Zionist funeral would "desecrate honour" of Mumbai victim

I got a text message on this today and when I got home there were three emails, one linking Ha'aretz and the other two linking YNET, on a man killed in the Mumbai attack being a member of an anti-zionist Jewish community.

Here's YNET:

The State has decided to recognize the Israelis murdered in the Mumbai terror attacks as victims of terrorism and pay for their funerals, but not all are happy with this decision. The family of slain Hasid Aryeh Leib Teitelbaum has informed the government that it would like the State not to intervene with his funeral.

According to a family member, "Holding a Zionist funeral for Teitelbaum, who was a Satmar Hasid, would desecrate the dead man's honor." The family demanded not to have a government representative at the funeral and that the casket, which will be flown into Israel today, would not be covered with the Israeli flag.

They also asked that Teitelbaum's body would be released immediately upon the plane's arrival, so that they would be able to hold an intimate funeral for him as soon as possible.

Shmuel Pfenheim of the Haredi Community anti-Zionist stream told Ynet: "I'm sending a message from the family. We don't want the State to meddle in our grief. Suddenly Israel has an interest to show the world that it is also a victim of global jihad, so it decides to throw a big ceremony with a coffin wrapped in a flag. We object to this. It pains us and offends our values."

And here's Ha'aretz:

"The murder victim was educated in the ways of Satmar, which opposes the State of Israel," one of Teitelboim's relatives told Haaretz. "How can he turn into a symbol of the State of Israel? The family is very concerned about what will happen here at the ceremony. They are angry about the whole matter, it is a very sensitive issue."

How typical of zionists to try to turn Jewish pain into zionist gain. Thankfully they failed in this instance.