The Corporate World

We live in a world where people, especially young people, supposedly filled with energy and zest for life, cringe when they hear the words "corporate world". True, we live in a fast paced world where the human clockworks facilitating the increasing supply and demand cycle, are more often than not forgotten and left in a perpetual state of greasiness and neglect. We live in world order where those in the top ranks squeeze and milk the lower masses for every drop of sweat and blood to fuel their economy. I agree that the corporate world is demanding and you need to have the hide of a rhino to climb the steps to success and an incisive mind to quell competition. However, where do we draw the line as to what is ethical and what isn't. Nowadays, I see alot of uncategorized "conduct" lumped into the grey area of "accepted practice" which in fact should be labelled as completely unethical. Long, slave like work hours, inhumane working conditions with little or no breaks in between, unreasonable work demands and off-the-charts catty office politics that put a damper on any productivity or positive energy... Welcome to 21st century slavery, except that the chains are invisible to the naked mind. Why do I say "mind" and not "eye"? It's because you need to have a mind to start with, to see that something about our society is not right. A society in which a man or woman wakes up at 5:30 am to rush through crazy traffic jams to a job that enriches another and does little or next to nothing for self fulfillment or enrichment is a society that needs some serious spring cleaning. Alot of my colleagues were resigned to the myth( which seems to have become accepted as a well known fact) that a young grad or a "freshie" in the corporate world would have to endure drudgery for a few years before emerging from the chrysalis of hard work and mind numbing suffering, as a success story. A few tough it out and do emerge winners but what is the price they pay for this personality changing, soul numbing process? Alot of them lose their sense of self and personalities. I wouldn't want to emerge as a success in the corporate world a few years later but be known as a failure in other areas of my life. I wouldn't want to be a cold, heartless money making machine that could not connect with loved ones nor know how to sit back enjoy and relax because the years of mindless slaving away has turned me into a robot. I have seen this happening to others and frankly speaking, something I would not wish on my worst enemy. This slow assassination of the individual in replacement of a highly productive working machine. Don't get me wrong, I am not propagating laziness or half hearted work ethics. I'm just saying the corporate world with it's so called "ethics" is headed towards the wrong direction and if this keeps on going, we will be sure to produce generation after generation of aggressive, materialistic, non thinking zombies that will not hesitate to cut another's throat in order to reach the pinnacle. What then is the solution? I think there needs to be more of a balance between the nurtured corporate instinct of bosses to "milk" their employees bone dry and the employees' duty to produce quality work worthy of their pay whilst maintaining their right to a conducive and healthy working environment, with reasonable work hours and proper pay for overtime and what not. In short, employers need to learn to share their cake and be less greedy because like it or not, the slave like working conditions in the corporate world do not make for a good long term gamble and sooner or later, they will find themselves falling flat on their faces in the mire of greed they could have avoided with temperance and balance.

