12	The Story of the Jewish Defense League

btaken out, calling upon the public to come and participate in bKazakov’s hunger fast across the street from the United bNations. Kazakov was fasting so that his parents and other bJews who wished to leave the USSR and go to Israel might bdo so.

bThe response of New York’s two million Jews was hardly boverwhelming. All two million did not show up, nor did two bthousand. In fact, the whole Kazakov story might have died bwithout a whimper had not JDL showed up. On April 1, I sat bwith Kazakov while he rested in a rented van and com- bplained bitterly about the lack of publicity. Taking about ten bJDL people, we strode to the US Mission to the United bNations, three blocks away, and proceeded to sit in. The bflustered officials were told that I had come to see Ambas- bsador Charles Yost concerning Kazakov. When told he was bout, we gave our own stock answer: “We’ll wait.”

bAnd we did—on the floor of the lobby. Meanwhile, bnewsmen began swarming about the building snapping pic- btures and waiting for a story. It is amazing how the Yosts of bthis world suddenly emerge under such circumstances. I bwas told that I and one other representative could see Mr. bYost, who had miraculously reappeared. I told the ambas- bsador that we hoped he would use his influence on behalf of bSoviet Jews and when the charade was over we had what we bwanted. Publicity for Yasha Kazakov. A brief lesson in con- bfrontation politics, USA.

bJune 1970 dawned with the JDL following up its forged bcopy of an issue of the Communist Party’s paper Daily bWorld (we put out a “special” edition stating that the party bleadership had split sharply over the Soviet Jewish issue, bbringing down angry denials by the Communists) with a visit bto the paper itself.

bAccording to an editorial in The New York Times that bweek, “The latest outrage by this small group of extremists b[the JDL] took place this week at the offices of the Daily bWorld, the Communist newspaper that is the successor to bthe Daily Worker. The militants entered the premises and bthreatened the staff because the newspaper had failed to breport on the plight of Soviet Jews. According to the Daily b