Zionists
are “heretics” who “transform[ed] the concept of Judaism into a
nationality, something that is void of godliness,” said Rabbi
Yisroel Weiss in his speech, which was widely hailed by the conference
attendees.
“The
land is forbidden to us… it belongs to the people of Palestine. It
belongs to the indigenous people, the Arab people,” he asserted.
Both
Rabbi Weiss and UK-based Rabbi Ahron Cohen, who also spoke at the
conference, asserted that Zionism’s principles are not Jewish.
“The whole concept of taking over a land is strange to the Jewish
belief,” Weiss said.
He
added that Neturei Karta campaigns for the Palestinians’ right to
return to their homeland, and he criticized the Zionist claim to a
"right to return to Palestine".
“[How
come] Jews not born in the land have the right to return while
Palestinians who were born there and have the keys to their homes [in
Palestine] don’t have the right to return?” Weiss asked.
Commenting
on the Zionists’ anti-Semitism accusations directed at the group
from their critics, Weiss said that they (critics) “count on the
Jewish people’s ignorance, on the non-Jewish people’s ignorance”
in order to achieve their goals and implement their political agenda.
“Don’t fear the allegations of anti-Semitism. Don’t try to
confuse the subject with religions. It has nothing to do with
religions.”
“Ethnic
Cleansing”
On
the other hand, another Jewish speaker delivered a speech but from a
rather secularist perspective. Professor Ilan Pappe from Haifa
University in Israel criticized his country’s denial of the
Palestinians’ right of return.
“The
right to return is an admission by Israel of expelling Palestinians
from their homeland,” he said, explaining Israel’s position.
“They need to continue as a state … with a denial of what Israel
has done in 1948,” which he labelled “ethnic cleansing.”
Pappe
stated that Israel should not only acknowledge the fact that they have
expelled Palestinians but should also take responsibility for what
they did and grant Palestinians their right to return.
He
added that Israel aims at securing “ethnic supremacy” by
maintaining a “solid Jewish majority in Palestine.”
Pappe’s
presence in the conference resulted, however, in the absence of two
Palestinian speakers. As university professors in Palestinian
universities, they apologized for their absence and explained that
they hold on to the Palestinian academics’ position of boycotting
Israeli universities.
Last
month, the third Convention for Palestinians in Europe has strongly
defended the inalienable right of millions of Palestinian refugees to
return to their homeland.
