Jewish terrorism after 9/11?

so I was reading up on the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and found this:

On December 12, 2001, JDL leader Irv Rubin and JDL member Earl Krugel were charged with planning a terror attack against the office of Arab-American Congressman Darrell Issa, in the wake of the September 11 attacks.[27] The two also planned attacks on the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, California.

what if the JDL had pulled that off, bombing Darrell Issa's office, killing him and a number of staffers, also bombing the Mosque on the same day (some time in December 2001) killing say 22 people. would this attack change anything?
 

NothingNow

Banned
Probably a bit more Pro-moslem sentiment, and other than that, it depends on how the Jewish community in the US reacts to the attacks. Defending the JDL won't end well.
 
I don't think it changes anything. Maybe members of Congress get more guards or more secure offices. It would be seen as the work of a small group of crazies. Much like the OKC bombing.

Main stream Jewish community leaders will immediately speak out against crime. And more than likely the main stream Jewish groups will not spend large amounts of time pointing out how US Government policies really "forced" the men to commit the crime.
 
Really, it changes nothing? A US Congressperson is killed be terrorism - just months after Sept. 11 - and dozens of Americans die, and there's no response? Further the terrorism is obviously ethnically-religious motivated, and no change from OTL. Please. :rolleyes:

I think in the aftermath the entire GWOT would take on a different tone as the US (and the world) would suddenly realize if it wants to stabilize the Middle East it needs to find a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.
 

Japhy

Banned
At the very least I'd have to think that

1) America is going to have to re-evaluate and soul-search on its views on Islam. When it comes out that its the JDL that did it people will be shocked because I imagine the talking heads will at once suggest that its crazy militia type fanatics from up in the mountains or AQ.

2) GWB is going to jump into the quagmire that is the Arab-Israeli conflict even earlier then he did. And that of course is going to be a slow painful fight for nothing.

I'm torn over if this will have any effect on Iraq though, unless Bush decides to put ground troops in between the IDF and Hamas in Jerusalem I still think the momentum for 2003 is there, how inevitable that momentum is is up to political debate.
 
Really, it changes nothing? A US Congressperson is killed be terrorism - just months after Sept. 11 - and dozens of Americans die, and there's no response? Further the terrorism is obviously ethnically-religious motivated, and no change from OTL. Please. :rolleyes:

I think in the aftermath the entire GWOT would take on a different tone as the US (and the world) would suddenly realize if it wants to stabilize the Middle East it needs to find a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Sorry I don't see it changing much. I think you might be confusing your personal politics for what the nation would do. Try remembering the nations mood right after 9/11. Saddly, I worry a large but silent part of the nation might not be too concerned about the 22 killed people at the Mosques.

Mr. Bush is still going to blindly push his personal war with Saddam in Iraq.
He is still going to see Astan as a low threat second theater. Do you think a
hugely pro-Israel Republican party or a democrate party that need Jewish
votes is going to completely change US foreign policy because 2 domestic
terrorist commit a crime? I might agree with you if it was a large group of
international jewish terrorists. But these are American doing stupid things. Right? Average Joe Americans aren't going to fall in
love with the long suffering Palestinians because a few Mosques get destroyed and a Republican Congress get killed by a small groups of nuts. Do you really
American are that sophisticated? Or are they going to remember the videos of
Palstinians cheering and passing out candy on 9/11?
 
Sorry, I think you might be the one 'confusing your personal politics for what the nation would do'. Following 9/11 Americans were incensed. If another terrorist attack - regardless of size - happened shortly thereafter, especially one that was once again motivated by religious/ethnic fundamentalism... the entire equation changes. Especially as now one of the victims was a Republican Congressman, and a firm supporter of GWB IOTL. There's going to be much-a-do about the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and America's connections to Israel in light of the event.
 
Sorry, I think you might be the one 'confusing your personal politics for what the nation would do'. Following 9/11 Americans were incensed. If another terrorist attack - regardless of size - happened shortly thereafter, especially one that was once again motivated by religious/ethnic fundamentalism... the entire equation changes. Especially as now one of the victims was a Republican Congressman, and a firm supporter of GWB IOTL. There's going to be much-a-do about the Israeli-Palestinian issue, and America's connections to Israel in light of the event.

