Friends, there was indeed a very beautiful, heartfelt, well attended gathering at the Federal building in Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 2nd. Stand With Us would very much like to encourage other cities to host similar spontaneous rallies, modeled after the upcoming rally in Los Angeles this Sunday. If you would like Stand With Us to announce your gathering, please let us know. Get a few synagogues and/or churches involved, and have the confidence that Jews and non-Jews will stand together FOR Israel and AGAINST terrorism.

STAND TOGETHER AGAIN, IN LOS ANGELES: Go back to the Federal Building this Sunday, April 7th, at 2:00 p.m. The Federal Building is located at Wilshire Blvd. and Veteran Ave. in West Los Angeles. Bring Friends. Tell friends to bring friends. Tell your Christian and other non-Jewish friends to join us. We need everyone's support now. Brind signs and American and Israeli flags. Bring candles and matches if you can. Bring Tehilim (Psalms) if you would like to join in prayers. Your large, clear signs should read: We Stand With Israel There is NO Excuse for Terrorism There is NO Excuse for Suicide Bombing. Arafat Condones Terrorism, and Always Has. Use black or red paint for your signs.

Our intention is to deliver a similar message throughout the country: We support Israel. Israel's fight against terrorism is EVERYONE's fight. As Thomas Friedman recently wrote regarding terrorism: The Devil is dancing in the Middle East, and he's dancing our way. Specifics: Use a bathroom before you come to the rally. There are no bathrooms there. Send this to your like-minded friends. Do not inform the media, we will handle that. Please make sure that all of your friends are registered with Stand With US for further information and important actions.

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By Susan Gill Vardon

The Shack restaurant was closed Sunday, but that didn't stop the protesters. About 50 people representing libertarians, socialists and anarchists concverged at the restaurant to oppose a white-power benefit concert that never happend.

They pounded on drums, chanted and carried signs reading "Stop Nazi Violence," "Smash racism" and "Respect Knows No Color."

"I don't believe racists should be allowed to have free speech," said Juan Flores, 19, a Los Angeles resident and Progressive Labor Party member. No one was arrested or injured, police officials said, The only incident occurred about 1 p.m., when a gold sport utility vehicle drove by with a Nazi flag flying out the window.

Police said the restaurant had scheduled a benefit for Blood & Honour, a white-supremacist group with a Costa Mesa mailing address. The restaurant owner said no such event was planned. A sign on the door said the restaurant would be closed Sunday.

Protesters included members of the Green Party, the International Socialist Workers, the Communist Party and the Orange County chapter of the Libertarian Party. Members of the Jewish Defense League, including Chairman Irv Rubin, left when Communist protesters arrived with red flags and others came with profanity-laced signs, particpants said.

"They (the JDL) shouldn't try to prevent (anyone) from being here," said Michael Novick, a spokesman for the Anti-Racist Action. "We're all opposed to Nazis."

By Martin Miller, Times Staff Writer

The nation's most widely read cartoonist is once again challenging a popular belief in the separation between church and the funny pages.

Johnny Hart's Stone Age comic "B.C." usually spoofs the human condition, but this Sunday's solemn panels are devoted to the last words of Jesus Christ during crucifixion. The comic strip depicts the candles of a menorah being extinguished one by one until the Judaic symbol is finally transformed into a cross.

The strip, which can be seen on the Internet, already has disappointed and angered some readers, religious leaders and newspapers, many of which are writing about the controversy and soliciting reader feedback. Critics argue Hart's message is that Christianity replaced Judaism as a viable religion 2,000 years ago, in much the same way as Judaism supplanted paganism in the ancient world.

The strip "is a canard against the Jewish people and will promote hatred rather than tolerance and diversity," said Rabbi Marvin Hier of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles. The center called on newspapers to pull the Easter Sunday strip or, at the least, to condemn it editorially.

