The Chairman of The DCCC (Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) Steve Israel, who is supposed to be representingNY's 2nd Congressional District, never met a Progressive anti-Semitic or anti-Israel group that he did not embrace. The Long Island Congressman's latest "love affair" is with Occupy Wall Street whose members have displayed a hatred of both the Jews and the Jewish State.
The DCCC run by Israel features a petition supporting Occupy Wall Street which is looking for 100,000 signatures in support of Occupy Wall Street
Its hard to believe that Congressman Israel hasn't seen any of the news reports of hatred coming out of the Occupy Wall Street movement.
For example this New York Protester who claims that one small minority controls the banks, the judiciary, American Politics, and represent over 50% of all billionaires in the country. (if you cannot see video below please click here)
"The Jews who represent only 2% of the population...have pooled their money together an now control all the the finances of America"
When Michael Moore was covered by MSNBC as he spoke from an Occupy Wall Street protest, he was joined by anti-Israel protesters.
Michael Moore From Occupy Wall Street
This little clip came from the Los Angeles version of the protests Steve Israel is supporting. Meet Patricia McAllister who is not only an Occupy Wall Street protester, but she also works for the LA Schools:
“I think that the Zionist Jews, who are running these big banks and our Federal Reserve, which is not run by the federal government… they need to be run out of this country.”
As reported by Carl in Jerusalem in his blog Israel Matzav one of Occupy Wall Street's organizers, Kalle Lasn, has a history of anti-Jewish writing.
Back in 2004, he wrote a highly controversial Adbusters article entitled “Why Won’t Anyone Say They Are Jewish?”which peddled some of the more feverish theories about American Jews, neoconservatism, and the Bush administration
If Carl could find that out from thousands of miles away in Jerusalem, its hard to believe that Steve Israel couldn't find that out living 40 miles away from the NYC rally.
Poster From Occupy LA
In Chicago, the Steve Israel supported Occupy Wall Street protest joined up with a Destroy Israel march. As reported by Rebelpundit:
Hatem Abudayyeh, a local pro-Palestinian agitator, rose to stage to address the crowd regarding Israel and American imperialism. He referred to Benjamin Netanyahu as a “fool” for his recent address to the U.N. General Assembly, and cheered the effectiveness of the global boycott and divestment in Israel, which he said was successfully putting a “dent in Israel’s indemnity over Palestine and the Arab world.” During the speech, members of the radical left-wing Jewish Voice for Peace, an organization on which noted socialist Noam Chomsky happens to sit on the board, passed out flyers that read at the top, “Be a Passivist (sic), be a Nonviolent Activist, Refuse to Pay Taxes, Destroy Israel!”
This is not the first anti-Israel/anti-Semitic cause backed by Steve Israel, who represents a district with a large liberal Jewish population. When President Obama was trying to push the anti-Israel group J-Street down the throats of the pro-Israel community, the Long Island Congressman lent his name to the Organization. He didn't care that the group wanted President Obama to begin talks with the terrorist group Hamas and ease up the Iranian sanctions. Later on when J-Street tried to convince the US Congress to accept the Goldstone Report, a one sided UN Report with trumped up charges of Israeli War Crimes during the Gaza war, Congressman Israel was silent about the group for which he lent his support.
Sign From Occupy NY
As President Obama began to implement his anti-Israel foreign policy, Steve Israel who never before had been reluctant to speak out in support of Israel, was strangely silent. Even as Republicans began to stand up to support the Jewish State, Congressman Israel said nothing. His silence is the result of his inability to have a thought independent of the Administration. This past May when President Obama made his one sided anti-Israel Middle East there was plenty of criticism regarding Obama's call to begin negotiations with Israel ceding the disputed territories, but none of it was from DNCC Chair Steve Israel.
I do not believe that Congressman Israel believes in the Antisemitic/anti-Israel Stance of Occupy Wall Street, nor does he agree with the stances of J-Street or the Iranians his donor was convicted of arming. In fact there is no evidence that he agrees with the President's anti-Israel policies which he remains silent about. No, the DNCC Chairman is much worse than that. Steve Israel is a political hack, who abandons the Jewish State and the Jewish people, not because of an actual belief but because he wants to get ahead in the Democratic Party political organization.
Sadly here in New York's Second 2nd Congressional District, we do not have a Congressman who represents this slice of Long Island, instead Steve Israel believes his role is to represent the national Democratic Party as well as everything this President says and does.
Most Jews today (or should I merely say many?), even the most secular among them, have a tremendous fear of Christians—especially fervent believers of the type represented today by Evangelicals--and conservatives. There is a material basis for this fear based on past Jewish experience. But it is the year 2011; things have changed; and it is time to reconsider these assumptions and see if they still make sense.
Let me begin by mentioning two specific situations I have witnessed that show the foolishness of this blindness:
In a particular city a group of Jews organized a march for Israel. Several Christian groups wanted to participate. Since some elements among the Jews disagreed with the Christians on other political issues, they cancelled the march rather than participate alongside pro-Israel Christians.
In a particular other city, an Israeli speaker was invited to speak by the main pro-Israel Jewish group. He was also invited to speak by a respectable pro-Israel Christian group. The potential speaker was informed that if he spoke for the Christian group the pro-Israel Jewish group would refuse to have him as a speaker .
This kind of behavior is simultaneously shameful and stupid. We are not speaking here of political sophistication but about a mode of thinking equivalent to a fear of catching cooties.
True, in general, for almost 2000 years many Christians and their institutions have often persecuted Jews, either materially or at least had very negative views toward Jews. In this short space I will not attempt to review that history or get beyond generalizations. Readers are able to do that for themselves.
For 200 years, modern conservative and nationalist thought in the West has also often persecuted Jews, in words, attitudes, and actions. A good starting point for that phase is the triumph of German nationalists over Napoleon and the reversal of the French revolution’s grant of rights to Jews in those lands. And of course the culmination was in the Nazi death camps.
It is understandable, then, that Jews supported parties of the liberal and left type where they were welcomed, where modernity was extolled, and where Jews believed they could integrate with the masses and thus defuse grassroots’ antisemitism. That strategy made perfect sense.
With Communism’s betrayal of the Jews, the contemporary tendency for the far left to take over traditional social democratic and liberal institutions, and the left’s romance with Third World (and particularly Palestinian, Arab, and Islamist radicalism), the world has change. The left has largely abandoned Israel as a cause, often become antagonistic, and even evinces antisemitism.
There is still hope for reviving the social democratic and liberal tradition of being pro-Jewish and pro-Israel, but that won’t happen until the infiltration and seizure of intellectual hegemony of the far left is defeated.
Meanwhile, there has also been a change among many Christians (especially those called Evangelicals) and conservatives toward a greater friendship regarding Jews and Israel. A key reason for this shift—and proof of its authenticity—are a set of transformations in the thinking of these groups.
Before discussing the details, though, let me make it clear that Jews do not have to become conservatives or even agree with them—or with Evangelical Christians—on a wide range of issues. What is worthwhile, however, is to accept the offer of friendship on certain specific issues, respectfully disagree on others, and not demonize such people.
