good Lord bless him in all his noble works.

Notes:

1. www.nkusa.org/.
2. “Direct Aid to Palestinians Considered,” Glenn Kessler, 05/26/05, The Washington Post.


© William Hughes 2005.

William Hughes is the author of “Saying ‘No’ to the War Party” (Iuniverse, Inc.) He can be reached at: liamhughes-AT-comcast.net.