J. Philip Rosen, left, with Mitt Romney at a New York fundraiser
(Photo: NORPAC/New Jersey Jewish News)
J. Philip Rosen, left, with Mitt Romney at a New York fundraiser Sheldon Adelson’s reactionary views on Israel/Palestine have gotten some coverage in the US media (though not enough). But another big-time Romney backer, J. Philip Rosen, holds similarly incendiary views.
And despite the fact that the New York Times reports that Rosen “helped organize a $50,000-per-couple fund-raiser” for Romney in Jerusalem, no media outlet has interrogated his anti-Arab racism. All BuzzFeed (which had a reporter on Romney’s trip), for example, says is that Rosen is a “New York lawyer and Romney bundler.” But there’s a lot more to Rosen than that.
Rosen, a right-winger who is described by the Jewish Policy Center as “one of the key power brokers in the Israel business and political communities,” reportedly owns a home in Jerusalem (I wonder where) and is a former national chairman for American Friends of the Likud. And he’s not shy about his views, either–he has written opinion pieces for Arutz Sheva, the settler news outlet which is no stranger to unabashedly racist views on Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims.
Take this piece on Arutz Sheva, written in February 2007. Rosen writes that “Abbas and his cohorts in Fatah and the PLO or PA are evil.” But it gets worse: it’s not just that the Palestinian leadership is “evil.” It is “[Palestinian] society that has a serious pathological problem that cannot be rectified through negotiations and roundtable discussions.”
In another piece, Rosen claims that “this is, was, and will always be, a holy war.” Rosen then goes on to address “Mr. Abbas,” telling him:
All attempts to destroy the Jewish people have failed, as will yours if you try to force Israel to give up our holy cities, if you try to destroy our religion, our belief. Just as the Nazis failed in their holy war, so will you.
Pretty racist, delusional and paranoid–but he’s a powerful man who has the ear of Romney. You can bet Rosen is another donor who will press Romney (if elected) to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, “Israel’s capital,” as Romney would have it.
Imagine for a second if the shoe was on the other foot. If Barack Obama had a well-connected, wealthy donor who had called Israeli society “pathological” and Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu “evil.” Obama wouldn’t last a day in US politics, and there’d be a media feeding frenzy.
But when it comes to Palestinians–say whatever you want.
/Imagine for a second if the shoe was on the other foot. If Barack Obama had a well-connected, wealthy donor who had called Israeli society “pathological” and Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu “evil.” Obama wouldn’t last a day in US politics, and there’d be a media feeding frenzy./
This sites welcomes tons of commenters that call Israeli society and leaders
by far worse names so i am not sure i see your problem here?
If about Jews, yes that is true. Subtle and explicit anti-Arab and anti-Muslim sentiments pass in mainstream politics where antisemitism would not. (i.e. McCain saying- Obama is no Muslim, he’s a decent family man!)
But people can and do say things like this all the time about Netanyahu and Israeli society, here as well. Obama friend Khalid Rashidi once joked that the only way to get rid of Netanyahu would be to “drive a stake through his heart.”
The bots are out in force. It’s not pretty, the Zionist power machine. Dehumanising people, whether they are Jews or Palestinians, never is. But that is the work that is required to keep YESHA going.
And this is all linked to Jewish destiny and the covenant with G-d, is it ?
Link for your R. Khalidi smear, Tokyobk? Citation? Either provide good evidence or retract your smear, grovel, and apologize.