Jewish Defense League

The organization was established in mid-1968. The original goal of the group was to protect the Jewish population of the “mixed” areas of Brooklyn and other US cities from hooliganism and provocation by anti - Semitic elements from black and Latin American quarters and to protect Jewish property during racial unrest. ^[3] The motto of the organization was the phrase “Never again!” - “This must not be repeated!” (Meaning the destruction of European Jewry by the Nazis ).

One of the founders of the League was Sai Frumkin , a prisoner of the Kaunas ghetto and the Dachau concentration camp ^[6] .

In May 1969, a training camp “JEDEL” was created near Los Angeles, in which members of the “League” were trained in hand-to-hand combat and handling firearms ^[7] .

Since 1969, the organization began an active campaign for the right of the Jews of the USSR to repatriate to Israel . ^{[3] [4]} Many members of the League, including its founder and first leader, Rabbi Meir Kahane , were repeatedly detained by the police for participating in public disobedience actions.

On March 21, 1971, the League held a mass demonstration in Washington near the Soviet embassy:

• “Almost three thousand people with six-pointed stars on clothes came to demand freedom for Soviet Jews. It was a peaceful demonstration, people sang the song Shlomo Karlebakh “Am Israel High” (the people of Israel is alive), chanted “Freedom to Soviet Jews!”, “ Let my people go! “” ^[8] .

Since the demonstrators blocked traffic near the embassy, ​​Kahane and several others were arrested ^[9] .

The organization’s tactics were to attract the attention of the press to the situation of Jews in the USSR through demonstrations and other protests, including violent acts directed against Soviet targets. Jewish Defense League seeks support from US government by jeopardizing US-Soviet trade and cultural relations . Kahane and other activists expected that in this way they would be able to force the United States to abolish restrictions on exit as one of the conditions for trade with the countries of the socialist bloc (see Jackson-Vanik Amendment ). This activity brought the organization wide popularity in the USA and abroad and caused a sharp conflict between the "Jewish Defense League" and the Jewish establishment of the USA, which basically shared its goals, but did not approve of its methods. Representatives of the Jewish community in Moscow also said in 1976 that they did not approve of JDL methods, as ^[10]

• "Such actions constitute a danger to Soviet Jews ... because they can be used by the authorities as an excuse for new repressions and for inciting anti-Semitic actions."

At the same time, one of the Soviet refuseniks, Joseph Mendelevich , later wrote about the League’s activity: ^[11]

• “Each action of the League caused a rage in the Soviets. We, activists of the struggle for aliyah, were happy to catch every message about this in Pravda, Izvestia, and the radio. Finally, we have a friend and an assistant. ”

In 1971, Kahane, and after him many activists of the Jewish Defense League, immigrated to Israel , where they founded the far-right Kah party. Kahane remained the nominal leader of the League until April 1974, and Kakh first participated in the Knesset elections in 1973 under the name “League List”. However, Kahana soon had to give up the post of international chairman and distance from the JDL, which had split by that time into several factions and had lost its former influence.

The Jewish Defense League in America experienced a few minor outbursts of activity in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, but overall, without the charismatic leader and after the most active supporters immigrated to Israel, its activities were significantly reduced and demonstrations were no longer accepted mass character. The organization survived several splits and lost its former influence, actually breaking up into several warring groups. As a result, the name was retained by the group under the leadership of Irv Rubin from Los Angeles , who took over as chairman in the mid-1980s.

Rubin was arrested in December 2001 by the FBI anti-terrorist service when he was charged with planning a terrorist attack on a mosque in California and attempted murder of Arab Congressman Darrell Issu . ^[12] Rubin died in prison before being sentenced (according to an official report, as a result of suicide), and a little later was killed the second activist of the Jewish Defense League, arrested in the same case, Earl Krugel . ^{[13] [14]}

Irva Rubin’s wife, Shelley, became the League’s nominee leader after his death, but many veterans left the organization due to disagreement with her appointment. Shelley Rubin, like other relatives of those killed, unsuccessfully demanded an investigation into the circumstances of their death, casting doubt ^{on the} official version of the events ^[15] .

According to the FBI, in the 1970s and early 1980s, dozens of terrorist attacks were launched by Jewish extremist groups in the United States (including the Jewish Defense League) ^[2] . According to the US National Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism Consortium (START), between 1970 and 2007, JDL carried out 55 terrorist attacks in the United States (including 14 explosions, 34 attacks and one attempt to hijack a plane) and became Thus, the third grouping according to the number of terrorist attacks ^{[16] [17]} .

