Jewish Girl From Belgium Attacked

December 08 2011 - 11:49:03:am by JDL Louisiana

Ynetnews reports about a young Jewish girl from Belgium who got used to being called a “Dirty Jew” by Muslim classmates. No Jew should ever get used to being called a “Dirty Jew.“ The young girl speaks of the fear she has about walking on the street after being humiliated and assaulted:

“Dirty Jew – go to your country,“ they told her, grabbing her hair and slamming her head against their knees. Then they just left her there, at the sports center, not far from the school, while those who witnessed the incident quickly ran away.

The fact that this innocent Jewish girl became accustomed to Jew-hating verbal and physical abuse is not only tragic, it’s an attack on Hashem. As the Torah teaches, when Jews are victimized, G-d Himself is also a victim since we are His nation, carry His name and are His emissaries on this earth. As when Goliath was taunting the nation of Israel and the men of the country were all intimidated, King David saw Goliath’s taunts as not only an attack against the people of Israel but most importantly as an intolerable insult to the G-d of Israel. When Jews are publicly confronted by manifestations of Jew-hatred and fail to fight back, the L-rd is defamed along with our people. And obviously, not fighting back sends a powerful message to the haters and like-minded individuals that such conduct will be tolerated without consequence, most likely leading to more and possibly intensified forms of Jew-hatred in the future.

Certainly this isn’t the gravest form of attack that Jews are experiencing today, but it’s a story that has garnered international attention especially as it ties in with the recent deplorable ghetto-mentality comments of Obama’s ambassador to Belgium, who blamed the state of Israel (the victim) and the death of the Oslo “peace” process (murdered by Arab terrorism and intransigence, among other causes of death) for Muslim Jew-hatred in Belgium. The League will post an analysis of that pathetic story soon.

Regarding this particular manifestation of Jew-hatred, JDL wonders where the girls parents have been and why they haven’t been more proactive in resolving the situation. And how will Jewish leaders in Belgium respond to the growing systemic Jew-hatred among the Muslim population there? Rhetorical question-the Jewish Establishment there will do what the Establishment does the world over in fighting Jew-hatred-precious little.

The most effective response to this growing Jew-hatred malady in Belgium is a reestablished JDL chapter there and elsewhere in Europe. JDL will begin organizing in Belgium again in earnest, first at the squad level and upward from there (chapters, national leadership and coordination with our other chapters in Europe). It’s the plan we will be implementing in around the planet in 2012-with your help, BS"D. Stay tuned for details in the coming weeks.

(Additional information added to this post on December 8, 2011 by JDL)

Beck Stands With Israel; JDL Stands With Him

June 02 2011 - 2:18:58:pm by JDL

Standing boldly, unabashedly with Am Yisrael, Glenn Beck sent out a call weeks ago to stand with Israel this summer and specifically to join him for a rally in Jerusalem this August. Beck has his critics in nearly every circle and even among right-wing Jews, but JDL finds little of substance to be critical of regarding him. We believe his impassioned, emotional oratory to be genuine, and we can’t see any valid reason to spurn his support in any respect. The most common reason why a Jew would be critical of a Christian’s support of Israel would be because of Christian eschatology (end-times beliefs), which can possess some Christians to support Israel not genuinely but based instead on ulterior motives. Even though it’s perfectly reasonable to skeptical of his support because of his Christian eschatological views, his personal religious beliefs that conflict with ours are not sufficient grounds to reject his assistance to the Jewish people and the Jewish state. In this debate, we often make the point that if a Christian wants to support us, it doesn’t matter if he or she has ulterior motives based on eschatological beliefs that are antithetical to Judaism. Their end-times beliefs are inconsequential to us because we know their expectations will not be fulfilled, but their support of Israel is of consequence and should not be summarily dismissed.

On another front, some right-wing Jews have chosen to attack Glenn using the same hollow arguments as those put forth by the Left, including calling Beck a Jew-hater because he often criticizes high-profile left-wingers who happen to have been born Jewish, like George Soros or Edward Bernays. The League believes that anyone on the Right who espouses left-wing talking points against Beck is being used as a tool by leftists, leftists who in truth are much more substantially anti-Jewish and anti-Israel than Beck any day of the week. And yes, we are also aware that a while ago on his TV show Beck made some inappropriately sectarian Christian comments that denigrated Jews for rejecting the Christian deity, but we think he’s come along way since then. He’s more respectful toward Judaism, ostensibly, and he even recently admitted that there’s a good chance that Judaism could be right and Christianity wrong. Perhaps Glenn is only pandering to Jews in recent times, but even if that were true, it doesn’t negate all the positive things he does publicly for Jews and Israel. That solid track record of support can’t be denied.