Irv Rubin, head of the Jewish Defense League, was even harsher in his criticism. "It encourages Christians to be more Christian by burning up a sacred Jewish symbol," he said. "It's an outrage." His L.A.-based organization has the strip posted on its Web site, http://www.jdl.org.

But the evangelical Christian cartoonist, who was not available for comment, issued a statement explaining his purpose was merely to honor both Easter and Passover.

"I sincerely apologize if I have offended any readers," wrote Hart, whose strip appears in 1,300 publications. "I also sincerely hope that this cartoon will generate increased interest in religious awareness."

The 70-year-old Hart, who works from a studio in Endicott, N.Y., began introducing overtly Christian themes into his work in the early 1980s when he experienced a religious conversion.

Since that time, Hart hasn't been shy about promoting his beliefs, no matter how harsh or controversial. Hart told the Washington Post in 1999: "Jews and Muslims who don't accept Jesus will burn in hell," "Homosexuality is the handiwork of Satan," and, "The end of the world is approaching, maybe by the year 2010."

It's too early to tell whether Hart's latest foray into religious commentary will boost or deflate his already considerable popularity. Officials with L.A.-based Creators Syndicate, which distributes "B.C.," said they won't know for another week how many, if any, publications have declined to print Hart's Easter strip.

"There's bound to be cancellations," said Richard S. Newcombe, president of Creators Syndicate, who defended Hart in more than 20 interviews this week with newspapers, magazines and television stations. "Some have mistakenly interpreted the strip to be anti-Jewish," he added. "That's ridiculous. What he's saying is that Christianity is rooted in Judaism."

This Sunday isn't the first time newspapers have balked at running Hart's strips with powerful Christian themes. In recent years, major newspapers in Denver, Chicago and Washington have either pulled individual strips or dropped the comic altogether because of its religious overtones.

The Los Angeles Times, which also has withheld some of Hart's past Christian-themed strips, discontinued "B.C.," effective this past Sunday. The Times, however, will continue to run "The Wizard of Id," on which Hart collaborates with another cartoonist.

A Times official said there was no connection between the Easter strip and the decision to drop the cartoon, which it had been running since 1968. "We made this decision a few weeks ago," said Martha Goldstein, a Times spokeswoman. "It was a broad decision based on a lot of factors."

At press time, no major newspapers were pulling the Easter strip, in large part because the Sunday comics had already been printed. However, some papers, such as the Houston Chronicle and the Tampa Tribune, will acknowledge the controversy in news stories or in notes on the comics page. Some papers, including the Arizona Republic and the Boston Herald, will also be asking for reader feedback on the strip.

Cancellations within the world of comic strips are common, according to Lucy Shelton Caswell, professor and curator of Ohio State University's cartoon research library. Removals, however, are usually prompted by strips with pointed social or political commentary such as "Boondocks" and "Doonesbury." Frequently, if there are enough reader complaints about the removals, the comic strips are reinstated, she added.

"Comics have always been a vehicle for personal expression," said Caswell, who oversees a collection of 250,000 original cartoons and 2.5 million clippings. "And they've always ticked people off."

Religion and comic strips have mixed before Hart's recent efforts. Charles Schulz, the late creator of "Peanuts," occasionally employed Christian text in strips. One showed Linus losing his sandcastle to a rainstorm and then, paraphrasing the gospel of Matthew, stating: "It rains on the just and the unjust, Charlie Brown."

Other strips, such as "The Family Circus" and "Dennis the Menace," have adopted religious messages as well. Usually such themes coincided with major Christian holidays, like Christmas and Easter. Still, these other comic strips rarely generate the same heated discussion because they were not drawn with Hart's unapologetic, evangelical tone.

Some Jewish leaders agree that Hart's Easter panel should give Jews little cause for concern. "I really don't find it offensive," said Steven Teitelbaum, a Los Angeles-based regional president of the American Jewish Congress. "I think it shows a very conservative literal interpretation of the origins of Christianity."