The Idealists' Curse

I've learnt a lot of things in the past 2 years. Is that people are not what they seem. The closest to you can hurt you badly and that expectation is the root of all heartache. How i wish i could go back in time and undo my wrongs and mistakes. At times I feel annoyed at myself for being so imperfect and insufficient. I think the reason we were created in our weak state is so that we learn to sift through the delusions of strength and grandeur or this dunya and learn to rely on our Creator. The only One who is absolute and free of weaknesses and dependencies. When I realize how weak I am, I come to the conclusion how much in need of God us human beings are. Yet it amazes me to see people who deny God and His existence. I've tried to subconsciously secularize myself and replace Him with many things. Career, lofty notions of success and power and fame and of course relationships. Again and again I discover my own limitations and my own insignificance in His grand scheme of things. It is a miracle I'm still alive and it is by His will. Therefore it must be for a purpose that I am still alive. And that is why I believe. Because I've learnt through experience that you cannot replace the One with worldly whims and fancies of any sort. Sure you can work hard and achieve success but it is only by abiding with His rules of ethics and hardwork that you find success. How fair is He that even those of us who do not believe in him still live, breathe and enjoy success, even more so than the "believers". If I were a creator of anything, I would not be as generous or giving. I would want people to live on My terms. Yet here is a Creator that does not expect anything but the best for us, who wants us to guard our souls against Shaitan's schemes because He loves us and wants us to enter Jannah. Not because he expects any consideration from us-not that we are capable of giving consideration on bilateral terms with Him-but because He wants to purify our souls and ensure that the spark of God's goodness that is inside of us does not get dulled and killed off by the murky and deceitful waters of the dunya. He wants us to realize our true potential of goodness and therefore has put us through many tests. I believe that the more vigorously one is tested, the more it shows that He loves us. I have also learnt that expectation is the root of all heartache. If you truly want to be happy then be happy for your significant other. Do not expect anything in return. Because when you expect you lay out the groundwork for that other person to earn your approval or affection on your terms and not on his or her terms,i.e the way he or she is. And one important message I believe God has been trying to get through to me is that one should never judge another without walking in their shoes for a day. This is directly correlated with how and what you talk about. I've discovered through that wonderful imam Suhaib Webb the clarity and beauty of the triple filter test. Before you judge or talk about someone else or report anything about a person to another ask yourself: 1) Is the thing you are about to repeat to another about that person true? 2) Is the thing you are about to repeat to another about that person something good about that person? 3) Is it useful to you or society. If it doesn't fulfill any of the criteria than obviously it fails the test and therefore one should not repeat it, albeit, what a juicy piece of gossip it may be about a contentious figure. I know this is easier said than done but as long as one tries, He will acknowledge every little effort you make. For example if one is used to gossiping about a particular person one should change the topic if someone else brings it up subtly so as not to fall into the trap of backbiting a person. The bottomline is that when you gossip, you are judging that person by ousting his or her faults. The duty of a good muslim is to hide the flaws of his or her brothers and the only time we should expose them is only to the person we intend to help and no other time. Thereby it follows that when you gossip label someone you put yourself on a higher pedestal as someone who is incapable of mistakes and is perfect. The more you gossip the higher and higher the pedestal becomes until it reaches the heavens and when YOU make a mistake, you become your harshest critic and lead a miserable, dissatisfied life based on all the careless, unfounded judgments you have made about others. And what disgusts me most is people who judge and show disdain for others based on cultural, physical or religious differences. What is with the whole " whitening" campaign going on? It's disgusting. God made all of us beautiful in our own different ways and just because we have been colonized by white people once does not mean that they are gods or are perfect just because they are white. The epitome of this skin colour profiling can be seen in the Rakhine state where the darker muslims are segregated, ostracized and suffer from stereotyping and prejudice and now a stated endorsed genocide merely because of their skin colour. Darker skin has come to be associated with all that is bad, disdainful and lower class whilst anything white has come to be associated with all that is good and so on. It is disgusting when Man starts putting labels on God's creations based on his own limited knowledge and spiritual decadence. It's not just moral depravity that's engulfing the world. It's depravity, decay and degradation in every sphere of life. The material world( unrealistic standards of beauty), food industry( fast foods galore, education( it's spreading ignorance and killing minds fresh for nurturing). The list goes on and on. Sometimes I can't helping feeling like I'm drowning in a cesspool of bullshit. But then again being in a cesspool makes you appreciate the gems of human beings that embody the universal principles everyone seems to have forgotten, even more. I hope that with time I'll have it in my power to change myself and those around me in a world that is kinder, fairer and good. Signing out. Peace Yo. SK

Burmese Muslim Bloodshed: Another Srebenica?

