Head Of Chabad Front Group Again Calls To Arm Europe's Jews

Rabbi Menachem Margolin wants European countries to make an exception to gun control laws and allow Jews to arm themselves – a call many actual European Jewish leaders strongly oppose.

Above: Rabbi Menachem Margolin

Newsweek has a pretty awful report about Chabad Rabbi Menachem Margolin, a Chabad rabbi from Israel who now runs two Chabad front groups in Europe.

Newsweek fails to mention Margolin's Chabad connection, and fails to clearly note that many European Jewish leaders condemned his previous call to arm Jews. In fact, Jewish community leaders from across Europe issued a statement about Margolin late last month that said in part, "…Mr. Margolin’s association of irrelevant and unrepresentative self-created groups does not in any way convey upon him a role as a spokesman or representative of our communities. He has never been chosen nor elected to any such role.…"

And, of course, the sad fact is that there are terror attacks against Jews lots of places – even in Israel – and to say European countries are refusing to protect Jews is simply wrong, facts that appear to escape Margolin:

A prominent rabbi has reiterated his calls for new legislation that would allow Jewish people in Europe to carry guns, following the attacks in Denmark this weekend in which two people were shot dead - one outside a synagogue - and accused European governments of not taking the threat of antisemitism seriously enough.

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, director general of the Rabbinical Centre of Europe (RCE) and the European Jewish Association (EJA) - the largest federation of Jewish organisations and communities in Europe - has called the shootings in Copenhagen a “very clear confirmation” that gun laws need to change.

Following the Paris attacks in mid-January, Rabbi Margolin wrote a letter, seen by Newsweek, that called on all European governments to alter gun licensing laws so that Jews could carry weapons.

“We hereby ask that gun licensing laws are reviewed with immediate effect to allow designated people in the Jewish communities and institutions to own weapons for the essential protection of their communities, as well as receiving the necessary training to protect their members from potential terror attacks,” the letter read.

However, the rabbi says that his letter did not draw “a real response” from any of the governments he contacted, and instead he simply received an automatic refusal of his request, a sign, he says, that European governments are not taking the threat of antisemitism seriously enough.

"The government is unable to protect its citizens,” he says. “Jewish institutions are a main target, and we need them to monitor and fight against antisemitism, but governments do not understand the situation.”

“The serious demand is that every Jewish institution is protected 24/7. When I pick up my son at the synagogue I want to make sure that he is there and he is alive. It is a very basic request.”

Jewish organisations in the UK, including schools, have been advised to increase their security measures in light of the shootings according to the Times newspaper. However Rabbi Margolin says that without arming those who work in these institutions, they cannot properly protect their communities.

“We can see that security guards who were in charge of the community were not armed. What are security guards supposed to do if they are not armed?” he asks, adding that he is trying to “wake the media and politicians up to make them understand that the situation needs more attention”.

Rabbi Margolin also indicates that all Europeans - not just Jews - are at risk if action is not taken to protect Jewish communities from attacks. “It begins with Jews but it will not end with Jews,” he warns.

In light of the shootings in Copenhagen he said: “Nothing has changed. It’s nothing new and it’s not surprising. I will not be surprised if something happens again, which is sad. It is very clear that the government has a responsibility to its citizens to make sure that they have security.”

Next week, Rabbi Margolin will lead a three-day security seminar for European rabbis organized by the Rabbinical Centre of Europe in Prague, Czech Republic. The seminar will focus on community protection, with one of the sessions focusing on “protection in the case of sudden attack” as well as first aid. “People understand that they do not have much choice because the government cannot protect its citizens,” Rabbi Margolin explains. Approximately 100 rabbis from across Europe are expected to attend.…

Actually, the most recent wave of attacks started with a large terror attak – against cartoonists, not Jews, and considering the level of threat, Europe has done a lot to protect its Jewish communities.

Terror attacks happen everywhere, and it is reprehensible to try to exploit them for an organization's gain.

Related Posts:

European Jewish Leaders Condemn Chabad Rabbi And Front Group.

All Rabbi Menachem Margolin Posts.

