Oct 29, 2018

When Kahane Came To Allentown

He told the Jews gathered in Allentown that their leaders were spineless, that's how the controversial rabbi spoke. When Meir Kahane came to town in the summer of 1990, none of the Jewish institutions would give him space to speak. Before emigrating to Israel, he had formed the Jewish Defense League in NYC in 1968. He lectured that turning the other cheek was a Christian concept, and that the minimum take away from the Holocaust was that American Jews should own a gun, and know how to use it. His views in Israel about nationalism on the West Bank were much more controversial, and he was jailed there for incitement.  His speech in Allentown was one of his last. He was assassinated later that year during a speech in NYC. 

above reprinted from April 15, 2014

ADDENDUM: October 29, 2018

Although the synagogue shooting is on my mind, I'm not advocating for  Jewish self defense. Likewise, I do not feel that the Vote, Vote, Vote chants at the Pittsburg vigil Saturday night are the appropriate response... Anti-semitism and racial bigotry are not the by-product of current politics, but rather historical flaws in our human condition. We must somehow learn and effectively teach prejudice reduction.

15 comments:

  1. It is disgusting to bring politics into this sick tragedy. It was reported that the shooter was big time anti Trump.
    I read a half page ad in Sunday's Morning Call to Pennsylvania Jews to vote Democrat to change back America. The ad attempts to speak for all Jews of Pennsylvania. It spews out specific anti Trump hate citing what's gone wrong since the election of Trump. And if you are a caring Jew, you MUST vote for Democrats.
    If this is how caring Jews MUST vote, cancel my membership.

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  3. Ich bin ein etnischer deutscher, der kein amerikanischer Staatsbuerger ist.

    And, as luck would have it, I am also not Jewish. Having said these two things in order to identify myself a little bit better (something the Democrat Party and their loyal voters seem to be such particularly big fans of these days - but only if you happen to be a member of certain special tribes, of course), I would also like to say that I, for one, would have no problem if every American citizen who just so happens to be Jewish also just so happens to not only own a gun, but also knows how to use a gun properly, too.

    Respectfully,

    ROLF OELER

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  4. Prominent Jews call Trump America's friendliest US President toward Israel.
    After 70 years a US President fulfills a promise to recognize Israel's own capital.
    Trump's policies reward those who achieve.
    Trump hater shoots Jews in Pittsburgh.
    It's Trump's fault?

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  5. Even if it wasn't Trumps fault. You ignore his behavior on the day of the massacre! He JOKED he might have cancelled for a bad hair day.
    You are,awful to take this opportunity to bash the people who gathered.
    The Charlottesville torch parade yelled 'kill the Jews' and he responded with 'good people on BOTH sides
    Shame on you. And you still support this madness.
    SHAME ON YOU.
    The Trump haters will still protect you Mike. First they came for my neighbor!

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  6. I was sorry to see politics and the upcoming election tried in any way to the vigil for the victims.

    the same holds true for the gun control issue.

    I reposted my piece on Kahane coming to Allentown not to advocate his philosophy to anyone, but to note an interesting event in Allentown's past. He spoke in the evening at the Trexler Middle School to a medium size audience.

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  7. On the way back from Israel in August 1974 right after Nixon resigned, I learned at Meir Kahana was in the first class section of the plane. I was given permission to interview him as I was a journalism student. My takeaway was that he thought he was Messianic or a Navi at a minimum. The fact of the matter was he was in favor of ethnic cleansing. The PC terminology would be incentivised relocation. Regrettably, that may be one of the options to diffuse the unsustainable situation in Gaza

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  8. Valerie Chambers said...

    "Even if it wasn't Trumps fault..."


    Valerie, it wasn't. No "if" needed.

    I feel sorry for you that you're so blinded by your own hatred, and that you can't put it aside long enough to simply mourn those who died and pray for the survivors.

    Nobody's life and happiness should be controlled by any politician, of any political party. The power you're giving Trump over YOUR life, and YOUR happiness, far exceeds what really exists.

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  9. Yes, all the news is tied to Trump and it's now routine to make the negative aspects of every particular story Trump's fault. And as in the Pittsburgh shooting if no links can be found the press finds something Trump said, might have said, should have said, didn't say, did, didn't do...in an attempt to keep the hate going.

    Frankly, many Americans are sick of it.

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  10. By the way, shame on those who perpetuate such.

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  11. Meir Kahane was not a Jeffersonian Democrat; he was an ultra orthodox rabbi. Hence, he followed the Bronze & Iron Age Torah portions of Exodus which preached genocide of the inhabitants of the "Promised Land." As always, the gods men create don't talk to one another...Yahweh may have promised the land to Moses and to Abraham's progeny, but, he forgot to tell Baal and the other gods of the region. Hence, where ever man covets land another inhibits, to the military victor goes the spoils. It's called warfare, and it's very profitable to vendors & politicians who reap the financial windfalls & contributions. Mostly, it's the poor who do the fighting and whose lives are ended or ruined.

    Of course bigotry has long standing historical precedents, but, Trump and the spineless GOP ass lickers & white/reich wing talk radio & Fox News contribute mightily to the present atmosphere by their shameless conspiracy nonsense theories and lies. The Pittsburgh shooter was a Trump supporter, there are pictures of him at Trump rallies, and of his van plastered with Trump posters. He was mad at Trump for not blaming the Jews more for the world's ills, but, was edged on by Trump's bile & harmful overall tone and speech.

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  12. Again thanks Trent for demonstrating the ugliness and rage of the left for us. And in such a timely fashion. You are the best!

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  13. Good Lord---I can't even begin to imagine a world with a leader like Trent. Possibly Germany under Hitler. His hate spewing comments sound like something that would have been broadcast over Nazi Germany. I acknowledge his 1st Amendment rights but . . . YIKES!!!

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  15. Wait a second...

    Kahane was assassinated in NYC in 1990? And Trump is FROM NYC.

    I think we need a Special Prosecutor to determine Trump's involvement in the assassination.


    Seriously, though, some interesting points regarding his death (courtesy of Wikipedia, which can't be wrong):

    His assassin was initially acquitted of Kahane's murder. But the assassin was later convicted of the murder, after being involved in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The assassin was able to be tried a second time for the murder since the federal indictment was filed as part of a terrorist conspiracy.

    His killer was sentenced to life and later confessed.

    Some consider Kahane the first victim of Al-Queda (then a new group), because of the assassin's connections to Osama bin Laden.

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