Religious Zionists Demonstrate Against Annapolis Summit
Knesset Members, Zionist rabbis and leaders of the council of Jewish communities in the West Bank in addressed thousands of Jews Sunday night protesting against discussions being held between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Quartet Mideast envoy Tony Blair, who represented the U.S., Russia, United Nations and European Union.
The demonstration began with a march from the U.S. Consulate to the King David Hotel, where the three were meeting to discuss plans for the upcoming U.S.-sponsored Middle East summit to be held in Annapolis.
MK Yuval Steinitz (Likud) spoke at the rally, saying, Ehud [Olmert], Ehud [Barak], and Tzipi [Livni] are deceiving an entire people and leading all of us to the Annapolis trap while ignoring the facts on the ground.
Steinitz derided plans to divide Jerusalem between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, saying that such plans would bring bloody riots in the Old City in place of peace.
MK Uri Ariel (NU/NRP) told reporters from the rally, Were telling Olmert: Stop selling the land of Israel, do not divide Jerusalem, do not even think of destroying Jewish towns, the land of Israel belongs to us, to the people of Israel. You have no mandate for this.
Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reports that a group of extremist Zionist rabbis have sent a letter to US President George W. Bush warning him that if the planned Annapolis Middle East parley is not cancelled, a disaster will befall US citizens, just as Hurricane Katrina decimated New Orleans after Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip in August 2005.
Among the rabbis who signed the letter were Kiryat Arba-Hebron Chief Rabbi Dov Lior, Chabad Rabbi Meir Druckman of Kiryat Motzkin, and Rabbi Dov Wolpo.
This religious Jewish opposition to peace is a great desecration of G-d's name, because in the eyes of the world it strengthens the connection between the Jewish religion and militant Zionism. This Jerusalem activism parallels the recent activism of the Modern Orthodox groups in the United States. In response to them, Jews Against Zionism on Friday, Nov. 2, issued a statement, displayed in the current events section of this site.
With all this religious Zionist activism in the public eye, the world needs to hear the voice of anti-Zionist Orthodox Jewry. We cannot sit quietly while our religion is grossly misrepresented.