Rabbi Ahron Cohen won't rest in peace, not now, not later

Mevater

Thu, Dec 21 2006, 10:52 am

The Times December 21, 2006 UK

Police protect rabbi from 'Nazi traitor' accusations
Patrick Foster

An Orthodox rabbi who angered the Jewish community in Manchester by attending an gathering of Holocaust deniers in Iran is under round-the-clock police protection.
Rabbi Ahron Cohen, who opposes Zionism, has had his car tyres slashed and his house pelted with eggs since he returned to Manchester from the conference in Tehran.

Last night he told The Times: “Outside my house it is not pleasant.

“They have a demonstration every day and shout things like ‘traitor’ and ‘Nazi’. I now have an almost constant police presence.”

Sir Jonathan Sacks, the Chief Rabbi, said that Rabbi Cohen’s participation in the Tehran conference was an “unforgivable betrayal of the memory of the victims of the Holocaust”.

One protester, Isaac Friedlander, said: “He is not part of the religious society and we should all stand against him. We do not want him living in our streets.”

Rabbi Cohen, a member of Neturei Karta, an international group opposed to the creation of Israel, said: “We are not Holocaust deniers. We went to Tehran and said there was a Holocaust, just that it should not be used as a justification for injustice.”

A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said: “On Sunday morning police were called to a house in Salford. Police found about 100 members of the Jewish community protesting. It was peaceful and no arrests were made.”

Rabbi Cohen said that he had mixed feelings about the release of David Irving. “I abhor his opinion, but I am pleased that it is a step in the right direction as far as freedom of speech goes,” he said.

Neturei Karta 'Rabbi' Shunned
By Joy Wolfe - Thursday 21st of December 2006

Protesters outside Cohen's homeAhron Cohen, the Neturei Karta member who attended last week's Holocaust-denial conference in Iran, has been rebuffed by Manchester's Jewish community.

Cohen, whom the Manchester Beth Din refers to in official statements with the word Rabbi in inverted commas, is facing moves to ostracize him by the city’s orthodox community.

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This week, his burial fees, which he formerly paid into the Machzikei Hadass were returned to him, and he was told he would not be buried in Manchester.

The move to refuse him burial was confirmed by Walter Brunner, who said: "I was carrying out on the instruction of our rabbi, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneebalg.”

Rabbi Schneebalg told TJ, "I wish to have no contact with this man and am shocked by his terrible behaviour. What he has done is a great Chilul Hashem"
Nearly the entire orthodox community has come out strongly against the attendance of Cohen at the conference in Tehran.

Walter Brunner confirmed that the charedi rabbis are preparing a joint statement and poster in a move to ensure Cohen is completely ostracized, and also reiterated the information that he is not welcome in any synagogues of minyanim in north Manchester.

Members of all the strands of Jewish observance have asked for a cherem to be issued against him, something that is under consideration, although the initial response from the rabbinic authorities is that this is something that has fallen out of use.

Furthermore, local shops are refusing to serve him, and there have been at least three major demonstrations, predominantly by the charedi community, Holocaust survivors and the Israeli community in Manchester, outside his Welbeck Grove home.

A spokesman for the charedi community said: "It is important for us to get the message out to the wider community that this man does not represent anyone at all in our community and that we all wholeheartedly condemn what he is done. He is persona non grata in the very community he claims to represent. We reject his claim that attending the Holocaust denial conference did not mean he was saying the Holocaust did not happen. Just by being there he was adding strength to the case of those who seek to deny or minimise the Holocaust".

Rabbi Yisroel Chaim Horowitz, Rabbi of the Satmar Congregation in Manchester confirmed that Ahron Cohen had attended his synagogue until a couple of months ago. He Said: "The whole of our community is against him, and we certainly would not have him back. He is not welcome in any congregation throughout the area".

It was also confirmed that Ahron Cohen has been told he is no longer able to attend the Beis Hamedrash HaChodesh minyan in Northumberland Street where he used to daven.