PLO arch-terrorist leader Yasser Arafat paid Moshe Hirsch, the leader of the anti-Israel Neturei Karta sect, at least $55,000. Correspondent Haggai Huberman reports that Hirsch received the sum - in two payments in early 2002 - in return for his support of the Palestinian Authority. So is revealed in documents found in Arafat's Mukata compound in Ramallah during Operation Defensive Shield in April 2002. Asked why this news has been revealed only now, Huberman explained that the job of translating all the documents found in the Mukata is a very long and tedious one.
Hirsch serves as the Minister of Jewish Affairs in Arafat's PLO government. The papers signed by Arafat and authorizing the payments to him indicated that the money was not a "salary," but rather an unofficial payment. "Other papers found in the same 'pile' were instructions to pay various individuals various amounts of money," Huberman said.
Hirsch and Neturei Karta have a long history of anti-Zionist activities. Though the payments now color their actions in a new hue, they claim to object to the State of Israel because it does not jibe with their vision of Divine Redemption. According to their view, man's actions are limited to prayer and religious works, and certainly not the actual building of a not-completely religious state in the Holy Land.
Neturei Karta members stood, for instance, at the inauguration of the Peace Cycle bicycle demonstration from London to Jerusalem which began on Saturday, August 14, holding signs that read, "Zionists Stole the Holy Land from the Palestinians" and the like. Others attended the International World Court hearing at The Hague on the anti-terrorist barrier and expressed support for the Arab position. One speaker, Ahron Cohen, was introduced to a crowd of pro-Arab supporters and said as follows,
"My friends, I'm here today representing many many Orthodox Jewish people who are absolutely in sympathy with the Palestinian suffering and the Palestinian conditions in which they live... The root cause of the problem is the Zionist state - which is a flawed concept, both on religious grounds and on humanitarian grounds. [Applause] And we say that this confrontation in the Middle East will not disappear until the peaceful dismantlement of the Zionist state [applause]... I must say that some of my Jewish brethren who say that we are being treacherous to them - I would say No! We are representing the best interests [of the] Jewish people, as by the peaceful dismantling of the Zionist state, the whole problem will disappear. And it is achievable, ladies and gentlemen, as we saw [that] world opinion brought about the dismantling of the apartheid South African state [applause], and here too, world opinion can bring about a dismantling of this crime against God, this crime against humanity."
Hirsch serves as the Minister of Jewish Affairs in Arafat's PLO government. The papers signed by Arafat and authorizing the payments to him indicated that the money was not a "salary," but rather an unofficial payment. "Other papers found in the same 'pile' were instructions to pay various individuals various amounts of money," Huberman said.
Hirsch and Neturei Karta have a long history of anti-Zionist activities. Though the payments now color their actions in a new hue, they claim to object to the State of Israel because it does not jibe with their vision of Divine Redemption. According to their view, man's actions are limited to prayer and religious works, and certainly not the actual building of a not-completely religious state in the Holy Land.
Neturei Karta members stood, for instance, at the inauguration of the Peace Cycle bicycle demonstration from London to Jerusalem which began on Saturday, August 14, holding signs that read, "Zionists Stole the Holy Land from the Palestinians" and the like. Others attended the International World Court hearing at The Hague on the anti-terrorist barrier and expressed support for the Arab position. One speaker, Ahron Cohen, was introduced to a crowd of pro-Arab supporters and said as follows,
"My friends, I'm here today representing many many Orthodox Jewish people who are absolutely in sympathy with the Palestinian suffering and the Palestinian conditions in which they live... The root cause of the problem is the Zionist state - which is a flawed concept, both on religious grounds and on humanitarian grounds. [Applause] And we say that this confrontation in the Middle East will not disappear until the peaceful dismantlement of the Zionist state [applause]... I must say that some of my Jewish brethren who say that we are being treacherous to them - I would say No! We are representing the best interests [of the] Jewish people, as by the peaceful dismantling of the Zionist state, the whole problem will disappear. And it is achievable, ladies and gentlemen, as we saw [that] world opinion brought about the dismantling of the apartheid South African state [applause], and here too, world opinion can bring about a dismantling of this crime against God, this crime against humanity."