Beck is broadcasting right now, as this article is being written, with extreme emotion over the Holocaust, the plight of the Jewish people generally and the evil forces amassing to battle us today. One would have to be extremely cynical to presume that his apparent heartfelt emotion is an act of deception. To the contrary, the presumption must be that Glenn is a stalwart ally of ours, a righteous non-Jew beloved by G-d. JDL is looking at options to join him in Yerushalayim in August, although with the short notice we may have trouble allocating the resources to be there with him. Either way, we call on our members and supporters to be there with him spiritually and to stand with Israel wherever we are on August 24th. To be bold in confronting the haters who are looking to make the push to damage, if not destroy, the state of Israel this year, C"V. At this dangerous juncture we all must echo Beck’s call to be resolute and courageous in standing in defense of Am Yisrael. Ultimately HaShem is in control of His creation and will do with us as He chooses, but we will not be held blameless if we fail in our task to fight evil and sanctify HaShem in the face of the nations and even fellow Jews who wish to eradicate us.

Caught in the Crosshairs - In Defense of Palin

January 27 2011 - 3:20:50:am by JDL

By Fern Sidman

As our nation still collectively recoils in horror over the shocking assassination attempt of Rep. Gabriella Giffords (D) of Arizona and the murder of six others by deranged gunman Jared Loughner, it appears that fierce finger pointing and political acrimony have taken center stage in the tendentious debate over who is actually responsible for this heinous act.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragic shooting, liberal pundits and left wing celebrities came racing out of the proverbial woodwork to excoriate Tea Party activists for creating such a bellicose environment in which such a horrific deed of this kind could take place. Having prevailed in the 2010 mid-term elections, Rep. Giffords was considered a “Blue Dog Democrat”; the kind that Republicans could work with on paramount legislation. While her positions on health care reform and illegal immigration were sources of attention for those opposed to her candidacy, and while she has been a recipient of criticism from various conservative groups, it is nonetheless the zenith of hypocrisy to assign blame for this horrific act on her detractors.

Said Amy Kremer, chair of the California-based Tea Party Express: “Spirited debate is desirable, but it only should be the clash of ideas. An attack on anyone for political purposes, if that was a factor in this shooting, is an attack on the democratic process. We join with everyone in vociferously condemning it.“

Without allowing ample time for facts to surface about the background of the shooter, those fomenting further polarization of the nation took aim at former Alaska governor, Tea Party icon and spiritual mentor, Sarah Palin for her purported “responsibility” for the reprehensible machinations of a lone gunman. Facts are summarily dismissed by those who tout a partisan agenda and that appears to be true in this case. It matters very little to the denizens of the “progressive” camp that reports have revealed Loughner’s left wing proclivities. According to his own admission on his blog, his favorite books are Karl Marx’s, “The Communist Manifesto” and Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”. Need we say more?

Among those jumping on the liberal exploitation bandwagon of this devastating tragedy was Paul Krugman, New York Times op-ed columnist, who blamed Palin for the shooting because she placed Giffords and 19 other Democrats on a hitlist of districts, each shown as being in crosshairs on her web site. Here’s where the double standard begins and ends. While the liberal dominated mainstream media regularly features left wing politicos who seize every chance they have to spew forth vitriol and ad hominem attacks against those who stand in staunch opposition to President Obama’s domestic agenda, somehow those interpreting the political scene have deemed that right-wing innocuous symbolism is way more ominous.

Accusing Palin of provoking an attempted assassination by insinuating that her use of this imagery during the 2010 campaign is somehow responsible for this shooting is mind-boggling. Clearly, this is simply another opportunity for the far left to bash Sarah Palin, who is possibly going to throw her hat in the ring as a 2012 GOP contender for the White House.

Palin shot back by stating that she was the target of an orchestrated campaign of “blood libel”. Condemnations of Palin’s assessment were fast and furious as liberal Jewish organizations lined up to take turns hurling invective at her by accusing her of anti-Semitism, as blood libel canards have historically referred to accusations that began in the Middle Ages claiming that Jews used the blood of murdered Christian children to make matzah for Passover. Truth be told, Palin’s political influence has grown exponentially since the 2008 presidential election and she is viewed by some as a genuine threat. Palin had no choice but to defend her innocence against the litany of irrational and egregious accusations made by those desperate souls who wish to slake their desire to cling to their waning political power.   

“Blood libel obviously means being falsely accused of having blood on your hands, and in this case that’s exactly what was going on,“ Palin told FOX News host Sean Hannity in a recent interview. We agree. If anyone can relate to this, it is the Jewish people. Let us reserve judgment and refrain from the fashionable trend of scapegoating innocents who some perceive as an implied threat to the political status quo.