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By Nick Katz

The village does not have jurisdiction over a Ku Klux Klan rally planned next month at the county courthouse in Skokie, Mayor George Van Dusen said Monday. At the same time, Van Dusen condemned the group and said the village is planning its own rally to celebrate Skokie’s diversity and counter the Klan’s message of hate. “We are proud of our diversity. In fact it is our greatest strength,” Van Dusen said at Monday’s Village Board meeting.

About two dozen residents came to the meeting to show their concern over the planned Dec. 16 “White Pride Rally” at the Cook County Courthouse, 5600 Old Orchard Road. Van Dusen said he planned to meet this week with representatives of the village clergy and the Human Relations Commission to discuss holding a “peace and unity rally” to respond to the “abhorrent repugnance” of the Klan and its beliefs.

“We encourage all Skokie citizens to turn out and show the world we have harmony,” Van Dusen said. The date, time and other details of the proposed rally still are to be set. The Klan, he said, stands for “the opposite of everything the village stands for. What they stand for is racial prejudice, intolerance and violence.” Van Dusen said an opinion from Skokie’s Corporation Council Barbara Meyer determined that the Klan rally does not come under the village’s jurisdiction because the courthouse is Cook County property. As a result, the Klan will not have to obtain an assembly permit from Skokie to hold the rally.

County officials, who recently met with Skokie officials, currently are trying to determine if the group must obtain any kind of permit from them, said Bill Cunningham, a spokesman for the Cook County Sheriff’s office. He said a decision on that may be made this week. The Mercer, Wisc., based National Ku Klux Klan applied to the village Nov. 13 asking for a permit to hold the rally with 30 people from 1 to 3 p.m. Under village ordinances the group would have had to obtain insurance and pay for extra police protection in order to receive the permit. But Michael McQueeney, self-described Grand Dragon of the National Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, said last week his group will hold the rally whether a permit, if needed, is granted or not.

“We are going to be there no matter what. This is our first amendment right,” McQueeney said. Holding rallies on courthouse steps is a Klan tradition because it is public property, he said. “If I was going to have it someplace else, I would have to have insurance,” he said. The planned rally has been announced on several white supremacist Internet sites, calling Skokie “jewtown” and referring to “parasitic jewry.” In addition to the Klan, McQueeney said other Aryan groups and the Palestine Liberation Organization will be taking part. “This is going to be a peaceful demonstration. We aren’t going to say the N word or the F word. We’re going to speak our piece,” McQueeney said. “We’re going to talk about homosexuality, race-mixing, Clinton, Alan Greenspan — who really runs this country — black-on-white crime and the Jewish-controlled media,” he said.

Diversity

It is just those kinds of messages that village officials and residents say they want to counter with the rally in support of diversity. Dave Rosario, an African-American resident who attended Monday’s meeting, said that when he heard about the Klan rally he felt anger, frustration and sadness. “There’s a real good reason they’re coming here,” he said. “We celebrate our diversity every day. This is such a wonderful place, the miracle is more people don’t want to live here.” Rosario said he plans to attend the diversity rally and he encouraged other residents also to take part.

“I'll be at that diverity celebration. I think we all should be,” Rosario said. “This is my home. All of us as citizens have a duty to tell them (Klan) we don’t want them coming into our home.” Wendy Rosenblatt said she is concerned for her children, who she said already are afraid because of the stepped up security in their schools after other recent hate incidents. “They are afraid. I am afraid,” she said. “We are proud to live in Skokie because if the diversity. They are tired of living frightened.” Another resident asked if there is anything the village can do to stop the rally.

But Meyer said previous court cases have found that groups such as the Klan have a First Amendment right to express their views. “Unfortunately, sometimes it’s hurtful to some people,” Meyer said. Van Dusen noted that the Supreme Court upheld the Nazi’s right to march in Skokie in 1978, although the group did not show up on the day the rally was to take place.

