Jews behind Russia-Ukraine war to form new Jewish state

Jews behind Russia-Ukraine war to form new Jewish state - Islamic scholar According to MEMRI, Mraweh Nassar said that the West has forsaken the Jews because the Zionist project will fail in two years. By AARON REICH Published: APRIL 3, 2022 08:42 Updated: APRIL 4, 2022 16:22Email Twitter Facebook fb-messenger A Kyiv-based TV tower was shelled (photo credit: BABYN YAR HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER) A Kyiv-based TV tower was shelled (photo credit: BABYN YAR HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL CENTER) Advertisement The Jews are the ones behind the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and their goal is to create a new Jewish state to replace the failing Zionist project of Israel, Palestinian Islamic scholar Mraweh Nassar has claimed, as reported by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI). Nassar, whom MEMRI identified as the secretary-general of the Jerusalem Committee of the International Union of Muslims Scholars, made his claims on March 22 while speaking with Channel 9, an Arabic-language TV station in Turkey that the media watchdog says is affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood. According to Nassar, the traditional allies of the Jews – the US and the West – have realized that Israel will “come to an end” within just two years, which has caused them to forsake it. Consequently, his theory goes, the Jewish state has found new allies in Russia and China with a new goal: creating a Jewish state in Ukraine. This, in turn, will be supported by claims that Ukraine is the true home of the Jews, who will even declare that biblical Jerusalem, along with the First and Second Temples, were actually located within Ukraine all along, MEMRI quoted Nassar as saying. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a news conference for foreign media in Kyiv, Ukraine March 12, 2022. (credit: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a news conference for foreign media in Kyiv, Ukraine March 12, 2022. (credit: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS) Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been ongoing since February 24. According to Moscow’s official statements on the matter, the war, which they have dubbed a “special military operation,” was launched to protect Russian speakers and “denazify” Ukraine. However, most international observers point to a number of other reasons, such as a desire to prevent Ukraine from joining the West, specifically the European Union and NATO. The invasion has caused widespread devastation and destruction throughout the country, and both Ukrainian civilians and Russian troops have suffered significant casualties. But it seems that, according to Nassar, this is to be expected. “The [Israelis] understand nothing but force,” he told Channel 9, according to MEMRI. “If the security of their state depends on aligning with Russia, or at least being neutral, they will do this even if it means sacrificing the [Ukrainian] Jews.” This sacrifice of Ukrainian Jewry would include Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov, all of whom are Jewish. But would the Jews really sacrifice other Jews for this goal? According to MEMRI, Nasser clearly believes this to be the case, noting that the Jews have done this before, following the “false Holocaust.” “Even in the false Holocaust, there is a book written by a Jew which asks ‘Who killed the Jews?’ They were offered to take the Jews for five dollars each,” Nassar said, according to MEMRI. “They took one look, saw that most of them were old, and said: ‘We don’t want them.’ A Jew wrote this book and said: ‘We killed the Jews’ – that is what he means – ‘because we refused to accept 100,000 or 200,000 Jews who were in Germany in exchange for a handful of dollars.’ They only wanted young people; they did not want the old.” Why would that have happened? Nassar asks as much and gives an explanation, albeit one that is debunked by nearly all understandings and records of the Holocaust, World War II and world history in general. “Why did the Holocaust really happen? Leave aside everything that is being said. During World War II, some of the Jews joined the Americans and the West, and others joined Germany. They said: ‘If the Germans win, we are with Germany, and if the West wins, we are with the West,’” Nassar explained, according to MEMRI. “Hitler found out that there were [Jewish] spies, so he killed some of them. It was not hundreds of thousands like they say. These are all lies.” WHY WOULD Israel turn to Russia and China? If you ask most experts, they would say that Israel has done no such thing and that support for the Jewish state among its Western allies remains strong. But if you ask Nassar, according to MEMRI, that is far from the case, and Israel has turned to the