Palestinian-American Kamal Nayfeh being assaulted by JDL thugs outside Aipac conference. Attacker in grey jacket also destroyed protester’s video camera in separate attack. Attacker in hooded blue sweatshirt is Yosef Steynovitz, charged with hate crime in this attack. Next to Steynovitz in dark coat without glasses is Lubranicki, also charged. A witness has identified the other two individuals assaulting Nayfeh as David Modlin and Brandon Vaughan.
At the If Not Now protest in Washington DC against the Aipac annual conference, a large group of JDL Canada thugs caused a pogrom. They beat a 54 year-old Palestinian-American community college instructor, Kamal Nayfeh, causing an eye injury which required 19 stitches. In a conversation, he told me that after they knocked him to the ground they struck him in the eye with the pole and kicked him in the back causing ongoing pain even worse than the eye injury. The emergency room doctor said his eye socket bone saved the eye. Without it, Nayfeh told me the physician said to him his eye would’ve pushed to the back of his head.
Ram Lubranicki (l.), arrested during Washington DC JDL riot. Here pictured with fellow Islamophobe extremist, Pam Geller.
Ben Doernberg, an INN member, was “jumped” by a JDL attacker who smashed him on the head from behind with an Israeli flag pole (how ironic!) and suffered a concussion. How brave these fools are to creep up on a defenseless victim. Doernberg wanted to speak with me, but his symptoms were too severe to have an extended conversation.
In the aftermath, DC police arrested two JDL thugs, Yosef Steynovitz of Ontario (Canada) and Rami Lubranicki (New Jersey). Steynovitz joined in the attack on both Nayfeh and Doernberg. Both thugs are Israeli and former settlers (Steynovitz lists Ariel College in his Facebook profile). JDL Canada leader, Meir Weinstein, videotaped a message before he left Washington defending his group’s violence.
Zaza Vili (aka “The Dude”) is “familiar figure at far-right protests in Toronto”
It’s astonishing that the Canadian MSM has completely ignored this story. Only two Jewish publications have reported on it. Perhaps the information I report here may spur them on and make them change their minds.
Vili (2nd from l.) with other JDL goons “protecting” Jewish institution (JDL Canada)
Canadian activists inform me that the JDL has enforced a reign of terror in Toronto. Recently, Ontario’s answer to Richard Spencer, Ezra Levant, spoke in Toronto at an event sponsored by a Ryerson University pro-Israel group. Instead of having campus security or city police inside the venue, the organizers of the event provided their own security. Who did they choose? You guessed it: the JDL. At the event, Palestinian activists protested against Levant’s racist, Islamophobic views. They were in turn, physically expelled from the room. Even the student organizer of the event was expelled from his own event. When he attempted to return, the JDL wanted to expel him again!
Vili (second from r.) with Soldiers of Odin allies
Aside from Weinstein, there is another senior leader of the group who bullies JDL opponents routinely at local protests. He is the group’s “security director,” Zaza Vili. A local anti-fascist group, Pegida Watch, calls him “The Dude,” because he bears a resemblance to the heavily bearded, dissolute, disheveled character of the same name played by Jeff Bridges in Coen Brothers classic, The Big Lebowski. Though Zaza is affiliated with the JDL, he’s told people in Toronto that he isn’t Jewish.
Vili was videotaped assaulting two protesters outside the Aipac conference in Washington. He and a JDL thug (the man in the gray jacket is also pictured assaulting Kamal Nayfeh) smashed the video camera that was filming an altercation between them and two members of the Virginia militia. The victims wrote that DC police stood ten yards away from them, watching the attack and did nothing. To be clear, I don’t support the anti-Semitic views of this group nor the title they gave to their video. I’ve embedded the video here only because it offers physical evidence of Vili’s criminal assault. Given the hate crime/pogrom perpetrated by the JDL that day, this assault on non-violent protesters utilizing their right to protest peacefully, is far more disturbing.