As noted above, many conservatives and pious Protestants have changed their view of Jews. Factors that once made for antisemitism have now been reversed. Here is a brief summary:
Formerly, Jews were seen as subverting Christianity. Now, in an increasingly secular world, Jews (even only slightly religious ones) are seen as fellow believers, allies in preserving religiosity in the face of huge challenges.
A key element in antisemitism were Christian doctrines defining Jews as the “suffering servant” whose humiliation proved Christianity to be correct and “replacement theology” which says that Jews are no longer a “chosen people” but their role has been replaced by Christians. These ideas have been widely abandoned by Evangelicals. There is a new interest—and gratitude—at the Jewish roots of Christianity and a view of Jews as fellows in a Judeo-Christian religious community.
They are very much aware of Biblical verses that, for example, say that the creator of the universe will not bless those who attack or hate the Jewish people. There is also a real understanding of the history of the Holocaust and past antisemitism along with a desire to make amends. While there are those seeking converts, of course, and some who believe that supporting Jews will bring Armageddon, these are largely outdated concepts
Conservatives tended to view Jews as cosmopolitan anti-nationalists, leftists, and pacifists. Today, however, the existence of Israel has given a different perspective on this. Jews, in the eyes of most conservatives, have created a model nation-state, a country that is willing and able to fight in its self-defense, where religion is respected as an important element in Jewish peoplehood
An especially important question has been how conservatives deal with the fact that there are so many Jews on the left, that is, among their political opponents and those who fight against religion in various ways. In the twentieth century especially, this was a huge source of antisemitism and a central element in Nazi doctrine.
Contemporary conservatives have, however, developed a new way of viewing this issue. First, of course, they have observed the left’s growing antagonism against Israel and even against Jews. Most importantly, they view leftist and anti-religious Jews as enemies of their own people. This neatly dispenses with a traditional core issue of antisemitism.
Someone like, say, Noam Chomsky is not seen as part of the Jewish conspiracy against America but as a person who has so broken with his Jewish roots and the interests of his people to be as much against the Jews as he is against his country or conservative values. In a sense, this concept parallels what most Jews—especially the religious and the pro-Israel majority—also think of such people.
In France and Italy, Holland and Spain, the United Kingdom and Scandinavia, conservative parties are more pro-Israel than their counterparts on the left[Jeff note: In the US also] . This has less to do with Israeli or Jewish behavior—whatever claims are made to the contrary—than it does the philosophical and political evolution of politics within those countries.
Let me make this absolutely clear: to cooperate with liberals on supporting Israel one need not be a liberal; to cooperate with conservatives on supporting Israel one need not be a conservative. To cooperate with Christians on supporting Israel one need not be a Christian.
Of course, a distinction must be made between much larger conservative forces and smaller neo-fascist ones. The Le Pen party in France, the British National Party, and other forces continue the historic antisemitism of the right-wing. In the United States, right-wingers like Pat Buchanan and Ron Paul also still hold traditional antisemitic concepts.
Yet the Jewish people have always survived by a willingness to understand the world as it is and to act as necessary without sacrificing core principles. While working to maintain and rebuild relations with real liberal and moderate social democratic forces where possible, Israel and Jews should also shake the extended hand of conservatives and Christians which is so often sincerely offered.
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal, and Middle East editor and featured columnist at PajamasMedia http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). GLORIA Center site is http://www.gloria-center.org.His articles published originally outside of PajamasMedia are at http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com>
The above photo is taken at a bookstore in Lebanon (the photographer will remain anonymous). It shows two copies of my book on Syria–which is banned in Syria–right next to a copy of the antisemitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion. (Incidentally, the store is part of a Western-owned chain and is located in an upscale mall. You can buy a copy of the Protocols while sipping your cappuchino.)
Speaking of antisemitism, yet another cable has turned up from Wikileaks proving me correct about that country’s growing, often officially sanctioned, antisemitism.
SUBJECT: PART II: RISING NORWEGIAN ANTI-SEMITISM AFFECTING ITS ROLE IN THE MIDDLE EAST?
REF: OSLO 90 Classified By: DCM Kevin M. Johnson for Reasons 1.4 (b,d)
¶1. (C) Summary: Anti-Semitism in Norway, and the expression of anti-Semitic comments, has increased since the Gaza war. The small Norwegian Jewish community is wary of being targeted, and "Jew" has become more popular as an epithet. While the issue of anti-Semitism is frequently debated in the media, Norwegians society has difficulty confronting it. Compared with Americans, Norwegians generally are more reluctant to accuse anyone of anti-Semitism, more reluctant to judge offense by the standards of the offended group, and more likely not to differentiate between Jews and Israelis. Israeli embassy officials have told us that increased Norwegian anti-Semitism is viewed in Israel as consistent with Norway's general anti-Israel bias, and anti-Semitism's rise further diminishes Norway's ability to mediate in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. End Summary.
Unlike some newspapers, I’m not intimidated by the untruths told by the Norwegian government. In my last piece on this subject, I quoted the U.S. ambassador speaking about how the Norwegian government supports the terrorist Hamas group.
Now, we have this one from the U.S. embassy in Oslo, February 2009 :
“Anti-Semitism in Norway, and the expression of anti-Semitic comments, has increased since the Gaza war….
`Jew” ‘has become more popular as an epithet….Israeli embassy officials have told us that increased Norwegian anti-Semitism is viewed in Israel as consistent with Norway’s general anti-Israel bias….”