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Fern Sidman served as JDL National Director from 1984-1985.

Smaller Governments Are Better For Jews

November 04 2010 - 2:44:30:am by JDL

The electoral shift in the United States yesterday that gave the GOP gains not seen in a half century represent a great gain for the United States, its Jewish citizens and ultimately the world. The Republican victory was driven by a renewed American appreciation for fiscal conservatism and limited, Constitutional government. And smaller governments happen to be better for Jews, even if the majority of Jews are left-wing.

On a fundamental fiscal basis the United States cannot possibly maintain the critically elevated levels of deficit spending the gargantuan national debt of recent years. The breaks need to be applied and the national course needs be diverted back toward a sane financial trajectory, or else the civilized world as we know it will collapse.

Now we have to see if Republican rhetoric can be matched by political and economic reality.

Has Bill Maher Gone Temporarily Sane?

June 16 2010 - 12:40:21:am by JDL

JDL has never been too keen on Bill Maher, the comedian/host of various American political television talk shows including Politically Incorrect and Real Time With Bill Maher. It has been said that originally Maher was a centrist, but he quickly became very left-wing; his leftist views killed Politically Incorrect when he called American troops cowards and Muslim suicide terrorists brave. Although Maher has described himself as a libertarian, his views are most often left-wing, statist and sometimes totalitarian. For instance, during the Obamacare debate when Obama was facing a potential filibuster as a result of Scott Brown’s election, Maher declared that the president was justified in simply ending the raging debate and enacting the law unilaterally, with or without Congressional approval - a blatantly unconstitutional desire on Maher’s part.

We’ve essentially written Maher off and ignored him since then, but last week we turned on HBO’s version of Politically Incorrect, Real Time With Bill Maher, and were astonished by what we saw. The episode makes us ask, has Bill Maher gone temporarily sane on the topic of the Arab-Israeli conflict?

Watch the episode and judge for yourself. While two of the three panelists were lambasting Israel for the Gaza flotilla incident and generally faulting the Jewish state on all accounts, Maher suddenly waxed outspoken in the country’s defense. Maher was so strongly supportive of Israel that he verbally shut down his guest from continuing an anti-Israel rant.

We’re not all that hopeful that this incident marks a turning point for Maher. It’s more likely that he was simply looking to stir debate, although if that accounts for his defense then it’s hard to explain why he didn’t allow the Israel bashing to continue after his interjection. Though technically Jewish from a Halachic standpoint, Maher, the offspring of a mixed marriage (big surprise), was raised in the Catholic faith of his father. Maher paints himself as an agnostic and is usually hostile to Jews, Judaism and Israel. We can pray for him to do teshuvah, and although we’re not optimistic about that prospect, JDL can say that at least once in his career Bill Maher acted like a mensch.

 

US Support for Israel Near Record Highs

March 12 2010 - 6:42:25:am by JDL

The Gallup polling company recently released wonderful news on the growing support for Israel in the United States, with support at a near record high of 63%. More importantly, partisan support for Israel has increased considerably among Republicans and Independents compared to recent years, while support among Democrats has remained relatively flat and below 50%. This polling doesn’t just register favorable attitudes toward Israel among Americans but specifically looks at support for Israel versus the so-called “Palestinians” and Arabs in general, showing a dramatic 25% increase in partisan support for Israel among Republicans as well as an 18% increase among Independents in comparison to figures from year 5761 (2001).

With the exception of Democrats, Americans are becoming more supportive of Israel, perhaps coming to greater consensus that the suicidal course America and the world has coerced Israel into following – conceding ever more to an opponent that does not desire peace – has done far more harm than good. Gallup’s results also should serve as yet another wake up call for ignorant left-wing Jews who naively believe the Democratic party is the natural, permanent political home for American Jewry.

The specific numbers, though impressive, aren’t as important as the positive general trend in increasing support, which serves to allay some concerns over the increasing amount of anti-Israel, anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish propaganda on college campuses, online, in the media and among many political elites. (And to those who want to run away from the term Zionist, there is more than one type of Zionist. JDL is working on articles explaining and defending the Religious Zionism that has always been a core part of JDL ideology.) Nevertheless, JDL will continue battling all forms of Jew-hatred with the same vigor, as if this report had shown us a negative result instead. Jews cannot afford themselves too much comfort from these statistics while there is still so much virulent hatred for Jews out there.

