Comes now an Israeli who laments that Barack Obama is not owned enough by the Israel lobby:
We are about to see a president who has nothing to do with Judaism, Jews, and the State of Israel.
is not Bill Clinton (who was like a member of the Jewish Federation,)
and he is not Bush Jr. (who was like a former fighter in Ariel Sharon’s
unit.)
He doesn’t know Malcolm Hoenlein (executive vice chairman of the
Conference of Presidents), he is not scared of Abe Foxman (head of the
Anti-Defamation League,) he has not delivered speeches on behalf of the
Israel Bonds, and he has not traveled as the guest of the Jewish
National Fund…
is not Bill Clinton (who was like a member of the Jewish Federation,)
and he is not Bush Jr. (who was like a former fighter in Ariel Sharon’s
unit.)
Yippee. And laments the demographic problem. Our demographics:
American
Jewry is not what it used to be when it comes to its attachment to
Israel, and the generation of the children and grandchildren no longer
blindly follows Israel’s leadership, its speeches and demands.
Jewry is not what it used to be when it comes to its attachment to
Israel, and the generation of the children and grandchildren no longer
blindly follows Israel’s leadership, its speeches and demands.
Because of the oppression of Palestinians, dude. Get right with the lord.
No argument. Obama hangs out with Khalidi and Abumineh and will bow down to the Iranians. The guy practically has a kaffiyeh on his head. To the second point. We've always had a core of people that give a shit. Some who don't. And some like Phil Weiss who feel the need to side with our enemies and take joy in the deaths of their fellow Jews. Nothing new.
Actually, Obama is VERY different than your describe Sword.
He is committed to Israel's and Israeli's safety.
He is not a radical in the slightest, but rationally does seek peace, if peace is possible.
He is a worthy friend of Israel and of rational Israelis.
Good cop/bad cop routine?
Rich, your grasping at straws. His closest associations over the years. Power, Khalidi, Wright, are to a man pro-hamas, hezbollah types. He's tacking to a more moderate position in order to get elected. That's all. But all is not lost. He's going to get rolled by every foreign dictator that's coming down the pike. He's not going to have time for the "peace process". The next four years are going to be total crisis management. And Obama and his merry band of world citizen Trotskyites are going to be out gunned.
"For generations, we heard legends around here about the power of the Jewish “lobby” in Washington: AIPAC – now, its members are facing a test."
In Israel they call them legends, over here they call them canards.
Sword,
McCain is far more dangerous for Israel. He will provoke, encourage others to provoke, and will enter wars frivolously.
I want quiet, not aggression.
He's publicly stated the same commitments over an extended period. I believe him.
As an Israeli American youth who is going to vote in the most crucial state in the Union, PA, I agree with Richard on Obama and his assessment of McCain.
Both McCain and Obama supports Israel. Gideons allegations that Obama will "bow" to Iran are too stupid to comment.
Question is: Which fraction inside Israel should the coming president support?
Should he share Olmert's ‘vision’ of the Middle East or should he bow to Jewish fundamentalists like Gideon and the settlers who terrorizes the palestinian population on the West Bank?
The coming American president should help Israel abide by international law ,and help the government in Israel to deal with jewish terrorism.
I just hope Obama appoints Samantha Power as his special envoy to the Middle East, and also stops all aid, loans, and weapons shipments to Israel.
He then backs up Power's peace plan with economic and cultural sanctions when Israel (inevitably) breaks its word on agreements to dismantle settlements, allow Palestinian access to East Jerusalem etc etc.
A fantasy I know, but I've always thought a President who went over the heads of congress and spoke directly to the American people would find such a program surprisingly popular, especially if the money earmarked for Israel went instead on tax refunds…
And Obama and his merry band of world citizen Trotskyites are going to be out gunned.
Sword, I already found the iterant pattern of calling the neocons Trotskyites lazy thinking. Although the view has its point. My problem is that I consider that point pure PR/PA. The main selling point for WWIII/IV for the "humanitarian intervention" mindset.
Besides I am in 100% agreement with Michael RVW and Richard Witty here.
I agree with LeaNder, Michael RVW, and Richard Witty here.
I guess it's a good thing that Young Jews aren't blindly following Israeli leadership. When do they get to the point that they view Israel as a drain on the U.S. and more of an enemy in disguise than an ally? Will there be a time when Israel ceases to matter at all to american Jews? Should there even be dual-citizens, and should they be allowed to vote?
There should be no dual citizenship in the USA precisely because
of all nations it is the least formally ethnic, racist, or religious.
@ anon,
You can have multiple citizenships, the US government just recognizes your American one.
We are an immigrant country. There is nothing wrong with having dual citizenship. Most neocommunists do not. I worked with a guy in the Navy who had dual citizenship, and he is a good guy, a loyal American. The problem is lack of enforcement of our laws, and corrupt enforcement of security secure investigations. For example, FARA (Foreign Agents Registration Act). The office in charge is useless, and needs to have everyone fired and all the billets restaffed. See link to talkingpointsmemo.com
Also the security clearance system is completely broken. There is one method for political appointees, and one for everyone else. DoD appointees have a long history of getting new clearances after past espionage activity, e.g., Paul Wolfowitz, provided "a classified document on the proposed sale of U.S. weapons to an Arab government to an Israeli government official via an AIPAC intermediary", Douglas Feith, fired from the National Security Council for passing classified information to Israel, Harold Rhode, security clearance revoked for passing classified info to Israel, Michael Ledeen, security clearance downgraded for suspicion of passing classified information to Israel, etc etc). There are a huge number of articles on these guys, so I won't cite any. Start at www.antiwar.com if you are unsure. How the frak do these guys get a clearance to mop floors in a DoD facility? Whatever office is responsible needs to have everyone fired and all billets restaffed. I read an article some months ago that claimed that the clearance process for political appointees was missing lower-level checks that could nix an application (it's a multi-step process) and that anyone the president wants, the president gets (or whoever he delegates that authority to, i.e. Donald Rumsfailure), even if the the candidate fails even the most preliminary screen. I have about a thousand webpages saves of AIPAC/Israel related data, and am currently digging through my archives to find the citation for this assertion(may take a while, gotta check optical backups, been meaning to dig that article out for ages). Fixing the treason problem, in my opinion, can be done with very modest changes to the bureaucracy. The government employees working in these critical areas need to be protected and insulated from political pressure. If I remember correctly (I was a Navy civil servant at the time), President Bush pushed a bill through congress after 9/11 revoking civil service protections to DoD employees. That needs to get rolled back for FARA and security clearance investigators. Anyway, my main point for this long spiel is that dual loyalty is the problem, not dual citizenship. We shouldn't think ill of or punish our new citizens for the crimes of a tiny, tiny few.
"he is not scared of Abe Foxman (head of the Anti-Defamation League,"
oh….. jesus (says this atheist boy).