Thursday, December 21, 2006

Haredi court blasts Jewish delegation at Iran Holocaust meet

Haredi court blasts Jewish delegation at Iran Holocaust meet
By Yair Ettinger and Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondents
The ultra-Orthodox rabbinical court, Haredi Badatz, has officially denounced the delegation of ultra-Orthodox Jews that took part in the Holocaust deniers' gathering in Tehran. "We strongly denounce the participation of people calling themselves ultra-Orthodox Jews, who joined Jew-hating gentiles ... to commit an awful desecration of God throughout the world," Badatz chairman Rabbi Tuvia Weiss and rabbinical judges proclaimed in a flyer circulated in Jerusalem on Wednesday. The seven-strong delegation that visited Iran for the gathering consisted of American and West European members of the ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta and Satmar Hasidic movements.
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The Satmar Hasidic movement itself had already officially condemned the delegation last week. On Wednesday, it was joined by the ultra-orthodox community, which comprises most Haredi and anti-Zionist groups. According to the Haredi Badatz, the views of "all Jewish sages," past and present, stand in contradiction to the visit in Iran. Badatz said that while no member of the ultra-Orthodox community in Israel or overseas is suspected of being part of the delegation, it felt obligated to release the statement in a situation involving the "desecration of God."The Satmar movement's statement went even further, ordering the public to "keep away" from the delegation members, who carry out "acts of insanity" by "walking hand in hand with the Arabs and giving the certificate of approval to those who spill Jewish blood." The ultra-Orthodox weekly Mishpaha (family) reported on Thursday that the Haredi Badatz in Manchester has issued a list of sanctions to be imposed on Aharon Cohen, a Neturei Karta member of Manchester, who participated in the Holocaust deniers' gathering. Among other things, the Badatz banned Cohen's entrance to any of the community's synagogues or institutions throughout the city. It also decided to give Cohen back the burial plot he had purchased in the city's Jewish cemetery, the weekly reported.

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