The cable cites a number of antisemitic incidents and statements; the fear of Norway’s Jews; the incitement of the country’s media; and the constant hate mail received by the rabbi. The U.S. embassy cable continues: “Finance Minister Halvorsen initially participating prominently an anti-war parade that ended with a full-scale riot in front of the Israeli embassy. Cries of, `Kill the Jews!’ were heard at this demonstration. ” The cable goes on to note that when accused of antisemitism, Norwegians deny it arguing that they are good people and attacking anyone who dare criticize the country. Then they smugly return to celebrating their virtue
Barry Rubin is director of the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center, editor of the Middle East Review of International Affairs (MERIA) Journal, and Middle East editor and featured columnist at PajamasMedia http://pajamasmedia.com/barryrubin/. His latest books are The Israel-Arab Reader (seventh edition), The Long War for Freedom: The Arab Struggle for Democracy in the Middle East (Wiley), and The Truth About Syria (Palgrave-Macmillan). GLORIA Center site is http://www.gloria-center.org.His articles published originally outside of PajamasMedia are at http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com>
Here's an interesting back story to MSNBC's hiring of racial arsonist Al Sharpton as their latest evening host. Back in March of 2000, MSNBC morning host Joe Scarborough was Congressman Joe Scarborough and he introduced House Resolution 270 condemning Al Sharpton as a racist and a bigot. Read the text of the bill which was dug up by Legal Insurrection
106th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. CON. RES. 270
Condemning the racist and anti-Semitic views of the Reverend Al Sharpton
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
March 8, 2000
Mr. SCARBOROUGH submitted the following concurrent resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
Condemning the racist and anti-Semitic views of the Reverend Al Sharpton
Whereas the Congress strongly rejects the racist and incendiary actions of the Reverend Al Sharpton;
Whereas the Reverend Al Sharpton has referred to members of the Jewish faith as `bloodsucking [J]ews', and `Jew bastards';
Whereas the Reverend Al Sharpton has referred to members of the Jewish faith as `white interlopers' and `diamond merchants';
Whereas the Reverend Al Sharpton was found guilty of defamation by a jury in a New York court arising from the false accusation that former Assistant District Attorney Steven Pagones, who is white, raped and assaulted a fifteen year-old black girl;
Whereas, to this day, the Reverend Al Sharpton has refused to accept responsibility and expresses no regret for defaming Mr. Pagones;
Whereas the Reverend Al Sharpton's vicious verbal anti-Semitic attacks directed at members of the Jewish faith, and in particular, a Jewish landlord, arising from a simple landlord-tenant dispute with a black tenant, incited widespread violence, riots, and the murder of five innocent people;
Whereas the Reverend Al Sharpton's fierce demagoguery incited violence, riots, and murder in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, New York, following the accidental death of a black pedestrian child hit by the motorcade of Orthodox Rabbi Menachem Schneerson;
Whereas the Reverend Al Sharpton led a protest in the Crown Heights neighborhood and marched next to a protester with a sign that read, `The White Man is the Devil';
Whereas the Reverend Al Sharpton has insulted members of the Jewish faith by challenging Jews to violence and stating to Jews to `pin down' their yarmulkes; and
Whereas the Reverend Al Sharpton has practiced the politics of racial division and made inflammatory remarks against whites by characterizing the death of Amadou Diallo as a `racially motivated police `assassination': Now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That the Congress--
(1) condemns the practices of the Reverend Al Sharpton, which seek to divide Americans on the basis of race, ethnicity, and religion;
(2) expresses its outrage over the violence that has resulted due to the Reverend Al Sharpton's incendiary words and actions; and
(3) fervently urges elected officials and public servants, who have condoned and legitimized the Reverend Al Sharpton's incendiary words and actions, to publicly denounce and condemn such racist and anti-Semitic views.
The bill was sent to committee where it died.
I wonder if Morning Joe still feels the same way about "Rev" Al? Sharpton hasn't changed. But then again Joe has, he no longer is a congressman from Florida, he is the morning host of the same network that hired Sharpton. Will Joe speak out? Only time will tell.
Twenty years ago this Friday a tragic car accident in Crown Heights Brooklyn escalated into a pogrom against the Jewish people. The media gives it a politically correct description, violence between the area's Blacks and Jews. However the violence was not two-sided. The Crown Heights riot was an attack on the Jews by the neighborhood's Caribbean community, fueled in part by Al Sharpton, now an MSNBC host and adviser to President Obama.
Black Antisemitism in the Summer of 1991 Jews were a key part of the civil rights movement in the 1960s, when the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. made his famous march to Selma Alabama, he walked hand in hand with many Jews including Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. Along with the Jews was a contingent of Torahs to emphasize that the quest for Civil Rights was a holy mission for the Jewish people.
In spite of the strong Jewish participation in the civil rights movement the transformation from the peaceful marches to Black power movement introduced considerable friction into African American-Jewish relations, especially within the “Black Muslim” movement.
During the 1970s and 1980s African-Americans stopped looking at Jews as their allies but as their oppressors. The Jews were seen as having the political power that the African-Americans desired. Black leaders such as Louis Farrakhan, and Jesse Jackson went public with anti-Semitic comments.
Adding to the hatred were the leaders of the South African anti-Apartheid movement who traveled throughout the United States as conquering heroes, and spreading Jew-hatred. For example, in 1984 Desmond Tutu publicly complained about American Jews having “an arrogance—the arrogance of power because Jews are a powerful lobby in this land and all kinds of people woo their support.
Understandably Jewish/Black relations were already rocky as NY City entered the summer of 1991.
On July 20, 1991, Leonard Jeffries of City College who had a history of anti-Semitic slurs presented a two-hour long speech claiming “rich Jews" financed the slave trade, Jews control the film industry (together with Italian mafia), and use that control to paint a brutal stereotype of blacks. Jeffries also attacked Diane Ravitch, (Assistant Secretary of Education) calling her a "sophisticated Texas Jew," "a debonair racist" and "Miss Daisy.”
Jeffries’ speech received enormous negative press during the first weeks of August especially from the leaders of the Jewish community who wanted Jeffries fired for the bigotry.
With each new criticism of the professor, leaders in the African-American community rushed to Jeffries' defense. NYC’s two black newspapers as well as black radio station WLIB; joined activists such Al Sharpton, Colin Moore, C. Vernon Mason, Sonny Carson, and Lenora Fulani to showcase their approval of Jeffries’s “scholarship” and to denounce the people who criticized Jeffries Antisemitism as race baiters.
Serial race-baiter Al Sharpton is credited with saying, “If the Jews want to get it on, tell them to pin their yarmulkes back and come over to my house" as a response the Crown Heights riot. That is a fallacy; he made that threatening comment to the Jewish community about the growing Jeffries controversy on August 18th the day before the riots began. Clearly something bad was coming.
Jeffries was fired because of his bigoted speech and pressure from the Jewish community (he was later reinstated and won a court case surrounding his firing) leading to further resentment of the Jews from a Black community already being barraged with anti-Jewish incitement from the African-American media.
Crown Heights Ignites On Monday 8/19/91 a station wagon driven by Yosef Lifsh, hit another car and bounced onto the sidewalk at 8:21 p.m. The station wagon was part of a 3-car motorcade carrying the Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson. The Rebbe was in a different car.
The station wagon struck two black children, 7-year-old cousins Gavin and Angela Cato who were on the sidewalk. Lifsh immediately got out of his car and tried to help the children gathering crowd started to attack him.
Within minutes, an ambulance from the Hasidic-run ambulance service, and two from the city's Emergency Medical Service arrived. Also the gathering crowd became unruly. The police who showed up radioed for backup reporting the station wagon’s driver and passengers were being assaulted. Police officer Nona Capace ordered the Hasidic ambulance to remove the battered Yosef Lifsh, and his passenger from the scene.
The injured children went by separate city ambulances to Kings County Hospital. Gavin Cato was pronounced dead; his cousin survived.
A rumor began to spread that the Hasidic ambulance crew had ignored the dying black child in favor of treating the Jewish men. This falsehood was later used by Al Sharpton to incite the crowd. Other rumors sprang up Lifsh was intoxicated ( breath alcohol test administered by the police proved his sobriety). More falsehoods circulated; Lifsh did not have a valid driver's license; he went through a red light; the police prevented people including Gavin Cato's father, from assisting in the rescue.
Charles Price, an area resident who had come to the scene of the accident, incited the masses with claims that, "The Jews get everything they want. They're killing our children." Price later pled guilty for inciting the crowd to murder Yankel Rosenbaum.
Ignited by the falsehoods, resentment exploded into violence. Groups of young black men threw rocks, bottles and debris at police, residents and homes.
