President Obama spoke at the Holocaust Memorial this morning. He was accompanied by Elie Wiesel (the White House pool report follows my excerpt of his speech), and he tipped his cap to Michael Oren, Israeli ambassador.
To the members of Congress, members of the diplomatic corps, including Ambassador Michael Oren of Israel, we are glad to be with you...
"Never again" is a challenge to defend the fundamental right of free people and free nations to exist in peace and security -- and that includes the State of Israel. And on my visit to the old Warsaw Ghetto, a woman looked me in the eye, and she wanted to make sure America stood with Israel. She said, "It’s the only Jewish state we have." And I made her a promise in that solemn place. I said I will always be there for Israel.
So when efforts are made to equate Zionism to racism, we reject them. When international fora single out Israel with unfair resolutions, we vote against them. When attempts are made to delegitimize the state of Israel, we oppose them. When faced with a regime that threatens global security and denies the Holocaust and threatens to destroy Israel, the United States will do everything in our power to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon.
Pool report from Olivier Knox of Yahoo news on this morning's event:
At 9:42, the President walked slowly and wordlessly into the Hall of Remembrance, a somber look on his face and Elie Wiesel keeping pace on his right side. The two men, both in dark suits, walked up to the dais holding the eternal flame, and paused there in a moment of silent reflection.
As they came to the steps that take visitors from the main part of the room to the black panels and candles..., the president gently rested his hand on Wiesel's back as though to invite him to lead. Under the carved named of Dachau, the President and Wiesel each lit a little stick in one of the candles there and took their little flames to candles under Buchenwald. They put out their sticks in very small (an eighth of a cup's worth, perhaps) piles of sand designed for that purpose.
The two men walked slowly towards the exit, leaving the room at 9:45. President Obama placed his hand on Wiesel's shoulder after they were out of the Hall and exchanged a few words in audible to your pooled.
The President is speaking. Remarks were open press -- but in case you did not make the trip, both Wiesel and POTUS got standing ovations from the packed auditorium here.
“fundamental right of free people* and free nations to exist in peace and security”
*Offer available in OECD area only
>> “Never again” is a challenge to defend the fundamental right of free people and free nations to exist in peace and security — and that includes the State of Israel.
“But f*ck – no pun intended, folks! – the Palestinians.”
What a hypocrite.
“and that includes the State of Israel”
And what borders would that State of Israel have, Barry?
I always think the answer to the State of Israel is paranoia.
Barack Obama spoke: “So when efforts are made to equate Zionism to racism, we reject them.”
Questions for Barack Obama:
1. How can a state which supports and funds illegal JEWISH-ONLY settlements on occupied territories be anything but racist?
2. Would you have a problem if the United States officially pursued preferential policies in any domain for WASPs (White Anglo-Saxon Protestants) only?
3. Should Germany and France officially declare themselves as the states of Christian ethnic Germans and Christian ethnic French respectively? Create housing at government expense for Christian ethnic Germans and Christian ethnic French only?
4. Have you studied the many racist statements that have been made over the years by many Zionist leaders? By Theodor Herzl? By David Ben-Gurion? By Ovadia Yosef?
5. Have you thought about these issues at all in a serious way? Are you capable of discussing and debating them? Or do you just play along to get along?
Damn. He was out of the country when 60 minutes was on? I hope they taped it for him…
I don’t think he was out of the country last night. He was at the Holocaust Museum in Washington. He signed an executive order this morning, one directed against Syria and Iran.
I say it again: as long as Obama prevents that war on Iran, this play is worth it. Which war did Wiesel prevent?
“…as long as Obama prevents that war on Iran, this play is worth it.”
With each pledge of allegiance to Israel, POTUS moves us closer to war with Iran, not further from it. He abdicates his authority and his independence, essentially saying, “It’s your call, Bibi, we’ve got your back.” Obama has nothing up his sleeve, no grand strategy to outmaneuver Netanyahu or the Zio’s. Obama is a thoroughly mediocre politician with no stomach for the unpleasantness of a political brawl. I hope I’m wrong, but I’m guessing Obama would sooner commit us to war with Iran than to risk the embarrassment of losing a PR battle with hostile Zionists.
I WONDER IF AT THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIALS THEY MAKE MAKE MENTION OF HOW DILIGENTLY THE ZIONISTS WORKED TO PREVENT JEWS FROM BEING ABLE TO FLEE GERMANY, POLAND ETC. FOR THE SAFETY OF THE U.S., BRITAIN AND OTHER COUNTRIES.
