The Jewish Defense League is an organization formed by Rabbi Meir Kahane in 1968 to to protect Jews from antisemitism. Many of its operations have perpetrated violence against Arab and Muslim individuals and organizations. It is considered a terrorist organization by the FBI and the JDL is banned in the United States, Canada and the EU. The French branch of the JDL, the Ligue de Défense Juive (LDJ), is not illegal in France.
France's Soaring Anti-Semitism Lures Jewish Defense League Vigilantes out of Shadows
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| Rabbi Meir Kahane |
PARIS (JTA)—With scooter helmets in hand, a man called Yohan and six
buddies stroll around Paris’ 20th arrondissement. The seven look much
like a typical group of French students—until they locate a group of
Arab men they suspect of perpetrating an anti-Semitic attack the
previous day.
Using their helmets as bludgeons, members of
France’s Jewish Defense League, or LDJ, set upon the Arabs and beat
them. Several of the Arabs attempt to escape in a blue sedan, but the
LDJ members pursue the vehicle, causing it to crash into a stone wall.
The
attack last August, filmed by a television crew shooting a documentary
on LDJ, was one of at least 115 violent incidents that critics attribute
to the group since its registration in France in 2001—a year after the
eruption of the second intifada in Israel and the sevenfold increase in
anti-Semitic incidents in the 12 years that followed.
“Now they know the price of Jewish blood,” said Yohan, the nom de guerre of Joseph Ayache, one of LDJ’s young bosses.
