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November 14, 2003/Cheshvan 19 5764, Vol. 56, No. 8
'No' to Aryan Nations
Local residents shun hate group gatherings
BARRY COHEN
Editor
Aryan Nations members erred when they targeted Cave Creek as fertile ground for new recruits, say local residents and community leaders.
The White supremacist group met at the Cave Creek Recreation Area, near the Carefree Highway and 32nd Street, on the weekend of Nov. 8-9.
No more than approximately 20 people attended the event, according to The Arizona Republic.
Aryan Nations members may have thought they had support in Cave Creek, said Usama Abujbarah, town manager, because the Sonoran News, an area newspaper, has made illegal immigration a core issue.
Perhaps the newspaper's continued coverage gave Aryan Nations the impression they could find allies in Cave Creek, he said.
"Basically, they have no sympathy in our community," said Abujbarah. "The reaction of residents and merchants was overwhelmingly against this group having ties to Cave Creek."
Abujbarah noted that Cave Creek has a day labor program but added, "the town is not helping or funding illegal aliens."
Aryan Nations must have "seized on the immigration problem" and hoped that in Cave Creek there were enough "disgruntled people who would want to join," said Herb Glickston, resident of Carefree, and member of the Desert Foothills Jewish Community Association.
Valley leaders rejected the notion that hate groups could successfully recruit in Arizona.
"We are upset that they may view Arizona as fertile ground," said Bill Straus, regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. People are further upset that groups such as Aryan Nations and the Ku Klux Klan choose to meet in or near the Valley, he added.
While Aryan Nations picked a site where they could lawfully meet, the low attendance confirmed that there is no "groundswell of support for them in the community, as some would lead us to believe," said Rabbi Robert Kravitz, executive director of the Arizona Chapter of the American Jewish Committee.
Aryan Nations met in the same location as the picnic grounds where the Desert Foothills Jewish Community Association has scheduled events, said Eda Zinn, Cave Creek resident.
"It's way out there and isolated," she said.
Leaders from the AJC, ADL and the Jewish Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Phoenix noted that they would continue to monitor the activities of Aryan Nations and other hate groups.
"Every minority group needs to be aware of their activities," said Straus.
Contact the writer at barry_cohen@jewishaz.com.
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