Trending Topics:

Dershowitz says Jewish Democrats love Adelson, who ‘has helped repair the world’

Israel/PalestineUS Politics
on 31 Comments

At Huffpo, Alan Dershowitz says of Sheldon Adelson: “His generosity has helped repair the world.” That’s the first time I’ve heard the Jewish concept of social justice, Tikkun Olam, invoked to describe the work of a casino mogul who is being investigated for ties to Chinese organized crime and illegal prostitution….

Dershowitz is attacking the National Jewish Democratic Council for trying to get Romney to give back money Sheldon Adelson is giving him. The NJDC is obviously trying to save Obama’s brand as a pro-Israel candidate by painting Adelson as outside the pale.

But Dershowitz doesn’t want Adelson politicized. He is trying to keep the Israel lobby unified and nonpartisan. He says that Adelson is beloved by Democratic Party Jews. This is his way of pushing Obama right on Israel. Dershowitz seems to want the Jewish vote to divide between parties, so that Obama feels rightwing pressure the whole campaign. I predict Dershowitz will win this battle. The casino mogul who believes that Palestinians are an “invented people” will not become politicized in this campaign; Obama will be afraid to alienate Adelson’s neocon crowd, which bleeds right into the Jewish donor crowd. That’s why Dershowitz gets access to the White House even after he called Obama “Neville Chamberlain.”

Until the Jewish community splits forcefully and openly, the political Establishment is going to continue to defer to the lobby, the right wing Jewish organizations (one lesson of the Presbyterian vote this week, when J Street and Peace Now kept the monolith a monolith and the Presbyterians deferred). Dersh on Adelson: 

I know Sheldon Adelson and I have worked with him on several matters relating to Israel and the Jewish community. I have spoken on behalf of the wonderful school he has built in Las Vegas. And have had the pleasure of teaching one of the brilliant graduates of that school. Adelson was deeply involved in the creation of the Birthright Israel Program, which has had extraordinary success in exposing young Jews to Israel. It’s hard to find anyone who has done as much for the Jewish community as Sheldon Adelson…. His generosity has helped repair the world.

I am a Democrat and do not agree with many of Adelson’s political views, but I think it’s outrageous for the National Jewish Democratic Council to level unfounded allegations against Adelson. They do not speak for me, and for the many other Jews who admire Adelson’s contributions to the world, to America, to Israel and to the Jewish community. I don’t know who Harris purports to speak for as President of the National Jewish Democratic Council, but his partisan gamesmanship is an embarrassment to many Jewish Democrats. The attack comes with particular ill grace from a Jewish organization, considering all that Adelson has done for Jewish causes, and considering the fact that there is nothing uniquely “Jewish” about the questionable allegations against him.

Moreover, the demand that Mitt Romney return Adelson’s contributions is absurd.

philweiss
About Philip Weiss

Philip Weiss is Founder and Co-Editor of Mondoweiss.net.

Other posts by .


Posted In:
American Jewish Community
Israel Lobby
Israel/Palestine
Media
US Politics

31 Responses

  1. Avi_G.
    Avi_G.
    July 7, 2012, 11:20 am

    If the current state of affairs is his idea of fixing it, I’d hate to see what Broken looks like.

  2. Dan Crowther
    Dan Crowther
    July 7, 2012, 12:07 pm

    This is a great, illustrative example of the weird mindset cats like the Dersh have – Adelson has “helped to repair the world” by doing one thing, and one thing only, he’s “helped” Jews. That’s what the Dersh means – by “doing for” any jewish community, you’re healing the entire world. This is what blatant ethnic/religious supremacy in the language of universalism looks like. It reminds me of a brief video clip I once saw of the Lubavitcher rebbe – where someone asks what they can do back home in Russia to make it a better place and the rebbe says, “love Jews.” Its the sole criteria for being a good person in these circles.

    • American
      American
      July 7, 2012, 2:14 pm

      “Adelson has “helped to repair the world” by doing one thing, and one thing only, he’s “helped” Jews. That’s what the Dersh means – by “doing for” any jewish community, you’re healing the entire world.”…Dan

      That is the belief of zionist….they ‘are the world’…. to themselves at least.
      They are only a step away from publicly declaring themselves Gods like Roman Emperors Augustus, Caligula and dozens of others….they already believe they are Lords over other earthlings.
      Crazy cult.

      I will bet you that the zionist and Israel will try to horn in on the recent discovery of Higgs boson particle, referred to as the’ God particle’ because it may explain how the the earth and all matter was created, and try to find something uniquely Jewish about it….LOL.

