What was Montclair High thinking, honoring Rabbi Meir Kahane? (Letter)
I want to commend my Montclair Interfaith Clergy Association colleagues, Rabbis Marc Katz, Ariann Weitzman and David Greenstein, for their quick response to a Montclair High School administrator letter "honoring" Rabbi Meir Kahane.
They expeditiously and accurately identified this man for what he is: a founder of the Jewish Defense League, a group that has been classified as a far-right terrorist group by the FBI and been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. I echo the comments made by Rabbi Greenstein in the May 13 edition of Montclair Local:
"(MHS Asst Principal Reginald) Clark's apology did not seem to indicate any real understanding of what happened. I believe the choice of Meir Kahane was atrocious. The real mystery is who made this choice and what were they thinking?"
I along with others are waiting for the answer to these questions — especially since 29 Muslims were killed and 150 wounded in a Hebron Mosque while they were praying by a JDL member, Baruch Goldstein, a "settler" from Brooklyn, New York. I share the reaction of my above-mentioned colleagues to a MHS administrator "honoring" him for American Jewish Heritage Month. He is a man who has a documented track record of stoking the flames of incitement to hatred. There is no place in our town for him and his ilk.
Imam Kevin Dawud Amin
Amir (director) of Masjid Wadud
Montclair
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