But three ordinances the village had enacted in an effort to prohibit the Nazi march were found unconstitutional and eventually had to be rescinded. “That is the problem that the county and all municipalities face,” Van Dusen said. “It’s extremely difficult. “It’s emotionally charged for me,” Van Dusen added. “My uncle died in the Second World War fighting this kind of hatred. I consider this an attack on us.” Trustee Frank McCabe noted that on the day the Nazis were to rally, only a handful of village residents showed up.

Ignore them

“The best thing we can do is to ignore these people. That’s the most effective thing we can do with the Ku Klux Klan.” But Ian Siegel, chairman of the Chicago Chapter of the Jewish Defense League, said that is exactly the wrong way to deal with the Klan. He said the group needs to be confronted directly. “You never ignore a cancer. It will come out and kill you eventually,” Siegel said. “We will meet them with the strongest defense possible.

“When someone threatens me, my family, my community with physical harm, I respond in kind,” he said. “ ‘Never again’ is the motto of the Jewish Defense League.” But McCabe criticized Siegel’s comments, calling them “irresponsible goading.”

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By JASON SONG, Special to The Times

A judge ruled Thursday that the Burbank City Council may no longer begin meetings with a sectarian prayer. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Alexander Williams III ruled that prayers referencing specific religions violate the principle of separation of church and state in the 1st Amendment.

Burbank leaders were disappointed by the ruling but have not decided whether to appeal. "I'm disgusted . . . but I'm not sure whether an appeal would be worth the money," Councilwoman Stacey Murphy said. While invocations will still be allowed, Burbank officials must now advise all clerics that "sectarian prayer as part of City Council meetings is not permitted under our Constitution," Williams wrote in his ruling. Although Burbank officials had said such advice would violate clerics' 1st Amendment free speech rights, citing earlier Supreme Court cases, Williams disagreed.

"Is it permissible under the Constitution for the City of Burbank to provide guidance concerning the content of invocations offered as part of City Council meetings? Plainly it is," he wrote.

The case stems from a Nov. 23, 1999, Burbank City Council meeting where Irv Rubin, executive chairman of the Jewish Defense League, heard a minister refer to Jesus Christ. Rubin sued, along with Alejandro Gandara, a Christian, who has spoken out against sectarian prayer during Rosemead City Council meetings. "Sectarian prayer elevates one religion over another," Rubin said. Rubin and Gandara, who did not ask for monetary damages, were pleased by the ruling.

"I'm thrilled, it renews my faith in the U.S. Constitution," Rubin said. Rubin said he planned to launch an anti-sectarian prayer campaign. "I'm going to take this to every other city council including Rosemead and tell them they are breaking the law," he said.

Superior Court judge rejects Burbank's request to dismiss the case.

By PAUL CLINTON

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES - Jewish activist Irv Rubin has won the first round of his fight to stop Burbank City Council invocations that include references to Jesus.

By Adam Dickter, Staff Writer

In low-profile case echoing Lipstadt trial, Virginia denier seeks millions from East Coast activist who denounced him. Holocaust denial may be down, but it’s not out. Just ask Charles “Skipp” Porteous, a New York writer, activist and investigator targeted in a lawsuit by an author who calls the Shoah a “myth.”

Historian Deborah Lipstadt recently triumphed in a similar case in London, in which a judge not only denied David Irving’s accusation of libel but branded Irving an anti-Semite and racist before ordering him to pay millions in court costs. But Porteous believes that Lipstadt’s vindication is only a momentary, if resounding victory in the long fight against those who question the Holocaust.

“There is nothing that is going to convince these people that the Holocaust did happen because their theories are based on hatred and prejudice, not fact,” said Porteous, 56, a former Pentecostal minister and Reform convert to Judaism who divides his time between Manhattan and Housatonic, Mass. Porteous said although the Lipstadt case dealt an international rebuke to those who deny the Holocaust, his own case has garnered far less attention.“My case is kind of unknown,” acknowledges Porteous, who founded the Institute for First Amendment Studies with his wife, Barbara Simon. “On the other hand, it is right in our backyard.”