On the 28th of May an innocent girl was raped and murdered at Kyauk Ni Maw Village in the Rakhine State( West Burma). All hell broke lose after a local news channel reported the rape to have been committed by a rogue " Kalar" ( a derogatory term used for Burmese Muslims). An uneasiness and stirrings of the ugly riots were to come, pervaded through the whole state. Now the Rakhine state has two main religious dichotomies: Rakhine Buddhists and Rakhine Muslims. These two are often at odds with each other. I'm not taking sides just because I'm a Muslim myself but injustice in all forms is universal and I cannot just sit and shut up when something monstrous on that scale is taking place, unchecked. The fuse was struck on the 3rd of June when a 300 strong Rakhine Buddhist mob, stirred to anger and fervent hatred by the local news channel, waylaid a truck carrying 10 muslims( one of them was female) and beat them to a pulp. The female had a bamboo stick shoved up her private part amidst the beating. The humiliation and torture of the 10 clueless victims did not end there. After they were beaten to death, the mob urinated, defecated and vomited on the corpses having gotten themselves into a drunken stupor in the process. Now the civil unrest between these two religious dichotomies have started spreading over the rest of the country. Any form of critical, analytical or reasonable thinking is clouded by years and years of hatred and prejudice against each other until it became a boiling pot of kerosene waiting for a single match to be struck. Getting down to a post mortem of event that triggered this brewing civil unrest, there are a few points to be taken into account: 1) The news channel that instigated the religion oriented hate crime released the identity and photos of the "culprits" before police had even started an investigation with the words " Raped by 3 Kalars". These particulars were then wildly circulated all over the net and through word of mouth. This is in clear contravention of accused's right to a fair trial under Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 10. Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him. The universal golden rule of " Innocent until proven guilty" seemed to have been reversed in this case in direct contravention of: Article 11. (1) Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent until proved guilty according to law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees necessary for his defence. (2) No one shall be held guilty of any penal offence on account of any act or omission which did not constitute a penal offence, under national or international law, at the time when it was committed. Nor shall a heavier penalty be imposed than the one that was applicable at the time the penal offence was committed. 2) People that were totally unconnected to the suspects were brutally assaulted and murdered. The accusation was meted out to them in a physically fatal way without giving them a right to appear before a judge and defend themselves for a crime they had nothing to do with. Their only fault was that they were "Muslim" or "Kalar" and was in the wrong place at the wrong time. This in direct contravention of the following articles: Article 5 No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 2. Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on the basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of the country or territory to which a person belongs, whether it be independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty. Article 7. All are equal before the law and are entitled without any discrimination to equal protection of the law. All are entitled to equal protection against any discrimination in violation of this Declaration and against any incitement to such discrimination. I'm not blaming the Burmese Buddhists as a community, way of life or the everyday individual. Neither am I saying that Burmese Muslims are all innocent. That would be an immature way of thinking. Life is not black and white; rather it's a huge canvas of grey. I blame the current unfolding of events on collective ignorance and the opportunists who take advantage of this abysmal IGNORANCE and use it for their own gains. I also blame the state authorities who OMITTED to carry out their duties in a proper way. I'm sad that the poor Buddhist girl had to go before her time. I'm sad that the massacre victims had to go before their time in a brutal way. But I do not hold hate for the people who committed the crimes( both the purported muslim rapist and the 300 strong buddhist mob). I just do not think religion nor race nor gender should be a discrimanatory benchmark by which you decide who should suffer more or who should suffer less. Irrespective of what religion one professes, we all want the same things: love, affection, security, peace. And we all fear losing these same things. At the end of the day we're ALL human beings, irrespective of whatever race or religion one is identified by. A wrong is a wrong, for example- rape, murder and torture- in any world religion and universal code of ethics. Even an atheist would realize that these are fundamental rights one does not breach without harming the soul of humanity. Therefore the bottomline is that, neither religion nor race define an act, whether good or bad. One should look beyond the barriers of religion and race to what connects us, the common thread of what makes us human beings. I really hope these instigators and the instigated have some sense knocked into their thick skulls and the people in power remedy the situation before it's too late. Murder is still murder no matter who does it. I really hope the international community will do something about this situation before another srebenica type massacre happens. Or ethnic cleansing. Just because people feed into that ignorance without getting to the root of the matter in a diplomatic and transparent way.

