Feeling the hate in Long Island

Last month a poll showed that 62 percent of American Jews plan to vote for Obama, down significantly from the 78 percent who said they voted for him in ’08. This decline is one reason Obama’s White House site has a whole Jewish pander page. Mitt Romney obviously feels that he can take more Jewish voters from Obama– and more important, Jewish donors. 

The battle is now joined by Rabbi David Nesenoff, the impish rightwinger whose interview with Helen Thomas about Palestine on the White House lawn in 2010 led to her resignation. Nesenoff has a new video up called “Politics and Pastrami” that purports to expose anti-Obama attitudes among older Jews sitting in two New York delis. What the rabbi calls the “pre-viral advance copy of the video” is above. 

Nesenoff interviews 13 people who express anti-Obama attitudes. Some of their views are hateful– anti-Arab, and suggesting that Obama is a secret Muslim. All but two of the interviewees are north of 50 by the looks of it; and I share the rabbi’s belief that these people’s attitudes are representative of their deli-going cohort, or somewhat anyway (as Max Blumenthal’s seminal Feeling the Hate video captured the real attitudes of young American Jewish goers to Jerusalem drinking deep from the Zionist cisterns).

Though judge for yourself, but that guy with the brown curly hair and glasses seems to me a complete ringer, one of Nesenoff’s hasbara pals. Here are some of the attitudes expressed:

I’m an Obama supporter… I’m very concerned.

Last time I voted for Obama and I am not going to vote for him again.

[Ringer guy says this] Jews are always liberal, we believe in the rights of everybody, but at some point you have to like, take a stand on what’s right for your people.

I may not vote for him again.

Our friend in the White House is not strong enough on the right side for Israel.

He’s certainly not strong behind Israel.

[Ringer] The speech in Cairo was a disgrace to the presidency… His whole attitude toward the Muslim world has been overly kind.

Obama’s not going to do the right thing and make a strong move [on Iran]

I don’t think he’s truly behind Israel at all…

He comes from Chicago, from a very confusing background… It’s still not known.

Bowing his head to the king of Saudi Arabia…Also hugging the Turkish prime minister, who is anti-Israel!

Let him go visit Jerusalem.

If you win land under attack, then it’s your land.

He falsely believes that Israel can return to the 1967 borders.

Being that he is so much pro Muslim, I am very much anti-him now.

Deep down he’s got a larger agenda.

People who are really pro-Israel cannot vote for Obama

David Nesenoff informs me by email that the two delis are in Long Island: Ben’s Deli in Woodbury, NY, and Zan’s Deli, in Lake Grove, NY.

He also says that my belief that the interviewees are cherrypicked is wrong:

Perhaps you think Helen Thomas was also in on it…

Your supposition concerning the “setup” is incorrect and it is insulting as well.  The piece was a documentary of real people and it was not a scripted narrative…

I guess you watched the video and just can’t believe or even conceive of the concept that there are Jews who voted for Obama and now have some remorse. You can’t believe it to the point that you need to question my integrity.