Ashdod Chapter of KKK Struggling To Recruit

Ashdod, Israel, November 15 – Simmering resentment over the perceived hijacking of national purpose and purity by Jews in the government has so far failed to provide fertile recruiting grounds for the Ku Klux Klan, the head of the Ashdod chapter revealed today.

The Ku Klux Klan, long known for its vocal opposition to blacks, Jews, Catholics, and nonwhite immigrants, established its Ashdod chapter in 1990, as the last major influx of immigrants from the crumbling Soviet Union was underway. Grand dragon Ed Vickers, now 65, recalls the heady atmosphere surrounding the moment, as he and the three other founding members looked forward to what they thought would be a rich field of new recruits. To their dismay, in the intervening years only three new members have joined, and one of those was likely a clerical error.

Vickers and his colleagues, transplants from Idaho and Washington state, saw statistics regarding the number of Jews living in Ashdod, which at the time had a Jewish population of about 84,000. Realizing that the figure dwarfed the Jewish presence in both Idaho and Washington combined, the trio – Vickers, Duane Lamaar, and Duke Scott – saw a gold mine of potential in enlisting other residents of the coastal Israeli city to fight the presence of those Jews in their midst, and set out to accomplish what many others before had done throughout the United States.

Immediately, however, the three encountered difficulty in locating, let alone attracting, potential new members. “We went door to door at one point, canvassing, handing out a few flyers warning folks of the Jewish menace,” recalls Lamaar, 62. “We mostly got blank stares. I thought at first they were simply ignorant, maybe didn’t speak English, and, well, that could be why we didn’t make much headway.”

Scott, also 62, remembers the first chapter meeting in early 1991, at the height of the First Gulf War. “There we were, in our uniforms, with our white hoods not fitting over the gas masks, trying to come up with slogans,” he says. “We wanted to hold a rally near a local synagogue, but the air raid sirens went off, and we had to make a run for it.” Scott’s wife, Melanie, then made special hoods that would fit over gas masks, but they never ended up using them.

The first new recruit came later that year, giving the chapter a morale boost. A former fascist from Russia, Grigory Stepanovich attained Israeli citizenship through a relative who, though not considered Jewish under Halacha, or Jewish Law, was nevertheless eligible under Ministry of the Interior rules for automatic citizenship for the Right of Return. Stepanovich left in 1992 to establish a separate Neo-Nazi organization.

The other two recruits came along in 2003 and 2008, respectively. The 2003 recruit never appeared in person, but conducted an extensive correspondence with the chapter from his residence at a psychiatric hospital in the Judean Hills. The other submitted an application, which the chapter accepted, but his character references seemed to indicate he thought he was applying for a position at a chess enthusiasts’ organization, and he never followed up or attended meetings.

Chapter events have petered out over the years. In the 1990’s the three generally held a march through the city’s downtown area once a year in February or March, on a day coinciding with the Jewish festival of Purim, when they knew Jews would be a visible presence on the streets. They marched in full costume, but succeeded in attracting little attention or controversy.

Vickers and his fellow Ashdod chapter members remain optimistic over the future of the chapter. “We just realized how many immigrants have come to this country,” Vickers told a reporter. “There’s some fertile ground for riling people up, right there.”