Nizar Abboud | Jews Protesting Councilman Kalman Yeger"s Provocations @NizarAbboud | Uploaded April 2019 | Updated October 2024, 7 hours ago.
The Rabbinical Alliance of the USA, a group representing Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn neighborhoods, held a press conference on Tuesday, April 2, 2019, on the steps of City Hall in Manhattan regarding recent statements by Brooklyn councilman Kalman Yeger, who recently ignited a conflict with his comment that “Palestine does not exist”, thereby making an impression that Jews have Zionist interests. About 300 members of the anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews community of Brooklyn are scheduled to be present.
“Over the decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a long chain of both, a violent one and a war of words,” said Rabbi Hershel Klar, an organizer of the event. “Now Councilman Yeger has unfortunately brought this war of words to our own Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park, giving the impression that religious Jews, his constituents, are interested in adopting the Zionist narrative and creating friction with our neighbors. We therefore wish to make clear that the majority of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community are not Zionists at all. Jews and Zionists could not be more different. Jews are commanded to live peacefully in their countries during exile, while Zionists wish to conquer land and oppress other people. The Zionists, both leaders in the State of Israel and their supporters here in America, do not represent the Jewish people.
“Kalman Yeger’s comments don’t represent the Brooklyn Jewish community. Numerous leading Rabbis have condemned him. This is not what we elected him for. We need our politicians to keep our streets and parks clean and safe, and to advocate for services for our neighborhoods and schools, and not to drag our communities into the Zionist agenda. We call upon Yeger to retract his comments.”
The Rabbinical Alliance of the USA, a group representing Orthodox Jews from Brooklyn neighborhoods, held a press conference on Tuesday, April 2, 2019, on the steps of City Hall in Manhattan regarding recent statements by Brooklyn councilman Kalman Yeger, who recently ignited a conflict with his comment that “Palestine does not exist”, thereby making an impression that Jews have Zionist interests. About 300 members of the anti-Zionist Orthodox Jews community of Brooklyn are scheduled to be present.
“Over the decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been a long chain of both, a violent one and a war of words,” said Rabbi Hershel Klar, an organizer of the event. “Now Councilman Yeger has unfortunately brought this war of words to our own Brooklyn neighborhood of Borough Park, giving the impression that religious Jews, his constituents, are interested in adopting the Zionist narrative and creating friction with our neighbors. We therefore wish to make clear that the majority of Brooklyn’s Orthodox Jewish community are not Zionists at all. Jews and Zionists could not be more different. Jews are commanded to live peacefully in their countries during exile, while Zionists wish to conquer land and oppress other people. The Zionists, both leaders in the State of Israel and their supporters here in America, do not represent the Jewish people.
“Kalman Yeger’s comments don’t represent the Brooklyn Jewish community. Numerous leading Rabbis have condemned him. This is not what we elected him for. We need our politicians to keep our streets and parks clean and safe, and to advocate for services for our neighborhoods and schools, and not to drag our communities into the Zionist agenda. We call upon Yeger to retract his comments.”
