The Jewish Defense League, which has inaugurated a campaign to defeat incumbent Mayor John V. Lindsay in this year’s mayoralty campaign, drew a terse criticism. from Lindsay campaign headquarters today.
In the wake of a press conference in which the JDL told why it opposed the Mayor and how it sought to get him defeated, and an anti-Lindsay advertisement it placed yesterday in the New York Times, Lindsay headquarters said today that “the JDL has been denounced by nearly every responsible organization. They are unworthy of an answer.”
In the advertisement, the JDL accused the Mayor of direct responsibility for what it claimed was a “violent outpouring of anti-Jewish hate” during last year’s teachers’ strike.” It also accused the Mayor of maintaining known anti-Semites on the public payroll and creating the climate for the Democratic primary victory of Jesse Gray, a candidate for the City Council, who the JDL accuses of being an anti-Semite. Mayor Lindsay is a Republican and is running for re-election on the Liberal Party ticket as an independent.
According to the advertisement, the city administration was also responsible for imposing a “defacto quota system” on city colleges which allegedly operates against Jewish students in favor of other minorities. Mayor Lindsay was further accused of causing “a reign of terror” against Jewish merchants in ghetto areas and subjecting Jewish neighborhoods to an unprecedented crime wave by allegedly instructing police to “avoid showdowns” with militant blacks.
The Defense League, which has attracted widespread publicity, sent members armed with clubs and tire irons to New York’s Temple Emanu-El this year to confront Black militants who reportedly were going to seek “reparations” from members for injustices done to Negros over the years. The Negros never showed up. The JDL maintains a camp in Orange County, N.Y. where youngsters are instructed in para-military tactics, judo and karate. The organization’s tactics and aims have been widely condemned by Jewish organizations in New York City.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
