Chaim Ben Pesach
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Victor Vancier (born December 25, 1956), commonly referred to by his Hebrew name, Chaim Ben Pesach () or as Chaim Ben Yosef is an American political activist and the founder and director of the United States–based Kahanist organization, Jewish Task Force (JTF) and the former National Chairman of the
Jewish Defense League The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a far-right political organization in the United States and Canada. Its stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary"; it has been classified as "right-wing terrorist group" ...
(JDL) in the United States. In 1987, he was convicted on charges related to a series of terrorist bombings conducted during his time with the JDL to protest Soviet treatment of Jews. He served five and a half years in federal prison for his involvement in 18 bombings in New York and Washington.


Activities and imprisonment

Pesach was the National Chairman of the
Jewish Defense League The Jewish Defense League (JDL) is a far-right political organization in the United States and Canada. Its stated goal is to "protect Jews from antisemitism by whatever means necessary"; it has been classified as "right-wing terrorist group" ...
, but resigned in December 1978 after he went to jail for bombing
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
ian targets in an effort to stop the Israeli withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. After his release and upon the completion of his probation in July 1983,
Meir Kahane Meir David HaKohen Kahane ( ; ; born Martin David Kahane; August 1, 1932 – November 5, 1990) was an American-born Israel, Israeli Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox ordained rabbi, writer and ultra-nationalist politician. Founder of the Israeli pol ...
again appointed Pesach to be National Chairman of the JDL. On May 8, 1987, Pesach was arrested along with Jay Cohen and Sharon Katz in relation to multiple bombings in New York, including a tear gas attack on a performance of the
Moiseyev Dance Company The Igor Moiseyev State Academic Ensemble of Popular Dance is a dance troupe focusing on character dance, based in Moscow, Russia. The troupe combines traditional folk dance and classical ballet techniques to create their style of character dance ...
, after an anonymous former member of the JDL cooperated with police to capture them. He said he did this in the hopes of influencing the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
to allow Jewish emigration. Pesach's court-appointed lawyer Thomas Concannon said that it is "fair to say he's a little bit nuts". The judge Israel Leo Glasser regarded Pesach as "a danger to this community". One of his accomplices, 24-year-old Jay Cohen, committed
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...
after facing a possible maximum prison sentence of 20 years. Pesach said at that time that he felt personally responsible for Cohen's death. The JDL, as overseen by Pesach, is also believed to be responsible for the 1982 fire set at the Tripoli Restaurant on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York, which destroyed it, killing one person and injuring seven. An anonymous caller claiming to represent the JDL telephoned news organizations to take credit for the arson, justifying the attack by stating the restaurant was the undercover headquarters in New York City of the
Palestine Liberation Organization The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO; ) is a Palestinian nationalism, Palestinian nationalist coalition that is internationally recognized as the official representative of the Palestinians, Palestinian people in both the occupied Pale ...
, though JDL officials denied having any involvement in the attack. He served five and a half years for the bombings.


Jewish Task Force

Pesach is the current head of the Jewish Task Force, a Kahanist organization in the United States. Pesach created JTF in 1991. The Jewish Task Force raises money for the claimed purpose of funding Jewish settlers in the
West Bank The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and runs a website with the stated goal of saving
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, the United States, and the West. Pesach is banned from entering Israel because of his terrorist acts and his Kahanist associations, which are outlawed in Israel. The Jewish Task Force is considered a
hate group A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any other designated sector of society. Acc ...
by the
Southern Poverty Law Center The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its legal cases against white ...
. The ''Jewish Task Force'' program aired on public access television in the mid-1990s, in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.''New York Magazine''. November 14, 1994. p. 22. Pesach became known for his criticisms of African American culture that included resorting to racial slurs and offensive stereotypes, as well as his views on homosexuality, and he was criticized in local magazines and newspapers as a result. During the 1994 New York State Comptroller election, while Pesach extolled
Herbert London Herbert Ira London (March 6, 1939 – November 10, 2018) was an American conservative activist, commentator, author, and academic. London was the president of the Hudson Institute from 1997 to 2011. He was a frequent columnist for ''The Washingt ...
as "a real Jewish man", he derided London's opponent, African American
Carl McCall Herman Carl McCall (born October 17, 1935) is an American politician of the Democratic Party. A former New York State Comptroller and New York State Senator, McCall was the Democratic nominee for Governor of New York in 2002. He was the firs ...
, as "a low, Jew-hating, Jew-killing cockroach". He further described attorney general candidate
Karen Burstein Karen S. Burstein (born July 20, 1942) is an American Democratic Party politician, attorney, civil servant, and former judge from the State of New York. She served in the New York State Senate, worked in the administration of Gov. Mario Cuomo, ...
as a "disgusting, ugly
lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...
" and continued: Pesach has described
Baruch Goldstein Baruch Kopel Goldstein (; born Benjamin Carl Goldstein; December 9, 1956 – February 25, 1994) was an American and Israeli physician and religious extremist who, in 1994, murdered 29 Palestinian people in Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West ...
, who perpetrated the 1994
Cave of the Patriarchs massacre On 25 February 1994, Baruch Goldstein, an American-Israeli physician and extremist of the far-right ultra-Zionist Kach movement, carried out a mass shooting of Palestinians who were praying in the Ibrahimi Mosque (Cave of the Patriarchs) in ...
, as "a great hero". Pesach has referred to
Nelson Mandela Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela ( , ; born Rolihlahla Mandela; 18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African Internal resistance to apartheid, anti-apartheid activist and politician who served as the first president of South Africa f ...
as a "Black
Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
",
Yasser Arafat Yasser Arafat (4 or 24 August 1929 – 11 November 2004), also popularly known by his Kunya (Arabic), kunya Abu Ammar, was a Palestinian political leader. He was chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, Presid ...
as the "Arab
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
" and a "
Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
terrorist
pedophile Pedophilia ( alternatively spelled paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puber ...
who died of
AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...
".JTF.org
He has also targeted former First Lady and
senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or Legislative chamber, chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior ...
Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, lawyer and diplomat. She was the 67th United States secretary of state in the administration of Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, a U.S. senator represent ...
and former U.S. President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...
on his website, calling Clinton "Hillary Sodom Arafat" and Bush "Jorge Wahabi Bush" whom he calls a "low, disgusting traitor" and "excrement". He also uses language such as ''
schvartze Schvartze (from ; cf. German: ; OED) is a racial slur for black people in the Yiddish language. Etymology ''Schvartze'' is derived from the Yiddish word ''schvarts'', which means "black". The term was rare prior to the 20th century. An article fo ...
'' when referring to
African-Americans African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
and "
kike ''Kike'' (), also known as the K-word, is an ethnic slur directed at Jews. The etymological origin comes from the Yiddish word for circle, (''kaykel''), itself a derivation of the Ancient Greek word . Etymology According to the ''Oxford Eng ...
" for Jews he considers to be traitors. JTF's messages have been condemned for "racism" by the Anti-Defamation League.


See also

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Domestic terrorism in the United States In the United States, domestic terrorism is defined as definition of terrorism, terrorist acts that were carried out within the United States by U.S. citizens and/or U.S. permanent residents. As of 2021, the United States government considers w ...


References


Further reading

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External links


Jewish Task Force website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pesach, Chaim Ben 1956 births 21st-century American Jews Activists from New York City American commentators American community activists American Internet celebrities American Kahanists American Orthodox Jews American people imprisoned on terrorism charges American white supremacists Jewish American community activists Living people Male critics of feminism Serial bombers Perpetrators of religiously motivated violence in the United States Prisoners and detainees of the United States federal government Members of the Jewish Defense League