Waco and Ruby Ridge are names which crop up very frequently in any discussion on extremism and racism in the U.S. The raid on the Branch Davidian Sect at Waco and the raid on Ruby Ridge by the law enforcement authorities, particularly the F.B.I., resulted in heavy casualties, including fatalities, in confrontations which encapsulate the alienation from its government felt by some sections of the American population. The Oklahoma bombing is yet another facet of this disturbing pattern of events.

This alienation is expressed most widely in the rapid growth of the Militia Movement, which has grown from 10,000 members in 13 states in 1994, to 15,000 in 40 states within a year. A report by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) issued late in 1995, characterises many of these Militias as 'armed and dangerous'. After the April Oklahoma City bombing, it was noted that two suspects had attended Militia meetings in Michigan. Anti-government grievances provide a common ideological base for the Militias and they have become adept at using the Internet, patriotic rallies and gun shows to spread their message.

Although the Militias do not all adhere to the same views, many use well established extremist sources as the basis of their anti-government, conspiracy focussed theories. The weekly Spotlight produced by a leading U.S. anti-semitic organisation, the Liberty Lobby, is one such source. A major suspect in the Oklahoma City bombing, Timothy McVeigh, advertised a rocket launcher for sale in Spotlight.

A special supplement of Spotlight (September 1994), focused on the kind of fantasies found commonly among Militia members, eg "Is America on the verge of war? Is a 'national emergency' about to be declared and America placed under martial law? Is America on the brink of occupation by military groups under United Nations control?" The Liberty Lobby's publishers (Noontide Press) have produced a bomb-making manual - The Road Back - which has been promoted by several State Militias.

A few of the Militias decry bigotry, but most of them push for radical action targeting government offices and agencies. There is now evidence of some coordination of Militia tactics, with a leaning towards political rather than military action. Too many of the Militias however still maintain a paramilitary posture, with underground cells and a conviction that the government is the enemy which must be opposed by any means available. The ADL publication (1995) outlines in detail the activities of the Militias in some 40 U.S. States and sums up that 'it should be clear by now that these extremists present a serious danger. The formula they have concocted - belief in menacing conspiracies, hatred of the government and the conviction that an armed showdown is coming - is a prescription for disaster'. (Beyond the Bombing - the Militia Menace Grows, ADL 1995, p.3)

The occurrence of large-scale terrorist acts on the U.S. mainland brought home to Americans the horrific power of small bands of determined bombers to inflict massive damage. The attack by Moslem fundamentalists on the World Trade Centre building in New York in February 1993 and the accumulating evidence of radical Islamic groups intent, in 1995, to carry out a range of similar actions, shocked a nation lulled by a belief that such disasters only occur far away.

The Oklahoma City bombing however made clear that U.S. terrorism is also an indigenous activity and has sparked a lively debate on the inadequacy of the intelligence and law enforcement agencies’ response. In a country priding itself on opposition to any infringement of free speech, civil liberties and freedom of assembly, the mechanisms for dealing with violent public acts are a subject of serious concern and discussion.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has urged that the recognised need for constitutionally sound counter terrorism should not involve a curtailment of basic freedoms. There is still widespread concern that the COINTELPRO actions directed, successfully, at groups such as the Black Panthers, were too often misused in harassing ordinary citizens.

The handling of the Waco siege, and the raid on Gary Weaver at Ruby Ridge, the first of which involved much loss of life and the second the death of an FBI agent and Weaver's wife, has generated a great deal of acrimonious argument about the efficacy and effectiveness of the law enforcement agencies in handling such incidents.

The issue of black-Jewish relations continues to be a central problem for the U.S. Jewish community. The integrationist philosophy associated with the assassinated Martin Luther King Jr., still holds the allegiance of many African-Americans, including such mainstream groups as the Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), both of which continue to work amicably with Jewish community groups. Periodically however, since at least the time of Marcus Garvey in the 1920s, a separatist approach has attracted the attention of many African-Americans frustrated by continuing racism. The rise of Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam is evidence that a separatist approach to race relations now has a powerful attraction for many black Americans.

