Ohio treasurer fights divestment from the ‘beacon of American values’ in the Middle East

More fallout from the Ohio University “blood bucket” challenge, in which student senate president Megan Marzec, a strong supporter of Palestinian human rights, dumped a bucket of fake blood over her head and called for divestment from Israel, causing outrage among Israel supporters.

A week ago, Ohio University student senate treasurer Carter Phillips resigned, blasting the “environment” of the student senate. It’s given to “dogma.” What did it for him was the September 10 meeting at which supporters of Israel refused to end a filibuster and were ultimately arrested. Phillips:

It becomes our turn to listen to our constituency, and what do we do? We disrupt them when they’re speaking; we chant when they sit down, and we have them arrested for speaking out All legitimacy we had as the student government of this university went out the door in handcuffs last Wednesday. This is no longer a government, it is a circus. and it breaks my heart to see an organization that has the ability to help every student on campus destroy itself.

Well, Phillips has gotten back up from a prominent Ohio politicians, state treasurer Josh Mandel, who is now running for reelection and writes a letter to the Post, the student newspaper of Ohio University, applauding Phillips for taking a stand against radical Islam on campus:

And to the small group of students and faculty at OU who are so out of touch with most Americans that they actually side with radical Islamic groups like Hamas over democratic allies like Israel, my message is clear:

Not only do I reject your call for divestment from Israel, but to the contrary, I proudly stand by the millions of dollars that Democratic and Republican Ohio Treasurers have invested in Israel Bonds over the past decade — including the $105 million in the current Ohio Treasury portfolio.
Israel Bonds have not only been a strong investment for Ohio taxpayers, but these investments also send the message that as American policy leaders, we recognize Israel as our friend, ally and beacon of American values in the Middle East.
For instance, in many locations in the Middle East, equal rights and democracy are not the standard. However, in Israel, women are treated equal to men, democracy is embraced and celebrated like in America, and the justice system operates with the same independence and rule-of-law that we cherish here in the United States.
In Israel, Arab citizens are protected, do not have to fear for human rights aggressions, and can live in a society that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, gender and beliefs. Moreover, Arab families in Israel have one of the highest standards of living in the entire Middle East…
Israel is the only country in the Middle East that values the same level of freedom of speech and freedom of religion that we hold dear in America. As Dwight Eisenhower said in 1952 and still holds true today, “Israel is democracy’s outpost in the Middle East.”
As a proud American and a father, I want my daughter to grow up in a country that continues to cherish our First Amendment rights and that inspires the next generation to stand up for those rights when they are being trampled. Last week in Athens, Ohio, Carter Phillips did just that.

Megan Marzec never endorsed Hamas. She said that Israel’s slaughter in Gaza demonstrates the importance of schools in the U.S. divesting from Israel.

Demagoguing in support of Israel comes naturally to Josh Mandel. He ran for Senate in Ohio in 2012 and got crushed by Sherrod Brown, and at the time said that J Street, which supported Brown, was a pro-Palestinian organization, and that Obama had “lost the faith of Jewish Democrats.” Per Wikipedia, Mandel used Islamophobia to defeat an opponent for the state treasurer’s job in 2011, by implying that the man was a Muslim when he was not.

Mandel got married in Jerusalem in 2008:

the bride and groom insist the result was well worth the 11-month effort. Ilana says the country is “a special place” for both of them — she lived there for a time, and Josh has visited twice. The catering-hall patio where they were married proved to be a truly spectacular location. “The sun was setting in the Old City behind us,” says Josh, a 30-year-old former Marine, whose contribution to the wedding was arranging for Marines from the U.S. Embassy to perform a sword ceremony after they said, “I do.”

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Mandel is a type of nut in German, of course.

And the sword at the wedding- a pity he didn’t fall on it.

blergh…..

reminds me of a younger version of Eric $$$ Cantor.

.
Israel is a like fairy tale
at first it sounds wonderful
but sooner or later reality
seeps out and the pretend is spoiled
.
G-d Bless
.

The only thing that surprised me was that he chose to do his army service in the U.S., and not in Israel, otherwise he would have fit the profile perfectly.

But don’t worry, aliyah is probably just around the corner. Of course, what holds him back is likely money. I think his current job gets him good money, can he get that kind of cash if he moves? I doubt it.

Mandel says in Israel women are treated “equal to men”. I am reminded of article from this afternoon’s Telegraph:

An El-Al flight from New York to Tel Aviv was turned into an “11-hour nightmare” after hundreds of ultra-Orthodox Jewish passengers refused to sit next to women.
According to those on board the flight descended into chaos because of their demands.

One passenger described the entire experience as an 11-hour nightmare.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11121519/Ultra-Orthodox-Jews-cause-chaos-on-flight-to-Israel.html