According to the New York Times, more than 250 neighborhood residents went on a rampage that first night, mostly black teenagers, many of whom were shouting "Jews! Jews! Jews!"
Three hours after the tragic crash, 29-year-old Australian Jewish scholar Yankel Rosenbaum was attacked by a gang of Black teens. He was stabbed four times. Cops quickly arrested Lemrick Nelson, who was identified by Rosenbaum as his attacker. Rosenbaum's wounds were not fatal he was expected to recover; Mayor Dinkins visited Rosenbaum at the hospital. Yankel died at 2:30am Tuesday because the hospital staff missed one of his knife wounds.
The next evening, according to the sworn testimony of Efraim Lipkind, a former Hasidic resident of Crown Heights, Sharpton started agitating the crowd.
“Then we had a famous man, Al Sharpton, who came down, and he said Tuesday night, kill the Jews, two times. I heard him, and he started to lead a charge across the street to Utica.”
With each passing hour the violence worsened, Jewish leaders began to desperately complain about the lack of protection to the authorities. They said, the rioters were being allowed to rampage unchecked, too little force was being brought to bear, and too few arrests were being made. Area Jews felt the police were under orders by the City’s first black mayor to hold back, that the police were not allowed to fight against the Black rioters, who continued to grow bolder in their anti-Semitic attack as they sensed the appeasement.
The fact is New York City Mayor David Dinkins responded to the riot immediately by deploying 2,000 police officers and making a personal visit to the troubled neighborhood under a hail of rocks and epithets hurled at him by fellow blacks.
Dinkins has spoken of his own mishandling of the riots. Admitting he “screwed up Crown Heights”
“I regret not saying to the police brass sooner whatever you guys are doing is not working” it was then they altered their behavior and they were able to contained the ravaging young blacks who were attacking Jews … I will forever be accused of holding back the police and permitted blacks to attack Jews, however that did not happen it is just inaccurate”
In all, the street violence against the Crown Heights Jews lasted three days/four nights starting with the evening of the accident. On Thursday evening, cops finally restored order, although sporadic violence against Jews continued for weeks after the riot was contained.
Yankel Rosenbaum wasn't the only person murdered by the rioters. On September 5th, Italian-American, Anthony Graziosi, was dragged out of his car, brutally beaten and stabbed to death because his full beard and dark clothing caused him to be mistaken for a Hasidic Jew.
During the funeral of Gavin Cato on August 26th, Al Sharpton gave an anti-Semitic eulogy, which fueled the fires of hatred.
“The world will tell us he was killed by accident. Yes, it was a social accident. ... It's an accident to allow an apartheid ambulance service in the middle of Crown Heights. ... Talk about how Oppenheimer in South Africa sends diamonds straight to Tel Aviv and deals with the diamond merchants right here in Crown Heights. The issue is not anti-Semitism; the issue is apartheid. ... All we want to say is what Jesus said: If you offend one of these little ones, you got to pay for it. No compromise, no meetings, no kaffe klatsch, no skinnin' and grinnin'. Pay for your deeds."
Regarding the Mayor's call for peace Sharpton pontificated:
"They don't want peace, they want quiet."
Sharpton and the lawyer representing the Cato family counseled them not to cooperate with authorities in the investigation and demanded a special prosecutor be named.
“We must not reprimand our children for outrage, when it is the outrage that was put in them by an oppressive system," he said.
The first Sabbath after the Funeral Sharpton tried unsuccessfully to kick up tensions again by marching 400 protesters in front of the Lubavitch of Crown Heights shouting “No Justice, No Peace."
Sharpton called for the arrest of Lifsh, the driver of the station wagon. Even though more than twenty similarly accidental vehicular deaths had occurred in Brooklyn since 1989 without a single arrest several involving local Hasidim run down by blacks. The agitator’s pressure led Charles Hynes, the Brooklyn district attorney, into convening a grand jury.
When the investigation of the accident did not produce a criminal indictment against Yosef Lifsh, Al Sharpton encouraged the Cato family to seek big-bucks damages in a civil suit against Lifsh (who had since fled to Israel for his own safety). Sharpton announced that he would personally serve papers on Yosef Lifsh in Israel. He bought tickets and hopped an El-Al flight on the weekend of Yom Kippur. At Ben Gurion Airport, a woman spotted Sharpton hailing a cab and yelled to him, "Go to hell! “I am in hell already," shot back. "I am in Israel."
The Aftermath Sharpton abandoned the Caribbean people of Crown Heights as soon as the anti-Semitic violence had died down. His entire participation in the violence may have been a calculated effort to usurp Jesse Jackson as the leading spokesman for African-Americans. Jackson may have had his “Hymie-town” but Sharpton’s incitement against those Jews who he perceived as having the political power that African Americans deserved, went much further than simply words like Jackson.
Sadly had Sharpton not exploited the death of Gavin Cato for his own “resume”, what was by all accounts, a disorganized group of ruffians on the first night of the riot, might well have dissipated the morning after the accident.
The media portrayed the Crown Heights riot as two-sided promoting the myth that both blacks and Jews were equal in their violence. The violence was a one-sided rampage waged by some of the neighborhood’s 180,000 strong black majority against a Jewish minority of 20,000.
Maybe the media continues to sugarcoat the riot because it was unprecedented in American history. For liberals it’s impossible to perceive blacks as purveyors of bigotry they are forever in the role of victims of hate.
The Crown Heights riot occurred just five months after the infamous Rodney King beating, a disgusting act of police brutality against the African American King which was video-taped and repeated on TV ad nauseum.
After the King case, who could believe that blacks in America could ever take over the role of racists, but that is what happened in Crown Heights. Even today the deaths of Gavin Cato and Yankel Rosenbaum are viewed as some sort of a" tit for tat." This is a misrepresentation of the facts. Cato's death was the result of a horrible accident; on the other hand, Rosenbaum was deliberately stabbed four times by an angry mob. Anthony Graziosi's death has been forgotten perhaps because his death would break some cynical equality of fatality.
Many in the Jewish community felt Mayor Dinkins was complacent in the violence, holding back the police from protecting the Jewish community, but there has never been evidence offered proving that charge.
A more likely explanation for the lack of protection offered to the Hasidic community is a perfect storm of incompetence. An incompetent Police Commissioner Lee Brown was being managed by an incompetent Mayor.
Nevertheless the pogrom dealt a death blow to Dinkins' mayoral career. Ironically it was the fact that Jews had voted for him in overwhelming numbers that him a narrow victory over Rudy Giuliani in 1989. Those same Jews switched sides, giving Giuliani the win against Dinkins in 1993.
To this day, the media refuses to acknowledge that African-Americans can be racists, and Antisemitism is still ignored by the media. News networks invite anti-Semitic representatives of CAIR or former CIA agent Michael Scheuer to participate on their programs as experts, but these same “experts” contend that American Jews run the media and the Government. Huffington Post regularly allows Media Matters’ MJ Rosenberg on their front page where he too uses anti-Semitic stereotypes.
