Meir Weinstein

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Meir Weinstein (also known as Meir Halevi, born Marvin Weinstein[1]) is the national director of the Canadian branch of the extremist group, the Jewish Defense League.

Contents

[edit] Background

Weinstein has been leader of the Canadian JDL since the late 1970s but formerly went under the pseudonym "Meir Halevi". He joined the JDL, at the age of 20, after reading the book Never Again by Meir Kahane. Previously an assimilated Jew, Weinstein began attending synagogue regularly, began studying Jewish texts and became more involved in the Jewish community as a result of reading the book. He founded the Toronto JDL branch in 1979.[2] In the 1980s, Weinstein was involved in identifying alleged Nazi war criminals living in Canada.[3]

Weinstein is a trained bodyguard and served in the Israel Defense Forces. [4]

[edit] In Alberta

In the mid-1980s, Weinstein travelled to Alberta on several occasions in an attempt to organize the Jewish community against anti-Semitic activity in the province - particularly, against the activities of Aryan Nations organizer Terry Long. He received national media attention in 1986 when he picketed "AryanFest" when it was held on Long's Alberta compound.[5] The previous year, Weinstein had held meetings in Edmonton in an attempt to organize a JDL branch there. During one of the meetings he shouted down Rabbi Haim Kemelman, leader of Edmonton's Beth Shalom synagogue, after he criticized the JDL's methods and called Weinstein a "carpetbagger"[6] and alleged he was trumping up a non-existent crisis of anti-Semitism in an attempt create an Edmonton JDL branch. "Those kinds of rabbis, those kind of Jews, in the end they dig a grave for Jews," said Weinstein who accused the rabbi of being "rude and extremist".[7] "You see, I am silenced," the rabbi was reported as saying to a reporter after the incident, adding, "that is the JDL."[8]

In 1986, an editorial in the Globe and Mail criticized Weinstein (under his pseudonym of Meir Halevi) for claiming that the Alberta government was aiding neo-nazi Terry Long: "to say, as Mr. Halevi does, that this group exists with the assistance of the provincial government is simply a lie. And to advocate, as he does, any means legal or illegal to destroy the Aryan Nations group is irresponsible."[9]

[edit] On Baruch Goldstein

In 1994, in his capacity as Canadian spokesman for the banned Israeli political party Kach, Weinstein, using his pseudonym of Meir Halevi, commented on the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre committed by party member Baruch Goldstein in Hebron saying "[o]ur organization does not condemn the attack. It condemns the Israeli government for not providing adequate protection for settlers."[10] He added that Kach does not advocate physical attacks on Palestinians but that it wants all members of terrorist organizations expelled from Israel.[11]

[edit] Protest at Palestine House

In 2002, during the JDL's inactive period, Weinstein organized another group called the United Israel Action Committee which organized two demonstrations outside of Palestine House in Mississauga, Ontario. At the second demonstration the pro-Palestinian counterdemonstrators were joined by 20 children. Palestine House president Rashad Saleh said the demonstrators "should be the ones who should be ashamed. (They) are coming here and terrorizing our little children." [12] Weinstein argued that the children had been brought out as "pawns" by Palestine House and claimed that the organization his group was picketing used its charitable status to fund the Palestine Liberation Organization. "The people standing across the street are those who support the murders of Jews," said Weinstein to a reporter.[13]

[edit] 2007 Newmarket mosque dispute

In 2007, Weinstein helped organize a town hall session to raise questions about the Newmarket mosque's connections with Zafar Bangash. The controversial imam has promoted sharia law and vigorously defended Iran's fundamentalist regime and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement. The mosque spokesperson denied that Bangash will have anything to do with the day-to-day running of the mosque.[14]

The meeting was criticized as "one-sided" because no officials from the mosque were invited. John Thompson, president of the Mackenzie Institute, was one of the featured speakers at the town hall. He told the Star that he was invited by Ron Banerjee, one of the organizers, but would have "called in with the flu" had he known Weinstein would be there because of his association with the JDL.[15]

Weinstein found himself on the defensive at the meeting, according to the National Post, after he inferred that a town councillor had accepted a bribe. Newmarket resident Brian Patterson said of Weinstein: "I don't think he has any credibility at all. To suggest at a public meeting that any public official in this town has taken a bribe without any evidence of that is outrageous."[16]

In his arguments against the mosque, Weinstein told the audience of about 30, "[i]f, God forbid, an Islamic state ever came to fruition in this country, we would be doomed. Is that what you want in this country?"[17]

[edit] Clash with Paul Fromm

A 2007 demonstration against Paul Fromm while he was on his way to a disciplinary hearing at the Ontario College of Teachers resulted in the arrest of two JDL activists who were accused of assaulting the controversial far-right figure. Weinstein, himself, was not reported to have been involved in the incident. He told the Globe and Mail that the arrests were "not going to be a setback for us and we're determined to see to it that Nazis will not teach hate in classrooms."[18]

[edit] Links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Enzo DiMatteo, "Extreme honour T.O Jews mourn Kahane", Now Magazine, January 11, 2001
  2. ^ Ira Basen, "Shock troops of the faith", Globe and Mail, November 28, 1981
  3. ^ Andre Picard, "Jewish group vows to identify suspects", The Globe and Mail, January 14, 1988
  4. ^ Enzo DiMatteo, "Extreme honour T.O Jews mourn Kahane", Now Magazine, January 11, 2001
  5. ^ Fisher, Matthew, "Jewish group vows to stop Aryan camp", Globe and Mail, August 23, 1986
  6. ^ "Verbal barbs fly at meeting of JDL", Globe and Mail, October 21, 1985
  7. ^ "Verbal barbs fly at meeting of JDL", Globe and Mail, October 21, 1985
  8. ^ "Verbal barbs fly at meeting of JDL", Globe and Mail, October 21, 1985
  9. ^ Editorial: Enter the vigilantes, Globe and Mail, August 26, 1986
  10. ^ Canadian Press, "Mosque attack threatens talks Arafat blames Rabin for massacre", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, February 26, 1994
  11. ^ Canadian Press, "Mosque attack threatens talks Arafat blames Rabin for massacre", Kitchener-Waterloo Record, February 26, 1994
  12. ^ Bob Mitchell, "Protest leads to shouting match", Toronto Star, April 15, 2002
  13. ^ Bob Mitchell, "Protest leads to shouting match", Toronto Star, April 15, 2002
  14. ^ Freed, Dale Anne, "Newmarket mosque meeting 'one-sided'; Executive member says leadership not invited to meeting, adding they don't share controversial imam's views", Toronto Star, February 26, 2007
  15. ^ Freed, Dale Anne, "Newmarket mosque meeting 'one-sided'; Executive member says leadership not invited to meeting, adding they don't share controversial imam's views", Toronto Star, February 26, 2007
  16. ^ Tom Blackwell, "'Town hall' targets Newmarket mosque: Jewish group leading protest has checkered past of its own", National Post, February 26, 2007
  17. ^ Tom Blackwell, "'Town hall' targets Newmarket mosque: Jewish group leading protest has checkered past of its own", National Post, February 26, 2007
  18. ^ Mahoney, Jill, "Activists confront controversial educator: Demonstrators charged as scuffle erupts over ex-teacher tied to white supremacists", Globe and Mail, April 20, 2007