The many recent examples of anti-semitic jibes from black American leaders (including Jesse Jackson's 'hymietown' jibe), have caused anxiety and anger. But of much greater moment has been the continued hate-filled anti-semitic rhetoric of Louis Farrakhan. Farrakhan and his aides have advocated anti-white, anti-Asian, homophobic and anti-catholic views, all couched in extremist language and voiced very angrily.

Steve Cokely for instance has accused Jewish doctors of injecting black children with AIDS. Lionel Jeffries, until recently head of black studies at City College, New York University, has distinguished between blacks 'Sun People' and whites 'Ice People' - harsh unfeeling oppressors of blacks. He has also made scurrilous and false charges of the involvement of Jews in the slave trade - an important issue in the black communities.

These attacks, and many of a similar nature, unpleasant as they are, have been overshadowed by the furore surrounding the Million Man March, organised by Louis Farrakhan. The March received enormous media coverage and the presence of hundreds of thousands of black men (women were deliberately excluded) in Washington, represented a significant assertive act by blacks, determined to face the problems of drugs, crime, violence and racism. A number of black leaders refused to associate themselves in any way with the March, being concerned not to enhance the standing of Farrakhan; many more however, while deploring the leaders’ views, felt drawn by the act of black militancy, adopting the rather strained stance of the March - yes, Farrakhan - no.

In fact, while according to a survey by the Washington Post, only 5% of those attending stated they came because of Farrakhan, according to the ADL Washington Director, David Friedman 'The Million Man March was about Minister Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam which emerged as the main beneficiaries of the success of the March'. The Post Survey referred to above, also found that '87% of African-Americans have a favourable opinion of Farrakhan'.

Jewish community groups have been active in drawing attention to the divisive nature of the Nation of Islam and its spokesman and they have had support from a number of black leaders in this. However, the March caused much soul-searching and debate in both the Jewish and general communities. There was a concern at the need not to alienate the many African Americans for whom the March was a positive act.

Farrakhan's aides made attempts to contact Jewish groups before the March, but given the stated refusal by Farrakhan to retreat from his heated anti-Jewish rhetoric ('he is articulating ' it was said 'a view widely held in the black community'), the Jewish leadership, after a good deal of agonising, refused to provide him with a 'photo opportunity', which might enhance his standing.

However, the bigotry of the Nation of Islam is only one of a number of expressions of the rift between blacks and Jews who were seen not so long ago as united in the fight against U.S. racism. Indeed the Jewish contribution to the Civil rights movement is often derided by younger blacks as patronising. Jewish groups, while often coming out in support of Affirmative Action programs (a significant issues to all elements in the African-American world) have generally opposed quotas based on race in admission to College and employment and this has caused some bitterness in mainstream black organisations such as the NAACP, which do not share Farrakhan's bigotry.

At the grass-roots many Jews and blacks still work together on local and regional issues, but it must be said that this is a small positive note in a generally bleak picture.

The phenomenal growth of the Christian Coalition continues to be a feature of the American religious scene. The U.S. has always prided itself on its separation of church and state; the Coalition, one of whose leaders is M.G. (Pat) Robertson, Chancellor of the Christian-oriented Regent University and a prominent conservative figure, is founded on the premise that this separation needs to be reversed. This objective of making the U.S.A. a 'Christian nation' has caused much concern in Jewish circles which have generally opposed the integration of church and state, as exemplified by moves to introduce prayers into public schools.

Of even greater concern has been the politically and socially conservative posture adopted by the Coalition under leaders such as Ralph Reed and Pat Robertson. In 1994, the Anti-Defamation League created something of a storm when it published a book-length attack on this right-leaning Christian movement - 'The Religious Right: The Assault on Tolerance and Pluralism in America'.

In its critique of the religious right the ADL accepted that 'what the movement says it wants is right'. However, in his foreword to the book, Abraham Foxman, the national director of the ADL argues that 'the religious right brings to cultural disagreement a rhetoric of fear, suspicion, even hatred..... real debate over the problems afflicting American society is eclipsed by the blare of grievance and blame and chauvinism and the fragile structures of consensus are bulldozed by sectarian, absolutist declarations'.