It’s also important to point out to non-Jews that their support of Jews and Israel may be responsible for blessings from Heaven bestowed on the United States, as it is well attested to in the holy TaNaKh that those who bless HaShem’s holy nation are in turn blessed.

Jewish Students Must Fight Back Even Harder

November 26 2009 - 11:05:51:am by JDL

JDL’s advice to Jewish students in the face of the “Kick a Jew Day” incident in Florida is that it is absolutely essential to defend yourself if you are threatened - to avoid getting kicked if possible, and to hit and kick even harder if you are attacked. Parents also need to let their children know that they will defend them against possible disciplinary consequences for fighting back.

The primary reason why this manifestation of Jew-hatred has cropped up is because of the age-old notion that Jews generally won’t defend themselves. Any Jewish student who does not try to fight back reinforces the stereotype and permits further desecration of the Holy Name. All Jewish kids should be taught basic self-defense techniques, and they should be encouraged to associate as much as possible with fellow Jewish students, for shared defense and Jewish bonding. And those students with the wherewithal to do so should contact JDL to form campus chapters. Then they can respond to calls to kick Jews with the means to pummel Jew-haters.

 

JDL Supports Israel’s Housing Expansion

September 09 2009 - 5:30:47:am by JDL

The Jewish Defense League expresses its strong approval of the recent decision of the Israeli government to continue its building of new homes in Judea and Samaria. While JDL does not seek to influence Israel’s politics, the organization is supportive on Torah grounds of all Israeli initiatives that strengthen the country’s control over Eretz Yisrael. The Land of Israel is the eternal possession of Am Yisrael - the whole Jewish nation - so policies undertaken by the Jewish state that affect Jewish sovereignty over the land have immense implications not only for Israelis but for all Jews.

Truth Through Entertainment From Jon Lovitz

August 27 2009 - 12:41:56:am by JDL

If you missed it, on the Tonight Show With Conan O’Brien Jon Lovitz told a very amusing story about a run in he could have had with Tom Cruise over the topic of Judaism versus Scientology. In contrasting the true faith of Judaism with the man-made 20th Century fantasy of Scientology, Lovitz communicated a tremendous amount of truth to a wide audience through the medium of entertainment. We’ve become bigger fans of Lovitz as a result of the courage he has displayed in speaking out against a very powerful cult and one of the most powerful Hollywood celebrities. Check out the episode on Hulu.

A Renaissance for JDL

August 11 2009 - 12:00:29:pm by JDL

by Shimon Kaplan

It has been forty-one years since the founding of the Jewish Defense League (JDL), and more than thirty years have elapsed since the publication of “The Story of the Jewish Defense League.“  With the passage of the first decade of the 21st century at hand, an examination of the year of JDL’s birth may be in order as today’s JDLers look ahead.

The year 1968 is often described as “turbulent” by authors and commentators alike.  And it is certainly as apt description as one is likely to come up with in the absence of a thesaurus.  The assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy in an eight week period that Spring caused many to wonder whether the United States had lost its sanity.

While Czechs and Slovaks took to the streets in determined opposition to Soviet repression (“The Prague Spring”), Marxist-oriented students in Paris and the United States took to the streets in opposition to democracy.  The so-called “New Left” was orienting itself to “revolutionary communism” while the Black Panther Party was selling copies of Mao Zedong’s “Little Red Book” to buy guns.

It was against this backdrop that JDL was formed.  Within the space of less than a decade, Jews who had been among the staunchest supporters of the civil rights movement now found that their support and involvement was less welcome as Marxist-Leninist ideology (and along with it an opposition to Zionism and the State of Israel) demanded an orientation toward “national liberation” movements, including the PLO.  That the “new communist movement” captured the imagination of many thousands, including Jews, is certainly fertile ground for exploration.

Moreover, with rising anti-Zionist militancy came threats to long-established (albeit transitioning) Jewish communities.  Jews and non-Jews with some financial means migrated to the suburbs while their observant brothers and sisters stayed within walking distance of the Shul they had attended all their lives.  When this phenomenon is kept in mind, and it is remembered that many urban areas were consumed in riots and conflagrations, the creation of JDL was a reasoned, rational, intelligent act; a meaningful response to the realities of painful and troubling times.  The rise of a militant left committed to anti-Zionism provided some impetus to the creation and development of an avowedly militant, overtly Jewish organization.

Militancy, however, does bring with it the need to establish some definition.  Rabbi Kahane sometimes used the phrase that a “Jewish fist must be attached to a Jewish head.“  Although the importance of ideology cannot be underestimated, it doesn’t substitute for sound judgment.  For instance, the Black Panther’s revolutionary ideology and strategy of self-promotion through the public display of firearms led the media to give them major coverage while at the same time making them a target for local and federal law enforcement.