The Story of the Hair & the Vitamin

There was once a Hair Vitamin that someone recommended and of course, for lack of a better term, a messy crown of Hair. The Hair was erratic, wavy, frizzy and dry. It's beauty enveloped in messy trails of charred life.
"Yes," it said, " A Vitamin made for me that would actually replenish me and is not a lie like all the others!.Something that had always been there but which I overlooked. Yet whose value I see now shining triumphant in front of my once blind eyes."
Eyes watered and a single tear rolled down the dry canvass of the Skin. " At last I'd found it! Something made solely for me." And the Hair was happy and so was the Vitamin because it had been lonely all those years on the shelves and finally it could replenish something that really needed it.
They were both happy in each other for some time.

Yet LITTLE
by LITTLE
The Glory Days faded....
The effects were wearing off.
As a result of using too many capsules of Vitamin at a time in happiness, the Hair the Vitamin had once replenished turned greasy, dull and heavy. It lost its former shine that had always been there despite the frizz.
The Vitamin also grew weary having to replenish the Hair all the time and it got frustrated at not being able to completely rid the Hair of its frizz that always returned after a while.
The Hair said to herself sadly," The Vitamin was just like the rest".
The Vitamin said to himself sadly," I thought I could replenish her but her needs are too much."

And quietly the Hair and Vitamin parted ways.

They did still love each other but they had accepted that they were two such entities that had been destined to cross paths.

The Hair later learned to replenish itself and stopped expecting the Vitamin to do it all the time and beamed in pride at having learned how to do this and she was thankful to the Vitamin for being brave and honest enough to teach her this lesson.

The Vitamin also learned to be patient and not expect the effects to be immediate, that trust and patience would wean any Hair back to its former glory, that he did not have to replenish the Hair all the time. That all that the Hair needed was for the Vitamin to be there.

The Hair and Vitamin both smiled to themselves, drowning in lovely memories wrapped in a single four leaved clover.

One day I will have a cupboard full of magical shoes :)

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Real Jews of the Torah are against Zionism!

Jews Against Zionism
By Anonymous - Posted on 07 December 2009


Jews Against Zionism
By Stephen Lendman

They're numerous, outspoken, and range from secular to orthodox to one group calling itself "True Torah Jews Against Zionism."

They believe that "traditional" Jews don't support Zionism, an ideology they call "contrary to Jewish law and beliefs and the teachings of the Holy Torah." They say Zionism:

advocates "a political and military end to the Jewish exile;"
fosters "pseudo-Judaism" based on secular nationalism;
coercively seeks "armed materialism" in place of "a Divine and Torah centered understanding;"
endangers all Jews worldwide;
wants to disassociate Jews and traditional Judaism from ideological Zionism; and
calls Israel a "Zionist State," not a Jewish one.
They:

cite their concern for "peace and safety of all people throughout the world including those living in the Zionist state" and in Occupied Palestine;
say from ancient times until 100 years ago, Jews and Arabs lived in peace and friendship until Zionism changed the relationship;
believe Zionists abandoned the Torah and traditional Judaism, demanded political sovereignty over the Holy Land, and aroused anger in the Arab world; and
Torah Jewry doesn't recognize or support a Zionist state; nor do they represent world Jews; even the name "Israel" is a "forgery," they believe, because the Torah forbids violence in the words of the prophet Isaiah who said:
"And they will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. No nation will lift its sword against any other, nor will they learn warfare anymore."

Toray Jewry says that believing Zionism protects Jews is "probably the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the Jewish People" and accuses Zionists of fostering global anti-Semitism. "Indeed, hatred of Jews and Jewish suffering is the oxygen of the Zionist movement, and from the very beginning has been (used) to deliberately incite hatred to justify the existence of the Zionist state - this is, of course, Machiavellianism raised to the highest order."