The $34 million suit against Porteous and two other Berkshires-area residents, to be tried in U.S. District Court in Springfield, Mass., alleges that the three conspired to scuttle a series of lectures by Eustace Mullins of Virginia, the author of numerous books and articles espousing government conspiracy theories and anti-Jewish rhetoric. His books include “The Biological Jew,” “The Federal Reserve Conspiracy” and “The World Order.”

In his own biographic material, Mullins says he is a World War II veteran of the Army Air Corps and a “direct descendant of William Mullins, a signer of the Mayflower Compact.” The Anti-Defamation League considers Mullins an anti-Semitic activist with a track record that dates back to the 1950s. “He is a great popularizer in America of the idea that Jews run the Federal Reserve,” said Mark Kaplan, an ADL researcher. “He traces the ‘Jewish conspiracy’ back to Babylonia 5,000 years ago. He is off the map as far as extremism goes.”

In a December 1987 article in a Christian Defense League journal, Mullins laments that “anyone seeking public office” in the United States “must make a ritual obeisance to the Myth of the Holocaust and swear eternal belief in the doctrine that six million Jews were killed by the Germans during World War II.” Mullins did not respond to several messages seeking comment left at his home in Staunton, Va.

In his complaint, Mullins cited the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and accused the three of “acting as agents for both domestic and foreign terrorist groups,” intending to cause Mullins to suffer a heart attack or stroke, according to the Berkshire Eagle. The codefendants are Carol Szulc, pastor of the United Methodist Church in Great Barrington, and John Vosburgh, director of the Lenox Community Center. Appearances by Mullins were canceled at both places.

Porteous admits that he threatened to rally the Jewish community of the Berkshires, on the New York-Massachusetts border, to picket two speaking engagements by Mullins. He said the church was not aware of Mullins’ background. “I made them aware of who Eustace Mullins was and what his positions were,” said Porteous. Backers of the Lenexa center event also backed down under the threat of protest, he said. Judge Frank Friedman is reviewing motions for summary judgment in the case. No trial date has been set.

Porteous was sued in 1996 by Andrew Sansone of Egremont, Pa., for speaking out in the Berkshire Jewish Voice about a Mullins lecture hosted by Sansone. He also sued the Eagle for its reporting on the event, which included a front-page story labeling Mullins an anti-Semite. Both suits were unsuccessful.

Unlike the huge outpouring of support Lipstadt received from Jewish groups and survivors, Porteous said he and his codefendants are largely alone in fighting their battle. Porteous said he initially had support from the Anti-Defamation League in 1998, when the suit was filed, but that the case has since fallen “off the radar screen.” “The Jewish community in the Berkshires is either unaware or not that interested,” said Porteous. Gail Gans, director of the civil rights division for ADL, said: “We have confidence in the lawyers representing Skipp Porteous and are interested in the outcome.”

Far from being cowed by the verdict in the Lipstadt case, Holocaust deniers have come up with several theories to explain the outcome, said Ken McVay, a Canadian activist who founded the Nizkor Project on the Internet. Popular theories include “The Jews bought the judge” and “the judge was afraid of the Jews,” said McVay, whose organization monitors and combats Holocaust denial. He added that the “major players” in Holocaust denial have “long ago retreated to the Web, where they were not subject to embarrassing questions and confrontations.”

“Some push ‘Christian Identity’ but don’t identify their particular affiliation, some pimp for [Florida white supremacist Internet consultant] Don Black and [Louisiana politician] David Duke, some for CODOH [the California-based Committee for Open Debate On the Holocaust], and some for one and all. They are two-bit racists who don’t need a reason to express hatred for Jews,” he said.

