Remembering Phil Blazer, broadcaster and Jewish activist
Blazer is survived by his wife, Kathy, his three sons and one daughter, and six grandchildren, as well as his two sisters and several nieces and nephews.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFYahrzeit candle(photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)
Visionary broadcaster and Jewish activist Phil Blazer died on Wednesday at the age of 76 in Burbank, California.Blazer's multi-media career spanned radio, print as the owner of Israel Today, and television, including a nationally syndicated TV show.In 2006, he founded Jewish Life Television Network, which has grown to reach 53 million homes around the world, 24 hours a day.In addition to his media work, Blazer was dedicated to Jewish life and culture, and Israel.An early highlight came in 1973, with his campaign urging radio show listeners to cut up their Standard Oil credit cards in protest at the company's anti-Israel stance. Thousands of destroyed cards - enough to fill a number of trash bags - arrived in the post, which Blazer took to the company's headquarters. The campaign was reported by Walter Cronkite on CBS evening news, impressing upon Blazer the importance of activism.Later campaigns would see Blazer persuade the US government to deploy a secret mission in 1985 to rescue 1,000 starving Ethiopian Jews from Sudanese refugee camps, and bringing counter-protests to confront neo-Nazis threatening the safety of Holocaust survivors in Illinois.Blazer thrived on community action, regularly bringing celebrities to Israel for informal tours. Ben Kingsley, Sammy Davis Jr, Peter Strauss, Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Fonda were among those to experience the Holy Land in this way.Blazer is survived by his wife, Kathy, his three sons and one daughter, and six grandchildren, as well as his two sisters and several nieces and nephews.