The text of the book is a documentation of these charges by Foxman. In particular, there is an analysis of the prolific written record of Pat Robertson, which highlights the underlying current of anti-semitsm that permeates his view of the world and of history. One example must suffice:

"it is obviously one thing to ensure that the horrors of the Holocaust are never repeated again.... However it is quite another thing for a strident minority of only 5,000,000 to regard the expression of the deeply held belief of the majority as so repugnant that it undertakes the systematic vilification, weakening and ultimate suppression of the majority point of view from society' - Pat Robertson's Perspective 1989.

Many similar expressions by Christian Coalition leaders, such as Bill McCormack and Ralph Reed as well as numerous statements by representative groups (the Moral majority, the Concerned Women of America, the Traditional Values Coalition, etc.) point to a convincing pattern of politically right wing groups using a rhetoric which has always been a source of deep anxiety to Jewish people in the U.S.A.

In a review of the sources of Robertson conspiracy-oriented view of history, Michael Lind in the New York Review of Books (February 2, 1995) argues that Robertson has drawn on well known anti-semitic authors to develop his views.

Lind's conclusion is that 'Robertson's theories about Jewish bankers and Jewish revolutionaries are central to his conspiracy theory, which in turn is central to his vision of his own destiny and his ambitions for the American Right and the Republican Party'.

In documenting the many elements which make up the growth of a conservative Christian right, the ADL argues that a separation of church and state strengthens rather than weakens religion.

The attack on the Christian Right as a movement requiring Jewish vigilance stung the well organised and vocal Jewish adherents generally identified with neo-conservative politics - Irving Kristol, Elliot Abrams, Midge Decter, Michael Medved and others. In Commentary, Midge Decter accused the ADL of using 'guilt by association' and of being itself 'guilty of the one bigotry that seems to be acceptable these days - bigotry against Conservative Christians'.

Rabbi Daniel Lapin, a founder of an organisation of Christians and Jews supporting conservatism, Kristol, Abrams and more than ten other prominent conservative Jews subsequently attacked the ADL in a full-page New York Times advertisement. The ADL responded with a defense of its publication, but also made approaches towards dialogue with leaders of the Christian Coalition. This 'backtrack' in turn earned a rebuke from Daniel Levitas in the left liberal Nation (June 19. 1995).

One of the confusions evident in the debate has been the support many members of the Christian Coalition have given to Israel. Jewish supporters of the Republican right have highlighted such support, although an analysis of the theological basis of this 'love of Zion' often displays some less than attractive features.

In the light of the divisive and acrimonious controversy, it may be significant that at the recent November meeting of the National Commission of the ADL, the Christian Right did not feature high on the agenda.

Australians connected to 'Cyberspace' will have become familiar with the spread of anti-Semitism, racism and extremism on the Internet. Much of this material originates in the U.S.A. The neo-Nazi National Alliance, skinheads playing 'Aryan music' and a number of Christian Identity churches already well known for their anti-Jewish venom have all made their appearance on the World Wide Web. Holocaust deniers have been particularly busy pouring out their 'revisionism' at a number of WWW sites. The Usenet a collection of many news groups by which people discuss, debate and propagate their views has become very popular with extremists and their opponents.

A commonly stated thread is the need to find alternatives to the 'Jewish controlled media'. Groups like white Aryan Resistance use the Internet to recruit new members. An example I myself have garnered recently from the net is a well researched rebuttal of the ADL's attack on the Christian Right accusing the league of 'committing defamation'.

The material on the Internet ranges all the way from blatantly racist hate material (Stormfront) to articles calculated to appeal to a more rational and sceptical audience. In defense, a number of Jewish and non-Jewish organisations dedicated to combating this spreading of hate propaganda have also set up 'sites' on the Net.

It is difficult to gauge the impact of the availability of racist and extremist materials on the Internet, but there is no doubt that this way of reaching an audience and recruiting converts to hate groups is now widespread and growing.

