In the 1980s and early 1990s, Weinstein and the JDL were involved in identifying alleged Nazi war criminals living in Canada as well as neo-Nazi activity.
[2] The revived JDL has focused on opposing what it views as growing radical Islamic influence and anti-Israel activity.
[11] In May 1995 Meir Weinstein and US JDL leader Irv Rubin were caught and apprehended by police[12] while trying to break into the property of Ernst Zündel, a Holocaust denier.
[14] In 2007, Weinstein helped organize a town hall session to raise questions about the connections of a mosque in Newmarket, Ontario with Zafar Bangash.
The controversial imam has promoted sharia law and vigorously defended Iran's fundamentalist regime and Lebanon's Hezbollah movement.
He told the Toronto Star that he was invited by Ron Banerjee, one of the organizers, but would have "called in with the flu" had he known Weinstein would be there because of his association with the JDL.
[9] Weinstein found himself on the defensive at the meeting, according to the National Post, after he implied that a town councillor had accepted a bribe.
"[16] In his arguments against the mosque, Weinstein told the audience of about 30, "[i]f, God forbid, an Islamic state ever came to fruition in this country, we would be doomed.
"[16] A 2007 demonstration against Paul Fromm while he was on his way to a disciplinary hearing at the Ontario College of Teachers resulted in the arrest of two JDL activists who were accused of assaulting the controversial far-right figure.
"[17] In 2009, Weinstein's JDL issued an "open letter" to the Canadian government calling for the British politician George Galloway to be barred from entering Canada.
The event was denounced by the Canadian Jewish Congress whose leader, Bernie Farber, said he was "disappointed that the JDL would support an organization whose record in the U.K. is one of violence and extremism.
"[22] The rally, held at the Toronto Zionist Centre, attracted a counter-protest organized by Anti-Racist Action resulting in four arrests.
[23] Meir Weinstein reported that many members of the JDL were interviewed extensively, at home and at work and suggested that the RCMP was surveilling their activity.
On April 20, 2018, a second Canadian JDL supporter, Brandon David William Vaughan, was arraigned in relation with the Washington D.C. assaults the previous year.
[25] Weinstein claimed that his members acted in "self-defence" saying of the beating victims "They found out that it’s not wise to lay not even a finger on any of us.