According to Soviet data, “ only in the period from December 1969 to January 1972, Kahane’s followers committed one murder, using a sniper rifle in an apartment of Soviet diplomats in which there were children, 13 explosions of premises (including Aeroflot and Intourist “And buildings where Arab diplomats resided), 34 armed attacks and one attempt to hijack an aircraft, they also include 11 cases of pogroms of official institutions and missions, 19 cases of street riots, 10 raids on public meetings, 15 cases of people amendments to the law on the possession of weapons and about 1200 detentions for violations of public order and criminal offenses ” ^{[18] [19]}

• On December 29, 1969, League activists captured the New York offices of the Soviet organizations Intourist and Aeroflot. At the same time, M. Kahane and three activists broke into the local TASS office, scattered leaflets of anti-Soviet content ^[20] and painted the walls of the premises with the slogans “The people of Israel are alive!” And “Let my people go!”. At the same time, at the airport. The members of the League wrote the same appeals on the fuselage of a passenger plane arriving from Moscow to J.F. Kennedy , and two of them chained themselves with handcuffs to the liner's chassis ^[21] .
• in January 1970, people of M. Kahane disrupted the concert of the Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra in the United States ^[21] .
• September 27, 1970 - two JDL activists were arrested at the airport. J. F. Kennedy, when trying to capture an airliner in one of the Arab countries, they had firearms and explosives with them.
• on the night of November 28-29, 1970 - an explosion was made at the TASS and Aeroflot representative offices in Manhattan (both representative offices were located in the same building) ^[22]
• January 8, 1971 - an explosion was made near the Soviet cultural center in Washington ^[23]
• in 1971, members of the JDL fired twice at the building of the USSR mission to the UN .

• including October 21, 1971 - four shots were fired from a semi-automatic rifle with a telescopic sight (the shooter was on the roof of a neighboring building, Hunter College), at a time when 7 -year-old daughter of one of the employees ^[24] . The position of the shooter made it possible to see what was happening in the apartment ^[25] . The shelling of the mission was condemned by UN Secretary-General Wu Tan ^[26] . US State Department spokesman C. Bray described the shelling as “a meaningless and cowardly act of violence ” ^[27]

• January 26, 1972 (New York) - an explosion in a building on 56th Street, in the office of impresario Sol Yuroka , who was organizing a tour of Soviet ensembles in the United States. Dying, suffocating in the smoke, Iris Kones - secretary of S. Urok, injured and burned by Yurok himself and from 9 to 12 of his employees. ^{[28] [29]}
  • According to some sources, an incendiary bomb was detonated ^[30] . M. Sturua, citing the chief of detectives of New York Sidman, wrote that the bomb was equipped with a mixture with an exceptionally high combustion temperature, as a result of which the typewriter and other metal objects in the room partially melted in the fire. ^[31]
  • According to other sources, a makeshift smoke bomb ^{[32] [33] [34]} or a saber ^{[35] [29]} , made by the FBI informant Sheldon Seigel ^[36] , was blown up. The then leader of the League, B. Zeybon, denied even her plans for such attacks, and M. Kahane, who was in Israel at that time, called this action “crazy” ^[37] .
• August 23, 1974 - Four JDL members were detained while trying to disrupt the performance of Soviet ballet at a festival in Pennsylvania.
• mortar shelling of the UN building ^{[ specify ]} .
• in 1975 - an attack on the mission of Egypt and the representation of Air France in New York.
• on the night of April 2, 1976 - another shelling of the USSR mission to the UN in New York. The bullet broke through the window of the room in which the family of one of the employees lived while the woman was with the child in the room ^[38] .
• December 22, 1980 - the residential complex of the Soviet Embassy in Washington was stoned, glass was broken ^[39] ;
• December 23, 1980 - a Soviet diplomat’s car was opened and mutilated in Washington, a note with threats was left in the car’s cabin ^[39] ;
• February 1, 1981 - a hooligan trick against a group of Soviet representatives in New York ^[39] ;
• February 3, 1981 - hooligan actions against family members of Soviet representatives in New York (during a walk in the park, several aggressive young men threatened and insulted women and children, one of the women spat in the face) ^[39] ;
• March 17, 1981 - the fence and gates of the country house of the Soviet representative office in Glenkov were ruined ^[39] ;
• March 29, 1981 - an attack on a Soviet diplomat, four raiders hit him on the head with a hilt of a pistol and expressed threats of physical violence ^[40] ;
• May 3, 1981 - a rally outside the building of the USSR mission to the UN, in which 150 JDL activists participated ^[39] ;
• May 4, 1981 - several JDL activists surrounded and blocked a Soviet diplomat’s car: when the American police did not intervene, they threw mud at the diplomat and pasted the car with leaflets of anti-Soviet content ^[39] ;
• May 13, 1981 - three incendiary bombs were discovered and defused at the building of the Soviet mission ^[40] ;
• May 17, 1981 - an incendiary bomb was discovered and defused on the territory of a residential complex of the Soviet mission, not far from the place where the school bus stopped ^[40] ;
• in October 1981 - shelling of the USSR mission to the UN (machine gun burst of 12 shots) ^[24] ;
• On February 19, 1982, an explosion was made in Washington at the entrance to the Aeroflot branch ^{[41] [42]} .
• On the evening of July 5, 1982, two explosions were fired at the buildings of the consulates of Lebanon and France in New York ^[43] .
• in September 1983, a group of extremists broke down an iron gate and broke into the territory of the residence of the Soviet representative to the UN in Glenkov ^[44] ;
• On the morning of December 11, 1983, a glass Molotov cocktail bottle was thrown into the territory of the Soviet representative office at the UN in Glenkov ^{[44] [45]} ;
• February 23, 1984 in New York on the territory of the Soviet mission to the UN, an improvised explosive device was detonated. The representative of Iraq to the United Nations F. Ziad condemned the attack, March 1, 1984 a resolution condemning the attack was adopted by the UN General Assembly ^[46] . In 1987, performers were arrested ^[47]
• September 1985. The assassination of Cherim Subzokov . The murder was not solved. The FBI suspected the involvement of the Jewish Defense League ^[48] .
• On October 11, 1985, in Santa Ana, California, Alex Odeh , the regional director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC ), a Palestinian-born US citizen, was killed in a bomb explosion. According to the FBI, members of the JDL could have been involved in the killing ^[49] , but the killing remained unsolved ^[50] .
• September 2, 1986 - (New York) a grenade with tear gas was thrown into the audience of the Metropolitan Opera during the premiere of the dance ensemble I. Moiseyev ^[51] . As a result, 4 thousand spectators were required to be evacuated from the auditorium ^[52] .
• October 20, 1986 - (New York) a bomb explosion at the entrance to the Avery Fisher Hall before the performance of the Moscow Symphony Orchestra ^{[51] [52]} .
• On January 8, 2009, members of the French section of the Jewish Defense League attacked the Lyceum of Jeanson de Sayy ^[53]
• On July 3, 2009, in Paris, five men with sticks and bottles of oil broke into the Résistances library, and the library was destroyed as a result of the attack. Six days later, four out of five participants in the attack were detained - members of the French section of the Jewish Defense League ^[53] .
• On April 3, 2011, about 20 members of the French section of the Jewish Defense League, armed with chains, attempted to break into the Cinéma Espace St Michel in Paris and disrupt the screening of the documentary film Gaza-strophe, Palestine. Unable to get into the auditorium, the extremists left the building, leaving the posters of the Jewish Defense League on its walls and promising to “burn a movie theater” ^[54] .
• in March 2012, in Paris, several JDL activists broke into a cafe where the autograph session of the writer Jacob Cohen was held, and they threw eggs and flour at the 67-year-old writer and also doused him with butter. At the same time, the attackers shouted: “The overseers in the concentration camps had no choice!” You have it! ”And“ This will be repeated whenever you sign autographs! ” ^[55] .
• On June 28, 2012, in Paris, JDL activists poured red paint on Olivia Zemor, president of CAPJPO-EuroPalestine, a public organization that spoke in support of the Palestinians and urged French people to boycott Israeli products in July 2009 ^[56] .

