LOS ANGELES – Jewish Defense League leader Irv Rubin, jailed for allegedly plotting to bomb a mosque and an Arab-American congressman’s office, was hospitalized today after trying to kill himself, a U.S. Marshal’s Service spokesman said.
Rubin, 57, used a razor blade in the 6 a.m. suicide attempt, and was in critical condition after undergoing surgery at an undisclosed hospital, spokesman Bill Woolsey said. His attorney, Peter Morris, said Rubin was on life support and his wife and two sons had been called to his bedside.

Rubin had been scheduled to appear in court today for a hearing in his case. He and a second member of the militant group were arrested last year and were awaiting trial.

Rubin slashed his neck and throat with a razor and then fell or jumped from a balcony at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center as he and other inmates lined up for breakfast, officials said. They said he fell as far as 18 feet.

“There is no evidence at this point that it was anything but a suicide,” Woolsey said.

Initially, hospital personnel told prosecutors and defense attorneys that Rubin had died in surgery, said Bryan Altman, also a Rubin attorney. Lawyers in turn told Rubin’s family that he had died.

The FBI was investigating what it called a “crime in a government property,” spokeswoman Laura Bosley said. She could not confirm that it was a suicide attempt.

Rubin’s family alleged that Rubin had been attacked by someone.

“My husband would never kill himself. This was a hit,” said his wife, Shelley. “I saw my husband yesterday. He was just the same as before. He didn’t say goodbye. He said I will see you in court tomorrow. He was fine.”

[b]Rubin and associate Earl Krugel were arrested Dec. 11 on charges of plotting to bomb the King Fahd mosque in suburban Culver City and an office of Rep. Darrell E. Issa, [size=6][red]R[/size=6][/red]-Calif. Issa is the grandson of Lebanese immigrants.[/b]

A complaint against the two men quoted Krugel as saying during a meeting that Arabs “need a wakeup call.”

Rubin and Krugel were arrested after an FBI informant delivered an explosive powder that authorities believed was the last component in making pipe bombs. The charges carry up to 40 years in prison upon conviction.

Rubin, who by his own account has been arrested more than 40 times, joined the JDL early in the 1970s and quickly moved up, becoming chairman in 1985.

In 1989, the leader of the rival Jewish Defense Organization was charged with firing shots at Rubin and wounding three others in New York. Mordechai Levy was convicted of assault.

According to his biography, Rubin learned to fight anti-Semitism while growing up in Montreal, “where some hotel owners and other business people hung signs reading ’No Dogs or Jews Allowed’ on their doors and where French Canadian schoolchildren taunted him because he was Jewish.”

His family emigrated in 1961 and he became a U.S. citizen and joined the Air Force in 1966, serving four years.

In 1973 he served in Israel’s civil defense corps during the Middle East war.

The JDL, whose symbol is a raised fist inside a Star of David, has the motto “Never Again,” referring to the World War II killing of 6 million Jews. It was founded in 1968 by Rabbi Meir Kahane to mount armed response to anti-Semitic acts in New York City.

[b]The group was suspected in a 1985 bombing in Santa Ana that killed Southern California Arab anti-discrimination leader Alex Odeh[/b], but no arrests were ever made.

Kahane was assassinated in New York in 1990. El Sayyid Nosair, 36, an Egyptian-born Muslim with terrorist ties, was convicted in connection with the shooting.

Too bad he didn't succeed, and I'm not talking about the suicide.

I see you support the murder of American citizens because they are of a different beliefs.

No, just PRETENDERS. If you don't own a gun, a pig or a porno mag, your not an american.

What does having certain material possessions have to do with being an "american" as you put it?

Does Dubya own a pig? I doubt it, so he must not be an "american".

FWIW, the GOA voting guide gives Issa an "A".

No, but he OWNS GUNS. DUH! Only one on my list and your in.

That explains why rubin wanted him dead. The ADL classified GOA as an extremist anti-semite organization.

Rubin >>>>> ADL????  Or JDL???  Or both?

The JDL to ADL was similar to what the IRA was to Sinn Fein.