FOR INSTANCE, EXCERPTS FROM “The Origin of the Palestine-Israel Conflict”, Published by Jews for Justice in the Middle
East:
• CONTINUED AT – link to mondoweiss.net
• ALSO SEE THESE EXCERPTS FROM ‘The Hidden History of Zionism’ – link to mondoweiss.net
Shameful pandering. I hope Obama is doing it only for political purposes and knows in his heart that this exploitation of the Holocaust is wrong but that he must participate in it if only to appease the Israel lobby.
president obama will always be there for israel? is that why he isn’t here for america?
Meh. A politician’s promise in an election year.
sciri21: “I hope Obama is doing it only for political purposes…”
RoHa: “Meh. A politician’s promise in an election year.”
Rightwing Republicans hope that their candidates mean what they say. “Progressive” Democrats hope that their candidates do NOT mean what they say. Which are more principled? Hope deferred maketh the heart sick.
given that time’s running out on account of perpetual war + economic collapse + global warming = doomsday
and that vision + spirit + plan = change
where vision = a just and peaceful world
spirit = that of the leaderless yet everyone a leader movements of tahrir square and ows
plan = whatever bursts forth from the incubator of collective action that is the movement’s general assembly
and right now isn’t it obvious that either we prevent this iran war or it’s get ready for the call for the last one out to please turn off the lights?
being that an iran war will enable the power elite to shut down whatever is left of the open and free society, devoid of which……
leaving us then with how many months left before the unthinkable stares us in the face?
so occupy movement, looking for a cause that can unite us all?
preventing an iran war?
yes, that’s the one!
Speaking of holocaust rememberance, today April 24th is the rememberance day of the Armenian one. One and a half million Armenians perished in the first genocide of the 20th century.
Obama issued a statement honoring Armenian Remembrance Day two years ago, Apr. 24, 2010: Statement of President Barack Obama on Armenian Remembrance Day, one year ago, on Apr. 23, 2011: Statement by the President on Armenian Remembrance Day, and three years ago, on Apr. 24, 2009: Statement of President Barack Obama on Armenian Remembrance Day.
So far nothing of the kind this year. Perhaps it will be issued later today.
>> One and a half million Armenians perished in the first genocide of the 20th century.
Thoroughly tragic.
But, as any Zio-supremacist will tell you, it simply wasn’t “The Bestest Genocide Ever!” (TM)
If the 1 1/2 million figure is correct, the Armenian genocide killed about one half of the Armenians in the world.
The Holocaust killed about one third of the Jews in the world.
Why does a US president need to attend these memorials?
Placating one political group that gives a great amount of political contributions is something that may be politically shrewd, but is it sincere? Everyone in this country has questioned Obama’s commitment to Israel on both sides, and this seems like more political theater, even if he is has the best of intentions. The exploitation of Jewish suffering for political gain, is not an admirable one.
Another holocaust being commemorated in Lebanon today, it was the first of the 2 Israeli massacres at Qana that happened in 1996 when 106 mostly women and children that had taken refuge in a UN compound were incinerated by Israeli shells. Robert Fisk described it in the Independent:
“It was a massacre. Not since Sabra and Chatila had I seen the innocent slaughtered like this. The Lebanese refugee women and children and men lay in heaps, their hands or arms or legs missing, beheaded or disembowelled. There were well over a hundred of them. A baby lay without a head. The Israeli shells had scythed through them as they lay in the United Nations shelter, believing that they were safe under the world’s protection. Like the Muslims of Srebrenica, the Muslims of Qana were wrong.”
link to bintjbeil.com
“..when British troops entered Lexington on the morning of April 19, [1775] they found 77 minutemen formed up on the village green. Shots were exchanged, killing several minutemen. The British moved on to Concord, where a detachment of three companies was engaged and routed at the North Bridge by a force of 500 minutemen. As the British retreated back to Boston, thousands of militiamen attacked them along the roads, inflicting great damage before timely British reinforcements prevented a total disaster. With the Battles of Lexington and Concord, the war had begun.” – wikipedia
.
On April 19, 2012, one would think the US should have been commemorating the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which marked the beginning of the American Revolution.
The silent movie Spirit of ’76 was suppressed by the federal government in 1917. The ban was upheld in a federal court which sentenced the producer to ten years in prison for violating the Espionage Act in the case with the evocative name United States v. The Spirit of ’76.