Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Jewish Defense League Teams Up With Anti-Muslim Street Gang

The militant Jewish Defense League is standing proudly with Canadian branch of Soldiers of Odin, an anti-immigrant patrol group with roots in Europe whose ranks include white nationalists.

The Anti-Defamation League says that Soldiers of Odin contains “many open white supremacists, as well as other right-wing extremists.”

But Meir Weinstein, the head of the Canadian branch of the JDL disputes this. He says the group’s goals are aligned with those of the JDL — and claims they have disowned the more racist elements within their parent organization in Finland.

“They disowned racism and they’re against radical Islam,” Weinstein told the Canadian Jewish News.

The Canadian Soldiers of Odin group is primarily focused on Muslim immigration. In a lengthy video on their Facebook page, one spokesman decried Muslims coming into Canada.

“They’re following the code of the Muslim Brotherhood to a tee,” he said. “They’re infiltrating through refugees.”

Bernie Farber, former chief executive officer of the Canadian Jewish Congress, called the JDL’s alliance a “shanda,” Yiddish for “disgrace.”

Email Sam Kestenbaum at [email protected] and follow him on Twitter at @skestenbaum

A message from our editor-in-chief Jodi Rudoren

We're building on 127 years of independent journalism to help you develop deeper connections to what it means to be Jewish today.

With so much at stake for the Jewish people right now — war, rising antisemitism, a high-stakes U.S. presidential election — American Jews depend on the Forward's perspective, integrity and courage.

—  Jodi Rudoren, Editor-in-Chief 

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.