FOCUS JDO Continued from preceding page TELL HIM A LITTLE ICE IS ALL IT TAKES TO MELT YOUR HEART Pour on the ice. Coolly elegant diamond jewelry that's guaranteed to melt your heart. Ask the man in your life to come in and see our selection of exquisite diamonds from the Ice on Ice Collection. They're sure to have temperatures rising. Phone 642-5575 30400 Telegraph Rd., Suite 134 Birmingham HOURS: Daily 10-5:30 Thurs. 10-7 Sat. 10-3 4i tl> Interior Concepts II A COMPLETE DESIGN STUDIO Announces the opening of our 2nd location in Farmington Hills Come In For Our Opening Specials Giftware 25% Off Wallpaper 20% Off Vertical Blinds 60% Off $50 Gift Certificate with $200 blind or drape order Always Cash Refunds Southfield Commons 29211 Southfield Rd. Southfield • 552.9507 46 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 1990 32422 Northwestern Hwy. Farmington Hills • 932.3010 (Next to Vineyards Cafe & Deli) Ask for Jerry Bernstein Orthodox home in Brooklyn, N.Y. He studied in a yeshiva, majored in accoun- ting in college (later learn- ing that "God did not put me on earth to be a CPA," he told The Jewish Press in New York) and watched Jews in his neighborhood "getting beaten up. That really got me going." So he joined the militant Jewish Defense League, headed by Rabbi Meir Kahane. The JDL was his kind of group, Levy says, "because they came down and protected the Jews." As a member of the JDL, Levy trained in self-defense and participated in numer- ous programs on behalf of Soviet Jewry, one of Rabbi Kahane's favorite causes. "Most of all," Levy says, "I took a stand for Jews." In 1982, Levy split with the JDL because the group got into behavior a bit too aggressive," like planting bombs in homes of those they regarded as the enemy. Rabbi Kahane later decid- ed to make aliyah and con- centrate his efforts on Kach, his political party in Israel. "That was the beginning of the end of the JDL," Levy says. "Things were dead. There was no training, no activity, no nothing." Then in 1985 Levy and a group of friends got together and decided to form the JDO in Los Angeles. Initially an underground movement, the JDO soon moved its base to New York and went public, attracting more than 100 prospective members to its first meeting. JDO members have been battling neo-Nazis, the KKK, skinheads and others they say are enemies of the Jewish people ever since. Newspaper report after report details their scuffles with the groups, as well as with representatives of the Palestinian Liberation Organization. Levy calls the PLO "Arab Nazis." One of the JDO's most fre- quent targets is Nation of Islam leader Louis Far- rakhan. Levy has been known to follow the min- ister, who called Judaism "a gutter religion," from city to city, each time amassing a large demonstration usually comprised of Jewish students. "Farrakhan is a Jew hater," Levy says. "That's my enemy." Levy has protested Far- rakhan in Atlantic City, N.J., and in Albany, N.Y. He mounted campaigns that led to San Diego State Univer- sity's and San Jose State " Wanted Young, Dedicated Jews. to train in Karate, Legal Gun Training and self- defense to fight growing Neo-Nazis, Farakhan and other Anti-Semites. To March and Rally to Demand freedom for Soviet Jews. Young Jews today are as Apathetic as their Parents Remember, silence killed 6 mHlion Jews Join us as we tell the world NEVER AGAIN JEWISH DEFENSE ORGANIZATION 134 W. 32 St. Room 602 New York, N.Y. 10001 (212) 239-0447 The JDO recruitment poster. University's decisions to cancel planned visits by the Nation of Islam leader. JDO members threatened to br- ing guns to Farrakhan's San Jose talk. And just in case anyone has a question about the JDO's position, one of the group's fliers wishes Far- rakhan "a quick end." Levy has similar words for former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke, elected last year to the Louisiana state legislature. Duke heads the New Orleans-based National Association for the Ad- vancement of White People. Before the election, Levy made numerous ap- pearances throughout the state to condemn Duke. He organized rallies and made speeches, enlisting support from Tulane University fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi. Reaction to Levy was mix- ed. The Rev. Marie Galatas, a Republican activist in New Orleans, said Levy made tremendous headway in the campaign against Duke. Jewish leaders said other- wise. New Orleans Federation Executive Director Jane Buchsbaum said Levy cre- ated "a wave of anti- Semitism" and actually mustered support for Duke. "I'm embarrassed for us and the Las Vegas commun- ity," Las Vegas Federation Executive Director Norman Kaufman told a local paper when Levy came to start a JDO chapter in the Nevada city. Levy says he went to Las Vegas because Jews asked, him there. "When Jews are in trouble, they come to us." It's not difficult to under- stand why Levy is less than popular with most Jewish leaders. As part of its "battle plan for Jewish survival," the JDO lists as one of its goals "to overthrow the do- nothing Jewish leaders of the do-nothing Jewish estab- lishment" and to "insure that the yardstick of every Jewish organization will be `Is it good for the Jews,' not `Is it good for our image' nor `What will the goyim think.' "Think about it," Levy says. "Do these 'leaders' really love Jews, or are they trying to placate Jews? "Ultimately, they are wor- ried about their own fate and not the fate of the Jewish people. A lot of them are on a power trip, and that's why I'm a threat to them." Much of the JDO's support comes from students, who turn out in the hundreds to hear Levy speak at college campuses. Last week, he spoke before several hundred students at Columbia University. He has appeared before large groups at Brandeis Univer- sity, Yeshiva University's Stern College for Women, Albany State University and Cornell, where he told some 300 students: "This is one Jewish group that doesn't believe in being weak. If you mess around with Jews, you're going to get hit. If you paint swastikas, you'll get your arm broke." Geraldo Rivera wasn't painting swastikas when he had his nose broken during Levy's appearance on his television show.