AUSTRALIA'S Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox rabbis have dissociated themselves from the "poisonous" presence of members of Neturei Karta at last week's Holocaust-denial conference in Tehran.

Leading Chabad identity Rabbi Joseph Gutnick said images of Neturei Karta, a small sect of ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist rabbis, embracing Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were "horrific" and "offensive".

"[It is] deplorable, abhorrent and despicable [that] people who masquerade themselves in beards and hats could associate themselves with this Hitler of our generation."

Rabbi Gutnick said he was concerned that a connection may be drawn between the Neturei Karta rabbis who attended the two-day conference in the Iranian capital and other Jews in traditional Orthodox garb in Australia.

"I have a beard and wear a yarmulke. [Most] people do not know the difference between this [Neturei Karta] person in the paper or someone in Crown Heights, and me. These people [Neturei Karta rabbis] should be locked up."

Rabbi Mordechai Gutnick, president of the Organisation of Rabbis of Australasia, also distanced the Australian rabbinate from the rabbis.

"People should not in any way believe this is representative of Orthodox Jewry. They're [Neturei Karta] out on their own and that's where they should stay."

In a rare public statement, the ultra-Orthodox congregation of Adass Israel Australia - which has communities in Melbourne and Sydney denounced the "nefarious and totally irresponsible handful of Jewish charlatans who attended the recent Holocaust-denial conference of Jew haters in Tehran".

"We are disgusted and repelled by the treacherous and contemptible conduct of this deranged and reviled group of misfits and mechallelei Hashem [desecraters of God's name], who in their boundless and obsessive craving for publicity habitually raise their ugly heads and besmirch the reputation and honour of all observant Jews," the statement said.

"Under no circumstances, should ... their garb and their calling themselves 'rabbis' deceive anyone. In fact, they are an insignificant group of unemployed parasites who represent nobody but themselves.

"The Adass Israel community, which is made up of first-, second- and third-generation Holocaust survivors, cannot ignore, and will never forgive, the desecration of the memory of our kedoshim by these self-hating Jews."

But Rabbi Joseph Gutnick called on Adass' spiritual leader, Rabbi Avrohom Tzvi Beck, whose brother is reportedly associated with Neturei Karta, to personally condemn the delegation that went to Tehran.

"I don't think it [the Adass statement] is sufficient under the circumstances," Rabbi Gutnick said. "The community needs the Adass spiritual leader, whom many of us deeply respect, to come out with an outright statement endorsed by himself personally."

Rabbi Moshe Gutnick, a judge on the Sydney Beth Din, said Jews the world over should dismiss the Neturei Karta as a "few lunatics".

"They do not reflect the view of even the most right-wing Jews in Israel," Rabbi Gutnick told the AJN by phone en route from Israel.

In calling for the rabbis' cherem, or excommunication, Israeli Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger said: "They betrayed the Jewish people and their heritage and particularly disgraced the Shoah and desecrated its memory. They tried to stain the Jewish people, who shy away from this low behaviour, with their shameful behaviour."

Israel's former chief rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau, said the Neturei Karta rabbis' actions were "insane".

"If it's possible that there is any Jew, who for some reason or another can support a Holocaust denier in a generation where people with numbers tattooed on their arms are still among us it's an insanity that has no justification and no explanation."

Speakers at the two-day conference included Adelaide-based Holocaust-denier Dr Frederick Toben, who upon his return to Australia faces contempt charges for flouting a 2002 Federal Court order to remove hate material from his website Australian socialite Michelle Renouf, a supporter of jailed revisionist Dr David Irving, who is reportedly on a committee to organise the next denial conference and Richard Krege, an electrical engineer for Airservices Australia in Canberra.

This week, Melbourne Child Survivors of the Holocaust president Henri Korn expressed his "anxious voice of protest" against the Tehran conference.

He said the threat from Iran poses more danger to Jews and the West than the Nazis did in World War II.

"Let us be warned, alarmed and ready to face the scourge of the 21st century. Let us emphasise the dangers we face, be prepared and we shall be victorious."

WITH AGENCIES
http://www.ajn.com.au/news/news.asp?pgID=2279

Also view:

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-----Original Message-----
From: info@adelaideinstitute.org

Sent: Wednesday, 20 December 2006 3:22 PM
Subject: Please be advised - Tehran Fallout from 'Holocaust' Conference
Fredrick Töben - Memo from Iran:
1. Chief Rabbi Friedman, Vienna, has come to the Foreign Ministry Guest House -
and he has a tale to tell about past legal persecution at the hands of Rabbi
Muzikant, the Austrian Zionist Rabbi.
2. He also advises that he cannot return to Austria on account of threats made
against him upon his return.
3. The above matter merges into local Iranian politics, especially concerning
the recent local elections - where Jewish Iranians supported former president
Rafsanjani against the current President, Dr Ahmadinejad.
4. I have been advised that prior to the 'Holocaust' conference, the Jewish
leader had adopted a skeptical attitude towards things 'Holocaust' - this seems
to have changed since the conference.
5. Rabbi Friedman's fears may be founded in fact because the attack on his
bretheren in England is continuing. Anyone who reads the following item from
Australia can make a list of abusive words and just be amazed that such venom
is aimed at Neturei Karta as individuals and as a group. I wonder why this is
all happening now?

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Dear Friend,
The Iranian regime has sunk to a new low.
Anti-Semites, neo-Nazis and discredited academics jumped to accept President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's invitation to his outrageous Holocaust denial conference. His goal: stir up hatred against Jews around the world and build support for his plan to wipe Israel "off the map."
This is anti-Semitism at its worst and we are fighting back in every way we can. We need your support.
ADL and others called on world leaders to publicly denounce the conference. British Prime Minister Tony Blair called it "unbelievable" and "shocking," and German Chancellor Angela Merkel angrily declared: "Germany will never accept this."
But there is much more to be done. Make no mistake - conference attendees, including former KKK leader David Duke, feel newly emboldened by Iran's support.
The conference clearly illustrates that hate is a global threat. To successfully fight it, we must challenge it wherever and whenever it appears.
We need your support more than ever, to track and report on these racists. We need your support to expose their hateful agenda. We need your support to do everything possible to ensure that world leaders do not waver in their resolve against an increasingly dangerous Iran.
The heart of ADL's mission is to fight anti-Semitism and hatred, and we can't do it without you. Make your tax-deductible donation today, and help ADL continue this crucial fight.