Street named after Kahane irks residents

[Scurrilous]

Or Akiva residents outraged over street named after rabbi whose party was outlawed for inciting racism. 'It's a dead-end alley and no one has complained about it,' mayor says

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3364430,00.html

<snip>

"Most Israeli cities have streets named after Yitzhak Rabin, Theodore Herzel, Ze'ev Jabotinsky and various other national leaders – but only Or Akiva, north of Tel Aviv, has a street named after Rabbi Meir Kahane, whose extreme right-wing party was banned from the Knesset for inciting racism.

Kahane founded Kach, a party which advocated transferring Palestinians out of the territories for monetary compensation and annexing those territories as part of an ideology believing in the concept of 'a greater Israel.'

The party won one seat in the 1984 Knesset and was subsequently banned from participating in future elections after the Election Law was amended to bar lists that incite racism.

He also founded the Jewish Defense League (JDL), which is listed by the FBI as a terrorist group.

Kahane was murdered by El Sayyid Nosair in 1990 after a speech in New York."

<snip>

"All of this well-documented racist behavior, however, didn't stop Or Akiva from naming a street in his honor, causing residents to respond with outrage."

[Englander]

1. One fact missing from this article -

Most Israeli cities have streets named after Yitzhak Rabin, Theodore Herzel, Ze'ev Jabotinsky and various other national leaders

One of those "various other national leaders" is Avraham Stern, the Lehi terrorist. He gets a MoD-run
museum, where the "exhibits are devoted to the Lehi organisation & one of it's founders."

"The Baker's Daughter

>snip

Today, Ahuva, a retired Jewish studies teacher, volunteers for the Committee for the Lehi Heritage. Its museum is located in the building of Stern's final hideout in Tel Aviv's Florentine neighborhood.

As a Ministry of Defense museum, soldiers guide visitors throughout the two floor structure with permanent exhibitions about Stern's life and death, the struggle against the British, the split from Etzel, and a clandestine weapons production shop.

Volunteers who were former Lehi members, provide firsthand accounts of their experiences. The Committee for the Lehi Heritage organizes lectures and workshops for students, as well study days for teachers, historians and researchers. A publishing house publishes members' memoirs. Annual events include memorials to members and awards are presented to young people writing about the Lehi. A Hebrew Internet site was recently set up.

"There is an increased interest in Lehi's legacy and Avraham Stern," observes Ahuva. "Many high school and university students do research at the museum. The 60thanniversary of Stern's assassination was commemorated at the Knesset in February, and every year more and more people visit his gravesite in Tel Aviv."

The dream of every Lehi member was to participate in a military operation. "Although I wasn't privileged to do this, I realized that whatever I did was as important, freeing others to the task," reflects Ahuva.

Contact info for the Lehi Museum: 8 Stern Street, Tel Aviv

http://www.wzo.org.il/en/resources/view.asp?id=1183

More museums where paramilitary organizations are celebrated;

The Jabotinsky Museum
http://www.ilmuseums.com/museum_eng.asp?id=69

Etzel Museum
http://ilmuseums.com/museum_eng.asp?id=62