Jewish Defense Organization

The Jewish Defense Organization (JDO) is a conservative Jewish organization in the United States founded in 1985 by Mordechai Levy, currently its National Director. It focuses on combatting anti-Semitism and holocaust denial, and although represented across the USA, has a strong presence in and around New York City. It also maintains Camp Jabotinsky, a self-defense and weapons-training center in the Catskills. The JDO regularly provides pro-active safety campaigns within predominantly Jewish neighbourhoods. It has frequently been forced to respond to anti-Semitic activity by providing custodian-teams in Manhattan.

The JDO strongly opposes gun control for the reason that "It's better to have a gun and not need it, than to need it and not have it!"[1] Levy stated: "The fact is neo-nazis today and yesterday's nazis are cowards that are very good at shooting Jewish children. Now, if they had to face highly disciplined well trained legally armed Jews don't you think that the pejorative "tables" and guns would have been turned? Who would they have been turned on? The neo-nazis who think think the entire Jewish community is an easy mark and every Jew a potential victim. We must learn from the mistakes of the past or we are doomed to repeat them."[2]

## References[edit]

1. ↑ Levy, Mordechai Jewish Youth Learn To Shoot Camp Jabotinsky
2. ↑ Mordechai Levy quoted at Camp Jabotinsky website