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Last update - 14:22 18/12/2006 Jews who make Satan look good By Bradley Burston All too often, wickedness wears the robes of God's work. All too often, evildoers work in the guise of God's messengers. The worst of them are the most sincere, those who believe with perfect faith in the righteousness of the iniquity they preach. Therefore, may the Lord have mercy on the soul of the rabbis who came to Tehran for this month's festival of Holocaust denial, in order to kiss the cheek and shake the hand of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. May the Lord have mercy on members of the ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta community in Jerusalem, who wrote in wall posters that appeared in the city's Mea Shearim neighborhood on Monday: "It is known to everyone that the hand of the Zionists was in the murder of millions of Jews in the days of holocaust and rage, both by provoking the fury of the despotic Germans, and by interfering with all manner of rescues." And may the Lord have mercy on the soul of Yisrael Hirsch of Neturei Karta, who said this week that "This is not a conference for denial of the Holocaust." "The Holocaust happened because of the Zionists. They wanted it." May the Lord have mercy on all of them. Jews will not. Jews should not. Neturei Karta, Aramaic for Guardians of the City, has long been a publicity-chasing fringe, the lunatic uncle in the family tree of Haredi Judaism. Their activities have ranged from cozying up to the late Yasser Arafat to shouting "Whore!" at religious Jewish girls in Bet Shemesh who are not ultra-Orthodox. In attending the Holocaust conference this week, Neturei Karta went overnight from embarrassment to abomination. Neturei Karta will tell you that it is emphatically not a group that denies the Holocaust. And, in fact, Neturei Karta Rabbi Aharon Cohen of Britain told the conference that "there is no doubt whatsoever, that during World War II there developed a terrible and catastrophic policy and action of genocide perpetrated by Nazi Germany the Jewish People, confirmed by innumerable eyewitness survivors and fully documented again and again." But the consummate betrayal embodied in their very participation in the event, coupled with their effusive shows of affection for Ahmadinejad, shores up the suspicion that, while they do not deny the Holocaust of the 20th century, they are in profound denial of the possibility of a Holocaust to come. Neturei Karta can spin it any way it pleases. By licking the boots of the Iranian president, however, the rabbis effectively endorsed Ahmedinejad's vision of the erasure of Israel. "The Zionist regime will be wiped out soon the same way the Soviet Union was, and humanity will achieve freedom," Ahmadinejad told conference participants on Tuesday. He went on to urge elections among "Jews, Christians and Muslims so the population of Palestine can select their government and destiny for themselves in a democratic manner." Asked to comment on the belief that Ahmadinejad's true aim is the extermination of the Jewish state, Hirsch said this week that it just wasn't so. Ahmadinejad "says explicitly that he does not want to annihilate Israel," Hirsch told Yedioth Ahronoth. "He wants the Zionist state to cease to exist. That doesn't mean killing everyone who's here. Just as Communism passed from the world and the people there still exist, the same thing here: Zionism will disappear and the people will remain." Back in Tehran, Neturei Karta's Yisrael Weiss took up the drumbeat in a media interview. "It is the work of Satan that Zionists are able to convince the world that they represent Jews and Judaism, and everybody who speaks against it is anti-Semitic," Weiss said. The rabbis said they were at the conference to prove that there is an alternative voice on the issue of the Holocaust, and that theirs is the authentic viewpoint of Orthodox Judaism. What they did manage to prove was that if God works in mysterious ways, Satan can get Neturei Karta to do his work for him. In recent days, there has been private talk in rabbinic circles about boycotting or excommunicating Neturei Karta members for attending the conference. But there is no point in excommunicating them. By their actions they have more than excommunicated themselves. Let them go. And when Ahmedinejad's missiles hit Mea Shearim, Yisrael Hirsch and his poster-machers can pray that the warheads will distinguish between anti-Zionists and the rest of us. If I were in their place, I would pray real hard. ___________________ Note: After serious consideration of a number of reader comments with respect to the guidelines for talkbacks on A Special Place in Hell, the guidelines have been modified. Although some rules have been relaxed, special emphasis will be placed on deleting letters which contain personal attacks on other respondents. ___________________ The guiding principles of the talkback forum for this article will be mutual respect and openness to dialogue. Participants, even if they rule out, dismiss or oppose coexistence, must, within the confines of this forum, practice it. Censorship will be unapologetic. Political orientation will have absolutely no bearing on whether a comment is posted or rejected. The following will be grounds for deletion: 1. Racist remarks, as well as slurs on the basis of religion, ethnicity and gender. 2. Use of the terms Nazi, Hitler, to describe the actions and policies of Israelis, Palestinians or other parties to the Israel-Arab conflict. 