• 1968 - 1971 - Rabbi Meir Kahane .
• 1971 - 1973 - David Fish , a student at Columbia University who later wrote the book “Jews for Nothing”
• 1973 - 1974 - there was no leader until Rabbi Kahane returned in August 1974 .
• 1974 - 1976 - Russell Cologner , originally from Philadelphia . A former US Army lieutenant trained in counter-guerrilla warfare, he came to New York to head the JEDEL paramilitary camp and later manage the national office as chairman.
• 1976 - 1978 - Bonnie Pechter .
• September 1978 - December 1978 - Victor Vancier , later sentenced to prison for attempting to organize explosions against Egyptian targets, to disrupt negotiations on the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Sinai Peninsula .
• 1979 - 1981 - Brett Becker , originally from Florida .
• 1981 - 1983 - Meir Jolowitz , originally from Arizona .
• 1983 - 1984 - Fern Sidman (National Director).
• 1984 - 1987 - Victor Vancier (repeatedly; his appointment led to a new split in the organization).
• 1987 - 2002 - Irv Rubin (part of activists was considered a leader since 1984 ).
• 2002 - present - Shelley Rubin (widow of Irva Rubin; her self-designation led to a new split in the organization; branches that left her merged under the new name Bnei Elim ).

• При оценке советских источников стоит учесть их анти-израильскую риторику , а также военно-политическую поддержку СССР арабской стороны и непосредственное участие советских военнослужащих и подразделений Вооружённых Сил СССР в арабо-израильском конфликте во время Холодной войны , в том числе, во время деятельности Лиги.

• Официальный сайт Лиги защиты евреев (англ.)
• Канадское отделение Лиги защиты евреев
• Немецкое отделение Лиги защиты евреев
• Лига защиты евреев — статья из Электронной еврейской энциклопедии
• Лига защиты евреев в Encyclopedia Terroristica
• Security Management's page on terrorist allegations
• Criminal Complaint in US v. Rubin and Krugel .
• Лига защиты евреев развязывает кампанию насилия в Америке — статья в Washington Report (англ.)
• Лига защиты евреев раскололась на враждующие фракции — статья в CultNews.com (англ.)
• Убит член JDL, заключенный в тюрьму за попытку организации теракта — ABC News о смерти Эрла Кругэля (англ.)
• Терроризм в Соединенных Штатах 1999 Отчёт ФБР
• Подборка статей о JDL , The Rick A. Ross Institute .