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In the above video, Vili marches in a procession to the grave of Meir Kahane. As they walk, one of the marchers chants: “10,000 Arabs dead, mazel tov, mazel tov!” (“Good luck!”). Vili is the tall man in dark leather jacket videotaping with his cell phone.
As I watched the DC video, I was struck by how slow the DC police response was to incidents of violence. If you watch the main video of the attack on Nayfeh, between 60-90 seconds elapses before a single police officer rushes to the scene and intervenes. In the meantime, two other policemen who are standing nearby by do very little. When I spoke to Nayfeh he told me the police initially did nothing to detain or arrest his attackers. His daughter was so incensed by this that she rushed up to Steynovitz, asked him if he had assaulted her father. After Steynovitz told her, in the presence of a police officer: “We did it to teach him a lesson,” she started yelling at the police to arrest him. They didn’t. Instead the told her she would be arrested for “inciting a riot.” Only later did they actually arrest Steynovitz. The other thugs attacking him were not arrested.
Vili (r.) with Soldiers of Odin and Hells Angel member, Sean Mcbeath (Pegida Watch)
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Zaza Vili taking selfie at Meir Kahane’s grave with man wearing Kahane Chai t-shirt
‘Vili,’ is a common ending of Georgian surnames. Indeed, Shalom Toronto reports Vili’s real name is “Tsitlishvili.” This brings to mind another infamous tyrant who hailed from Georgia.
It’s quite common for JDL leaders to employ aliases. Meir Weinstein, the group’s national director, was once a spokesperson for Meir Kahane, who used the alias, “Meir Halevi.” Another U.S. Leader of the JDL and convicted criminal, Vincent Vancier, goes by the alias Chaim Ben Pesach.
Meir Halevi, Canadian spokesman for Israel’s Kach movement — to which gunman Baruch Goldstein belonged — said: “Our organization does not condemn the attack. It condemns the Israeli government for not providing adequate protection for settlers.”
JDL Canada leader, Meir Weinstein (l.) joining Soldiers of Odin at Toronto rally (Toronto Troll Gallery)
Halevi said the Kach movement does not encourage such attacks but wants all people who belong to “terrorist organizations,” including the PLO, expelled from Israel.
Vili’s ties to Kahane also go really deep. The JDL-UK website features images of him making a pilgrimage to the grave of Kahane. The passage accompanying these images reinforces the continuity between Kahane Chai, a designated U.S. and Israeli terror group, and today’s JDL:
We met up with the old members of the original JDL of Rav Kahane, and with many like-minded people, who today continue to do an excellent work in defending our Eretz Israel.
It seems long overdue for Canadian and U.S. security agencies to formally designate Kahane Chai’s successor and heir (JDL) as a foreign terrorist organization. In a 2001 terrorism report, the FBI itself wrote:
“The Jewish Defense League has been deemed a right-wing terrorist group.”
Also, note that Vili stands proudly in the picture here at Kahane’s grave with another JDL member wearing a Kahane Chai t-shirt. The two groups are certainly kissing cousins, if not identical twins. It’s also noteworthy that Kahane Chai itself was the Israeli successor to the original JDL, which Kahane founded in the 1970s. Note that an FBI report on world terror groups does designate the JDL as “a right-wing extremist group.”
As I wrote above, the JDL has made a strong alliance with Canadian white supremacist groups. Here the CBC quotes a local anti-Islamophobia activist :
“In the last about month and a half, there has been a really alarming rise of alt-right groups, like the Soldiers of Odin and the Jewish Defense League, and others having a really visible presence at Toronto City Hall,” protester Sarah Ali, from the Organizing Committee Against Islamophobia, told CBC Toronto after the rally.
Vili’s Facebook page features a selfie with Glenn Beck. But it hasn’t been updated since 2013.
Vili’s job as sales representative for TWI, an international trade show production company permits him to travel freely and cross borders as he did when he joined the JDL rally in Washington. Though he shows up in a number of the videos which feature violent JDL attacks, he’s not clearly seen engaging in overtly violent acts. But he circles all the action and is certainly an accessory to it.
