Monday, August 14, 2006

Who is this guy?

Nothing gets my blood boiling like Neturei Karta.

I ran across a clip on Memri of someone talking on Al Jazeera, purporting to be a spokesman for NK. What's interesting is that he speaks flawless Arabic (which is certainly not taught in Monsey, Williamsburg or Monroe - I hope), and his name is Daud Salah. Hmmm... Google shows me two people with that name. One is a Moslem Sheik, the other is this same guy again (quoted on this blog in relation to this story:

At the Muqata the day was proceeding as expected, until a van carrying nine Orthodox men turned up amid a security convoy. Quickly surrounded by the international media that was milling around, the men, carrying posters "Zionists are not Jews" in three languages, made their way to Arafat's memorial and prayed in fluent Arabic over the body of the man they consider the father of their nation. The men, members of the fringe ultra-orthodox, anti-Zionist movement Natori Karta which does not recognize the State of Israel, then attempted to vote. After being refused by a bemused female official, the men held an impromptu press conference for the English language journalists present. Spokesman Daud Salah said "We do not propose moving back to the pre-67 borders, we call for the State of Israel to be dismantled."

Who is this guy?
Anyone?

Here are some of his comments to Al Jazeera:

In accordance with Jewish religion, we do not consider these Jews to be Jews. The Zionist in an infidel, because he doesn't recognize the divine instructions written in the Torah.

And:

Global Zionism has invented something new - that a Jew cannot live under Arab rule. But I must remind you that in Morocco, 25,000 Jews live in peace and coexistence with the Moroccans, under Islamic Arab rule. I haven't finished. In Yemen there are about 1,000 Jews living under President Ali Abdullah Saleh, may Allah grant him long life. And in Iran, in the Republic of Iran, under the rule of King Ahmadinejad... 25,000 Jews live in peace and coexistence.

Also:
Unfortunately, the attacks by the Zionist entity, by the army of the Zionist entity, against the Lebanese people, against the independent Lebanese state, and against the population, especially in South Lebanon, are war crimes.
This one kind of blew me away:
My sister... My dear, first of all, you should know that Jews living under Arab patronage, under Islamic rule, is nothing new. We lived together in peace and coexistence under the rule of the great king, the Caliph Omar Ibn Al-Khattab, and under the Caliph Al-Ma'mun, and Omar Ali Ibn Abu Talib. In the days of the Prophet Muhammad too, when we lived in Saudi Arabia, we coexisted with the Muslims. This is nothing new.
Wow. "Prophet" Muhammad? That's crossing a big line.

I heard the following story from someone who was in the room at the time.
The Satmar Rebbe, R' Yoel Teitlebaum ZT"L was receiving a distinguished guest, either a Senator or a Congressman. The guest came in, greeted the rebbe and started telling him how strong his support for the State of Israel is. He went on for a few minutes while the chassidim standing around exchanged winks and smirks. When he left the room the chassidim burst out in laughter. The Rebbe turned to them and said "Why are you laughing? Our arguments are our arguments! They are internal, among us frum Jews and they should remain so. This man assumes he is supporting Jewry by supporting Israel, so be it! We should respect him for that.

I wonder what he'd think about Daud Salah.