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Neturei Karta

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Neturei Karta
נָטוֹרֵי קַרְתָּא‎
Formation1938; 86 years ago (1938)
Founded atJerusalem, British Mandate for Palestine
TypeINGO
PurposeAnti-Zionism
OriginsAgudat Yisrael
Region
Worldwide
Membership
1000-2000 (estimated c. 2007)
Spokesman
Yisroel Dovid Weiss
Key people
Moshe Ber Beck (d. 2021)[1]
AffiliationsHaredi Judaism
Websitehttps://www.nkusa.org/
Neturei Karta synagogue and study hall in Jerusalem

Neturei Karta (Aramaic: נָטוֹרֵי קַרְתָּא nāṭōrē qartāʾ, lit. 'Guardians of the City') is a Haredi Jewish group.

Founded in Jerusalem in 1937 by Amram Blau and Aharon Katzenelbogen, Neturei Karta was formed as an offshoot of the Aguda movement. Aguda, representing the most devout of the Haredi Jewish community in the Old Yishuv, was opposed to the secular orientation and nationalism of political Zionism, which the religiously devout members of Aguda believed represented a threat to their way of life and was a rejection of Torah law. However, Blau and Neturei Karta disagreed with Aguda's accommodationist stance to Zionism in the 1930s in response to European antisemtism.

Neturei Karta believes that the Messiah will usher in a Jewish theocracy to rule over the Land of Israel. The messiah will bring about the resurrection of the dead, the ingathering of the exiles, and a complete return to Torah law. The group, numbering in the low thousands, does not recognize the modern State of Israel, and since the 1960s has pursued relationships with entities who seek the destruction of Israel, such as allies in the Arab world and Iran. It does not support an independent Palestinian state.

The group's views are considered fringe, even within Haredi Jewish circles.[2] Particularly, Neturei Karta relationships with Iran and its attendance at the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust drew condemnation from other Orthodox Jewish movements.

Etymology

The name Neturei Karta means "Guardians of the City" in Aramaic[3] and is derived from a narrative on page 76c of Tractate Hagigah in the Jerusalem Talmud. There, it is related that Rabbi Judah haNasi sent two rabbis on a tour of inspection:

In one town they asked to see the "guardians of the city" and the city guard was paraded before them. They said that these were not the guardians of the city but its destroyers, which prompted the citizens to ask who, then, could be considered the guardians. The rabbis answered, "The scribes and the scholars," referring them to Tehillim (Psalms) Chapter 127.[4][better source needed]

It is this role that Neturei Karta see themselves as fulfilling by defending what they believe is "the position of the Torah and authentic unadulterated Judaism."[4][better source needed]

History

Further information: Haredim and Zionism

Pre-Modern State of Israel

In the Old Yishuv under the Ottoman Empire, the religious Jewish communities primarily concentrated in the Jewish holy cities of Jerusalem, Safed, Hebron, and Tiberias largely eschewed the secular orientation of political Zionism, which they saw as a potential threat to their way of life.[3] They resented the new arrivals, who were predominantly non-religious, while they asserted that Jewish redemption could be brought about only by the Jewish messiah.[citation needed]

In 1921, some of the most devout of the Ashkenazi Old Yishuv formed the Haredi Council of Jerusalem as a counterpoint to the Chief Rabbinate, created by the British Mandatory Palestine government. The Haredi saw the rabbinate as a capitulation to the secular Zionists and their nationalist aspirations.[3]

The Aguda movement represented by the Haredi Council opposed the formation of a Jewish political state in the Land of Israel and discouraged its European members from immigrating to Palestine. However, in the 1930s, the movement adopted a more compromising and accommodationist approach to the Zionist movement in response to rising antisemitism in Europe. Aguda's leniency was too much for Rabbi Amram Blau, active in Aguda's Jerusalem chapter. Along with Rabbi Aharon Katzenelbogen, Blau split with the Aguda in 1937 and co-founded Chevrat HaChayim, quickly renamed Neturei Karta.[3][5]

Members of Neturei Karta at the Quds Day protests in Berlin 2014

Modern State of Israel

After the creation of the modern State of Israel in 1948, Neturei Karta refused to recognize the Israeli government or any of its institutions. The group began holding public protests that often turned violent over what they perceived as the secularization of Jerusalem, the violation of Shabbat in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, and public gender mixing.[3]

