Neturei Karta face Orthodox backlash
Delegates to Holocaust denial conference families return home to hostile reception; Diaspora press roundup
Members of the fringe Neturei Karta ultra-Orthodox sect have returned to their various countries to face a hostile reception by other, mainstream Orthodox communities, the New York Jewish Week reported Friday.
The Jewish Week said that "in Manchester, England, Aharon Cohen, another conference attendee, returned home to find his house besieged by other, mostly Orthodox Jews outraged by his participation in the same gathering," and added that the children of a New York Neturei Karta member who flew to Tehran were "suffering" at school, according to the member's wife.
One rabbi from Austria was reported by the Week to have remained in Tehran, as he fears returning to Austria where he could be charged under Holocaust denial laws. Denying the Holocaust is a crime in Austria . The rabbi is described as being "worried."
The article cites wide-scale condemnation from across the Orthodox community of the Neturei Karta for their embrace of Iranian president Ahmadinejad and participation in a conference to question the Holocaust. In Brooklyn, the Satmar Orthodox group slammed the Neturei Karta.
Similarly, Britain 's Jewish Chronicle reported that Anglo-Jewry has "thrown out" the Neturei Karta from the community.
'Bush administration planning Palestinian state'
Meanwhile, New York 's Jewish Daily Forward reported that "the Bush administration is considering a plan to declare an independent Palestinian state with provisional borders by the end of 2007."
According to the Forward, the idea was formed in the State Department, and could form the basis for a renewed American peace drive in the region. The report added that the Bush administration is pushing Congress to transfer USD 100 million for Palestinian forces loyal to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, to help him in his battle against Hamas.
'Proselytizing book' likely to be pulled
San Francisco's Jewish News Weekly reported this week that Jewish parents in San Rafael, northern California, are concerned by a school textbook, 'The Bronze Bow,' which they say " glorified Jesus and vilified Jews."
The parents expressed relief at an announcement by the local board of education that a "more suitable book" could replace the book in question.
"Jesus is incredible and depictions of anything that has to do with Judaism are unredeemingly negative," one Jewish parent said, describing the anti-Jewish nature of the textbook.
The Weekly also reported that a north California rabbi has vowed to build a larger Hanukah menorah next year, after an eight-foot menorah was vandalized this year.
"We'll go from 8 feet to 15 feet," the rabbi promised.