A former member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, Michael Berenbaum, believes the next step in combating Holocaust denial should be identifying and exposing their funding. A judge has ordered Irving to pay at least $250,000 by June 16 to Lipstadt’s publisher, Penguin Books, to cover court costs. Berenbaum notes that those who helped Irving fund his suit may soon be forced to pick up the entire tab and thus may be identified in court documents. “Now that there has been an intellectual and legal demolition of Holocaust denial, it is time for us to understand the financial basis of their support and, hence, more of their political agenda,” he said.

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Lawyers for the Anti-Defamation League in Denver are appealing a $10.5-million judgment against the organization for defaming a couple the ADL publicly accused of being anti-Semitic. On April 28, a U.S. District Court jury decided the organization had gone too far in accusing an Evergreen, Colo., couple of anti-Semitism. The main evidence in the case turned out to be illegally recorded telephone conversations. Saul F. Rosenthal, director of ADL's Mountain States region, held a news conference accusing William and Dorothy Quigley of anti-Semitism. He based his remarks on the taped conversations. But the jury concluded those statements at the news conference--and on the radio--were defamatory and "not substantially true."

(IsraelWire-4/4) Exclusive to ISRAELWIRE - The head of the militant Jewish Defense Organization Mordechai Levy has pleaded guilty to charges that he assaulted a 12-year-old boy last July in Liberty, New York. Sentencing is scheduled for May 25, and Sullivan County prosecutor Bonnie Mitzner told the ISRAELWIRE that Levy could legally change his plea before then. If convicted, Levy could receive up to one year in prison or three years on probation.

The alleged incident took place while the child was taking part in a summer camp run by JDO which was training Jewish children to use guns and martial arts. Prosecutor Bonnie Mitzner told the ISRAELWIRE that the charge of ‘third degree assault’ emerged from an alleged incident last July at the Paramount Hotel in the Catskill Mountains. According to the complaint received by investigating police officer Geoffry Cabrera, Levy “kicked the boy in the face and eye, then struck him with his elbow in the middle of his back before kicking him in the testicles.”

The victim, a Russian Jewish immigrant living in New York City, was taken to the hospital with contusions and in substantial pain. According to Mitzner, Levy told police “that the boys had caused damage to a hotel room and he decided to teach them a lesson.” The guilty plea came after the prosecutor agreed to drop complaints from other minors filed against Levy on the same day. A 14-year-old boy complained that Levy chased him and threatened him with physical harm. There was also a police complaint that Levy committed ‘false impersonation’ when he misrepresented his identity to a police officer. Officer Cabrera said that Levy called himself Ze’ev M. Levine in order to conceal the fact that he is a convicted felon. The police were called in by a bystander who witnessed Levy brutalizing the two youths.

Levy served a prison sentence following his conviction for ‘Assault in the First Degree.’ The case related to a 1988-shooting incident in which Levy fired a semi-automatic assault rifle at a private investigator and Jewish Defense League leader Irv Rubin. The two men had come looking for Levy at the home of his associate A.J. Weberman in order to serve papers in a libel suit being filed by the JDL head. During the shooting spree a bystander was wounded in the leg by a stray bullet.

Convicted felons are barred by US federal law from owning or handling firearms. Authorities in Liberty were apparently unaware that he was teaching use of firearms at the camp. Asked about weapons instruction, Mitzner told ISRAELWIRE, “it would be federal offense for Levy to handle fire arms. We were told that there were weapons but we had no proof to press charges.” Levy’s JDO website continues to advertise weapons courses at this summer at so-call ‘Camp Jabotinsky.’ Its not clear if they plan to return to Liberty.

Mitzner said that she is waiting for the probation department to make a recommendation on sentencing and may press for jail time for Levy because “ he has a history of violence.” She acknowledged that the youths were somewhat intimidated about testifying against Levy until they were contacted by investigators. The prosecutor said that an investigator managed to convince one of the boys that he would not be harmed if they told the truth about the incident.