      • seafoid
        seafoid
        July 7, 2012, 4:25 pm

        I read today that some scientist originally referred to it as the Goddamn particle but that it was changed to God particle by a sub editor

      • Sumud
        Sumud
        July 7, 2012, 10:20 pm

        I will bet you that the zionist and Israel will try to horn in on the recent discovery of Higgs boson particle, referred to as the’ God particle’ because it may explain how the the earth and all matter was created, and try to find something uniquely Jewish about it….LOL.

        Higgs is not so fond of Israel apparently, and engaged in proto-BDS in 2004 when he refused to fly to Israel to receive a prize the Knesset awarded him because of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians:

        http://www.algemeiner.com/2012/07/06/god-and-man-at-the-higgs-boson-level/

    • seafoid
      seafoid
      July 7, 2012, 4:15 pm

      “Repair the world” is a translation of “tikkun olam” which now means ethnic cleansing and white phosphorous.

      I know plutocracy and I have worked with him on several matters relating to Israel and the Jewish community. I have spoken on behalf of the wonderful school he has built in Las Vegas. And have had the pleasure of teaching one of the brilliant graduates of that school. Plutocracy was deeply involved in the creation of the Birthright Israel Program, which has had extraordinary success in exposing young Jews to Israel. It’s hard to find anyone who has done as much for the Jewish community as plutocracy …. His generosity has helped repair the world.

      I am a Democrat and do not agree with many of plutocracy’s political views, but I think it’s outrageous for the National Jewish Democratic Council to level unfounded allegations against plutocracy . They do not speak for me, and for the many other Jews who admire plutocracy’s contributions to the world, to America, to Israel and to the Jewish community. I don’t know who Harris purports to speak for as President of the National Jewish Democratic Council, but his partisan gamesmanship is an embarrassment to many Jewish Democrats. The attack comes with particular ill grace from a Jewish organization, considering all that plutocracy has done for Jewish causes, and considering the fact that there is nothing uniquely “Jewish” about the questionable allegations against him.

  3. traintosiberia
    traintosiberia
    July 7, 2012, 12:27 pm

    He is the clearest exapmle where all values and morality stop at the water’s edge bordering Zionism.

  4. ColinWright
    ColinWright
    July 7, 2012, 1:03 pm

    “The attack comes with particular ill grace from a Jewish organization, considering all that Adelson has done for Jewish causes, and considering the fact that there is nothing uniquely “Jewish” about the questionable allegations against him…”

    The tail end of the sentence is a bit murky. Apparently, a Jewish organization shouldn’t criticize a Jew unless there is something uniquely Jewish about the offense. It would follow, for example, that it wouldn’t be on for any Jewish organization to criticize Bernie Madoff.

    Anyway, good to see Dershowitz marginalizing himself. Two-thirds of all Jews are Obama supporters, and I imagine some portion of that group chose to see Dershowitz as having some kind of authority. If he reinvents himself as a Republican shill, there goes most of what I imagine to be Dershowitz’s fan base.

  5. atime forpeace
    atime forpeace
    July 7, 2012, 1:47 pm

    I just want to take a moment to thank the chosen for helping to repair the world, your track record is commendable and enviable and should serve as an example for the rest of the tribes of the world. It is unfathomable how you get such a bad rap, you almost never meddle in the affairs of the nations and when you do it is only for the betterment of those nations.

    thanks mr dershowitz et al.

    • Citizen
      Citizen
      July 10, 2012, 5:01 am

      atime forepeace, Mr dershowtiz et al have a nice confession to make, right here:
      http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/jews-do-control-the-media/
      Basically, we do control the media, which is our message today–but that’s good because anyone can see we have a spark other folks don’t, and it always drives us to repair the world for the betterment of all mankind.

  6. piotr
    piotr
    July 7, 2012, 3:15 pm

    “…and considering the fact that there is nothing uniquely “Jewish” about the questionable allegations against him.”

    Totally weird. That flatly makes no sense. So if Adelson was discovered to be a Shabbat breaker or a shrimp-eater, that would be “uniquely Jewish transgression” and thus returning his campaign donations would be justified. But if he merely had some bunga-bunga parties, or allowed such parties to be organized on his premises, and no religious Jews participated, that what can be wrong with that? (To those unfamiliar with the expression, according to Berlusconi, “bunga-bunga party” is a “convivial gathering with conversation and music”.)

  7. YoungMassJew
    YoungMassJew
    July 7, 2012, 3:39 pm

    It all comes full circle for me. That is why the owner of the olive oil factory in the Occupied Golan Heights on birthright said he agrees with Newt Gingrich that Palestinians are an “invented people.” He was taking orders from Adelson. Absolutely unreal and outrageous.