3. Disparaging remarks, personal attacks, vulgarities and profanities directed at other participants in the forum. 4. Advocacy of violence against individuals or religious, ethnic or racial groups, including statements which may be construed as urging attacks on leaders, officials, security forces or civilians. Previous blogs: Christmas 2006: Is Jesus still a Palestinian? No Palestinians, No Palestine, No Problem Wishing the Palestinians out of existence Occupation poisoning - Envy the extremist Bookmark to del.icio.us   Baghdad, Interrupted Movie star Angelina Jolie takes on Iraq as UN goodwill ambassador. Unwanted praise Hezbollah leader Nasrallah compliments on the Winograd Committee report.   1.   Sticks and Stones 11:52  |  Natallie Durson 15/12/06   2.   Cracks 11:55  |  Bill 15/12/06   3.   Bedatz, Aguda, Degel, Shas must be seen to act! 11:58  |  Joe 15/12/06   4.   If I were in their place, I would pray real hard. 11:59  |  sh 15/12/06   5.   Delegitmizing Jews, Judaism, and Israel 12:05  |  B 15/12/06   6.   BRADLEY SEEMS SO FURIOUS 12:07  |  indrajaya 15/12/06   7.   B 12:17  |  sh 15/12/06   8.   Haredi condemns Neturei Karta and Ahmadinejad 12:28  |  G. 15/12/06   9.   God bless the occupiers??? 12:48  |  Elsie Koch 15/12/06   10.   But its the radicals . . . 12:58  |  revoltop 15/12/06   11.   Naturei Karta 13:21  |  Helen Kariv 15/12/06   12.   Naturei Karta 13:21  |  Helen Kariv 15/12/06   13.   NK should be applauded 13:24  |  tony fisher 15/12/06   14.   ??????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 13:36  |  Zuriel 15/12/06   15.   They are good people 13:40  |  Edith 15/12/06   16.   SH: What a disgusting group of people these are 13:45  |  Ronnie Wolman 15/12/06   17.   # 13, TONY FISHER 13:54  |  indrajaya 15/12/06   18.   Bradley having a bad hair day? 14:15  |  Marilyn 15/12/06   19.   Unity is the only Answer 14:22  |  Bruriah Sarah 15/12/06   20.   To Edith : Good Rethoric Makes For Blind Faith 14:25  |  Wim 15/12/06   21.   Anti-Zionist Jews SPEAK THE TRUTH! 14:31  |  Joe 15/12/06   22.   One man`s fanatic is another man`s saint 14:39  |  Toronto`s Finest 15/12/06   23.   Threats Work Both Ways as Burston conveniently forgets 14:42  |  Yaakov Sullivan 15/12/06   24.   The Orthos and Anti-Christ 14:47  |  Alicia 15/12/06   25.   To Helen Kariv in Jerusalem 14:48  |  Mark B. 15/12/06   26.   My Mistake 14:48  |  Steven 15/12/06   27.   Edith - Since you mention flies 14:49  |  natan 15/12/06   28.   natallie 15:09  |  bev 15/12/06   29.   Replies to Helen and Edith 15:10  |  Joe 15/12/06   30.   Reply to Tony Fisher 15:24  |  Joseph 15/12/06   31.   Leaders 15:26  |  Choni Davidowitz 15/12/06   32.   Not a camel but a cow 15:32  |  Samuel Hirst 15/12/06   33.   We can read all the news and do not fall for your lies anymore! 15:34  |  John and the truth 15/12/06   34.   I had pause for thought when I read this: 15:36  |  Stephen Murray 15/12/06   35.   Satan is laughing 15:56  |  Asher 15/12/06   36.   Neturei Karta is using Iran 16:01  |  Herbert Kaine 15/12/06   37.   "Rabbi" Yisroael Hirsch 16:07  |  Johnny Weintraub 15/12/06   38.   sh 16:07  |  Gabe1 15/12/06   39.   THEY ARE IN IT FOR THE MONEY !!WHO PAYS FOR THE JUNKETTING 16:07  |  paul harris 15/12/06   40.   #JOE LIVES ON OUR LAND AND COMPLAINS ALL OF THE TIME 16:10  |  paul harris 15/12/06   41.   Antisemitic posters once again prove author`s point 16:13  |  McQueen 15/12/06   42.   # 1 Natallie, Do you Hate Yourself Too? 16:15  |  Tony Anthony 15/12/06   43.   #30,Stephen Murray,a honest question 16:16  |  MI Quacker 15/12/06   44.   LOL Bradley Please 16:20  |  Blinky The Fish 15/12/06   45.   Misrepresenting History 16:27  |  Mark Lincoln 15/12/06   46.   # 19 Wim, I`m certainly not going to be lied to... 16:30  |  Edith 15/12/06   47.   # Natan 16:38  |  Edith 15/12/06   48.   Uncomfortable History 16:38  |  Mark Lincoln 15/12/06   49.   Revealing History 16:42  |  Mark Lincoln 15/12/06   50.   Take it easy, Bradley 16:49  |  Tosefta 15/12/06   51.   # 20 These Statistics Exist Only In Your Head 16:50  |  Tony Anthony 15/12/06   52.   dont even try 16:59  |  alef 15/12/06   53.   1. NDurson: Do you expect the Iranian pres. Will give up his 17:07  |  KUTW 15/12/06   54.   Why the Israeli-Arab Cold War is good 17:18  |  ODP 15/12/06   55.   ...Satan laugh every days reeding...Haaretz 17:19  |  abraham...mico 15/12/06   56.   Who is a sane? 17:27  |  Baz Mann 15/12/06   57.   An aside on Satanic appearances 17:29  |  Clickfool 15/12/06   58.   Achmadinejad`s true goal 17:40  |  Brian Freund 15/12/06   59.   NK DON`T DENY THE HOLOCAUST 17:46  |  sam shemtob 15/12/06   60.   what about those who believe as does neturei karta? 17:47  |  hollingsworth 15/12/06   61.   Natallie Durson, smiles and hugs, eh? 17:48  |  Jake 15/12/06   62.   Neturei Karta say we provoked the fury of the Germans 18:01  |  Jake 15/12/06   63.   I always agree with Bradley, a great man and this time too 18:02  |  omoll 15/12/06   64.   "Yaakov Sullivan", what threats? 18:08  |  Jake 15/12/06   65.   A Bunch of Jewish Kooks-Yes We Have Them Too 18:12  |  Jane 15/12/06   66.   John and the truth 18:12  |  Jake 15/12/06   67.   Brad, Yes But Amira Haas and Gideon Levy are No Better 18:13  |  Tod Zuckerman 15/12/06   68.   bill you are mistaken 18:14  |  Steve 15/12/06   69.   sh 18:25  |  Gabe1 15/12/06   70.   #17 Marilyn half right, Bradley half right 18:38  |  Seymour 15/12/06