Anti-Zionist Jews Protest in Upstate New York

Times Herald-Record
Aug 25, 2009

Clashes between ultra-Orthodox Jewish protesters and police in Jerusalem are prompting sympathy protests in this country, including one Monday afternoon on Sportsman's Road in Napanoch, NY.

An estimated 2,000 rabbis and Jewish students took part in the protest, chanting slogans such as, "Israeli government, shame on you."

The original protests in Jerusalem began over the opening of a city parking lot on the Jewish Sabbath in June, under the order of Mayor Nir Barkat.

According to press reports, tensions have risen in the city since Barkat replaced an ultra-Orthodox mayor in last November's elections. The reports said the lot was opened because illegal parking nearby was blocking emergency vehicles.

The protestors' interpretation of Jewish law prohibits driving on the Sabbath.

Monday's Napanoch protest drew many from New York City and other locations outside the mid-Hudson. They say protesters in Jerusalem are being beaten by police for standing up for their religion.

The local protesters stressed their solidarity with those who have been protesting in the State of Israel.

TRUE TORAH JEWS:

On the surface, this is a clash about a parking lot being open for the Sabbath. But the underlying dispute is really over the legitimacy of the State of Israel as a whole. One of the comment-writers on the readers forum under the original article in the Times Herald-Record (see link above) suggested that the ultra-Orthodox Jews of Jerusalem learn some block voting tactics. What this person does not realize is that the Jews protesting the parking lot in Jerusalem are part of a community that does not vote at all, because voting in the elections of a country implies recognition of that country’s right to exist. The Eidah Chareidis and Satmar Hasidic communities do not recognize the right of Jews in this day and age to have their own country. Thus there is an inherent opposition and tension between those governing the State of Israel and its municipalities, and this century-old community of Jews who are unwilling to be governed by it. The parking lot dispute is just the latest manifestation of this tension. Under normal circumstances, why would a government not respect the wishes of such a large religious community? After all, 75% of Jerusalem’s population does not drive on the Sabbath. It’s only that the government feels free to ignore a community that does not recognize its right to govern.

The Hasidic Jews of New York are joining in the protest of their brethren in Jerusalem as an opportunity to show their children and the world in general the wide gulf that exists between the Zionist government and Torah-faithful Jewry, including those who live, against their will, under the Zionist state.