Dozens of protesters took to the streets of Brooklyn on Sunday to pray for Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, days after he was killed in a bombing in Iran.
“In the latest escalation of tensions between the Zionists and their imperialist partners in the US, Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh has been killed in Tehran,” a keffiyeh-wearing young man read from his mobile phone next to a reverential painting of the slain terrorist leader.
“Haniya was Palestine’s top negotiator for the past two decades. By killing the man who led the ceasefire negotiations, the enemy has made it clear that its sole objective is to extend its brutal domination and ethnic cleansing of Palestine and to wipe out the Palestinian people in their native land.”
The demonstration took place in Bay Ridge, which has the largest Arab American population of the five boroughs.
A similar rally in the same area in May led to violent clashes between pro-Hamas protesters and NYPD officers, who arrested more than a dozen protesters, some of whom were proudly waving green Hamas flags in solidarity with the terrorist group.
Footage from the rally showed many in the crowd wearing keffiyeh scarves emblazoned with the Palestinian flag draped over their shoulders, but about a dozen people were dressed in traditional Orthodox Jewish clothing.
State Sen. Simcha Felder, who represents the Borough Park-Inwood district, criticized the Jews who attended the rally.
“They’re meshugana! They’re crazy,” Felder told The Post.
“They attend all the anti-Israel events, but to attend a rally for the murderers of innocent people?! How can you call yourself a Jew?”
The Democrat described the men’s beliefs as “the extreme of the extremes.”
Jewish men at the rally, who could not be reached for comment, were holding signs from Neturei Karta International (NKI), which describes itself on its website as “an activist group that defends true Judaism and represents the many people who promote traditional Judaism in opposition to the philosophy of Zionism.”
“They oppose the existence of the State of Israel and condemn the Zionist occupation of Palestine and the ongoing atrocities committed against the Palestinian people.”
Rabbi Joseph Potasnik, vice president of the New York Association of Rabbis, described the NKI’s ideology as “strange” and explained that one of their central beliefs is that they do not believe in the existence of the State of Israel until the coming of the Messiah.
“What they’re doing is disgusting. It’s immoral,” Potasnik told The Washington Post, describing them as an “extremist group.”
An NKI representative could not immediately be reached for comment.
Jewish activist Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, a former City University of New York regent who served under former Governor Pataki, Senator Al D’Amato and Mayor Ed Koch, likened the bizarre glorification of the slain terrorist leader to “American Bundeswehr soldiers holding all-night vigils for Adolf Hitler during World War II.”
“If the government is doing its job properly, anyone who advocates for terrorists on the streets of America should have their immigration status reviewed and be deported to send a message,” he added, calling the protesters “homegrown jihadists.”
Haniyeh, who was initially thought to have been killed in an airstrike, was killed by a remote-controlled bomb inside his guesthouse, seven Middle Eastern officials, including two Iranian and one American, told The New York Times.
Five Middle Eastern officials said the bomb was hidden inside the guesthouse about two months before Haniya’s visit.
The terrorist group then named Gaza leader Yahya Sinwar, also known as Abu Omer Hassan, as Haniyeh’s successor until next year’s elections.
Tehran and Hamas have blamed Israel for the assassination, but the Jewish state has remained silent on the matter, as is common when operating on Iranian territory.