As for Al Sharpton, he went on to lead a second pogrom, this time against a Jewish-owned business in Harlem. I suppose it was his experience in leading two anti-Semitic pogroms that gave Sharpton the expertise he needed to be an adviser to the first "post-racial "President, Barack Obama and the latest evening anchor for MSNBC. Sharpton's rise to respectability proves how little has been learned from the Crown Heights anti-Jewish violence which took place twenty years ago.
I get it! Media Matters for America (MMFA) is being paid by George Soros and other progressive money-men to make sure the progressive point of view is protected. That's why they work so hard to fight the few conservative media sources trying to tell the truth about progressive policies. What I don't understand is if they are so busy trying to take down media sources such as Fox News and Breitbart's "Big" sites, why do they feel the need to spend so much time pushing anti-Semitic stereotypes such as "the Jews control the government and the media" and creating anti-Israel spin to the latest news?
The really sick part of it is, along with their campaign against the Jewish people and the Jewish State, MMFA falsely attacks conservatives on Jewish issues in an attempt to brand them as Jew haters. The year-long MMFA campaign trying to falsely label Glenn Beck as an Anti-Semite is well known and readers of The Lid have read of the MMFA trying to brand this blogger as a Jew basher (a charge I didn't hear about until hours later because it was made on the Sabbath), but MMFA has written inflammatory headlines to imply that there is is a concerted effort by right-wingers to bash Jews. For example they wrote this about Jim Hoft, the Gateway Pundit.
Hoft The Latest Right-Wing Media Figure To Attack American Jews For Supporting Obama
What what the content of Jim's horrible attack on American Jews? It was a comment on a recent Gallup poll, which said that Jews were sticking with Obama:
Sad. The destruction of Israel is at hand and Jewish Americans still march blindly behind Obama.
That's all! Beyond that reader's of Jim's blog (as I am) will report that Gateway Pundit is strongly pro-Israel and regularly "has the back" of American Jews.
The truth is if you really want to see attacks on Israel and American Jews become a regular reader of MMFA. Here are just a few examples:
6/14/10 Media Matter's Senior Policy Fellow MJ Rosenberg created a piece for Huffington Post claiming that Helen Thomas' was not being anti-Semitic when she told Israeli Jews to go back to Russia and Poland. I wonder what he thinks about Thomas' claim
"We are owned by propagandists against the Arabs. There's no question about that. Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists. No question in my opinion. They put their money where there mouth is…We're being pushed into a wrong direction in every way.
7/12/10 An article written by Lara Friedman, of Americans for Peace Now, and Isaac Luria from J Street (both groups regularly demonize Israel) we learned that the years of Hamas rocket attacks against civilian towns in the Negev were Israel's fault (because the left Gaza), Israel should negotiate with HAMAS, and Israel doesn't need to be recognized as the Jewish state (a key for peace).
8/16/10 Criticized Fox News for having Bill Kristol on the air. Kristol's offense was forming a pro-Israel PAC. Funny thing is, you never heard them complain about MSNBC having Al Sharpton on as a regular. Sharpton incited two anti-Semitic pogroms in NY which lead to a total of nine deaths. If MMFA truly cared about conflict of interest, why wouldn't they write about President Obama receiving foreign policy advice from Samantha Power who has called for a US invasion of Israel.
1/28/11 Promoted the anti-Semitic meme that Jews control foreign policy. Senior Fellow MJ Rosenberg demonstrated why he defended Helen Thomas as not being anti-Semitic...he echoed some of her claims. Using the term Israel Lobby (its more PC than "Those Dammed Jews) MMFA claimed it was that foreign policy controlling lobby that caused the Egyptian uprising.
If one needs additional proof that the "pro-Israel" lobby and the policies it dictates to US policymakers are bad for both the U.S. and Israel, look no further than what is happening in Egypt.
The regime that the Israeli government and its U.S. lobby have depended upon to enforce the status quo is going down. It is not clear when, but it's going to be soon, much sooner than anyone ever anticipated. And you can be sure that any democratic government that takes Mubarak's place is not going to play the role of America's (let alone Israel's) enforcer in the Middle East.
And later in the same article the MMFA writer implies the Jews control the media:
I am often accused of harping on the lobby's baleful influence. I plead guilty. But it's my obligation because (1) I know from personal experience — 15 years on Capitol Hill and four at AIPAC — how it operates, (2) I know how little it really cares about Israel, and (3) I am free to tell the truth about it. If I worked in the mainstream media or in the U.S. government, I wouldn't be.
2/15/11 and 2/17/11 Promoted falsehood that the Muslim Brotherhood does not want to attack Israel. Forget for a moment that the terrorist organization Hamas was created by the Muslim Brotherhood, since the Egyptian uprisings started there has been many examples of different Muslim Brotherhood figures attacking Israel. For example On Russian television, one Brotherhood leader, Rashad al-Bayoumi, said that when they came to power they will abolish the treaty altogether. Another, former spokesman Doctor Kamel Helbaoui, explained how they might get out of it.
5/11/11 Senior Fellow MJ with anti-Israel propaganda again. He says it doesn't matter if Hamas recognizes Israel as long as Hamas recognizes the 1949 Armistice lines.But why does it matter whether Hamas recognizes Israel or not, so long as it agrees to permanently end terror attacks against Israel? Who needs its recognition? Per his usual style of half truths, MJ omits the fact thatHamas continues to promise the destruction of the "Zionist entity." In other words they are cool with a State called Israel, as long as it is a Muslim State Of Israel.
5/20/11 MMFA's Rosenberg promotes the anti-Semitic meme of a "Dual Loyalty" of American Jews, calling critics of Obama's May 2011 Middle-East Address "Israeli-Firsters."
But he failed. Arabs saw the speech as a bunch of empty words. And the Israeli firsters went ballistic. Why? Because of one paragraph.
The president said:
The United States believes that negotiations should result in two states, with permanent Palestinian borders with Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, and permanent Israeli borders with Palestine. We believe the borders of Israel and Palestine should be based on the 1967 lines with mutually agreed swaps, so that secure and recognized borders are established for both states. The Palestinian people must have the right to govern themselves, and reach their full potential, in a sovereign and contiguous state.
While I disagree with the official MMFA interpretation of Obama's speech, they have every right to have their opinion. What is disgusting is their challenge to the patriotism of the Jews who disagree with Barack Obama's Middle East policy.
MMFA is quick to bash anybody who uses a Hitler reference (except for George Soros), and I am not by any means saying they are a bunch of Nazis, but they do use a lot of the same themes. MMFA claims the Jews control the Media and American foreign policy, in Mein Kampf, Hitler introduced to Nazi ideology "the idea of the Jews as an evil race struggling for world domination."
The MMFA charges that American Jews who criticize Obama are "Israeli-firsters." Hitler said:
The struggle for world domination will be fought entirely between us, between Germans and Jews.....Even when we have driven the Jew out of Germany, he remains our world enemy (Rauschning,Hitler Speaks,p. 234)
Understand, there is no claim here that MMFA has any intention of promoting another Holocaust against the Jewish people. What the argument is that the progressive organization will do and say anything to protect President Obama. In many cases the lack of a factual argument forces their writers to rely on old stereo-types to sell their point.
