Moshe Hirsch

{{Short description|Jewish activist and Palestinian politician}} {{distinguish|Maurice de Hirsch|Moshe Hillel Hirsch}} {{Multiple issues| {{Cleanup rewrite|date=April 2025}} {{Unreliable sources|date=April 2025}} }} {{Infobox person | honorific_prefix = | name = Moshe Hirsch | honorific_suffix = | image = עמרם בלוי ומשה הירש.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Hirsch (center-left) with Amram Blau in 1972 | native_name = משה הירש | native_name_lang = yi | birth_date = 1927 | birth_place = New York City, New York, US | death_date = {{Death date and given age|2010|05|02|80}} | death_place = Jerusalem | death_cause = | resting_place = Mount of Olives | resting_place_coordinates =  | citizenship = | occupation = | years_active = | era = | employer = | organization = Neturei Karta | known_for = | title = | term = | predecessor = | successor = | party = | movement = Anti-Zionism | opponents = | boards = | spouse =  | children = Rabbi Meir Hirsch and 2 others | parents = | relatives = Abraham Rabinovich (cousin)<br /> Rabbi Aharon Katzenelbogen (father-in-law, deceased) }}

'''Moshe Hirsch''' ({{langx|yi|משה הירש}}; 1927 – 2 May 2010) was a Jewish activist and Palestinian politician who headed Neturei Karta and served as the "Minister of Jewish Affairs" within the Fatah-led Palestine Liberation Organization.<ref name="MEO">{{cite web |last=Schattner |first=Marius |date=November 12, 2004 |title=The rabbi who mourned Arafat |url=http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=11877 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110515120423/http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=11877 |archive-date=May 15, 2011 |accessdate=2007-05-21 |publisher=Middle East Online}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Waked |first=Ali |date=2010-05-03 |title=Fatah pays respects to deceased Neturei Karta rabbi |url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3884459,00.html |access-date=2023-11-22 |work=Ynetnews |language=en}}</ref> He was the son-in-law of Neturei Karta's founder Aharon Katzenelbogen and his first wife.<ref name="odenheimer">{{cite journal |last = Odenheimer |first = Micha |date = Spring 2006 |title = We Will Not Obey. We Will Not Follow |journal = Guilt & Pleasure |volume = 2 |pages = 71–77 |url = http://www.guiltandpleasure.com/index.php?site=rebootgp&page=gp_article&id=17 |accessdate = 2008-08-17 |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20110711133036/http://www.guiltandpleasure.com/index.php?site=rebootgp&page=gp_article&id=17 |archivedate = 2011-07-11 }}</ref> Born in New York City, he later moved to Jerusalem and maintained a close relationship with Palestinian president Yasser Arafat.<ref>[https://www.jta.org/2010/05/03/israel/arafat-adviser-rabbi-moshe-hirsch-dies Arafat adviser Rabbi Moshe Hirsch dies]</ref>

Hirsch requested Arafat to grant Neturei Karta members the opportunity to obtain Palestinian passports once they were created. He expressed his refusal to carry an Israeli passport and hold Israeli citizenship.<ref>{{Cite web |last=عبدالله |first=إعداد: عقل |date=2010-05-04 |title=‏موشيه هيرش.. حاخام مناهض للصهيونية |url=https://www-emaratalyoum-com.translate.goog/politics/news/2010-05-05-1.240398?_x_tr_sl=ar&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc |access-date=2024-12-08 |website=www.emaratalyoum.com |language=ar}}</ref> Following the death of Arafat in 2004 and the victory of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian legislative election, Hirsch pledged allegiance to the new leadership. He then visited the Legislative Council's headquarters in Ramallah to demonstrate his support.

==Family and personal life== He was the father of three children.<ref>The Independent [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/rabbi-moshe-hirsch-ultraorthodox-jewish-leader-who-became-an-adviser-to-yasser-arafat-1965588.html Rabbi Moshe Hirsch: Ultra-Orthodox Jewish leader who became an adviser to Yasser Arafat]</ref> His oldest is Meir Hirsch.<ref>Arutz Sheva [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/137337 Neturei Karta Rabbi Dead at 86]</ref> Meir had taken over a lot of his father's duties when he was reportedly suffering from Alzheimer's disease.<ref>Guilt & Pleasure [http://www.guiltandpleasure.com/index.php?site=rebootgp&page=gp_article&id=17 Issue 2 - Spring 2006 - The Fight Issue] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711133036/http://www.guiltandpleasure.com/index.php?site=rebootgp&page=gp_article&id=17 |date=2011-07-11 }}</ref> Hirsch had one glass eye due to an injury sustained when someone threw acid in his face.{{Citation needed|date=April 2025}} According to his cousin, journalist Abraham Rabinovich, the incident had no link with Hirsch's political activities but was connected to a real estate dispute.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rabinovich |first=Abraham |authorlink=Abraham Rabinovich |date=2010-06-04 |title=My cousin Moish: Identities of the late Rabbi Moshe Hirsch |url=https://www.jpost.com/Magazine/Features/Article.aspx?id=177397 |accessdate=2010-06-23 |publisher=Jerusalem Post}}</ref>

== Death == Following Hirsch's death, ''shiva'' visitors included senior Fatah members, including Adnan al-Husayni (who brought a personal letter of consolation from Abbas), Hatem Abdel Kader and Bilial A-Natsha.<ref>{{cite web |last=Nachtigel |first=Yosi |date=2010-05-05 |script-title=he:בלתי-נתפס: בכירי פת"ח במאה-שערים. צפו בוידאו ותמונות |url=http://www.kikarhashabat.co.il/%D7%A4%D7%AA%D7%97.html |accessdate=2010-05-05 |publisher=Kikar Shabbat |language=Hebrew}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20061211111351/http://www.nkusa.org/ Neturei Karta International]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hirsch, Moshe}} Category:1923 births Category:2010 deaths Category:21st-century American rabbis Category:Acid attack victims Category:American Ashkenazi Jews Category:American emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Category:American Haredi rabbis Category:Anti-Zionist Haredi rabbis Category:Burials at the Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives Category:Clergy from Jerusalem Category:Haredi rabbis in Israel Category:Judaism-related controversies Category:Neturei Karta Category:Orthodox Judaism Category:Palestinian activists Category:Palestinian Arab nationalists Category:Palestinian Jews Category:Rabbis of the Land of Israel Category:Yiddish-speaking people