Jewish Defense League gets cold reception
Idea of community self- defence can lead to vigilantism, rabbi says
The Jewish Defense League is promising to defend Quebec’s Jewish community by helping to crack down on radical Islamic groups. But one day after the group’s Montreal chapter got off the ground, its many detractors were already criticizing its presence in the city.
Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre took to Twitter to say the group isn’t welcome here and Jewish community leaders denounced the controversial organization.
“They’re an unnecessary distraction and the idea of engaging in Jewish self- defence can lead into vigilantism which is something that no community will tolerate,” said Rabbi Reuben Poupko, a board member at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs Québec in Montreal.
Poupko acknowledged that many Quebec Jews are concerned about the threat of radical Islam after the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, Copenhagen and the killings of two Canadian soldiers.
“Jewish institutions have too often been the target,” he said. “Just because one is concerned, it doesn’t mean that JDL is the answer.”
The JDL was founded in the U. S. in the 1960s. In 2001, the Federal Bureau of Investigation called the JDL a “violent extremist Jewish Organization” in its report on terrorism. U. S. authorities arrested two active members of the JDL in 2001 who they said planned to bomb a mosque in California. The group’s Canadian branch does not have a history of violence, although a few of its members have been part of protests that have turned violent.
Police in Montreal and across Canada are well equipped to deal with the threat that all Montrealers face from radical terrorist groups, Poupko said. “The police are very attentive to our concerns and they keep us up to date on any threats that may exist,” he said. “We have very good relations with them and we are confident in the police to provide us with the security that the community needs.”
However, Meir Weinstein, the leader of JDL- Canada, said some members of Montreal’s Jewish community asked him to re- establish a chapter here because of a rise in Islamic fundamentalism here and around the world. Weinstein said his members would try to gather credible information about radical groups and pass that on to authorities. He said his group has about 3,000 names on its mailing list and said about 100 people attended the first meeting in Montreal.
Poupko encouraged the Jewish community to ignore the group and said support for the JDL is an “undeserved vote of non- confidence in the police.” He said the police have done a good job of responding to attacks on Jewish community institutions over the past several years.
“These attacks were followed by arrests, prosecution and imprisonment,” he recalled.
Salam Elmenyawi, a Muslim cleric and the head of the Muslim Council of Montreal, said the police need to make sure that the JDL doesn’t poison the relationship between Montreal’s Jewish and Muslim communities.
“We object to their presence in Montreal,” he said. “It’s not up to them to act like the police.” Elmenyawi said he was pleased to see that Jewish leaders had spoken out against the group.
Eta Yudin, an associate director at the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, doubted that the JDL would have the resources to infiltrate radical groups in Montreal. She said the group is trying to “sensationalize incidents to create a higher level of panic than is necessary.”
“We don’t condone or endorse their philosophy,” she said.
Poupko said the JDL “is a small, marginal group that does not receive any substantial support within the Jewish community.” He added: “By claiming that the Jews of Quebec need a rapid response team to anti- Semitic threats, the JDL is irresponsibly contributing to the creation of a climate of fear within the Jewish community.”
But Weinstein maintains that he does have support in the Jewish community and said some non-Jews turned up at the meeting on Monday night. “Radical Islam is not just a Jewish issue,” he said. When asked whether he thought the JDL would have to use violence to shut down radical Islamic groups, he said: “No, it’s just information gathering right now.”