A group of Jewish extremists attended the funeral of Gen. Qassem Soleimani and even met with Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister.
“The Torah Jews visited the Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif and conveyed their condolences to the murdered Iranian generals,” David Asher, a member of the Neturei Karta sect, tweeted. “America committed war crimes. We share the pain of the Iranian people. Those who commit this crime must account.”
The Torah Jews visited the Iranian foreign minister Javad Zarif and conveyed their condolences to the murdered Iranian generals. America committed war crimes. We share the pain of the Iranian people. Those who commit this crime must account. pic.twitter.com/cAO1FIJHq5
— דוד אשר (@_DavidAsher) January 6, 2020
As confirmation, Asher posted photos of the meeting.
“We visited Iran,” Asher posted in another tweet. “We are with the people of #Iran. We visited the martyrs of the Iranian state and showed that we were with them we share the pain of all Iranian people.”
We visited Iran.
We are with the people of #Iran. We visited the martyrs of the Iranian state and showed that we were with them we share the pain of all Iranian people
We, the Torah Jews, pray that Zionist Israel will collapse as soon as possible.#Baghdad #IranWar #Soleimani pic.twitter.com/xqrZjHu6p6
— דוד אשר (@_DavidAsher) January 4, 2020
For reasons that have no basis in Jewish sources, the Neturei Karta sect of Jews objects to the existence of the modern state of Israel. Though they are small with most estimates putting their number at less than 5,000, they have made themselves quite visible by siding with the most extreme anti-Semitic groups such as Louis Farrakhan. Their protests in America are usually attended by, at most, a few dozen people. In Israel, the group’s protests typically attract several hundred participants, depending on the nature of the protest and its location.
In 2013, one of their members was arrested by the Shin Bet (the Israeli secret service) on charges of spying for Iran. Another served in Yasser Arafat’s cabinet as Minister for Jewish Affairs.The precedent for attending Soleimani’’s funeral was set in 2004 when a relatively large contingent of Neturei Karta attended Arafat’s funeral in Ramallah.
Their relationship with Iran was cemented in 2006 when a delegation from Neturei Karta, attended the International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust, a gathering in Tehran of Holocaust deniers from around the world. While in Iran, they visited President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The spokesmen commented that they shared Ahmadinejad’s aspiration for “a disintegration of the Israeli government”
Perhaps even more disturbing was a demonstration held by members of Neturei Karta protesting a seminar on security held at the Ohr HaChayim synagogue in Monsey, New York. Ten days ago, a black man with a machete entered the synagogue and succeeded in stabbing several Jewish worshippers gathered there for the Hanukkah holiday.
The motivation for protesting the gathering at the synagogue was that in addition to opposing Zionism, Neturei Karta also objects to any Jewish political activism.
After the attack, Neturei Karta was in contact with Abbas Hamideh, the executive director of the U.S.-based Palestine Right to Return Coalition. Hamideh has a record of praising terrorist groups including Hamas and Hezbollah, equating Zionists with Nazis, and denying Israel’s right to exist. He is closely associated with Rep. Rashida Tlaib.
Neturei Karta assured Hamideh that it was acceptable to console the Jews in Monsey since they were “100% Anti-Zionist and Pro-Palestinian.”
He reconfirmed to me that those affected in the stabbings were 100 percent Anti-Zionist and Pro-Palestinian. He also mentioned that we must be-careful from Zionist propaganda in the mainstream news who always exploit their community to their benefit.
— Abbas Hamideh (@Resistance48) December 30, 2019
It should be noted that Neturei Karta’s description of the Monsey Jewish community as being anti-Zionist was inaccurate.