Zionist founder Theodor Herzl (1860 - 1904) said:

"It is essential that the suffering of Jews....becomes worse....this will assist in (the) realization of our plans....I have an excellent idea....I shall induce anti-semites to liquidate Jewish wealth....The anti-semites will assist us thereby in that they will strengthen the persecution and oppression of Jews. The anti-semites shall be our best friends."

In 1920, other Zionists voiced similar ideas, including Nahum Goldmann, later president of the World Zionist Organization and World Jewish Congress head. Israel's first president, Chaim Weizman, said Germany had too many Jews. In 1921, Jacob Klatzkin called for German Jews to undermine Jewish communities as a way to acquire a future state.

In 1963, Moshe Sharett (Israel's second prime minister from 1953 - 1955) told the 38th Scandinavian Youth Federation Annual Congress that Jewish freedom imperiled Zionism. Delegates at the 26th World Zionist Congress were told that easing US anti-Semitism and freedom endangered Jews.

Torah Jewry disagrees in affirming its desire to live in peace with their Arab and Palestinian neighbors and abide by sacred commandments "with a perfect heart and to delight in the radiance of the sanctity of the Land."

They believe: "Zionists have no right of any sovereignty over even one inch of the Holy Land. They do not represent the Jewish people in any way whatsoever. They have no right to speak in the name of the Jewish people." Their ideology is "antithetical to Jewish law," and because they don't behave like Jews, "they desecrate the sanctity of the land." They feel that when Israel is recognized as a Zionist, not a Jewish, state, "Jews worldwide will be able to live in peace" and do it alongside Arabs in the Middle East.

"The Hidden History of Zionism"

In his 1988 book, Ralph Schoenman explained four Zionist myths:

the notion of "A land without people for a people without a land" to promote the fiction that an empty Palestine was there for the taking by its rightful original inhabitants;
Israeli democracy, the only "real" one in the Middle East; in fact, Israel is democratic like South Africa was apartheid and much worse; "Civil liberty, due process and the most basic human rights" apply only for Jews;
"security (is) the motor force of Israeli foreign policy" because it's surrounded by hostile Arab states; and
"Zionism (is) the moral legatee of the victims of the Holocaust....the most pervasive and insidious of the" Zionist myths; in fact, Zionists, like future prime minister Yitzhak Shamir, openly colluded with the Nazis for their own purposes - to use persecution as justification for a future Zionist state and more.
It wasn't just to colonize Palestine. It was also to exploit indigenous people as cheap labor, dispossess and disperse them, replace them with arriving Jews, legitimize ethnic cleansing, and remove Palestinians from their land and history. Historical records were falsified. "Palestinians were re-invented as a semi-savage, nomadic remnant." Mass elimination methods were justified for a "people too many."

In 1923, hard line revisionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky argued that Arab nationalists opposed a Jewish state and wouldn't accept one. Thus peaceful coexistence was unattainable, and Jews had to build "an iron wall of (superior) Jewish military force." The idea was to discourage Arab hopes of destroying Israel followed by a negotiated settlement giving Israel the upper hand to dictate terms.

Terror was to be used the way Joseph Weitz, head of the Jewish Agency's Colonization Department, wrote in 1940:

"Between ourselves, it must be clear that there is no room for both peoples together in this country. We shall not achieve our goal if the Arabs are in this small country. There is no other way than to (get rid of) all of them. Not one village, not one tribe should be left."

The secret Koenig Report, later published in 1976, said:

"We must use terror, assassination, intimidation, land confiscation and the cutting of all social services to rid the Galilee of its Arab population."

Chairman Heilbrun of the Committee for the Re-Election of Tel Aviv mayor Shlomo Lahat (1974 - 1993) stated:

"We have to kill all the Palestinians unless they are resigned to live here as slaves."

Former IDF Chief of Staff Raphael Eitan (1978 - 1983) said:

"We declare openly that the Arabs have no right to settle on even one centimeter of Eretz Israel....Force is all they do or ever will understand. We shall use the ultimate force until the Palestinians come crawling to us on all fours."