The Jewish Defense Organization is an outgrowth of the militant Jewish Defense League established by Rabbi Meir Kahane. While Levy claims that the JDO has as many as 3,000 members, Jewish leaders in New York say that he only has a handful of followers. Over the years Levy has been involved in a series of pranks and strange actions which have earned him the condemnation of establishment groups including the Anti-Defamation League. Even the Jewish Defense League has condemned Levy as “a dangerous and unstable individual.”

Over the years Levy was arrested and investigated for unlawful wiretappings, rioting, disturbing the peace, fighting, destruction of property, and obscene phone calls. Alleged antics attributed to Levy have included his taking out a permit for a Nazi ‘White Power’ rally in Philadelphia. According to statements Levy made to associates, this was done to raise Jewish identity in the town. In the 1980’s Levy claimed to have infiltrated the extreme right wing Lyndon LaRouche movement on behalf the ADL and federal agencies. The ADL denied it had hired Levy.

Levy had a falling out with the JDL after they claimed that he was caught “red-handed” drawing a swastika on the door of the group's Los Angeles office. There was at least one shooting accident during a weapons class given by Levy in which a Russian immigrant youngster was seriously wounded.

Much of Levy’s activities are carried out on the Internet. The JDO and Levy supporter A.J. Weberman runs websites which lash out at ADL Director Abe Foxman, and private investigator and Nazi-hunter Steve Rambam with bizarre accusations. Levy claims that Foxman was hidden by Christians during the Holocaust and, “would sell out Jews to the Nazi’s in a heartbeat.” Levy accuses Rubin of being “a drug dealer, and a traitor to the Jewish people.” Rambam, says Levy, “is not Jewish and secretly loves Nazis.” (Shimon Bar-Lev)

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By Frank X. Mullen Jr.

Some people hate Irv Rubin and he's proud of that.

"I represent what I believe is authentic Jewry," said the national chairman of the Jewish Defense League, who will be in Reno next week for lectures and to attend the trial of three men accused of bombing a Reno synagogue last year. "Jews fight against oppression."

Bill Maniaci, director of the Jewish Defense League of Nevada, said Rubin is a latter-day Simon Wiesenthal, the famous Nazi Hunter.

"Irv Rubin is the protector of the Jewish community in this country," he said. "His primary mission is ferreting out hate groups, exposing them and then destroying their infrastructure."

Rubin considers himself a warrior against racism and hatred, but he's no Gandhi. While the Indian leader believed in non-violent protests, Rubin has made his reputation with in-your-face confrontation.

He's been arrested about 40 times. Some arrests were related to his protests of the treatment of Jews in the former Soviet Union. Other arrests involved physical confrontation with Jew-haters. In 1980, he was tried for "soliciting the murders of every Nazi in the United States," and acquitted of the charges.

The Jewish Defense League, founded in 1968, made its reputation by confronting Nazis, skinheads, racists and anti-Semites. The organization was founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane, who left the JDL in 1985 to serve in the Israeli Parliament and was assassinated in 1990.

As leader of the organization, Rubin has instituted civilian patrols, organized self-defense programs of firearms and martial arts, and established assistance for elderly Jews walking to synagogue on Friday nights, among other services.

The JDL's motto is "Never Again," a reference to the Holocaust when six million Jews were murdered by the Nazis during World War II. Rubin takes the motto seriously.

"I want every Jew, a .22," he has said. "Keep alive with a .45."

His outspoken manner and controversial views make him a lightning rod for critics He's been called a racist and a terrorist, but he said he sees nothing wrong in forcefully opposing those who wish harm to Jews.

"He fights," Maniaci said. "We're proud of him."

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Duxbury, Mass. - Two 15 year-old girls face hate crime charges for allegedly shooting red and green paint balls at the home of a Jewish family and condemining the family for not decorating the house for Christmas.

One member of the family targeted in the Dec. 17 incident is a teacher in the Duxbury schools and had taught at least one of the girls, Detective Susan Manning said Tuesday.

A one-sentence note found at the scene said: "This is what happens when you don't decorate for Christmas."

The family is "terrified and extremely concerned," Manning said.