294	The Story of the Jewish Defense League

bscheduled to explode. Ambassador Malik demanded that bthe United States “find the criminals,” stating that the “hys- bterical pronouncements of . . . Zionist slogans” left “no bdoubt” about who placed the bomb.

bThe campaign in Washington got under way with Soviet bhomes picketed and officials harrassed. Hundreds of Jews bfrom all over the country poured into Washington and bdemonstrations at the Commerce and State departments bpreceded marches to the Soviet Embassy. In one action, bfour JDL members charged through the heavily policed barea, jumped the fence, and crashed into the embassy bwhere frightened Soviets ran for cover. Twice in two days I bwas arrested, the second time for deliberately challenging a bpatently unconstitutional District of Columbia ordinance. bThe law both prohibited “demonstrations” within 500 feet bof a foreign mission and forbade an individual from bring- bing a foreign state “into disrepute.” This meant that even if bone man came up to the embassy and shouted something bthat would “bring it into disrepute,” he could be arrested. I bconsidered this a marvelous opportunity and with a small barmy of newsmen following me, walked without any other bJDL members up to the Soviet Embassy. Telling the news- bmen that “the Soviet Union must be brought into disrepute bfor its treatment of Jews,” I turned and shouted, “The bSoviet Union is a tyranny and the Soviet Union stinks.” I bcould think of nothing more elegant or better calculated to bget me arrested, and I was not mistaken. I was taken into bcustody and, in the subsequent trial, the ordinance was bstricken down as unconstitutional.

bThe poor unimaginative, dull, and hapless Jewish Estab- blishment leaders had told their flock that JDL efforts were, bat best, foolish and, at worst, dangerous for Soviet Jews. On bJuly 8, a wire service story was carried in the press. In the bNew York Post it appeared under the headline: “JDL Activity bTop Topic in Moscow.” Here are the most relevant parts:

b“One is astonished to find among official circles in Mos- bcow the extent to which the activities of the tiny but fanatic bJewish Defense League have disturbed relations between bthe United States and the Soviet Union. It is the first subject b