After the Six Day War, Neturei Karta began cultivating friendly relationships in the Arab world. In 1969, the group protested Israel outside the United Nations, then in 1970 held a similar protest with the new Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Then Neturei Karta leader Moshe Hirsch befriended PLO leader Yasir Arafat, who many Israelis viewed as their public enemy number one. Arafat appointed Hirsch to the symbolic position of Jewish affairs minister, receiving a $30,000 monthly salary.[3] Two Neturei Karta members participated in a 2004 prayer vigil for Arafat outside the Percy Military Hospital in Paris, France, where he lay on his death bed,[6], an act widely condemned by other Orthodox Jewish organizations, including many other anti-Zionist Haredi organizations, both in New York and Jerusalem. Hirsh attended Arafat's funeral in Ramallah.[7]

Members

Generally, members of Neturei Karta are descendants of Hungarian Jews and Lithuanian Jews who were students of the Gaon of Vilna (known as Perushim) who had settled in Jerusalem in the early nineteenth century. In the late nineteenth century, their ancestors participated in the creation of new neighborhoods outside the city walls to alleviate overcrowding in the Old City, and most are now concentrated in the neighborhood of Batei Ungarin and the larger Meah Shearim neighborhood. Members of the Malachim are also prominently represented within Neturei Karta.

Neturei Karta is notoriously vague about its size, and there are no official population statistics available, in 1971, it were reported to consist of several hundred families in Israel and throughout the diaspora.[8] As recent as 2007, the group was reported to have a few thousand members.[9] Haaretz estimated in 2024 that the group had a membership in the low thousands, predominantly in Israel, but also in diaspora locations with large populations of ulta-Orthodox Jews.[3]

Relationship with other Jewish movements

The group's strong anti-Zionist stance and controversial tactics place Neturei Karta on the fringes, even in Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox circles. Other Orthodox Jewish movements, including anti-Zionist sects like the Satmar have disavowed Neturei Karta and condemned its activities.[2][10][7] For example, Satmar criticized Neturei Karta for attending International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust in Tehran.[11]

One of the targets of the 2008 Mumbai attacks was the Nariman House, which was operated by the Jewish Chabad movement. Neturei Karta subsequently issued a leaflet criticising the Chabad movement for its relations with "the filthy, deplorable traitors – the cursed Zionists that are your friends." It added that the Chabad movement has been imbued with "false national sentiment" and criticised the organisation for allowing all Jews to stay in its centres, without differentiating "between good and evil, right and wrong, pure and impure, a Jew and a person who joins another religion, a believer and a heretic." The leaflet also criticised the invitation of Israeli state officials to the funerals of the victims, claiming that they "uttered words of heresy and blasphemy." The leaflet concluded that "the road [Chabad] have taken is the road of death and it leads to doom, assimilation and the uprooting of the Torah."[12][13]

Jewish groups often accuse Neturei Karta of selling out their fellow Jews by allying with antisemitic groups and using their appearance at rallies as token Jews.[7]

Beliefs

Neturei Karta members at an event in Boston, Massachusetts

Exile of the Jewish people

Neturei Karta stress what is said in the mussaf Shemona Esrei ("The Standing Prayer") of Yom Tov, that because of their sins, the Jewish people went into exile from the Land of Israel ("umipnei chatoeinu golinu meiartzeinu"). Additionally, they maintain the view that any form of forceful recapture of the Land of Israel is a violation of divine will. They believe that the restoration of the Land of Israel to the Jews should happen only with the coming of the Messiah, not by self-determination.[citation needed]

Conditions for a Jewish state

Neturei Karta believes that the Messiah will usher in a Jewish theocracy to rule over the Land of Israel. The messiah will bring about the resurrection of the dead, the ingathering of the exiles, and a complete return to Torah law.[3]

Neturei Karta believe that the exile of the Jews can end only with the arrival of the Messiah, and that human attempts to establish Jewish sovereignty over the Land of Israel are sinful. In Neturei Karta's view, Zionism is a presumptuous affront against God. Chief among their arguments against Zionism is the Talmudic concept of the so-called Three Oaths, extracted from the discussion of certain portions of the Bible. It states that a pact consisting of three oaths was 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. In return, the gentile nations promised not to persecute the Jews. By rebelling against this pact, they argued, the Jewish people were engaging in rebellion against God.

