Rabbi Calls for Establishment of ‘truth Squads’ to Answer Anti-semitic Attacks

An Orthodox rabbinical leader proposed today the formation of “truth squads” to reply to anti-Semitic attacks from militant Negroes and he added a demand that communications media be forced to give equal time to Jews to combat such attacks.

The proposals were made by Rabbi Jacob J. Hecht, executive vice-president of the National Committee for the Furtherance of Jewish Education, a Lubavitcher Organization. Charging that “almost every channel of communication in the United States is being used to spread vicious anti-Semitic remarks.” Rabbi Hecht declared it was “morally and legally right that the Jews who are the hapless object of such scurrilous falsehoods be given an opportunity to set the record straight.”

He said that while a few Negro leaders like Mayor Carl Stokes of Cleveland had recognized the debt owed by the Negro to Jews, far too many Negro militants “act as if Jews were the ones who brought them over from Africa, worked them as slaves on plantations and then exploited them in the cities.”

He noted that several weeks ago, during the height of synagogue vandalism and attacks on individual Jews in New York City slum areas, he had suggested that if city officials could not provide adequate protection, Jews should organize their own brigades or auxiliary police forces. He added that he was now proposing that “we defend ourselves against these verbal attacks by organizing ‘truth squads’ comprised of lawyers, educators and religious leaders.” He noted that if such volunteer forces did not have communication outlets, “they will be powerless” and that is why “we must demand equal time on the radio and TV networks, national press, educational systems and local levels.”

He cited as one major area for such responses the public schools, particularly in New York City, where Negro children often are exposed to anti-Semitic teachings.