Neo-Nazi youth are a worldwide problem, and recent events in Luebeck emphasise their German provenance. In the U.S., they are dangerous for their sporadic behaviour. Since the 1980s, they have been responsible for nearly forty murders of minorities (Blacks, Asians and Hispanics) and homosexuals, as well as fellow skinheads. An ADL 1995 report characterises them as combining a neo-Nazi ideology with 'gang lifestyles' giving them a feeling of superiority over others. The same report comments that they 'glorify Hitler and aspire to create this vision of a worldwide pan Aryan Reich'.

Tom Metzger, the notorious leader of the White Aryan Resistance, circulates his hate material to skinhead neo-Nazis who also distribute Holocaust denial publications by the Canadian-German Ernst Zundel. Among numerous recent incidents involving neo-Nazis one may instance the firing of several rounds from a high-powered rifle into a Synagogue in Portland, Oregon.

Records on anti-Jewish incidents and attacks on property and persons in the U.S. are far from comprehensive. In 1995 nearly one thousand such incidents were recorded, most of them in New York, Florida and California. College campuses continue to invite anti-semitic speakers such as Lionel Jeffries, Tony Martin and Louis Farrakhan and many student newspapers have accepted Holocaust denial advertisements.

In 1995, some fifty seven persons were convicted of anti-semitic crimes. In assessing the above figures, one needs to keep in mind the size of the U.S. population. In fact, those recording the incidents point to a slight diminution in numbers from 1994.

To deter racially motivated hate crimes, thirty nine U.S. states have adopted legislation involving an enhancement of penalty in cases where a crime is shown to be racially motivated. Moves are now in train in some of the States to include a penalty enhancement in the case of crimes whose victims are chosen by reason of their gender.

This report on U.S. extremism has to this point focussed on groups from outside the Jewish community. The assassination of Yitzhak Rabin has drawn attention to extremist groups within the Jewish community. In the U.S. this relates particularly to the Jewish Defense League (J.D.L.) and the Jewish Defense Organisation (J.D.O.). Kahane Chai, founded following the death of Meir Kahane, operates in the U.S. as well as in Israel. These groups now have a record of activity stretching over 26 years. (Kahane founded the J.D.L. in July 1968).

These often loosely connected Jewish 'Defense' groups preach radical Jewish nationalism linked to racism, violence and extremism. They commonly reject any compromise between Jews and non-Jews and Arabs in Israel. The lesson the Kahane style activists have drawn from the anti-Jewish racism in the U.S. is to 'mount a massive and total war' on such activities. While at times emphasising responsibility, they have very frequently disrupted Jewish organisational activities to drive home their message that only tough 'heroic' action will be effective. Their extremist rhetoric with its implications that only violent action against anti-semitic manifestations is effective has alienated many Jews and non-Jews, has pitted Jew against Jew, and blunted genuine efforts to deal with racism in the U.S.

In the wake of the Rabin assassination, it was notable that Kahanist-type groups began to collect defense funds for the alleged killers and became very vocal in justifying the atmosphere of hate which played such a major role in the killing.

A word of warning needs to be added to this report. Given all the hate-mongers described in it, it is important to maintain a sense of proportion. That they are active and thriving cannot be doubted; but it must be stressed that they are far from representative of the people of the U.S.A. Any visitor to the states is struck in fact by the general climate of tolerance and accommodation evident everywhere. The mainstream media overall doesn't reflect the anger of the hate groups. Nevertheless, the Militias with their conviction that their own government s the enemy, the Nation of Islam with its many adherents, and the extremist Christian right with its drive towards a 'truly Christian nation' all emphasise the truth of the old adage, that 'eternal vigilance is the price of liberty'.

1. The material of this briefing is largely based on views gathered at a meeting of the National Commission of the ADL which I attended as a member in November 1995, and on related publications by the Anti-Defamation League in the U.S.

This report was first published as an Australian Institute of Jewish Affairs Briefing (No 33 February/March 1996)