The Neturei Karta synagogues follow the customs of the Gaon of Vilna, due to Neturei Karta's origin within the Lithuanian rather than Hasidic branch of Haredi Judaism. Neturei Karta is not a Hasidic but a Litvish group; they are often mistaken for Hasidim because their style of dress (including a shtreimel on Shabbos) is very similar to that of Hasidim. This style of dress is not unique to Neturei Karta, but is also the style of other Jerusalem Litvaks, such as Rabbi Yosef Sholom Eliashiv and his followers. Furthermore, Shomer Emunim, a Hasidic group with a similar anti-Zionist ideology, is often bundled together with Neturei Karta. Typically, the Jerusalem Neturei Karta will keep the customs of the "Old Yishuv" of the city of Jerusalem even when living outside of Jerusalem or even when living abroad, as a demonstration of their love for and connection to the Holy Land.

Relationship with the State of Israel

In July 2013, the Shin Bet arrested a 46-year-old member of Neturei Karta for allegedly attempting to spy on Israel for Iran. As part of a plea deal, the man was sentenced to 41⁄2 years in prison.[14] Neturei Karta has denied that he had ever been a member of their group.[15]

Neturei Karta's website states that its members "frequently participate[s] in public burning of the Israeli flag." On the Jewish holiday of Purim, Neturei Karta members have routinely burned Israeli flags in celebrations in cities such as London, Brooklyn and Jerusalem.[16][17][18][19][20]

While many in Neturei Karta chose to simply ignore the State of Israel, this has become more difficult. Some took steps to condemn Israel and bring about its eventual dismantling until the coming of the Messiah. Chief among these was Moshe Hirsch, leader of an activist branch of Neturei Karta, who served in Yasser Arafat's cabinet as Minister for Jewish Affairs.[21]

Activities

Palestinian advocacy

Neturei Karta supports a sovereign Palestinian state in the present, however, argues for complete Jewish sovereignty in the Holy Land upon the arrival of the Messiah.[3]

Neturei Karta at the National March on Washington: Free Palestine, 2023

In addition to halakhic opposition to the organization of a Jewish state in the Holy Land, Neturei Karta also criticizes Israeli policies of aggression towards Palestinian people, stating that the "brutal treatment of the Palestinian people [...] is in violation of the Torah."[22][23] They have rejected the claim that Israel is democratic, citing what they refer to as racist, genocidal treatment of Palestinians.[24][23][25] They call for the return of all Palestinian refugees to "their rightful land" and attribute the degradation of Jewish-Muslim relations, as well as the bloodshed of both Arabs and Israeli Jews, to Zionism, noting that before the creation of Israel, both peoples lived together in peace.[26][23]

Almost a year after the Gaza War, a group of Neturei Karta members crossed into Gaza as part of the Gaza Freedom March to celebrate Jewish Shabbos and show support for Palestinians.[27][28]

In January 2023, three members of Neturei Karta met with prominent Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) officials and families of Palestinian militants during a visit to the Jenin refugee camp. The Neturei Karta members also visited the home of Bassam al-Saadi, who was jailed by Israel for PIJ leadership activities.[29] Upon their return to Israel, Israeli authorities arrested two of the Neturei Karta members for unlawful entry to Area A of the West Bank.[30] The Satmar rebbe publicly denounced the group for their conduct, remarking in his speech that "It is a terrible desecration of God's name to support murderers in the name of the holy Torah and God's name."[31]

Neturei Karta asserts that the mass media deliberately downplays their viewpoint and makes them out to be few in number. Their protests in America are usually attended by, at most, a few dozen people. In Israel, the group's protests typically attract several hundred participants, depending on the nature of the protest and its location.[32]

During the Israel-Hamas war, Neturei Karta regularly participated in pro-Palestinian protests, castigating Israel in harsh terms. The bulk of the group's statements at the protests do not reference its halackhic opposition to Israel, but publicly appear close to the views of leftist groups like IfNotNow and Jewish Voice for Peace.[7]

Relations with Iran

In October 2005, Neturei Karta leader Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss issued a statement criticising Jewish attacks on Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Weiss wrote that Ahmadinejad's statements were not "indicative of anti-Jewish sentiments", but rather, "a yearning for a better, more peaceful world", and "re-stating the beliefs and statements of Ayatollah Khomeini, who always emphasized and practiced the respect and protection of Jews and Judaism."[33]

In March 2006, several members of a Neturei Karta's faction visited Iran, where they met with Iranian leaders, including the vice-president, and praised Ahmadinejad for calling for the "Zionist regime" occupying Jerusalem to vanish from the pages of time. The spokesmen commented that they shared Ahmadinejad's aspiration for "a disintegration of the Israeli government".[34] In an interview with Iranian television reporters, Rabbi Weiss remarked: "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 ...".[35]