The JDL garnered similar attention through its portrayal of Jews as tough and willing to fight (“Is this any way for a nice Jewish boy to behave?“), in addition to mounting an activist-oriented, confrontational strategy with respect to Soviet diplomatic and business concerns as a means to liberate the many Soviet Jews who had been denied permission to emigrate to Israel.

It worked.  While the late President Ronald Reagan is often credited with overseeing the demise of the Soviet regime and its satellites, can anyone with a knowledge of history seriously challenge the fact that the “Soviet bear” was weakened by Rabbi Kahane and the many unsung JDLers some 15 years earlier?

Many regard this, with some justification, as the “heyday” of JDL.  By the mid-1970’s, Rabbi Kahane had made Aliya and his focus shifted to Israel where he formed the Kach Party and Kach International.  And many who saw the JDL as a “one-man” movement, pronounced the organization dead.

The fact that JDL remained alive requires credit to be given to the late Irv Rubin.  While some talented JDL leaders, like the late Ken Sidman in Boston, shifted their focus to Kach International, Irv insisted that JDL maintained its relevance for Jews in the galut; that the JDL ideology was not outmoded and that Jews within the United States faced challenges and threats.  And this made Irv a target, not only from expected quarters but from unexpected ones as well.

Rabbi Kahane and Irv Rubin are no longer with us here on earth.  But the organization they founded, led and maintained is in the early stages of what can best be described as a renaissance.  While the Soviet Union is dead, anti-Semitism continues to be widespread there—and here, as well, as the recent shooting at the Holocaust Museum in Washington, DC demonstrates.  And while the demise of the “New Left” of the 1960’s has been fully documented, many of its adherents have adapted themselves to “liberalism” while maintaining their profound opposition to Zionism and Israel.

White supremacists (including neo-Nazis) have entered the US military, lest anyone forget that Timothy McVeigh, a veteran of the armed forces who blew up the federal building in Oklahoma City, was inspired by the apocalyptic and racist prose of “The Turner Diaries.“  And missionaries whose goal is to persuade Jews that a belief that worshipping Jesus is entirely compatible with Torah continue to be active.

Zionism is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people.  While many Jews around the world were attracted to socialism and communism because its stated purpose was the liberation of humanity, reality shows that those ideologies enslaved millions, and most of the governments who proclaimed Marxism-Leninism have fallen (and those that haven’t are isolated or have fundamentally revised their focus).  Israel remains—a beacon for Jewish liberation.

While most of the so-called “militant” organizations of the 1960’s no longer exist, JDL continues to embrace militancy in that we’ve always been an activist organization in marked contrast to so many Jewish organizations who are ad hoc or uncommitted to an activist approach.  This activism is why so many Jews who would not join our ranks supported our efforts in ways that were sometimes begrudging, often subtle, but were there nonetheless.

Our embracement of activism and militancy does not however mean that we are either thugs, racists, or terrorists.  All of these negatives have been attached to JDL from various corners and in support of a variety of agendas.  The ambivalence that our organization sometimes demonstrated in its early years inadvertently played in to this perception from which we must distance ourselves today, not for reasons of strategy or tactics but because we who are proud to call ourselves JDLers reject and condemn racism and terrorism in all its forms.  Self-defense isn’t terrorism, and self-preservation is a virtue recognized by Jews and Christians alike.  It is also a last resort.

• It is indeed possible for “nice” Jewish men and women to be JDLers to be part of our movement.
• You don’t have to be an observant Jew to be in JDL.  If the term “assimilated” in the dictionary shows a picture of you, we welcome you to join us.
• If the closest you’ve gotten to using your fist is watching Mixed Martial Arts on television, there’s room for you in JDL.
* If you haven’t held a bat in your hands since you were in Little League (and Sandy Koufax pitched for the Dodgers), and believe it is better to beat an enemy by brains than brawn, you will have a home in JDL.

Our new, very ambitious website (currently in beta form), reflects today’s 21st century JDL.  Great Jewish leaders like Ze’ev Jabotinsky, Rabbi Kahane and Irv Rubin have contributed a legacy.  They were, as are we, products of their time and place.  There are lessons we can and should draw on from these Jewish heroes without engaging in iconography.  The successes, failures, correct analyses and mistakes are there for us to learn from and move forward.  Forward, always forward.

JDL is growing, internally and externally.  Please consider joining us and being part of this renaissance.  Lend your voices, your talents, and your energy to our movement as we unabashedly proclaim our Jewish orientation—giving comfort and support to our brothers and sisters while being a thorn in the side of those who are so richly deserving of it.

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