‘The Palestinians Don’t Hate Jews, They Hate Occupiers’
Rabbi condemns Israel's occupation of Palestinian land
Support for Palestinians and their sovereignty is not antisemitic, according to a rabbi affiliated with an anti-Zionist Jewish group.
The condition and fate of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have become focal points in recent weeks, following the October 7 Hamas attacks against Israel and the subsequent Israeli retaliation for them.
More than 11,000 Palestinian civilians — including thousands of children — have to killed by Israeli forces since last month.
Meanwhile, more than 1,400 Israelis have died, mostly during those initial October 7 attacks.
Some 2.2 million Palestinians — half of whom are children — live in Gaza, which often has been described as an “open-air prison.”
Meanwhile, Palestinians living in the West Bank have — for decades — had to live with Israelis illegally settling on their land, encouraged by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Such settlements are deemed illegal under international law.
Criticism of the Palestinians’ conditions should not be considered antisemitic, according to Rabbi Elhannan Beck, who is with Neturei Karta, a global anti-Zionist Jewish group.
Rather it's legitimate criticism of Israel's occupation of Palestinian land, he said.
“No difference if it’s a Jew, if it’s a French, is English, no difference. The same hate they will have if the Japanese will come into the Holy Land and take it over. And the same thing will happen here in England if somebody comes to take it over,” Beck said. “This has got nothing — but [inaudible] anti-Semitism — no, no, no. They say, ‘It’s all anti-Semitism.’ This is completely untrue. It’s completely untrue. We have to bring this to our attention to know the problem is not the religion. The problem is the occupation.”
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