Rabbi Meir Kahane, founder of the Jewish Defense League, almost provoked a bloody incident in Nablus yesterday when he turned up at the town hall, demanded to see the Mayor and tried to affix a mezuzah to the door of the municipality building. Kahane was accompanied by five armed bodyguards who drew pistols at one point. But no shots were fired and no blows were struck. Mayor Bassam Shaka has protested to Israeli authorities. No Israeli soldiers were in sight during the incident.
Kahane, who is running for the Knesset on the “Kach” (Thus) list, told Arab guards at the town hall that he wanted to “discuss future relations” with the Mayor because he planned to found a Jewish town adjacent to Nablus. He harangued the guards in Hebrew about the Jewish right to return to the region after 2000 years. The guards claimed they did not understand Hebrew but Kahane persisted. When he tried to place the mezuzah on the door there were loud protests at which point Kahane’s men pulled their guns.
The JDL leader eventually left the town hall and decided, apparently on the advice of his bodyguards, not to tour the streets and alleys of the Arab town where the mood was obviously bitter.
The West Bank military authorities were criticized today for doing nothing to prevent Kahane from making-trouble at Nablus. The Jerusalem Post said editorially the authorities inaction was “a mystery”–especially since Kahane had trumpeted his plan to go to Nablus well in advance. The paper said the authorities had in effect “thrown the area open for the incitement of Meir Kahane” who was obviously out to “create” events in order to get election publicity.
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