For the longest time I couldnt understand why when Bonnie Pechter was leading the JDL they had still so effectively handled the crisis in Skokie in 1977-78 when the Nazis wanted to march. It seems that the California and Chicago chapters broke off from the National JDL and swore their alliegence to the Rav, it makes a lot more sense now.
Membership woes hurt
ACLU while others gain
By DIANE DUBEY
Correspondent
WHILE THE American Civil Liberties
Union (ACLU) has suffered a significant
loss of membership and
funding due to participation in the ongoing
Nazi controversy, another group
has greatly benefited from its stand on
this issue.
“We’re getting a broad base of support
among middle-American Jews
who are finding out that violence is not
our basic theme,” said Buzz Alpert, director
of the Chicago area chapter of
the Jewish Defense League (JDL).
Alpert told The LIFE Wednesday,
May 24, that local JDL membership
has expanded from the core group dating
back to the early 1970’s to more
than 250 at present.
“People realize that violence sometimes
becomes necessary in order to
preserve Jewish life and continuity,”
he said.
In contrast, the ACLU Chicago office,
which chose to provide legal counsel
to neo-Nazis who have been
planning to march in Skokie, has lost
about 25% of its membership and nearly
one-third of its budget, according to
David Hamlin, ACLU executive director.
BUT, HAMLIN said, the members
who have chosen to abide by the ACLU
decision “are providing a little extra
support.”
The national ACLU organization
recently raised $400,000 in a special solicitation
for the Nazi defense, he said.
“This shows an institutional willingness
to support even unpopular litigation.”
Leaders of both the JDL and the
ACLU share an interest in preserving
First Amendment rights, but they are
of different minds in determining what
these rights are.
“Any person of reasonable intelligence
would not kid himself to think
that the founding fathers formulated a
First Amendment that people could use
as an excuse to preach death,” Alpert
said.
Hamlin maintains that all ideas
have the right to be aired so that people
have sufficient information to make
an intelligent decision.
“The greater exposure (Nazi leader)
Frank Collin gets, the safer I am
from him,” he said. “The more critical
examination of his philosophy, the
more people who will understand how
evil and dangerous that philosophy is.”
ACCORDING TO Alpert, 95% of the
JDL feels that the current battle is not
a question of the First Amendment.
“We believe that the judicial system
does not have the courage to uphold
the law,” he said.
To Hamlin, however, the legal system
in this country “serves rather well
ultimately. It’s slow and arduous, often
ponderous and weighty, but it gets
the job done,” he said.
Asked if he is frustrated by the
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ACLU loses members
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seemingly unending legal struggle between
Skokie and the Nazis, Hamlin replied
that he is “Frustrated in the
sense that this controversy has a way
of not going away and we’d like to
move on to other things.”
But, he added, “This is the way the
legal system works, and besides, I’m
too tired to be frustrated.”
While the ACLU is paving legal
roads for a Nazi march in Skokie, JDL
members are preparing for the same
day.
WE'LL DO what we have to -
We're conducting classes in street
fighting, teaching firearms, and preparing
to meet them head on,” Alpert
said.
“While this is going on , Frank
Collin is laughing at his Jewish lawyer
(ACLU attorney David Goldberger)
and the courts - he's the last one to
believe this has anything to do with
First Amendment rights.”
Wha t Alpert finds frustrating is the
fact that the JDL is also engaged in another
conflict-with its own national organization.
He told The LIFE that this week the
Chicago and California JDL chapters
formed a coalition and split from the
national body.
“We were willing to work together
for the sake of unity, but the New York
JDL says we don’t exist,” Alpert said.
ALTHOUGH CHICAGO members
are still willing to cooperate with any
chapterr including New York Alpert
said he sees no reconciliation as long
as Bonnie Pechter remains national
director.
The Chicago and Los Angeles-based
chapters still recognize JDL founder
Rabbi Meir Kahane as their “spiritual
leader,” he added.
Topic: JDL in Skokie (Read 2369 times)