It is easy for MMFA to claim that the statements provided above as evidence were not anti-Semitic, after all its Sugar Daddy George Soros is a Jewish Holocaust survivor and all of the MMFA writers mentioned are at least Jewish-born and I assume still Jewish. That of course is an easy out, "some of their best friends...."
One example maybe, but there's lots more examples of MMFA use of anti-Semitic themes and the twisting of facts about Israel. I would not claim to know if the Soros-funded group is anti-Semitic, its impossible to look into their hearts, but the constant attacks on American Jews made in its name, it is clear that MMFA leadership must know about and endorse those attacks. They are just too numerous to ignore.
In the twisted world of the United Nations, where fair is foul and foul is fair, Richard Falk is the perfect UN employee. As I pointed out when he was appointed to his position, as United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights (the official Israel basher) Falk is a believer of all kinds of conspiracy theories including "trutherism."
This human rights "advocate" has called the Ayatollah Khomeini a liberator, has blamed Islamofacist terror on the fact that much of Islam "finds itself under the heels of U.S. economic, military, cultural, and diplomatic power, " and is a member of a lawyers organization that the CIA once called a "front" for the Soviet Union.
Falk's latest show of Human Rights was running an anti-Semitic cartoon on his personal blog.
In response to the cartoon, UN Watch, a Geneva-based monitoring group, today called on UN rights chief Navi Pillay to condemn the publication of the cartoon by Falk.
"For the UN human rights system to be credible in the fight against racism, its own representatives must not be allowed to incite hatred and racial discrimination with impunity," wrote UN Watch executive director Hillel Neuer, in a letter sent today to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
"Depicting Jews as dogs and bloodthirsty has a dark history," said Neuer. "We urge Ms. Pillay to condemn this incitement to racism by a UN rights official, and to demand that Mr. Falk immediately remove the offending caricature and apologize."
As soon as the controversy was revealed, Falk denied it...
I removed it from my blog, although initially I denied such a posting because I did not realize that it was anti-semitic and was mistaken as to what was being referred to.
Look at the cartoon again, its a dog representing the US, wearing a yarmulke trying to convey that the Jews run the government, eating a baby and urinating on lady liberty, if he didn't know that cartoon was anti-Semitic, he is too stupid to be the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian Human Rights. This guy works for the Human Rights Council for Pete's sake!
UN watch has a screen-capture of the original post prior to its deletion by Falk, if you want to see it click here. And as of this writing, Mr. Falk has still not deleted the cartoon from his blog’s image database.
The Truth is, the guy knew exactly what the cartoon represented, he just didn't think he would get caught. This Falk-ing idiot is pro-terror, believes that 9/11 was an inside job and is pro-tyrants such as the Ayatollah Khomeini. Richard Falk represents everything that is wrong with the United Nations. He may have his hand slapped by the world organization, but he will not be severely punished, after all most UN nations think he is correct.
UPDATE: Richard Falk Changes His Excuse
Today the human rights guru changed his excuse. Now he says that the reason he posted the cartoon is that he is old and has lousy eyesight.
Even now I needed a magnifying glass to identify the anti-semitic character of the dog. My vision (at 80) is pretty good, but not good enough. It looked like a helmet to me, and the main visible symbol on the dog was the USA midriff covering. I found the cartoon through a Google image search on the page devoted to the International Criminal Court. Almost all the images there were about the Court or justice, and I assumed that this blindfolded goddess of justice was being led around by the USA. I am quite sure this cartoon would never have been allowed on the Google page if its true content had been realized, and it should be removed. Without a special effort, which admittedly I did not make, this true content is easy to overlook, and even when the initial objection to the cartoon was brought to my attention, and I looked at it, I did not appreciate the objectionable character of what was intended to be communicated.
Sorry I don't buy it! The nature of the cartoon was very obvious. Now that he as played the "I am 80 and have poor eyesight card." Whats next, "Hey Sorry, I was having a really bad Acid Trip?"
The truth is that Richard Falk promotes terrorists and despots, and disparages the only Democracy in the region and the Jews (and he is Jewish).
I cannot begin to explain why this man hates the Jews so much, maybe he got lousy gifts for his Bar Mitzvah, or choked on a Matzoa Ball but Richard Falk is a true anti-Semite.
A funny thing happened while I was taking my Shabbos nap the other day, Mr. Media Matters himself, Eric Boehlert read one of my posts. Exciting right? I mean it's not as cool as when Andrew Breitbart takes one of my posts from one of the "Bigs" and puts it on his refrigerator, but it’s still pretty cool.
I was a bit surprised though when he said I wrote a"Jew-bashing"post. Particularly when one realizes my nickname "Yid With Lid" is slang for Jew wearing a yarmulke. The nickname stems from the fact that I am relatively observant of Jewish customs and religious ritual.
"…some low-level Jewish players have decided to seal their place in the progressive movement rather than act for the best interests of both the United States and its valuable Mid-East ally, Israel."
After giving it some thought I realized that Eric Boehlert may be correct, maybe I am a Jew-basher. I don't bash all Jews, only ones who allow themselves to be used as tools of people who want to hurt other Jews (and some of the Jews on my wife's side but I don't write about them). Interestingly most of the Jews I bash are associated with Eric Boehlert or his Jewish sugar-daddy George Soros.
Take for example, M.J. Rosenberg. Rosenberg employs anti-Semitic buzz words that seem to come right out of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. He writes about the "pro-Israel lobby," controlling government decisions, a nice way to say that the Jews control the government; he complains that you can’t write anti-Israel pieces in the media, a nice way to say the Jews control the media; and uses the word "neocon" as a nice way to say "those dammed Jews."
Who pays Rosenberg to spew his hate? Eric Boehlert and Media Matters for America pay Mr. Rosenberg (with the help of George Soros and the U.S. Government).
Maybe I am a serial Jew basher, after all via my blog The Lid, I’ve been bashing Boehlert's sugar-daddy George Soros for years, ever since his anti-Israel article in the NY Review of Books in 2007. That’s when he spewed the anti-Semitic meme that the powerful Israel Lobby, those damned Jooooze, were preventing peace in the Middle East.
In fact years before Glenn Beck talked about it, this site was explaining about how Soros helped the Nazi's as a teenager and called it the best time of his life. At the same time we talked about how Soros was pushing the new Barak Obama to stay on his anti-Israel path.
Now that I think about it, there are times when my bashing was directed against big groups of Jews, like the George Soros funded J-Street.
Until the election of Barack Obama J-Street was generally ignored by mainstream Israel advocates because its views generally did not take into consideration the safety of Israel. Indeed many (including me) have called the group anti-Israel. Obama tried to raise the profile of J-Street because they shared his negative perception of the Jewish State.
During the conflict with Hamas at the end of 2008, which was a response to thousands of missiles sent into Israeli civilian areas, J Street called Israel's "escalation in Gaza counterproductive" saying it was "disproportionate." The Soros-funded group also made a moral equivalency argument between the policies of Israel and Hamas, stating they found difficulty in distinguishing "between who is right and who is wrong" and "picking a side." Of course, they were ignoring the years of Gaza terrorism and the fact that Israel left the territory years before.