Other Israeli leaders voiced similar extremism, including David Ben Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, saying in 1937 that "We must expel the Arabs and take their place and if we have to use force, to guarantee our own right to settle in those places - then we have force at our disposal."

At inception, Zionists like Herzl were pragmatic, yet devious, in believing imperial power backing was needed to establish a Jewish state. It could have been anywhere, but Palestine was chosen for its symbolic significance as the ancient Jewish homeland. Colonization began after the first Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland in 1897. Herzl later wrote:

"At Basle, I founded the Jewish state....If not in five years, then certainly in fifty everyone will realize it." It took 51 by dispossessing indigenous Palestinians and replacing them with Jews. Ever since, Zionism's most effective legitimacy claim is the notion of preventing another "Holocaust." It's justified the most outrageous crimes, characterized as "self-defense" by a tiny Jewish minority surrounded by hordes of hostile Arabs. It seized Palestinian land, Judaized it, created a new nation for Jews alone - undemocratic, imperial, militant, violent, exploitive, oppressive, racist, and hostile to core Judaic dogma.

It's why growing thousands of Jews globally oppose an ideology based on power, conquest, dispossession, and violation of the most fundamental Jewish ethical and moral teachings, ones Zionists disdain.

Not In My Name

It calls itself a "predominantly Jewish organization deeply committed to a peaceful and just resolution of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, a resolution that will provide safety, security and freedom for Jews, Palestinians, and all others living in this region." It opposes:

the illegal West Bank and Gaza occupations;
the West Bank and East Jerusalem settlements;
Israel's Separation Wall;
the collective punishment of millions of Occupied Palestinians and Israeli Arabs; and
Israeli human rights abuses, home demolitions, land seizures, arbitrary arrests, torture, travel and movement restrictions, and closure and encirclements of villages and communities.
It champions Palestinian self-determination, the right of return, and "full equality, civil rights and economic justice for all." It's for a shared Jerusalem and nuclear-free Middle East. It wants an end to violence and injustice and the equitable sharing of vital resources, including water, oil, gas, electric power, and all other essentials to life and well-being. It wants all US aid stopped until Israel ends its occupation and acts like a civilized state.

It deplores Zionism and what it represents. It's activists have chapters around the world. They organize protests and demonstrations, hold vigils and religious ceremonies, communicate with the media, foster dialogue between Jews and Palestinians, sponsor teach-ins, educational forums and study groups.

They believe that moral human beings are obligated "to speak out and take action." They refuse to remain silent or accept Israeli crimes passively. They're one among other like-minded organizations that say "Not In My Name." Not now or ever.

Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP)

JVP is "a diverse and democratic community of activists inspired by Jewish tradition to work together for peace, social justice, and human rights." They support the aspirations of Israelis and Palestinians for security and self-determination. Their agenda mirrors Not In My Name and states that "We are among the many American Jews who say to the US and Israeli governments: "Not in our names!"

They call on America and the international community to end wars and violence and support Palestinian self-determination free from occupation and oppression. They headline: "Israelis and Palestinians. Two Peoples, One Future," free from Zionist oppression.

Brit Tzedek V'Shalom

It's a Jewish Alliance for Justice & Peace calling itself "America's largest grassroots Jewish organization dedicated to promoting a negotiated two-state resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." With around 50,000 supporters, including over 1,000 rabbis, they educate and organize the US Jewish community for a US foreign policy supportive of Israelis and Palestinians alike. It conducts campaigns, holds conferences, sponsors tours, and engages in various other activist efforts.

