On Nov. 5, 1990 Rabbi Meir Kahane, a Brooklyn-born Israeli extremist, was fatally shot after a speech at a New York hotel.

Egyptian native El Sayyed Nosair was acquitted of state charges but was later convicted in federal court of Kahane’s killing.

As a youth Kahane became an ardent Zionist. He earned degrees from Brooklyn College, New York Law School, and New York University. He then became a rabbi at the Howard Beach Center, where he remained for two years before moving to Israel.

In 1967 he became a rabbi in Rochdale Village, and wrote a column for the Jewish Press. During a teacher’s strike in 1968, an eruption of anti-Semitism inspired him to form the Jewish Defense League, a militant organization devoted to Jewish rights. He advocated the use of violence and was often accused of vigilantism. He was jailed time and time again for taking part in anti-Soviet demonstrations and for encouraging the use of bombs.

He returned to Israel and was elected to the Knesset after advocating the expulsion of Palestinians from the occupied territories. It was on one of his many visits to New York City that he was shot.

— Vernon Parker

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