    • seafoid
      seafoid
      July 8, 2012, 12:21 pm

      YMJ

      Both the Republicans and the Zionists have developed their own media echo chambers where they have their own reality. The Republicans have Fox and their own blogosphere and the Zionists have Hebrew. Maybe the republicans can pull it off although climate change denial looks like a big ask. The Zionists haven’t a hope. they can’t manufacture reality because they have to trade with Europe to keep their standard of living going. And there is no reality without Palestinians.

  8. seafoid
    seafoid
    July 7, 2012, 4:32 pm

    Dershowitz is like every bourgeois who ever fell down prostrate in the presence of unspeakable wealth.

  9. DICKERSON3870
    DICKERSON3870
    July 7, 2012, 10:48 pm

    RE: “The attack comes with particular ill grace from a Jewish organization, considering all that Adelson has done for Jewish causes. . .” ~ Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

    MY SNARK: Right, Dersh! Whatever you say. There is no better Democrat than you. Except for Shelly, of course!

    SEE: “What Sheldon Adelson Wants”, New York Times Editorial, 6/23/12

    No American is dedicating as much of his money to defeat President Obama as Sheldon Adelson, the casino magnate who also happens to have made more money in the last three years than any other American. He is the perfect illustration of the squalid state of political money, spending sums greater than any political donation in history to advance his personal, ideological and financial agenda, which is wildly at odds with the nation’s needs.
    Mr. Adelson spent $20 million to prop up Newt Gingrich’s failed candidacy for the Republican nomination. Now, he has given $10 million to a Mitt Romney super PAC, and has pledged at least $10 million to Crossroads GPS, the advocacy group founded by Karl Rove that is running attack ads against Mr. Obama and other Democrats. Another $10 million will probably go to a similar group founded by the Koch brothers, and $10 million more to Republican Congressional super PACs. . .
    . . .Given that Mr. Romney was not his first choice, why is Mr. Adelson writing these huge checks?
    The first answer is clearly his disgust for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict    , supported by President Obama and most Israelis. He considers a Palestinian state “a steppingstone for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people,” and has called the Palestinian prime minister a terrorist. He is even further to the right than the main pro-Israeli lobbying group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which he broke with in 2007 when it supported economic aid to the Palestinians.
    Mr. Adelson’s other overriding interest is his own wallet. . .
    . . . what he really fears is Mr. Obama’s proposal to raise taxes on companies like his that make a huge amount of money overseas. Ninety percent of the earnings of his company, the Las Vegas Sands Corporation, come from hotel and casino properties in Singapore and Macau. (The latter is located, by the way, in China, a socialist country the last time we checked.)
    Because of the lower tax rate in those countries (currently zero in Macau), the company now has a United States corporate tax rate of 9.8 percent, compared with the statutory rate of 35 percent. President Obama has repeatedly proposed ending the deductions and credits that allow corporations like Las Vegas Sands to shelter billions in income overseas, but has been blocked by Republicans. . .

    ENTIRE EDITORIAL – http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/24/opinion/sunday/what-sheldon-adelson-wants.html

    • DICKERSON3870
      DICKERSON3870
      July 7, 2012, 11:05 pm

      RE: “He [Adelson] considers a Palestinian state ‘a stepping-
      stone for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people. . .” ~ NYT Editorial (above)

      MY SNARK: Great minds (Adelson and the settler below) think alike! You just can’t beat “naked political nuttiness”.

      SEE: “Inside A Foundation For Defense Of Democracies Sponsored Junket To Israel”, By John Walbridge, Lobelog.com, 6/11/12

      (excerpts) I am in Israel at the moment, having just completed a terrorism tour for academics sponsored by a group called the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). The organizer described them as “hawkish,” which is certainly true. . .
      . . . There is an obsession with Iran. A settler leader and aspiring right-wing Israeli politician (and former senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) was explaining why a peace agreement giving the West Bank–sorry, “Judea and Samaria”–to the Palestinians would be militarily unacceptable. He took us to a settlement on the edge of the Samaritan hills and pointed to the towers of Tel Aviv on the horizon. “Imagine,” he said, “if Iran were here!” ”Iran!” I blurted out, my resolve to keep my mouth shut overwhelmed by surprise. “What’s Iran got to do with it?” He looked at me as if I was a child.

      “Iran is going to take over Iraq. Jordan is very weak, so that will fall to them too. Then they will control Judea and Samaria and be able to attack Tel Aviv.”

      This preposterous scenario was extreme and our hosts apologized afterwards for exposing us to the naked political nuttiness of the settlers, but the notion that Iran might be lurking under every bed was widely shared. . .

