US grand jury indicts Jewish defense league members
Regional-USA, Local, 1/23/2002

The Chairman and a member of the Jewish Defense League were indicted on last January 10 on charges of conspiring to bomb the office of an Arab-American congressman and a prominent Los Angeles mosque, says the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) in a statement.

The nine-count indictment charged JDL chairman Irv Rubin and Earl Krugel with conspiracy, conspiracy to use a destructive device, attempted arson, attempted arson at a US government facility, possession of a destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence, solicitation to commit a crime of violence, possession of a machine gun and possession of an unregistered firearm.

Irv Rubin and Earl Krugel are also considered suspects in the 1985 murder of Alex Odeh, West Coast Regional Director of ADC. Rubin and Krugel were arrested on December 11 and are being held without bail. The indictment by the federal jury alleges that both men recruited another person to plant the bombs. That person then allegedly informed the authorities that the alleged targets were the field office of Representative Darrell Issa, R-Ca. and King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, Ca.

The informant alleges that he met with Krugel on various occasions between October 17 and December 11, 2001, and went shopping with Krugel for bomb-making equipment, which were stored in Krugel's garage. The JDL was founded by the late extremist Rabbi Meir Kahane in the 1970s. The group was linked to a series of violent attacks on various targets in the 70s and 80s, including Arab-American organizations such as ADC. Kahane moved to Israel, where he advocated the expulsion of all Arabs from Israel and the Palestinian Territories occupied by Israel. ADC says it has been raising the issue of Alex Odeh's murder with the FBI and Justice Department in recent months, including directly with Attorney General John Ashcroft. ADC hopes that the indictments of Rubin and Krugel lead to the prosecution of those responsible for these heinous acts of terrorism.

Previous Stories:
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  Delta airliner apology to a veiled Muslim youngster   (1/19/2002)
  ADC urges university to respect tenure, academic freedom in al-arian case   (1/15/2002)
  Statements quoted by Bush against Syria and Lebanon denied   (12/17/2001)
  Detention of two Israelis extended in Los Angeles   (12/15/2001)
  FBI arrests two Jews suspected of terrorism   (12/13/2001)

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