Jewish Defense League

The Jewish Defense League (JDL) was a Jewish "self-defense" movement, founded in 1968 by Meir Kahane, that began as a vigilante group with the goal of protecting orthodox Jewish neighborhoods in New York City from attack by young black and Puerto Rican criminals, and to protest local instances of anti-Semitism. The JDL soon broadened its concerns to the global situation of the Jewish community, and sought to defend Jews from percieved threats through a combination of terrorist activity and traditional political action.

The JDL are widely viewed as extremists by the great majority of American Jews. No mainstream Jewish organization has any ties to the JDL. Many rabbis from all the Jewish denominations have condemned the JDL as extremist. Recent newspaper reports indicate that membership in the JDL appears to be limited to a few dozen people.

JDL terrorist activity

JDL members have been accused by the FBI and CIA of 37-50 terrorist attacks, including: bombing of the San Francisco branch of Melli, an Iranian Bank, in 1981; bombing the Iraqi UN mission in 1982; bombing the offices of Sol Hurok, who organized performances of Soviet ballet in the United States (resulting in one death); bombing the Los Angeles offices of the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee in 1985 (killing its director, Alex Odeh); and bombing and killing Tsherim Soobzokov (a Wafen-SS veteran) in 1985. In these cases an anonymous caller would claim JDL responsibility for the bombing, which was then denied by the JDL leadership, although often they would say that, although they had nothing to do with it themselves, they were happy the attacks had occured: for example JDL chairman Irv Rubin said Odeh "got what he deserved", although they insist the attack was done by Arabs, not by them. (Sources: [1], [2])

The motivation for JDL attacks against the PLO, Iraqis, Iranians and a Waffen-SS veteran should be obvious; the primary motivation for attacks on Soviet targets such as Sol Hurok was the refusal of the Soviet government to permit Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union to Israel.

After 1987, when several JDL members were convicted on terrorism charges, JDL terrorist activity appeared to have ceased. More recently however, its chairman, [Irv Rubin]?, 56, and another member were arrested by members of a federal anti-terrorism task force (reported on December 12, 2001) on suspicion of plotting to bomb a Los Angeles mosque and the office of US Congressman Darrell Issa, a Christian of Arab-American descent.

JDL has also defended the massacre of 29 Arabs in Hebron by Dr. [Baruch Goldstein]?, a former JDL activist, in February 1994, saying "we feel that Goldstein took a preventative measure against yet another Arab attack on Jews. We understand his motivation, his grief and his actions. And we are not ashamed to say that Goldstein was a charter member of the Jewish Defense League." ([2]).

External Links:

• JDL website: [3]
• Information on JDL terrorist activities: [1]

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