      ENTIRE ARTICLE – http://www.lobelog.com/inside-a-foundation-for-defense-of-democracies-sponsored-junket-to-israel/

  10. DICKERSON3870
    DICKERSON3870
    July 7, 2012, 11:31 pm

    RE: “I think it’s outrageous for the National Jewish Democratic Council to level unfounded allegations against Adelson.” ~ Alan Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

    SEE – “Dershowitz: Goldstone is a traitor to the Jewish people”, By Haaretz Service, 1/31/10

    Prominent political commentator Professor Alan Dershowitz slammed jurist Richard Goldstone, the architect of a UN report which accuses Israel of Gaza war crimes, saying he is a traitor to the Jewish people, Army Radio reported Sunday.
    Dershowitz and Goldstone hadbeen colleagues and close friends for many years before the UN Gaza probe, but once Goldstone published his report the ties between the two were severed. “The Goldstone report is a defamation written by an evil, evil man,” Dershowitz said.
    In an interview with Army Radio, Dershowitz said he is appalled by the report and can’t fathom how it could have been written by a Jew. He said it is as if a Jew would have written the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, and that the jurist is using the fact that his last name is ‘Goldstone’ to substantiate the report’s defamation against the Jewish people. . .
    . . .Former minister and Meretz chairwoman Shulamit Aloni responded to Dershowitz’s comments, saying that Goldstone is far from a traitor. “Dershowitz’s statements border on hate*. Goldstone is a Zionist Jew who was simply doing his job,” Aloni told Army Radio.
    Aloni further went on to say that [self-proclaimed “Democrat”] Dershowitz is a despicable man who opposes the left and supports the settlers. “His opinion doesn’t count in my eyes, and the way he speaks of Goldstone is disgraceful,” Aloni said. . .

    * RE: “Dershowitz’s statements border on hate” ~ Aloni
    MY COMMENT: Anti-Semitism perhaps?

    P.S. Dare I say that it sounds like Dershowitz hates Goldstone with an “eroticized passion”? Almost like a “spurned lover— irrational.”!

    • DICKERSON3870
      DICKERSON3870
      July 7, 2012, 11:57 pm

      P.S. RE: “Dare I say that it sounds like Dershowitz hates Goldstone with an ‘eroticized passion’? Almost like a ‘spurned lover— irrational’!” ~ me (above)

      FROM M.J. ROSENBERG, 4/10/12:

      . . . Here is what the famous OJ Simpson lawyer [F. Lee Bailey Alan Dershowitz] had to say about me leaving Media Matters in the Daily Caller:

      “Rosenberg was an extremist,” Dershowitz told the Daily Caller. “He didn’t engage in careful, nuanced critiques of Israel, which is fine. He engaged in hyperbole, name-calling. He just hated, hated, hated, with a passion, almost an eroticized passion of anything associated with Israel. He was like a spurned lover — irrational.” . . .

      SOURCE – http://mjayrosenberg.com/2012/04/10/the-neocons-celebrate-we-got-rosenberg-well-get-you/

    • DICKERSON3870
      DICKERSON3870
      July 9, 2012, 8:19 am

      RE: “…it’s outrageous for the National Jewish Democratic Council to level unfounded allegations against Adelson.” ~ Dershowitz

      SPEAKING OF “OUTRAGEOUS”; THIS FROM WIKIPEDIA [Desmond Tutu]:

      (excerpt) . . . US attorney Alan Dershowitz
      referred to [Desmond] Tutu as a “racist and a bigot” during the controversial Durban II conference in April 2009.[52] . . .
      • Footnote 52 – http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/tutu-slammed-at-racism-conference-1.440542

      SOURCE – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desmond_Tutu

      • DICKERSON3870
        DICKERSON3870
        July 9, 2012, 8:38 am

        P.S. I WONDER IF ANDERS BEHRING BREIVIK SAW THIS WHILE HE WAS CONTEMPLATING HIS TERRORIST ATTACKS IN NORWAY (WHICH OCCURRED TWO YEARS LATER):

        [EXCERPTS] Geneva – US attorney Alan Dershowitz said on Monday on the sidelines of the Durban Review Conference on racism in Geneva that Switzerland’s president was supportive of “hate mongering” and that the anti-apartheid activist Desmond Tutu was a “racist and bigot”. . .
        . . . The lawyer [Dershowitz], who has defended OJ Simpson and written books backing Israeli military policy in the Palestinian territories, said that Norway was “one of the biggest offenders against Israel.” . . .