Comments

[坏蛋]

A security guard without a weapon is a doorman

[Isa]

Just have Jews move to Texas

My concealed handgun class instructor is a Catholic Church Deacon-- he carries all the time

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

Jews should arm themselves against Chabad.

[jancsibacsi]

He is saying something worth considering.

[Josh]

Please, the guy is a moron. Look at the numbers in any country in Europe and you will see there are far more crimes committed against Muslims than Jews.

Using his logic, lets have every Muslim in Europe packing a pistol...

[S M L]

"..lets have every Muslim in Europe packing a pistol..."

They don't need 'em. They've got assault rifles already.

[jake]

The only real, reasonable way the Jewish communities can prepare .

[dh]

I agree with every statement made here. I would also say that more Jews are probably needed in government, the judiciary, military and in law enforcement.

[WoolSilkCotton; I must be seen to be believed]

The real problem is that EVERYONE in EVERY country is in danger of attack by radical Moslem fanatics, not just Jews.

A better strategy would be to focus the attention and resources of law enforcement on radical Moslems.

[jake]

Sho,
Which country are you referring to?

[jancsibacsi]

Josh--Are you for real i never hear of a muslimm being killed on a regular basis ,there are many more muslims then jews in europe so the violence against them looks more then it actualy is, in proportion much more violence is commited against jews then muslims,you dont make sense .

[Josh]

I am looking at all incidents not just murders.

If you look at the number of serious assaults in Britain over the last ten years for example the number is statistically vanishingly small (in the region of 0.0003%) I wonder whether it requires the massive amount of stress and worry that people are put under by the various community worthies who like to make noise. There are alot more things that one might usefully worry about and resource against. I am not saying its not an issue, I am saying keep things in perspective.

Nobody can prevent terrorism completely unfortunately. One needs to take sensible precautions but whipping people into a state of terror with major news headlines and calls for guns etc etc does nothing other than achieving exactly what terrorists want.

[Hasidummies]

It's already pretty bigoted to only ask that Jewish people be allowed to protect themselves, and then especially w hen you consider that if you read the news, far, far, far more christians are being killed by these terror beheadings and attacks lately.

[John]

Dummy, they are talking about arming Jews in shules in Europe and you compare it to Christians being killed in Syria. Dummy.

[Elazar Kaye]

Regardless of the number of members of his organization or whether representatives of other groups disagree with him, I think he has a good point. If every shul had a few people armed and trained (including at least one woman, an assailant will not be expecting anything from behind the mechitza) Jewish lives could be saved. The so-called security guard in Copenhagen was UNARMED, what kind of "security" is that?! Imagine if a few people in the Har Nof synagogue had been armed!

[Josh]

Yes and make sure the school guars are armed. And a few guards at every single kosher store. And every jewish store. And lets not forget most jews are attacked walking alone so every jew must be armed all the time. Dont forget every home too.

Arming everyone works really well. Just ask the USA where ten thousand lives a year are lost to shootings compared to exactly how many terrorist threats thwarted that way : zero. Nil. Nada.

[Elazar Kaye]

Aderaba, where citizens are armed, gun crime goes down, the statistics are clear in every jurisdiction where concealed carry has gone to "shall issue". Do you really think either criminals or terrorists obey gun control laws?

And BTW I *do* think every adult Jew should be armed and trained, and must practice regularly.

"If someone is coming to kill you, kill him first."

[Josh]

Ah, a chosid of John Lott I see.

Well no, that is not actually what the data shows.

Point is you are more likely to be a victim of a two year old blowing you away by accident then you are likely to be saved from a terrorist attack because you are packing heat. And that is a fact.

[m]

if menachem margolin has a gun , he will shoot a baale tshuva , or a secular jew , or a victim of child sex abuse , or their parents .

no chaBAD can be trusted .

the whole world should know that .

[Yochanan Lavie]

They should just learn in kollel all day. If it keeps Israel safe, why wouldn't it work in Europe? (sarcasm)

[ThW5]

Let me get this real, he wants a group who already sets itself apart by shechita (=animal abuse), the bris (genital mutilation and abuse of minors) and their own version of the omerta, FOR STARTERS, to be allowed to arm (and police?) themselves? Yiddish humor...