I have to wonder whether his boss knows that he employs a thug who moonlights as a violent political extremist. Seems to me that might reflect badly on the company’s reputation with its clients: unless they are Israeli settlers or Soldiers of Odin or other garden variety right-wing extremists around the world.
For those wondering about the title of this post, it’s a riff on Gloria Swanson’s famous line in the classic, Sunset Boulevard: “Ready for my closeup, Mr. DeMille!”
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12 thoughts on “JDL Canada: Ready for Your Closeup, Gentlemen! – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم”
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Richard, Meir Kahane was buried in Har HaMenuchot in west Jerusalem after his assassination by a Muslim assassin. I believe you are conflating between his grave and the Meir Kahane park in Kiryat Arba (or possibly other sites such as in Kfar Tapuch).
The “Kahane walk and singining” youtube you posted seems to me to be in Har Hamenuchot in west Jerusalem and not in the west bank.
@lepxii: I wonder how you know this particular information about the location of Kahane’s grave? At any rate, thank you for the correction. I was confusing Kahane’s grave with Baruch Goldstein’s grave, which is in the West Bank.
I sort of remembered it – but I looked it up in Wikipedia – after I saw the video you posted which did not seem to be in a West Bank cemetery (which tend to be rather small – around 400k settlers, sure, but most of them are young. At most there are tens of thousands of graves throughout the west bank – scattered in many places) but did look like one of the Jerusalem mega-cemetaries on a mountain.
These Canadian JDL thugs announced on Facebook they would join with their buddies in the U.S. to be “enforcers” at the annual AIPAC convention in D.C. It was inevitable they would incite violence against non-violent protesters who demonstrate outside the Convention Center every year. This poor Palestinian man became their victim even though he wasn’t even part of the protest. His only sin was to be Palestinian.
If there’s anything positive to result from this brutal attack on a gentle man it is that there was some media coverage of the attack and the event. We go there year after year from all parts of the U.S., joined by activist friends who make the trip from Europe, Australia, India and other countries, and we get zero media coverage. This year, because of the demonstration by hundreds of young American Jews from If Not Now, and especially because of the JDL attacks on them and on Kamal Nayfeh, there were a few news reports. As usual, non violence is of no interest to the media, as we have seen for years in illegally occupied Palestine. “If it bleeds, it leads….”
Another question is why was Yosef Steynovitz allowed to cross our border from Canada? Should we expect him to show up in court?
Bottom line: Foreign Jews had the same right to Palestine as Irish Catholics and Mexican atheists, i.e., none whatsoever!! Therein lies the root of the conflict!!
Zionism is racism. Zionism is theft. Zionism is fascism.
@ David: My how neat & tidy! For many of the rest of us it’s only a bit more complicated. Pardon us for not having the ideological zeal & certitude you do.
It’s amazing to see how “shocked” you are with some bullies, yet you identify deeply with other thugs and feel comfortable enough to share a video named “Rabid Jews…”
@ Lady: Now that’s interesting. The Virginia militia members were physically attacked by JDL thugs. Did they respond with violence? No. Did they do anything to provoke the violence against them? Again, no.
I explained in my post that I vehemently disagree with the Militia’s views and only featured the video because it offered evidence of JDL violence. And you choose instead to focus on the Militia as if they were equally at fault in this incident. Shame on you.
Well, you can explain that you” vehemently disagree with the Militia’s views” but if you think that using a phrase like “rabid jews” is less violent than knocking over a camera – you have double standerts.
And also maybe try to let go of the image of rageing prophet you have for yourself, you could have easily sayed what you wanted without the lecturing “shame on you” at the end.
if you think that using a phrase like “rabid jews” is less violent than knocking over a camera
Indeed yes, assaulting someone & breaking their video camera is, first of all, quite violent; 2nd of all, it’s a crime. Saying something that is objectionable & even vile, is not.
maybe try to let go of the image of rageing [sic] prophet you have
I wasn’t aware I asked you for personal advice on how to write or run this blog. Oh that’s right, I didn’t!