Its founding principles include:

evacuating Israeli settlements;
non-violent solutions in place of state terrorism and "state-initiated violence;"
"a complete end to the Israeli military occupation," including over East Jerusalem;
a viable Palestinian state based on pre-1967 borders;
Jerusalem as the capital of both states, free and open to all Muslims, Jews, Christians and others;
"a just resolution of the Palestinian refugee problem;" and
"the recognition that (US) Jews....have a special responsibility to urge (their) government to pursue policies consistent with the requirements of a just peace for Israel and the Palestinian people."
Tikkun

It publishes articles on social theory, religion and spirituality, social change, contemporary American and global politics and economics, Israel/Palestine, and other topics. It features issues that "both advance the pursuit of tikkun olam - social justice and the repair of the world - and break down issues of contemporary concern in completely new and thoughtful ways." It supports progressive spirituality and challenges established orthodoxies in all spheres of thought and politics. It's "dedicated to healing and transforming (a troubled) world."

Its editor is Rabbi Michael Lerner, author of "The Left Hand of God: Taking Our Country Back from the Religious Right," and "Jewish Renewal: A Path to Healing and Transformation." On May 8, 2008 on the HuffingtonPost.com, writing "On Zionism, Healing, and Israel's 60th Anniversary," he noted how Palestinians were dispossessed of their homes and villages by Jews "determined to be as ruthless towards others as others had been towards" them. "Yet, there are alternatives" not taken so conflict ever since has persisted.

As for Zionism, he described what emerged as "fundamentally incompatible with the highest values of the Jewish tradition, and must be rejected even as we develop a compassionate attitude toward the Jewish people of Israel." To preserve Judaism, Lerner quotes the following Torah injunction:

"When you come into your land, do not oppress the stranger: remember that you were strangers in the land of Egypt. A Jewish state that has been unwilling or unable to live by that command has no religious foundation and can generate no lasting support from those committed to God and Torah."

Doing it right requires abandoning "a naive utopian fantasy" and building a society based on "open-heartedness, compassion and caring for others...." Abandoning Zionist extremism for traditional Jewish moral values is essential.

Satmar

They're "Jews Not Zionists" and quote Rabbi Yoel Teitelbaum in 1958 speaking out against Zionist heresy:

"....if we place all the immodesty and promiscuity of the generation and the many sins of the world on one side of the scale, and the Zionist state on the other side of the scale by itself, it would outweigh them all. Zionism is the greatest form of spiritual impurity in the entire world. (It's) polluting the entire world. (It's) polluted the Jewish people with (its) heresy....Everything our blessed rabbis cried out about earlier in the century about the dangers of Zionism (have) been forgotten....It is impossible to describe to what extent the world has become sunken in such a falsehood which is destroying the entire Torah."

Jews Not Zionists believe that Zionism is heresy, and "the existence of the so-called 'State of Israel' is illegitimate." Zionism violated Torah doctrine, the very essence of Judaism. It believes that human life is sacred and human rights aren't to be denied by those who would sacrifice them for national security or any other reason.

"Judaism and Zionism are by no means the same. Indeed they are incompatible and irreconcilable." Good Jews can't be Zionists, and Zionists can't be good Jews. According to Jewish tradition, seven universal Noacide morality laws apply to everyone. Also the Ten Commandments for all monotheistic religions, and another 613 obligatory laws for traditional Jews.

They eschew violence, military power, and brute force. They're about morality and spiritual purity. Zionists made belief in the Torah and fulfillment of religious obligations a private matter, not a common obligation for all Jews. They made Judaic dogma subject to party or parliamentary votes and set their own ethical and moral standards, suiting them alone.

Many times in Jewish history, an extremist minority misled the majority. Worshiping the golden calf happened earlier. Today it's political Zionism. Before its emergence, piety, decency, learning, and belief in justice and mercy characterized most Jewish leaders. Now they're the minority. It's why they believe a good Jew can't be a Zionist, and a Zionist can't be a good Jew and aren't the legitimate spokespersons for anyone but themselves. From a religious point of view, they're heretics.

Jews Against Racist Zionism

They include distinguished figures who speak out for "anti-racist Jews and indeed all anti-racist humanitarians." They decry "anti-Arab anti-Semitic racist Zionists running Apartheid Israel and their Western backers." They're appalled by the continuing Palestinian, Iraqi, and Afghan genocides that have killed and dispossessed millions. They see Zionism as a threat to all Jews and humanity unless something is done to stop it.