Iranian conference on Holocaust denial in Tehran

In December 2006, members of Neturei Karta, including Yisroel Dovid Weiss, attended the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust, a controversial conference held in Tehran, Iran that attracted a number of high-profile Holocaust deniers.[36]

In his speech, Weiss explained that the occurrence of the Nazi Holocaust was irrefutable and spoke about the murder of his own grandparents at Auschwitz, but claimed that Zionists had "collaborated with the Nazis" and "thwarted...efforts to save...Jews" and expressed solidarity with the Iranian position of anti-Zionism.[37] Yonah Metzger, the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Israel, immediately called for those who went to Tehran to be put into 'cherem', a form of ex-communication.[38] Subsequently, the Satmar Hassidism court called on Jews "to keep away from them and condemn their actions".[39]

On 21 December, the Edah HaChareidis rabbinical council of Jerusalem also released a statement calling on the public to distance itself from those who went to Iran. The Edah's statement followed, in major lines, the Satmar statement released a few days earlier.[40] In January 2007, a group of protesters stood outside the Neturei Karta synagogue in Monsey, New York, demanding that they leave Monsey and move to Iran. Neturei Karta and their supporters from Monsey's Orthodox community responded with a counter-protest.[41]

Factionalism

Condemnation poster, or pashkvil

In the United States, the Neturei Karta were led by Moshe Ber Beck of Monsey, New York until his death in 2021. They affiliate with the radical branch that was led by Moshe Hirsch. Beck had courted controversy by meeting with Nation of Islam leader Minister Louis Farrakhan,[42][11] who has been accused of inciting antisemitism and of describing Judaism as a "gutter religion" (Farrakhan says his words were misinterpreted).[43] In addition, after meeting with the representatives from Neturei Karta, Farrakhan indicated he would be more cautious in his choice of words in the future.[44]