The group has felt my wrath because they advocated that the US negotiate with the terrorist group intent on destroying Israel, Hamas.
I bashed the entire J-Street group as they advocated for Hamas and fought the Congressional move to place additional sanctions on Iran.
My Jew-bashing even was directed toward the George Soros funded, Jewish Funds For Justice when they made false charges of Antisemitism against Glenn Beck and then two weeks later when they rounded up 400 Left-Wing Rabbis and published an anti-Beck letter in the Wall Street Journal.
The Rabbinical letter broke the Jewish laws against loshen hora (evil speech). Using Jewish Law, something the 400 progressive Rabbis should have been practicing, I explained how before they could make charges against Beck as they did in the letter, the Rabbis had to among other things, research the veracity of the accusations and examine the motivation of the accuser. Jews are taught that even if charges are true (which was not the case this time) in the vast majority of cases there is a command to keep that kind of talk to themselves. Because of ignoring the rules they were supposed to be teaching, the 400 “teachers” brought shame upon themselves, their holy profession, the entire Jewish people, and even worse, have committed a Chillul Hashem (desecration of God's name).
Put it all together and you realize that Eric Boehlert is right (sort of). I am a Jew-basher. I bash Jews who use their Jewishness as an excuse to abandon Jewish law, to slander the Jewish people with anti-Semitic memes, or to de-legitimize the Jewish State.
A day after his original charge Eric Boehlert asked a follow-up question
Boehlert is referring to this line the original post:
I am at a loss at how these how these modern day Kapos-in training will be able to convince people of the President is really a buddy of the Jewish State.
The answer is no, I am not embarrassed. I do wonder if Boehlert is embarrassed by the fact that he needs some remedial reading and history classes. My use of the word these means I was not talking about all of Obama's Jewish supporters, just the four mentioned in the piece. As far as the use of the word kapo, all not all concentration camp inmates were kapos. A kapo was a prisoner who worked inside German Nazi concentration camps in lower administrative positions. The reason for the disparagement of the kapo is many of them were very brutal to their fellow camp inmates. So Boehlert's comparison of kapos to concentration camp victims is an insult to those victims.
What is an even bigger insult to the memory of the Holocaust is that Boehlert, who works for someone who spreads anti-Semitic stereotypes ,and employs someone who spreads anti-Semitic stereotypes has the nerve to even mention the Holocaust.
Boehlert has the nerve to imply that I am misusing the memory of the Holocaust when his puppet-master George Soros uses the term Nazi as often as he changes his shorts.
As he does here comparing George Bush to the Nazis
Or here as he says Fox News uses Nazi propaganda tactics:
The truth is, Eric Boehlert is part of the propaganda arm of a Jew-bashing machine. Most of these Jew-slandering, Israel-bashing Jews described above are connected to Media Matters and/or with their sugar-daddy George Soros. Others like the Jews involved with "David Axelrod's Jewish PR Squad" are connected to the most anti-Israel President in American history, who has almost singlehandedly destroyed the economy of the United States. Both the Soros connected Jewish pawns and the pawns of the Obama campaign are willing to put their status in the progressive world before the good of their people, Israel, and most importantly the needs of the United States. And for that reason those Jews earned their bashing.
As a senior member of the Soros Jew-bashing machine, Eric Boehlert's disingenuous actions as some sort of Holocaust police is quite frankly disgusting, and it is he should be ashamed of himself. Sadly if his work with Media Matters for America has proven anything, Boehlert will never be ashamed of himself because Boehlert like most of the Soros-run hit squad, has no shame.
Sheeee's Baaaaaaaaaaaaack! Or at least she wants to be back. Helen Thomas made an appearance at the Busboys & Poets bookstore in Washington, D.C. yesterday, and said she is ready for a comeback. She wants to return to the White House briefing room.
“Nothing can replace being there when you’re a reporter,” Thomas said. “Seeing with your own eyes — no, nothing can replace that. I was very lucky to cover history for so long.”
Thomas forced out of her job last June when a video first seen on this website came to light, where she told the Israeli Jews to "get the hell out of Palestine and go back to Germany and Poland.
Anas “Andy” Shallal, the owner of Busboys & Poets and moderator for her appearance Sunday, followed up by asking her if she had reapplied for those credentials. According to Thomas, she said she had but hadn’t gotten an official response and assumed she had been denied.
“In a back way,” Thomas said. “I’ve been denied – I think so, I never heard.”
The words made to Rabbi Nesenoff last June was even the worst of it. Just a few months later in a speech made to a Muslim Anti-Bias conference Thomas used almost every anti-Semitic stereotype in the book.
"I paid the price for that," said Thomas, a longtime White House correspondent. "But it was worth it, to speak the truth. The Zionists have to understand that's their country, too. Palestinians were there long before any European Zionists."
Thomas claimed that "You can not say anything (critical) about Israel in this country."
That was the nicest thing Thomas said all night. In her speech about about discrimination against Arabs she launched into an anti-Semitic tirade about how those rich Jews control America
In a speech that drew a standing ovation, Thomas talked about "the whole question of money involved in politics."
"We are owned by propagandists against the Arabs. There's no question about that. Congress, the White House, and Hollywood, Wall Street, are owned by the Zionists. No question in my opinion. They put their money where there mouth is…We're being pushed into a wrong direction in every way.
It was almost as if Thomas was reading directly from the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, at an anti-Bias conference!!!
During her interview and speech, Thomas often used the term "Zionists" negatively, saying that Dennis Ross, President Obama's adviser to the Middle East, was a Zionist.
"Obama, he puts in charge for the Arab world a Zionist like Dennis Ross…You don't put a Zionist in charge of the Muslim world in the White House."
Below is the video of the Speech.
There are some people who believe that any criticism of Israel is Antisemitism. That belief is as ignorant as Antisemitism itself. There is however, a great deal of crossover between hatred of Israel and hatred of the Jews. To find out what people really mean you need to examine the words they use. Make no mistake about it, Thomas uttered the word "Zionists" but her words showed that she meant the word "Jews." What Thomas said in December and again in her Playboy interview, that Congress, the White House, Hollywood and Wall Street are owned by Zionists, was a repetition of the anti-Semitic stereotypes that have been used for centuries to incite hatred of Jews. Ms. Thomas is nothing but a bigoted hater and that was the reason she was fired, not because she hates Israel (although most of the progressive media is anti-Israel). Thomas was canned because she is a low-life hater, an anti-Semite and she should not be allowed back into the White House press corps, nor should any other bigot.
Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank tends to use an unusual barometer to select his topics. He likes to write about subjects for which he has a very strong opinion, but very little knowledge. His latest column, Joe Lieberman joining Glenn Beck: a shanda proves my point. Unfortunately Milbank would not know a shanda (Yiddish for embarrassment), if one jumped up kissed him on the lips and wished him a gut morgan. (good morning).
The purpose of this column was to criticize Senator Joe Lieberman for joining Glenn Beck for his August rally in Jerusalem called "Restoring Courage."