East because “America has forsaken them.” “[The US] told them in short: Your [Zionist] project is a failure and you are bound to come to an end – if not this year, then the next,” the scholar explained, according to the research institute. “The Americans understand that they are supporting a failed project, so [the Israelis] are looking for an alternative, which can be Russia or [China].” While the West may think Israel is doomed to fall within the next two years, according to Nassar, what does Israel, or at least the Israeli political echelon, think? As far as Nassar is concerned, according to MEMRI, they are very much aware. Avigdor Liberman and Benjamin Netanyahu (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM) Avigdor Liberman and Benjamin Netanyahu (credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM) “Even the Jews themselves, including [Finance Minister Avigdor] Liberman and [opposition leader Benjamin] Netanyahu, are now convinced that Palestine cannot be the state for the Jews. So they started saying that Holy Jerusalem is in Ukraine and not in Palestine. Ukraine is now the candidate to become the future Jewish state,” MEMRI quoted Nassar as saying. “Perhaps one of the reasons they instigated this war was to empty out Ukraine, so they [Israel] would not destroy their relations with Russia or [China] over a handful of Jews. As far as they were concerned, those [Ukrainian] Jews can go to Hell.” But why Ukraine, of all places? Other places in the world have larger Jewish populations, even though Ukraine has one of the largest. Nassar has an explanation: There already is a Jewish state there. “The whole world knows about the Jewish state in eastern Ukraine,” he stated, according to the media watchdog. “I remembered that there were 43,000 [Jews] there, but now they say 200,000.” Where are these numbers coming from? Ukraine’s Jewish community is estimated to be at most 200,000, according to the criteria of being eligible to immigrate to Israel via the Law of Return, as noted by data from Prof. Sergio Della Pergoala of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in the 2018 World Jewish Population report. In terms of those who identify themselves as Jews, however, Ukraine has only around 50,000 – the 12th largest such community in the Diaspora – while the Ukrainian government has said there were more than 106,000 Jews in the country. Are the Jews concentrated in eastern Ukraine, as Nassar suggested? The locality in Ukraine most identified with Jews is Uman, home to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov and a major Jewish pilgrimage site. But Uman itself doesn’t have the largest Jewish population. JEWISH PILGRIMS pray at the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman during the celebration of Rosh Hashanah in September 2017. (credit: VALENTYN OGIRENKO/REUTERS) JEWISH PILGRIMS pray at the tomb of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman during the celebration of Rosh Hashanah in September 2017. (credit: VALENTYN OGIRENKO/REUTERS) Estimates point to most Ukrainian Jews living in four large cities, with about half of them in the capital Kyiv. The other major cities are Dnipro, Odesa and Kharkiv. But Dnipro, like Uman, is located in central Ukraine while Odesa is more to the south. Kharkiv, however, is located in eastern Ukraine and is the country’s second-largest city. So is that what Nassar is referring to? “It is an independent state, and they did not want to spread the word about it, so they would not be told to go there rather than come to Palestine,” Nassar said, according to MEMRI, ruling out Kharkiv, which is not an independent state, nor has it ever been. Regardless, the invasion of Ukraine has been much slower than many expected, especially the Russians, with logistical issues and Ukrainian resistance keeping Russian troops from making significant progress. Some, specifically Nassar and people with similar views and opinions, might assume that this was also part of a nefarious Jewish plot. If that is the case, however, where will the Jews go should Russia’s invasion fail and this supposed new Jewish state is no longer possible? According to MEMRI, Nassar claims to have an answer. “They are now saying that the Temple and biblical Jerusalem are located in Ukraine and not in Palestine. If this does not work, tomorrow they might say that they are in the Netherlands.” Ukraine War Ignites Israeli Debate Over Purpose of a Jewish State Most Ukrainians seeking refuge in Israel are non-Jews. Some Israelis see a moral imperative to take them in, but others see a threat to the country’s Jewish character. