Neturei Karta
I was intrigued to read this long account of interviews with representatives from Neturei Karta, a group of orthodox Jews that oppose Zionism. They are quite overtly political and activist, staging counter-demonstrations at pro-Israel rallies and the like, even at the cost of occasional violence against themselves.
They don’t usually get a lot of press, which is why they hadn’t really registered with me before My problem is that while some of their policies align roughly with my own, their reasoning is based on some very fundamentalist religious doctrine – and this sort of thing usually raises my hackles. So my multilemma is this: legitimate and worthy group, overly popularized Palestinian patsies, self-hating media-generated anti-Semitic stereotypes, or just plain irrelevant Sky God Kooks (file under Flat Earthers)?
Of course, when you have kooks of the other persuasion in prominent positions then all hell breaks loose.
These folks have been around for ages — I think this kind of thinking pops up in “The Chosen” (Chaim Potok died yesterday). In this article the guys say the lack of a Jewish homeland is punishment — which is a bit wack, I have to say. I can see why some folks would want to wait til the Messiah comes.
Having said that, there are heaps of Orthodox in Israel who a) refuse to recognise the state b) will settle in places in the West Bank then complain that they aren’t getting help from the state c) refuse to serve in the army but don’t mind voting.