Posted on 12/16/2001 6:13:02 PM PST by Silvertip
December 16, 2001
Followers of Kahane Are Subjects of Inquiry
By DEAN E. MURPHY
The arrests in Los Angeles last week of
two members of the Jewish Defense
League charged in a bombing plot came as
federal authorities pursued a separate
terrorism-related investigation into the
activities of some followers of the late Rabbi
Meir David Kahane in Brooklyn.
In announcing the charges against the two
members, Irving David Rubin and Earl
Leslie Krugel, federal officials in Los
Angeles said the case should put to rest
complaints that the authorities have been singling out Arabs and Muslims in
their terrorism investigations since the attacks of Sept. 11.
But the leader of the Brooklyn group of Kahane followers, Michael
Guzofsky, said the federal government's eagerness to address such
complaints from Muslim Americans had resulted in an unwarranted tirade
against Jews associated with Rabbi Kahane, a militant Israeli politician who
was assassinated in Manhattan in 1990. The Jewish Defense League was
founded by Rabbi Kahane in 1968, several years before he moved to Israel
from Brooklyn.
"I sense in the air there is a tremendous pressure in Washington to show
evenhandedness and show they are not isolating Muslims, and probably the
easiest way to do that is to go after the Jews that are the easiest to
persecute," Mr. Guzofsky said, a reference to the unpopularity of the
Kahane movement among mainstream Jewish groups. (i.e. the DIRTY Klinton, Marc Rich, pardon scandal $50 million a year budget ADL)
In Brooklyn, a spokesman for the United States attorney's office would not
comment on the investigation into the activities of Mr. Guzofsky and other
Kahane followers, who operate a community center on Coney Island
Avenue as well as an Internet site that promotes Rabbi Kahane's anti-Arab
teachings.
In January, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided the
community center, the Hatikva Jewish Identity Center, and confiscated
computers, filing cabinets and other materials.
In a telephone interview from Tel Aviv, Mr. Guzofsky said federal
investigators were calling many people listed in his Rolodex, which was
among the items taken from the center. He has also been fingerprinted and
has submitted samples of his handwriting to the authorities, he said.
"I can tell you this: They are very active," Mr. Guzofsky said. "They have a
lot of agents out. They are trying so hard to find a little thing that will connect
Mike Guzofsky and the Hatikva center to terrorism."
Formerly a leader of Kahane Chai, one of two Kahane-related political
groups banned in 1994 in Israel and later designated as terrorist
organizations by the State Department, Mr. Guzofsky denies involvement in
terrorist activities. He said the Kahane followers in Brooklyn had only one
goal, to spread the word of Rabbi Kahane.
"There are not Jewish terrorists," he said.
Mr. Guzofsky said Kahane groups in Brooklyn and elsewhere in the past
had teamed with members of the Jewish Defense League on a variety of
activities, including patrolling synagogues. He said he also occasionally spoke
with Mr. Rubin, though there was no indication that the investigation in
Brooklyn was related to the arrests in Los Angeles.
"It seems to me that he is not the type of guy that engages in any form of
terrorism," Mr. Guzofsky said of Mr. Rubin. "The government needed to
generate a Jewish terrorist."
In the complaint filed in Los Angeles, federal authorities accuse Mr. Rubin
and Mr. Krugel of plotting to set off pipe bombs at a mosque in the Los
Angeles area as well as at the office of Representative Darrell Issa, whose
grandfather was Lebanese.
Huh?
However the arrest of the JDL memebers does help to show that we are after TERRORISTS regardless of religion or race.
I find it quite interesting the way some people are scrambling to defend these guys, who have known to have committed acts of violence before, before we have any real knowledge about the case.
So, these guys were planning on blowing up a mosque and a California Congressman. Do I have this right? Now, let's do the following exercise: Let's imagine that instead of the JDL being the accused party here, that some militant white racist milita types had been caught in the same situation. Do you think the media coverage of this might be a little more through? Perhaps a bit more repetition and coverage of the basic incident?
Is there any doubt?
"All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others." George Orwell, Animal Farm.
Was there a conspiracy or was there entrapment?
In similar cases, on FR, the Government would not get the benefit of the doubt without proof beyond a reasonable doubt.
I would say that the title of the thread certainly indicates strong support for the accused. I mean, if their friend says so..it's official!
Right on Rodney!!! Good grief!!! Where are all these "Government is the Boogie Man wierdo's" coming from lately??? FR is full of them of late. I think it is ANOTHER effort from some quarter to squash our patriotism and then eventually our liberties. Rise the masses so to speak. Well, it won't work here!!!
This is true. However, Jews are a special case with the government. That being said, these particular Jews are incredibly stupid. Had the mosque been blown up, the "America Firsters" here in FR would have used it to tar all Jews with the same brush.
I agree all terrorists should be apprehended regardless of race or religion. On the evidence it looks like these two guys deserved to be arrested. I will let a jury handle the rest.
It is possible they were set up -- possibly like DeLorian was set up. That is, they may have gone along with an idea that a government plant put together. DeLorian went along with the cocaine selling conspiracy but it was the feds who provided him with the idea, the contacts, the cocaine and the cash. That's why he was acquitted on the basis of entrapment. It is possible that these JDL guys were set up the same way. It terms of morality Delorian was wrong for going along with such a stupid plan, but legally he was entitled to walk. Likewise if this is how it went down for them, the JDL guys are dumb and evil for going along with it. I bet the JDL will pursue a similar defense strategy as DeLorian. We'll see.
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