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Give this article Lida Stryzhkovl, from Kyiv, Ukraine, and her grandson, Dima, waiting at Ben-Gurion Airport's train station, on their way to Beersheba, where a relative lives. Lida Stryzhkovl, from Kyiv, Ukraine, and her grandson, Dima, waiting at Ben-Gurion Airport's train station, on their way to Beersheba, where a relative lives.Credit...Amit Elkayam for The New York Times Isabel Kershner By Isabel Kershner March 23, 2022 JERUSALEM — Many of the refugees milling about the lobby of a Jerusalem hotel one recent morning had endured harrowing journeys from Ukraine, and in many cases were forced to leave close family members behind. Now safely in Israel, they were picking up SIM cards issued by the Ministry of Immigration and Absorption and starting to contemplate next steps. “I feel safe here, which is probably the most important thing for now,” said Lena Ivanova, 32, who owns a fashion business in Odessa and came to Israel with her two sons, Vadym, 9, and Evgen, 2. “Now I’m focusing on where to live. I need to make a lot of decisions.” These were the lucky ones. By virtue of their being Jewish, having at least one Jewish parent or grandparent or, as in Ms. Ivanova’s case, having a Jewish spouse, they automatically qualified for Israeli citizenship upon landing at Ben-Gurion Airport. Others were not as fortunate. Of the more than 15,200 Ukrainians who have arrived in Israel since the war began last month, nearly 11,000 do not meet the citizenship threshold. Even though most have relatives or friends in Israel, they are considered refugees, not immigrants, and subject to stricter rules. The influx has ignited an emotional debate over what it means to be a Jewish state, pitting the national imperative to maintain Israel’s Jewish character against Jewish values that demand caring for those in need. Thanks for reading The Times. Subscribe to The Times Some right-wing politicians and commentators have warned that the continued flow of non-Jews into the country could dilute its Jewish identity. Bezalel Smotrich, a far-right lawmaker, warned that Israel’s acceptance of refugees would “flood the state of Israel with gentiles.” Image New immigrants from Ukraine arrive in Israel on a flight sponsored by the Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental body that assists with rescue and immigration. New immigrants from Ukraine arrive in Israel on a flight sponsored by the Jewish Agency, a quasi-governmental body that assists with rescue and immigration. Credit...Amit Elkayam for The New York Times More liberal politicians and religious leaders have cited the biblical mandate to love the stranger and the ethical lessons of a long history of Jews being refugees themselves. Nachman Shai, the left-wing minister of diaspora affairs, said the debate should focus on “the values of the state of Israel, because without them this is not a Jewish state.” Speaking by phone from a train platform packed with refugees in Warsaw, he added, “Anything bearing the message that we are closing the door is terrible and against our Jewish and human values.” Israel’s right-wing interior minister, Ayelet Shaked, announced this month that Israel would take in up to 5,000 non-Jewish refugees on a temporary basis, and would allow 20,000 Ukrainian non-Jews already in the country, most of them illegally, to stay until the end of the fighting. “The images of the war in Ukraine and the suffering of its citizens shake one’s soul and do not allow us to remain indifferent,” she said. But the strict quota, which was already close to being filled when she made the announcement, prompted public outrage and criticism from other government ministers. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said Israel had a “moral duty” to take in more non-Jewish refugees. “We won’t close our gates and our hearts to those who lost everything,” he said as he toured a border crossing between Ukraine and Romania. “In Israel there are nine million residents and our Jewish identity won’t be harmed by a few more thousand refugees.” Editors’ Picks The Strange Afterlife of George Carlin The Bachelor Comes to Bushwick Everything You Thought You Knew, and Why You’re Wrong Ms. Shaked later liberalized the guidelines, saying any Ukrainians with relatives living in Israel would be allowed in temporarily and would not count toward the quota of 5,000. That policy too has been criticized as too restrictive because it penalized refugees without families in Israel. Image “I feel safe here, which is probably the most important thing for now,” said Lena Ivanova, who came to Israel with her two sons, Evgen (pictured here) and Vadym. “I feel safe here, which is probably the most important thing for now,” said Lena Ivanova, who came to Israel with her two sons, Evgen (pictured here) and Vadym.Credit...Amit Elkayam for The New York Times On Sunday, in a virtual address to Israeli lawmakers, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who is Jewish, begged them to show more compassion, comparing the suffering of Ukrainians to that of the Jewish people during the Holocaust.