On September 7, 2006, in Trafalgar Square, London

Sikrikim

A radical breakaway faction[45] called Sikrikim is based in Israel, mainly in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh. The group's engagement in acts of vandalism, "mafia-like intimidation" and violent protests caused several people, including authority figures, to push for officially labeling them as a terrorist group, along with Neturei Karta.[46][47]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Neturei Karta Leader Moshe Ber Beck Dies In Monsey". The Yeshiva World. 16 April 2021. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b Sources describing the group as fringe:
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Explained: Who Are Neturei Karta, the Jewish ultra-Orthodox pro-Palestinian Activists". Haaretz. 27 March 2024. Archived from the original on 30 June 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  4. ^ a b What is the Neturei Karta? (NKUSA) Accessed: December 24, 2006
  5. ^ Rabbi Amram Blau Founder of the Neturei Karta Movement: An Abridged Biography. Motti Inbari, Hebrew Union College Annual, Vol. 81 (2010), pp. 11-12.
  6. ^ Elaine Sciolino (11 November 2004). "Arafat's Followers Kept Solemn Vigil Outside Hospital in France". New York Times. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  7. ^ a b c d Fox, Mira (22 November 2023). "What is Neturei Karta, the Orthodox group at all the pro-Palestinian protests?". The Forward. Retrieved 20 August 2024.
  8. ^ Lamm, Norman (1971). "THE IDEOLOGY OF THE NETUREI KARTA: According to the Satmarer Version". Tradition: A Journal of Orthodox Jewish Thought. 12 (2): 38–53. ISSN 0041-0608. JSTOR 23257379.
  9. ^ Santos, Fernanda (15 January 2007). "New York Rabbi Finds Friends in Iran and Enemies at Home". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 April 2024.
  10. ^ In a state over Israel by Simon Rocker (The Guardian) November 25, 2002
  11. ^ a b Alan T. Levenson (12 March 2012). The Wiley-Blackwell History of Jews and Judaism. John Wiley & Sons. p. 455. ISBN 978-1-118-23293-4. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  12. ^ Neturei Karta: Chabad punished for alliance with Zionists by Kobi Nahshoni, Ynet News, December 15, 2008.
  13. ^ Leaflet: Mumbai Chabad attack ‘God's punishment', Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), December 15, 2008.
  14. ^ "Israeli Neturei Karta member sentenced for spying for Iran". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 28 January 2014. Retrieved 29 January 2014.
  15. ^ "Neturei Karta Statement on Zionist Slander".
  16. ^ Public burning of the Israeli flag at NKI International website.
  17. ^ neturei karta photos Archived 2013-12-06 at the Wayback Machine by Sebastian Scheiner, Associated Press, November 20, 2007, available at USA Today Photos.
  18. ^ Neturei Karta burn Israeli flags in Jerusalem by Kobi Nahshoni, Ynet news, March 2, 2010.
  19. ^ Conference of Presidents: Time to cut off Neturei Karta by Ron Friedman, Times of Israel, April 4, 2012.
  20. ^ Neturei Karta Spy for Iran Sentenced to Four Years in Jail by Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu, Jewish Press, January 28, 2014.
  21. ^ J. Gordon Melton; Martin Baumann (21 September 2010). Religions of the World, Second Edition: A Comprehensive Encyclopedia of Beliefs and Practices. ABC-CLIO. p. 2066. ISBN 978-1-59884-204-3. Retrieved 7 January 2013.
  22. ^ "Our Mission". Neturei Karta. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  23. ^ a b c "'We're Palestinian Jews:' Neturei Karta meet with Islamic Jihad leaders". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  24. ^ "We are crying with Palestinians: Jewish anti-Zionist group". www.aa.com.tr. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  25. ^ Keren-Kratz, Menachem (2023). "Satmar and Neturei Karta: Jews Against Zionism". Modern Judaism. 43 (1): 52–76. doi:10.1093/mj/kjac023. ISSN 1086-3273.
  26. ^ "In Support of the Palestinian People". Neturei Karta. Archived from the original on 24 February 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
  27. ^ "Anti-Zionist ultra-Orthodox Jews celebrate Sabbath in Gaza". Haaretz. 1 January 2010.
  28. ^ "Ultra-Orthodox Jews make rare visit to Gaza," Associated Press, Published: 01.01.10, www.ynetnews.com
  29. ^ "Anti-Zionist Haredi sect members visit Jenin, meet terror-linked Palestinians". Times of Israel. 10 January 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  30. ^ "Police arrest second Neturei Karta man who met Palestinian terrorists in Jenin". Jewish News Syndicate. 17 January 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2023.
  31. ^ "'A terrible desecration of God's name' - Satmar Rebbe condemns anti-Israel protesters". Jerusalem Post. 13 November 2023.
  32. ^ Connections Magazine "In 'Honor' of Yom Haatzmaut: A Few RBS Haredim Wore Sackcloth and Hung Palestinian Flags" Temura, 1 May 2006
  33. ^ The Orthodox Jewish response to the criticism of the Iranian President (statement for Al Q'uds Day) (NKUSA) October 28, 2005.
  34. ^ Freund, Michael (6 March 2006). "Neturei Karta Sect Pays Visit to Iran". The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  35. ^ Neturei Karta in Iran: Zionists use Holocaust by Roee Nahmias (YNetNews) March 12, 2006
  36. ^ Why are Jews at the 'Holocaust denial' conference? December 12, BBC 2006
  37. ^ Weiss, Yisroel (12 December 2006). "Speech by Rabbi Y. D. Weiss, Tehran Conference". Neturei Karta International. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
  38. ^ Rabbi Metzger: Boycott Neturei Karta participants of Iran conference (YNetNews) December 14, 2006.
  39. ^ Satmar court slams Neturei Karta (YNetNews) December 15, 2006
  40. ^ Black Eye For Black Hats After Tehran Hate Fest Archived 2011-05-17 at the Wayback Machine (The Jewish Week) December 22, 2006
  41. ^ "Anti Neturei Karta protest". Neturei Karta International.
  42. ^ Third meeting held between Nation of Islam and rabbis by Saeed Shabazz (Final Call) January 11, 2000.
  43. ^ "Minister Farrakhan rebuts fraudulent "Judaism is a Gutter Religion" canard". The Nation of Islam. 22 December 1997.
  44. ^ Exile and Redemption: The Torah Approach Archived 2006-09-06 at the Wayback Machine by a Friend of Neturei Karta (NKUSA) February, 2000.
  45. ^ Browne, Luke (19 September 2011). "Jerusalem bookshop targeted by 'mafia-like' extremists". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  46. ^ Galahar, Ari (10 March 2010). "MK wants Neturei Karta classified as terrorists". Ynetnews. Retrieved 18 January 2013.
  47. ^ "ZAKA founder slams haredi violence". Ynetnews. 3 March 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2013.

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