Neturei Karta International (NKI)

NKI is an Aramaic term for "Guardians of the City," given to a group of Orthodox Jews in Jerusalem who "opposed the establishment of and retain all opposition to the existence of the so-called 'State of Israel!' " They demonstrate publicly and state their belief in the Torah and "authentic unadulterated Judaism.''

In 1938, NKI was founded in Jerusalem to struggle against Zionism. Most of its members now live outside Israel, many in New York where they're prominent, vocal, and ignored by the dominant media.

For refusing to accept Zionism, they were harassed, incarcerated, and physically tortured by "Zionist police and agents." As a result, they scattered internationally and established synagogues, educational institutions, publishing houses and organizations espousing their beliefs.

They're orthodox, but not ultra-orthodox or extremist. They've "added nothing to nor have taken anything away from the written and oral law of the Torah as it is expressed in the Halacha (traditional Jewish law) and the Shulchan Aruch (codification of Jewish law)."

They're allied with many thousands of other Jews sharing similar anti-Zionist views. They oppose the "State of Israel (because) the entire concept of a sovereign Jewish state is contrary to Jewish law." It conflicts with traditional Judaism.

They quote Talmudic doctrine teaching that Jews are prohibited from using force to establish a Jewish state or to rebel against other nations. "Jews are not allowed to dominate, kill, harm or demean another people and are not allowed to have anything to do with the Zionist enterprise, their political meddling and their wars."

"The true Jews remain faithful to Jewish belief and are not contaminated with Zionism. The true Jews are against dispossessing the Arabs of their land and homes. According to the Torah, the land should be returned to them....The world must know that the Zionists have illegitimately seized the name Israel and have no right to speak in the name of the Jewish people!"

NKI seeks peace and reconciliation with people of all faiths and nations. Of greatest concern is reconciling with the Muslim world after decades of Zionist abuses. They support peace, justice, and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homeland.

They decry Zionist propaganda, bullying tactics, censorship and lies. Its weapon is state terror. Its dogma is a profound disregard for human life and moral values. Its false idol is a "lack of truth on its side."

NKI notes how greater numbers of people now question Zionism, its version of history, and values. They blame it for massive bloodshed and suffering and believe they'll be no Middle East peace until there's no more State of Israel, at least under Zionism. They think that a coalition of anti-Zionist Jews and Palestinians can unite as a moral force for peace and good in the world. They welcome the abolition of Zionism "in a peaceful manner."

"We're not celebrating Israel's anniversary"

In a public April 30, 2008 petition, Harold Pinter was among 105 prominent Jews who said "we....will not be celebrating" Israel's May 2008 60th anniversary. They noted the 1948 slaughter and dispossession of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians, the destruction of their villages, their erasure from history, the 1967 occupation, the continued persecution for decades, the defiling of international law, and utter contempt for human rights and peaceful coexistence. They stated:

"We cannot celebrate the birthday of a state founded on terrorism, massacres and the dispossession of another people from their land. We cannot celebrate the birthday of a state that even now engages in ethnic cleansing, that violates international law, that is inflicting a monstrous collective punishment on the civilian population of Gaza and that continues to deny to Palestinians their human rights and national aspirations."

"We will celebrate when Arab and Jew live as equals in a peaceful Middle East," - something impossible under Zionism.

A Final Comment

At its core, Zionism is fundamentally racist, extremist, undemocratic, and militant:

in espousing Jewish supremacy, exceptionalism, and uniqueness as God's "chosen people;"
in relying on occupation, oppression, violence and dispossession;
in justifying a Jewish ethnocracy based on structural inequalities;
in ruling by force, not coexistence;
in choosing confrontation over diplomacy and the rule of law; and
by denying Arabs and all others the same rights as Jews.
No ideology that destructive can endure. No regional peace and reconciliation is possible until it's repudiated.

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Stephen Lendman is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. He lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to The Lendman News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday - Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy listening.