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The Story of the Jewish Defense League |
bpatently anti-Semitic. The so-called Third World paper put
bout by the Black and Puerto Rican students out of college
bfunds carried hate of Israel and “Zionism” regularly, and
bthe incidence of beatings and robbings on campus had
bskyrocketed. Blacks had sectioned off a corner of the
bcafeteria, which had become forbidden to whites, and the
bsame thing was done in the Student Union. Later, in April
b1971, a Jewish student had played “L’Shana HaBach,” the
bonly Hebrew song in the Student Union jukebox, a number
bof times. (The jukebox contained a large number of “soul”
bsongs.) Claiming they were annoyed, a number of Blacks
bcame over, opened the jukebox, and broke the record.
bWhen two Jewish students protested, a toy gun (it was
bhardly known that it was a toy at the time) was pulled out,
band the two Jews pushed around. Long before the incident,
bI had been scheduled to speak at Brooklyn College on May
b4, but when I heard about it, I was furious. It was not just the
brecord but rather the evolution of the campus into a place of
barrogance, hatred, and the trampling of Jewish rights while
bJews and the administration quietly “gave them the ball.”
bThe atmosphere had to change and the militant Blacks had
bto learn that Jews would fight them and beat them if neces-
bsary.
bSpeaking to a large crowd on the Brooklyn quadrangle, I
bannounced that we were going into the Student Union and
bsince there was no longer a record of “L’Shana Ha’Bach,” we
bwould sing it “live.” Whereupon more than a hundred JDL
bpeople joined me, and we went into the “verboten” area and
bsang and danced. The ten or so Blacks could not believe
bwhat was happening and reinforcements were called. A
bmajor battle erupted, with the news media reporting on it all
bday. The next night, after we announced that we were
bcoming back for another show of Jewish Power, I was
bawakened at three in the morning by police, who served me
bwith a temporary restraining order forbidding me to reap-
bpear on campus. Since I was flying to Miami the next morn-
bing to address the Rabbinical Council of America and re-
bquest help for Avraham Hershkowits, who was sitting in
bfederal prison, the JDL showed up without me, more than a
b