I don't think there'd be much of a swing for support towards the Palestinians, but there would be a jump in the sentiment of "The Middle East is a mess, and we should stay far way from all those lunatics". Less nation-building, more seal-the-borders isolationism.
 
I don't think there'd be much of a swing for support towards the Palestinians, but there would be a jump in the sentiment of "The Middle East is a mess, and we should stay far way from all those lunatics". Less nation-building, more seal-the-borders isolationism.

Either way is going to be a massive change from IOTL, not the 'no difference' as earlier posters envisioned.
 

Art

Monthly Donor
I LIVE in Culver City!

If the King Fahd Mosque were blown up . . . damn, what about collateral damage? There's lots of homes right next to the Mosque, I live less than a mile from there. What sort of bomb and how big? Because if we're talking about anything bigger than 300 pounds there would be LOTS of collateral damage/ civilian casualties. And Christian people, at that.
 
If the King Fahd Mosque were blown up . . . damn, what about collateral damage? There's lots of homes right next to the Mosque, I live less than a mile from there. What sort of bomb and how big? Because if we're talking about anything bigger than 300 pounds there would be LOTS of collateral damage/ civilian casualties. And Christian people, at that.

nothing that big, big enough to gut the place not big enough to blow it up really.
 
So there wouldn't be that many casualties, including Tito's Tacos?

I was feeling the bomb would go off on a friday, though the JDL was dumb enough to go after the super Jewish friendly Republican Darrell Issa so they are likely not that smart, well saying they are that smart or "lucky"...
 
The effects of a Congressman dying right after 9/11 are huge. Remember the anthrax scare? Or even the DC sniper? And how the country reacted to the Congresswoman who was recently shot in what turned out to be a non-political killing with no suspicion of terrorism? Those got huge coverage. This is an actual political death, when the country is at peak terror. It will turn into stage two of the AQ plot and be a national emergency for a few days before the actual perpetrators are found. Then things get weird.
 
What if the JDL carried out the attacks, but didn't lay claim to them in hopes of pushing the US more into Israeli camp?

Torqumada
 
so I was reading up on the Jewish Defense League (JDL) and found this:



what if the JDL had pulled that off, bombing Darrell Issa's office, killing him and a number of staffers, also bombing the Mosque on the same day (some time in December 2001) killing say 22 people. would this attack change anything?

For one thing, Arnold Schwarzenegger would never have become Governor of California. Issa was one of the people that made the Recall Campaign a mainstream issue rather than just a few politicians with grudges ranting and raving. Issa gave the Recallers credibility.
 
Sorry I don't see it changing much. I think you might be confusing your personal politics for what the nation would do. Try remembering the nations mood right after 9/11. Saddly, I worry a large but silent part of the nation might not be too concerned about the 22 killed people at the Mosques.

Mr. Bush is still going to blindly push his personal war with Saddam in Iraq.
He is still going to see Astan as a low threat second theater. Do you think a
hugely pro-Israel Republican party or a democrate party that need Jewish
votes is going to completely change US foreign policy because 2 domestic
terrorist commit a crime? I might agree with you if it was a large group of
international jewish terrorists. But these are American doing stupid things. Right? Average Joe Americans aren't going to fall in
love with the long suffering Palestinians because a few Mosques get destroyed and a Republican Congress get killed by a small groups of nuts. Do you really
American are that sophisticated? Or are they going to remember the videos of
Palstinians cheering and passing out candy on 9/11?

I could see the US public not getting too worked up about mosques being bombed, but killing a congressperson is a whole different kettle of fish.

And an attack on a Congressperson is an attack on Congress, who control the money. There would be legislation mandating some kind of response IMO. What that response would be is another question.
 
I could see the Bushies tying this with 9-11 and other things calling it a "wave of terror" for a bigger USA PATRIOT Act, wow would that suck :(
 

archaeogeek

Banned
I think that's what they were going for.
When it gets found out everyone is going to be pissed at them.

I could see this feeding the truther movement from both sides.

EDIT - Also I could see it feeding far more into the antisemitic conspiracy theorists, again on both ends of the spectrum.
 
Last edited:
Top