Why We Need Men Like Earl Krugel

I spoke to Irv Rubin, (OBM) about his relationship with Earl when the two of them were sweating it out in a concrete dungeon in the year 2001. Cuffed and jerked around like the worst of criminals “He keeps me going. Earl is my father, my big brother, and my teacher.” “We are in Hell in this prison, this is the worst form of punishment yet devised by man, but Earl smiles and recites from the bible, and talks about self-sacrifice, he teaches me to put the suffering of others over my own.” On one occasion Earl confronted the Grand Dragon of the KKK, Robert Shelton, said Rubin. “ Shelton had the self-consciously created expression of Hitler; he sneered when he spoke, like the Fuhrer did when talking about the Final solution.” Earl walked over to him and said “The next time you see me, be prepared to put your philosophy into practice , starting with me.” Although the Grand Dragon was surrounded by beefy security people; he blanched and told his followers, “The rally is over.” “Earl can be very intense,” said Irv, smiling, “and when he says something, you know he means it.”
Anti-Jew hatred is still with us.
Just before the alledged bomb plot a Holocaust museum was torched by an arsonist. Jewish institutions were daubed with swastikas. A religious leader’s anti-Semitic tirade was resoundingly received. An elected official said Jews could stop the war in Iraq. A mainstream columnist fed into the canard of Jewish control. A poet laureate blamed Jews for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Addressing worshippers at Chicago’s Mosque Maryam on Nov. 23, Minister Louis Farrakhan, the head of the Nation of Islam, condemned Jews as “masters of Hollywood” who “publish the filth that is published daily feeding the minds of the American people and the people of the world .” Getting a strong supportive response from the audience, Farrakhan, a longtime anti-Semite and racist, preached that Jews tampered with the Bible — “But what you have in the Bible has been added to and taken away from by the Jews . The Jews have altered the word of God out of its place.” And so on, to the point of nausea.
There were increasing incidents of anti-Semitic attacks. Then the story broke that two Jews had been arrested on terrorism charges.
The President of the Arab-Antidiscrimination League credited the alleged conspiracy with instilling fear in the Arab American community, which resulted in a dramatic reduction in anti-Semitic incidents in the wake of the charges. There is no doubt that Earl’s sacrifice has at least slowed down the growth of terrorism in the U.S. Abraham Stern was turned upon and condemned in his time, yet we now all honor his memory. Streets have been named after him. Jonathon Pollard was likewise reviled, and now he has status as a mensch.
We need men like Earl Krugel.