270	The Story of the Jewish Defense League

bfrightened attitude that to do so would merely prove that bJews were indeed in control of America.

bThis hapless and nervous attitude which clearly relegated bJews to a self-imposed second-class citizenship was under- blined by the hysterical press releases put out by the major bJewish groups. Reams of statistics and figures were rolled bout for the benefit of the American gentile purporting to bprove that Jews did not control banking, newspapers or any- bthing meaningful. The ghetto and Galut mentality that bengendered this kind of groveling contrasted with a JDL bstatement that declared that “we only wish that we did have bthe kind of power that Brown said we have.”

bOne interesting result of the Brown affair was the change bin attitude that I noted when I returned for a lecture tour bof the United States. Now, when I said the things that I had bbeen saying for years, the audience no longer reacted with bhostility. There was a sombreness in the room when I spoke bof the possibility of a growing tragedy for American Jewry. bRequests for my book Time To Go Home suddenly increased bin the JDL office. As usual, it was clear that that which com- bmon sense and a positive challenge could not do for Aliyah, bthe General Browns of this earth would.

bI prepared to leave for Israel to open the summer course bof the Jewish Identity School for the training of Jewish bcampus leaders. But before leaving I was unexpectedly in- bvited to appear on the nationally televised Dick Cavett Show bover the American Broadcasting Company network. Cavett bstated that I was to appear with the United States Ambas- bsador to the United Nations, George Bush, to discuss the bSoviet Jewish issue. A few days before the appearance I was binformed that Bush had declined to appear and that, there- bfore, my appearance would be cancelled, too.

bBush, in a remarkable letter to Cavett, had told the host bthat while he had agreed to appear with me, an “in-depth bcheck” with “certain responsible, highly respected leaders of bnational Jewish organizations” had convinced him “not to bgive standing whatsoever to Mr. Kahane.” What had really bhappened was that the B’nai B’rith, American Jewish Com- b