“I’d love to participate,” Lieberman confirmed when The Post’s Felicia Sonmez found him in a Capitol hallway. “It’s just going to be a rally to support Israel and the U.S.-Israel relationship.”
This nearly caused me to plotz [faint].
Notice how cleverly Milbank stuck a Yiddish word into his column to prove his Jewish "street cred?"
Joe Lieberman, first Jew on a presidential ticket, was embracing Beck, the leading purveyor of anti-Semitic memes in the mass media. One of the most visible Jews in America was making common cause with a man who invoked apocalyptic Christian theology in promoting his rally in Israel.
I admire Lieberman, and I’ve defended him over the years when he defied party and faction. But if he shares a stage with this creature, he will surrender the decency that has defined his public life.
Its interesting that Milbank uses Yiddish to establish his Jewish "street cred", but calls him the leading purveyor of anti-Semitic memes" If Milbank truly wants to prove his Jewishness, perhaps he should learn the concept of, "motzi shem ra"is the spreading of malicious lies," which according to the Rabbis is a severe sin. With this comment, Milbank is showing he buys into the George Soros/ Media Matters strategy of trying to destroy Glenn Beck by branding him as an anti-Semite (the history of this strategy is outlined here).
For those of you who are not familiar with the Beck rally allow me to present this explanation.
Israel is in the most precarious position she has faced since the 1967 War. Palestinian terrorists are on three of its borders, Fatah in Judea and Samaria, Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon. Adding to the threat is that the Syrian regime is facing collapse, so it is tying to divert its people's attention from hating it leaders to hating Israel, Egypt is becoming radicalized and most of the parties with potential to twin the next election and take over leadership of the country are promising to tear up the Camp David treaty. And Iran, close to developing the capability to send a nuclear warhead into Tel Aviv continues to threaten to wipe the Jewish State off the map.
All this is happening in the background of a United States President, who's policies are the most anti-Israel in the short 63-year history of the Jewish State. Let's face it, Israel is more isolated today than she has ever been.
The purpose of Beck's Restoring Courage rally in Jerusalem in August is to show the world that good people of all faiths from across the world are standing with Israel.
It is time for us to courageously stand with Israel.
“I invite you to join me in Israel this summer to stand together and show the world what living a life of faith and honor really means. I invite you to join me in my quest to Restore Courage,” Glenn said.
Honesty, it would be nice if American Jewish Organizations created such a rally, but unfortunately most Jewish leaders in this country are more concerned with protecting the President's progressive agenda no matter what, than protecting Israel, which is not only the Jewish homeland, but the United State's biggest ally in the Middle East. But neither religious heritage nor the best interests of the United States are as important to most of these Jewish leaders as is reelecting Barack Obama and maintaining political power. Beck is throwing his rally partially because American Jewish leadership does not have the guts to do it themselves.
Milbank on the other hand feels that Beck's religion should eliminate him from leading such a rally:
It’s nice that Beck wants to defend Israel before the United Nations attempts in September to create a Palestinian state. But this support comes with an asterisk. Beck’s descriptions of his event as a gathering and a restoration echo his Mormon faith’s theology: there will be a “Gathering of Scattered Israel” in which Jews return to the Holy Land and are converted to Christianity as part of “the restoration of all things” and the Second Coming.
Hey Mr. Plotzing Shanda, did you know that Jewish theology is something very similar? In fact the tenth blessing of the Amidah prayer Jews recite every day is called, Kibbutz Galuyot ingathering of exiles :
"Sound the great shofar for our freedom and raise a banner to gather our exiles and unite us together from the four corners of the earth. Blessed are You, LORD, who regathers the scattered of His people Israel."
The sounding of the Shofar part is all about the coming of the Messiah (Jews believe the Messiah has not come yet and when he does will be a regular man). With his comment about Beck's religion is he saying that all Christians should not have freedom of religion in Israel or just Mormons? Or maybe he believes Jewish practice should be banned also, because he criticizes Beck for quoting a Jewish prophet.
Announcing his event on the radio last month, Beck invoked “the words of Ezekiel” – a prophet associated with end times theology – and said: “There are people who will say, ‘oh you are crazy, that’s not going to happen. People have been saying this is Ezekiel for 5,000 years, yadda yadda yadda.’ I have no idea if these are the Times. I just know that the old hatreds are starting up, and God will not hold us blameless. I choose to stand and be counted.”
....Beck assumed a Messianic role: “The peace that is promised comes from standing in the place where He asks us to stand. I believe I have been asked to stand in Jerusalem.” He predicted his gathering would send “a global shockwave. It will ripple across the earth.”
Mainstream Mormonism has de-emphasized this notion of a literal gathering of Jews in Israel, but megalomaniacal Beck sees value in it.
So Dana Milbank a Jew who based on his writing knows very little about Judaism, is now also an expert on the Mormon religion also (Note to Milbank: If you went to Broadway to see Book of Mormon, I hate to break this to you, but it is a work of fiction).
Beck is not Milbank's only Israel related target. Another frequent target of the progressive WAPO writer is Israeli Prime Minster Binyamin Netanyahu. For example after Obama's Middle East speech earlier this month, where he unilaterally called for negotiations to start with the 1948 armistice lines, Milbank criticized the President, not for abandoning an ally but because criticizing Israel will generate more support for Netanyahu.
... Obama bungled his Middle East speech. He unwittingly strengthened Israeli hawks such as Netanyahu and made the already remote prospect of peace that much more distant.
Milbank goes on to describe the reaction to Bibi's speech to AIPAC and Congress by his Israeli au pair, Inna who he describes as a moderate who was suspicious of the uncompromising Netanyahu, the episode turned her into a supporter.
She’s aware that Netanyahu isn’t about to strike a peace deal. After she listened on Tuesday to Netanyahu’s list of requirements for a Palestinian state — a list one Palestinian official called a “declaration of war” — she knew it was a nonstarter. “I can’t imagine it on a map,” she said.
Its interesting that Milbank is upset that Inna has become a Bibi fan, he does not argue against the President's plan, only Inna's reaction. He talks about the Palestinian reaction to Netanyahu's speech but ignores the fact that the Palestinians (even President Abbas who is considered a "moderate") refuse to accept Israel as a Jewish State and Obama refuses to push them toward that acceptance.
So what is a Shanda? Well, the fact that Senator Joe Liberman or any American Jew or not joins Glenn Beck in Jerusalem is not a shanda (if I could afford it, I would be there). What is a shanda is the fact that the leadership of major American Jewish organizations are too cowardly to stand up to a progressive president and join the Beck rally).
What is also a shanda is a Washington Post columnist trying to establish his Jewish "street cred" by using Yiddish when he has no real idea about what Judaism is all about, uses progressive talking points to smear someone who is doing what those Jewish Leaders should be doing, protects the most anti-Israel President in history while falsely disparaging an Israeli Prime Minster. The fact that Dana Milbank acts the part of balmalocha (Yiddish for expert) regarding Judaism, Mormonism, and Israel when he is only a partisan progressive schmednrik (Yiddish for stupid person) that is a shanda.
