Jewish Defense League
Jewish far-right organization / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a far-right religious and political organization in the United States and Canada. Its stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary";[3] it has been classified as "right-wing terrorist group" by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) since 2001,[4] and is also designated as hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.[5] According to the FBI, the JDL has been involved in plotting and executing acts of terrorism within the United States.[4][6] Most terrorist watch groups classify the group as inactive as of 2015.[7]
Jewish Defense League | |
---|---|
Founder | Meir Kahane |
Leader | Shelley Rubin |
Foundation | 1968; 56 years ago (1968) |
Allegiance | Kach Party (formerly) |
Motives | Radical anti-antisemitism |
Headquarters | New York City, Los Angeles, and Toronto |
Active regions | United States, Canada, and Israel |
Ideology | Kahanism |
Political position | Far-right |
Slogan | "Never Again!" |
Status | Inactive in the United States and Canada (2021)[1] Active in France[2] |
Size | 15,000 (peak) |
Designated as a terrorist group by | United States |
Colors |
Founded by Meir Kahane in New York City in 1968, the JDL's self-described purpose was to protect Jews from local manifestations of antisemitism.[3][8] Its criticism of the Soviet Union increased local support for the group, transforming it from a "vigilante club" into an organization with a stated membership numbering over 15,000 at one point.[9] The group took to bombing Arab and Soviet properties in the United States[10] while assassinating a variety of alleged "enemies of the Jewish people" ranging from Arab-American political activists to neo-Nazis.[11] A number of JDL members have been linked to violent, and sometimes deadly, attacks in the United States and in other countries, including the murder of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee regional director Alex Odeh in 1985, the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre in 1994, a plot to assassinate U.S. Representative Darrell Issa in 2001,[12] and a plot to bomb the King Fahad Mosque in Culver City, California. In 1990, Kahane was assassinated by an Egyptian-American gunman at a hotel in New York City.[13]
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the JDL consists only of "thugs and hooligans"[14] and Kahane "preached a radical form of Jewish nationalism which reflected racism, violence, and political extremism,"[3] attitudes that were replicated by his successor Irv Rubin.[15]