Moshe Hirsch, 86, anti-Zionist, US-born rabbi

[Ognir]

JERUSALEM — Moshe Hirsch, an American-born anti-Zionist rabbi and close associate of the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, has died in Jerusalem, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group said yesterday. He was 86.

Rabbi Hirsch was a leading figure in Neturei Karta, a tiny ultra-Orthodox sect that opposes Israel's existence as a Jewish state and has embraced its enemies. He was born in New York and attended a rabbinical academy in New Jersey.

Arafat, who died in 2004, appointed Rabbi Hirsch his adviser on Jewish affairs.

The group is known for its members' 2006 trip to Iran, where they embraced President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a Holocaust-denying conference. It also supports Gaza's Hamas rulers and the Lebanese Hezbollah militants.

These alliances have drawn criticism even other anti-Zionist Jewish groups, which believe that only the Messiah can establish a Jewish state.

Neturei Karta, which is Aramaic for "Guardians of the City,'' was founded some 70 years ago in Jerusalem by Jews who opposed the drive to establish the state of Israel. Estimates of the group's size range from a few hundred to a few thousand. Rabbi Hirsch was the son-in-law of the group's founder, Rabbi Aharon Katzenelbogen.

Eida Haredit, an umbrella group of anti-Zionist Jewish sects, confirmed that Rabbi Hirsch died Sunday.

Hatem Abdel Qader, an adviser on Jerusalem affairs to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said he would take part in a Palestinian delegation to pay respects to the late rabbi.

"We consider Rabbi Hirsch a part of the Palestinian people,'' said Abdel Qader. "He is one of the Palestinian Jews whom we give all respect, and this is to confirm that our problem is not with the Jews as a religion. It's with Zionism.''

Rabbi Hirsch, who was buried Sunday, leaves three children and a brother.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obitu ... orn_rabbi/

[MonkeySeeMonkeyDo]

Arafat was no hero. The guy siphoned off billions of dollars of public funds into private bank accounts and basically lined his pockets while the palestinian people were sitting in their own sewage.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/ ... 2487.shtml

[Ognir]

Actually he was a piece of shit :down: