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Following are excerpts from Neturei Karta rabbis Dovid Weiss and Aharon Cohen's visit to Iran, aired on Channel 2, Iranian TV on March 7, 2006:
Rabbi Weiss: Thank you very much for giving us the privilege and honor of being on your program. Neturei Karta is the voice of the Jews throughout the world, and especially in Palestine, who speak up against the movement called Zionism.
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Iranian political analyst Dr. Majid Goudarzi: What interested our reporters very much, and grabbed the attention of our cameras, was this team of anti-Zionist Jews who expressed their opposition to the occupation of Palestine, and demanded the elimination of the Zionist regime, and - as they may say themselves - strongly supported the positions of our honorable President, Mr. Ahmadinejad. They said something wonderful. They have never felt so free to express their views, as they felt in Iran.
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Rabbi Weiss: If you come amongst us, you will be totally proven, that we are standing against the Zionists more than the Palestinians. The Palestinians maybe would agree - if they would get back the land in its entirety - that Zionism could exist. We say that it can never exist. If we give back to the Muslim, the Arab people, three-quarters of the land, or 90% of the land, we as the Jews cannot be satisfied. It is forbidden by the Torah to have a state, and we have to give retribution back to the Palestinian people for all that's been done, and we are forbidden to have even one percent of land, because it is against the God.
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Dr. Majid Goudarzi: Would you like to be eliminated the Israelian government or not?
Rabbi Cohen: Would I not... pardon?
Dr. Majid Goudarzi: Would you like to be eliminated?
Rabbi Cohen: The Israeli government? Absolutely. We... Our constant prayer and wish is that the Zionist regime and their government should be eliminated - hopefully peacefully, but totally.
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Host: One of the issues raised is that the Zionists are the masters of the media. In other words, they own many of the international media channels. I'd like you to elaborate on how your movement is treated by the American and European media. Do you face restrictions? Does the media cover your activities, or do you face discrimination?
Rabbi Cohen: Yes, absolutely. Very often, we are... We attend, for instance, demonstrations in sympathy with the Palestinians, and we are interviewed by reporters who are very enthusiastic. They tape detailed reports about our work, and we think: "Right, there is going to be a very good report in the newspaper," or we are interviewed by television reporters and we think there is going to be a good program - but nothing. No result whatsoever. And that is because the media in the West, very much so in the United States, either they are controlled by the Zionists or else they are very, very wary of upsetting the Zionists.
This is one of the puzzles of today's political scene, of the world political scene - how the media, and people in control, going right up to the government, are so wary about upsetting the Zionist powers that be. I am often asked what is the explanation behind this. Why is it so? It's very hard to explain. There could be multiple reasons, but I think that subconsciously, it is the result, over the years since the Second World War, of the guilty conscience which the powers that be have. They are afraid of the fact that, in the past, they did not do enough to help the Jewish people during the Second World War, and they think that by helping the Zionists, they are helping the Jews. But what they don't realize is that Zionism and Judaism are two different things, and by helping the Zionists, they are doing harm to the Jews. They are not helping the Jews.
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Rabbi Cohen: First of all, the FBI always comes and makes videos of our movements, and we stood up by trials for the Palestinian people in the U.S. who were to be deported, and we stood up, and they said: These are righteous people. They are just standing up against Zionism. And they showed clips of our demonstrations, so we are being watched. We have been approached by the FBI, but we always say: We are an open book. We are just... We are doing what God wants, we are speaking up against Zionism, and we are not afraid to speak up.
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Dr. Majid Goudarzi: I hereby declare that if anything happens to our Jewish rabbis in America and England - who are, after all, our brothers in faith - as a result of their statements in the Islamic Republic of Iran, at the events they attended in the recent days, we will hold the American and English governments responsible.
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Host: Rabbi Weiss, you live in America, in New York. My question refers to the role played by the Zionist lobby AIPAC. What is its role in the decision-making of the American administration?
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Rabbi Weiss It is interesting that you should mention AIPAC, because while we are sitting here, they are closing their conference in Washington. We go every year, religiously, and we protest against their conference in Washington and in New York, and you can see on our sites our demonstrations that we made against them. Last year I was there. Unfortunately, this idol of Zionism, the State of Israel, everybody serves, brings, as we say, a korban, a sacrifice, everybody comes and bows, and shows their support and respect for the State of Israel, all the politicians - from Democrats to Republicans. And if anybody stands up in opposition to the State of Israel, we say that they are committing political suicide, because, as I say, just as they intimidate the individuals, the people, the Jewish people, and they intimidate the media watch... They have a thing called media watch, with which they make sure that no one speaks up against them, especially not to report the Jews who are opposed to them, because we undermine their legitimacy. The politicians who try to speak - they go against them, and they see that they shouldn't win elections next time. Every politician knows that.
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Rabbi Cohen: As far as the Iranian nation is concerned, I would just rely on what Rabbi Weiss says. I agree with him 100% that the Iranian nation should carry on, and spread the word that they have no hatred or opposition to Jews. This is a false accusation which the Zionists put out over the world, that the Islamic Republic of Iran is an anti-Semitic nation. This is totally false. They should bring out the idea very clearly that they oppose Zionism and not Judaism. The Jewish community here, we saw with our own eyes, lives peacefully and is allowed to handle its life in the way that they wish.
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Rabbi Weiss: When they started attacking and vilifying President [Ahmadinejad], we sent out a letter throughout the wires and on our Internet, saying that it's false, patently false. He is not anti-Semitic, and that he is simply reiterating the view of the Imam Khomeini and the Iranian people that they respect Jews and they protect them. They just want the dismantlement and the total return of the rule to the Palestinian people, not the death of Jews - that is a ridiculous ploy of Zionism. It's quite clear, and this is what we told the world, and we will continue doing so, with God's help.
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