        SOURCE – http://www.iol.co.za/news/world/tutu-slammed-at-racism-conference-1.440542

  11. German Lefty
    German Lefty
    July 8, 2012, 7:14 am

    Unrelated question: Can anyone tell me if Jared Bernstein and Ezra Klein are Zionists? Google didn’t help me.

    • DICKERSON3870
      DICKERSON3870
      July 9, 2012, 9:05 am

      As to Ezra Klein, I think it is fair to describe him as a “liberal Zionist”. He will occasionally make a tepid criticism of Israel’s more egregious policies.
      • “What it means to be pro-Israel”, by Ezra Klein, Haaretz, 1/16/09 – http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/what-it-means-to-be-pro-israel-1.268265

      • German Lefty
        German Lefty
        July 9, 2012, 11:42 am

        As to Ezra Klein, I think it is fair to describe him as a “liberal Zionist”.
        Thanks for the info, Dickerson. Any idea about Jared Bernstein? What about Amy Goodman and Glenn Greenwald?

      • DICKERSON3870
        DICKERSON3870
        July 16, 2012, 7:00 am

        Glenn Greenwald’s views seem to be quite similar to those of M.J. Rosenberg.
        Amy Goodman doesn’t seem to directly comment on the situation, but she and Democracy Now certainly cover criticisms of both the settlers and of Israeli government policies.
        The Zionists seem to be very critical of both Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman for being what they refer to as “anti-Israel”.
        I am clueless as to Jared Bernstein’s views on Israel/Palestine.

      • German Lefty
        German Lefty
        July 16, 2012, 11:14 am

        Thanks, Dickerson.

        Glenn Greenwald’s views seem to be quite similar to those of M.J. Rosenberg.
        Regarding M.J. Rosenberg, I found this post: http://mjayrosenberg.com/tag/liberal-zionist/
        “I support Israel’s right to peace and security inside the ’67 borders. I believe in Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, ultimately as one that will grant Palestinians with Israeli citizenship the same rights as Jews. I believe Palestinians have the same right to a state that Jews have. I guess that makes me a two-stater. […] I am not a liberal Zionist because I believe that to be a Zionist one must either live in Israel or, at the very least, believe that it is the homeland for all Jews, whether they live there or not.”
        That doesn’t make any sense to me, because wanting Israel to be a Jewish state is Zionism. Also, equal rights for all Israelis and a Jewish state don’t go together. He sounds like a liberal Zionist.

        The Zionists seem to be very critical of both Glenn Greenwald and Amy Goodman for being what they refer to as “anti-Israel”.
        I know. But Ms Goodman and Mr Greenwald don’t necessarily have to be anti-Zionists to be hated by the right-wing Zionists. They call everyone “anti-Israel” who is even remotely critical of any Israeli policy.

        I am clueless as to Jared Bernstein’s views on Israel/Palestine.
        Too bad. I was asking because I saw Jared Bernstein and Ezra Klein on MSNBC bashing Germany’s approach to the euro crisis and they seemed to enjoy it. So, I wondered if they are Zionists, who harbour some anti-German sentiments. But probably that’s just imagination on my part.

      • Citizen
        Citizen
        July 16, 2012, 8:11 pm

        Rosenberg goes on to say he’s not a Zionist at all: “It makes me someone who believes that a Jewish state should exist for those who want to live there. ”
        Somehow I don’t think he’d go along with ROT for all the surviving natives kicked off the land Israel stands on (and their offspring). He does not mention Palestinian ROT.
        He’s a Zionist.

  12. MRW
    MRW
    July 8, 2012, 1:18 pm

    Adelson has done zip for Las Vegas. He’s a businessman who has used the city to his advantage. He supports his private interests, but there is zero civic involvement beyond them.

  13. Citizen
    Citizen
    July 8, 2012, 4:52 pm

    Hey, wake up! Jews do control the US main media, and movie/TV show industries, just as Mr Gibson said, and they also control our government, but it’s all for the best:
    http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/jews-do-control-the-media/

  14. piotr
    piotr
    July 16, 2012, 7:43 am

    We, poor Americans need people like Derschowitz, Adelson and 29 times applauded Netanyahu to explains us how things are. People with brains for the land without brains.

    Adelson spends tens of millions of dollars to educate us, yet I perceive here a depressing lack of gratitude.

  15. LanceThruster
    LanceThruster
    July 16, 2012, 12:03 pm

    Here’s Sheldon’s “toolkit” and why Alan considers him such an accomplished repair tech —

    http://www.dependablerenegade.com/dependable_renegade/2012/06/sheldon-adelson-at-his-first.html

Leave a Reply