So why even bother with a comment section.
You are so self righteous its overwhelming
@ Lady: You are so boring I’m already asleep.
As for your suggestion that my comment section didn’t meet your specifications: again, I wasn’t aware I’d asked for editorial advice about my blog. Oh that’s right, I didn’t.
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Richard, Meir Kahane was buried in Har HaMenuchot in west Jerusalem after his assassination by a Muslim assassin. I believe you are conflating between his grave and the Meir Kahane park in Kiryat Arba (or possibly other sites such as in Kfar Tapuch).
The “Kahane walk and singining” youtube you posted seems to me to be in Har Hamenuchot in west Jerusalem and not in the west bank.
@lepxii: I wonder how you know this particular information about the location of Kahane’s grave? At any rate, thank you for the correction. I was confusing Kahane’s grave with Baruch Goldstein’s grave, which is in the West Bank.
I sort of remembered it – but I looked it up in Wikipedia – after I saw the video you posted which did not seem to be in a West Bank cemetery (which tend to be rather small – around 400k settlers, sure, but most of them are young. At most there are tens of thousands of graves throughout the west bank – scattered in many places) but did look like one of the Jerusalem mega-cemetaries on a mountain.
These Canadian JDL thugs announced on Facebook they would join with their buddies in the U.S. to be “enforcers” at the annual AIPAC convention in D.C. It was inevitable they would incite violence against non-violent protesters who demonstrate outside the Convention Center every year. This poor Palestinian man became their victim even though he wasn’t even part of the protest. His only sin was to be Palestinian.
If there’s anything positive to result from this brutal attack on a gentle man it is that there was some media coverage of the attack and the event. We go there year after year from all parts of the U.S., joined by activist friends who make the trip from Europe, Australia, India and other countries, and we get zero media coverage. This year, because of the demonstration by hundreds of young American Jews from If Not Now, and especially because of the JDL attacks on them and on Kamal Nayfeh, there were a few news reports. As usual, non violence is of no interest to the media, as we have seen for years in illegally occupied Palestine. “If it bleeds, it leads….”
Another question is why was Yosef Steynovitz allowed to cross our border from Canada? Should we expect him to show up in court?
Bottom line: Foreign Jews had the same right to Palestine as Irish Catholics and Mexican atheists, i.e., none whatsoever!! Therein lies the root of the conflict!!
Zionism is racism. Zionism is theft. Zionism is fascism.
@ David: My how neat & tidy! For many of the rest of us it’s only a bit more complicated. Pardon us for not having the ideological zeal & certitude you do.
It’s amazing to see how “shocked” you are with some bullies, yet you identify deeply with other thugs and feel comfortable enough to share a video named “Rabid Jews…”
@ Lady: Now that’s interesting. The Virginia militia members were physically attacked by JDL thugs. Did they respond with violence? No. Did they do anything to provoke the violence against them? Again, no.
I explained in my post that I vehemently disagree with the Militia’s views and only featured the video because it offered evidence of JDL violence. And you choose instead to focus on the Militia as if they were equally at fault in this incident. Shame on you.
Well, you can explain that you” vehemently disagree with the Militia’s views” but if you think that using a phrase like “rabid jews” is less violent than knocking over a camera – you have double standerts.
And also maybe try to let go of the image of rageing prophet you have for yourself, you could have easily sayed what you wanted without the lecturing “shame on you” at the end.
@ Hasbara lady:
Indeed yes, assaulting someone & breaking their video camera is, first of all, quite violent; 2nd of all, it’s a crime. Saying something that is objectionable & even vile, is not.
I wasn’t aware I asked you for personal advice on how to write or run this blog. Oh that’s right, I didn’t!
So why even bother with a comment section.
You are so self righteous its overwhelming
@ Lady: You are so boring I’m already asleep.
As for your suggestion that my comment section didn’t meet your specifications: again, I wasn’t aware I’d asked for editorial advice about my blog. Oh that’s right, I didn’t.