4-14-11 Files released Thursday by the Federal Bureau of Investigation on the 1996 murder of rapper Tupac Shakur state that the star had received death threats from the Jewish Defense League, an organization that has been characterized as terrorist group.

Shakur was shot dead in Las Vegas in September 1996, in a murder case which remain unsolved.

"The JDL… have been extorting money from various rap music stars via death threats," the FBI file on the case states. The report then goes on to describe how the group would make the death threats, and then call the rap star and offer protection for a fee.

According to the documents, Shakur was a victim of this scheme, as was another late rapper, Eazy-E.

Although the documents refer to the JDL extortion scheme, they don't make a direct connection between the group and the murder of Shakur.

The FBI files were released as part of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Acts.

The JDL was founded by Rabbi Meir Kahane, who once served in the Knesset, but whose party was later banned for its extreme right-wing beliefs, which included transferring Arabs out of Israel. Kahane was murdered in New York in 1990 by an Arab-American gunman.

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/fbi-files-on-tupac-shakur-murder-s...

(NewsCore) - WASHINGTON -- Tupac Shakur, the iconic rapper shot dead in 1996, received death threats in the months before his death from a Jewish terrorist organization called the Jewish Defense League (JDL), Haaretz reported Thursday, citing recently released Federal Bureau of Investigation files.

"The JDL … have been extorting money from various rap music stars via death threats," the FBI file on the case stated.

The report goes on to describe how the group would make the death threats, then call the rap star and offer protection for a fee.

Shakur was fatally shot in September 1996 as he left a Mike Tyson boxing match at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Despite an exhaustive investigation, police were never able to determine who committed the crime.

Shakur often surrounded himself with friends associated with gangs and frequently recorded insulting lyrics about many perceived enemies, including the rapper known as "Notorious BIG" -- who was fatally shot less than a year after Shakur's death.

In the years since both shootings, many theories have emerged -- mostly among rap music aficionados and pop-culture scholars -- about who may have been responsible for Shakur's death. One theory suggests associates of Chistopher Wallace -- the given name of the rapper known as "Notorious BIG" -- were to blame.

According to the FBI documents, the JDL targeted Shakur as well as rapper Eazy-E, who, along with Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, comprised the 1990's sensational rap group NWA.

While the documents refer to JDL extortion efforts, they do not make a direct connection between the group and the murder of Shakur.

According to its website, the JDL is a Jewish nationalist organization advocating for the protection of Jews from antisemitism.

"JDL was created in part to teach the world -- fellow Jews and non-Jews alike -- that it is not unJewish for Jews to defend themselves -- even physically if need be; to the contrary, it is sinful for Jews to silently countenance evil and to sit idly by while Jews are harmed, suffer and even die," the group's website states.

In 2001, the group was characterized by the FBI as a "right-wing terrorist" group after then-JDL-leader Irv Rubin and member Earl Krugel were charged with planning a terror attack against the office of Congressman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), the grandson of Lebanese immigrants.

The two also reportedly planned attacks on the King Fahd Mosque in Culver City, Calif.

http://www.myfoxny.com/dpps/entertainment/tupac-received-threats-from-...

Submitted by andie531 on Sat, 2011-04-16 06:35

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