Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Kerry Endorsement By Arab and Muslim Groups Raises Important Question (Repub. Jewish Coalition)
RJC ^ | 10-18-04 | Matthew Brooks

Posted on 10/26/2004 7:58:01 AM PDT by veronica

The recent endorsements by the Arab American PAC and the Muslim American PAC of Democrat John Kerry for President raises an important question for America’s Jewish community, says the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC):

Why?

“Clearly these groups do not support President Bush because of his unwavering support for Israel and his relentless war against Islamic terrorists,” says RJC Executive Director Matthew Brooks. “America’s Jewish community needs to ask itself what attracts these groups, who are at odds with Israel and the politicians that support the Jewish State, to John Kerry.”

Every important Israeli leader from Prime Minister Sharon down has said that Israel has never had a better friend in the White House than George W. Bush. Both the Arab American PAC and the Muslim American PAC issued endorsement statements for Kerry that indicate why they prefer the Massachusetts senator.

Muslim American PAC President Mukit Hossain said another term for President Bush would mean “harsher foreign policies toward Muslim countries – in the name of combating terrorism.” Hossain said Kerry “is not controlled by religious and political ideologues” and has “shown an eagerness to be inclusive, and an inclination to engage in…a dialogue.” Hossain also expressed concern about “neoconservatives” in the Bush Administration, which is used as a code word for “Jew” by some Administration critics. Arab American PAC President Abed Hammoud said, “With respect to civil rights and foreign policy, we hope Senator Kerry will change the course the Bush Administration has put America on.”

“Both of these groups obviously believe Senator Kerry will not support Israel like President Bush has and will not be as resolute in the war on Islamic terrorists,” Brooks said. “It is not surprising given Senator Kerry’s mixed messages and his complete reversal of important policy statements.”

Brooks pointed out that Kerry told the Arab American Institute on Nov. 17, 2003, that Israel’s security barrier, which has successfully reduced the number of Palestinian terrorist murders of Israelis, was “a barrier to peace” which was “provocative and counterproductive.” Kerry also called Yasser Arafat a “statesman” and a “role model” in his 1997 book, The New War. Kerry said he would appoint Israel critics Jimmy Carter or James Baker as his Middle East peace envoy on Dec. 4, 2003. Kerry later changed his position on these and other key issues to the American Jewish community.

“You can judge political candidates by who their friends are,” Brooks said. “The endorsements of John Kerry by these two anti-Israel groups speaks volumes and should serve as a warning to Jewish Americans who think John Kerry is on their side. John Kerry’s record on Israel is far from perfect.”


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Editorial; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: jewishamerican; jewishvote; unfitforcommand
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

1 posted on 10/26/2004 7:58:01 AM PDT by veronica
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: veronica
“America’s Jewish community needs to ask itself what attracts these groups, who are at odds with Israel and the politicians that support the Jewish State, to John Kerry.”

Screw the Muslims. America’s Jewish community needs to ask itself what attracts the Jewish community to John Kerry, and if it will give George Bush more than the 19% he got from the Jewish community in 2000.

2 posted on 10/26/2004 8:22:07 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: veronica

Fudd sends hitlery and bubba to Florida to pander to the jewish voters. He himself doesnt dare speak out on behalf of Israel lest he upset his muslim friends in Michigan.


3 posted on 10/26/2004 8:37:32 AM PDT by OldFriend (It's the soldier, not the reporter who has given US freedom of the press)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: veronica

BTTT


4 posted on 10/26/2004 8:39:20 AM PDT by EdReform (Have you seen FAHRENHYPE 9/11? - www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1240926/posts)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: veronica
Both the Arab American PAC and the Muslim American PAC issued endorsement statements for Kerry that indicate why they prefer the Massachusetts senator.

As have the American Communist Party, ACLU and other anti-American organizations - which should give pause to ever voting for John Kerry the Internationalist who serves EU and the United Nations far more than he serves his own country!

WATCH “STOLEN HONOR” IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE REAL JOHN KERRY – A NON PATRIOT AND A TRAITOR TO HIS NATION THEN AND NOW!

5 posted on 10/26/2004 8:47:26 AM PDT by yoe
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen; SJackson
>>>>>America’s Jewish community needs to ask itself what attracts these groups, who are at odds with Israel and the politicians that support the Jewish State, to John Kerry.”<<<<

No. America's Jewish community has to glue the eyes on the ball:

John Kerry has proven by his long record of service and support that he would work to strengthen the ties between the United States and Israel. His voting record on Israel is impeccable. His support of Israel is longstanding and deep. Throughout his public life, John Kerry has always fought for Israel's safety and security, and he will continue that fight as president."

Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT)

My friend John Kerry has a deep understanding of the Holocaust, of the historic persistence of global anti-Semitism and its recent upsurge, and of the mutually beneficial and value-based relationship between the United States and our democratic ally, the State of Israel. "Many years ago, it was my unique pleasure and privilege to spend several days with John and his two young daughters in my native city of Budapest, where we discussed the extraordinary heroism of Raoul Wallenberg, the savior of the Jews of Hungary. As the only survivor of the Holocaust ever elected to Congress and as the top Democrat on the House International Relations Committee, I am profoundly impressed with John Kerry's appreciation of -- and lasting commitment to -- the issues that matter to the American Jewish community."

Congressman Tom Lantos (D-CA)

"The President thinks John Kerry will be much better for the Palestinian cause and for the establishment of a Palestinian state.”

VOTE FOR KERRY - ARAFAT AND TERRORIST SUPPORTERS IN U.S. CAN 'T BE WRONG

6 posted on 10/26/2004 8:54:55 AM PDT by DTA (Proud Pajamista)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen

every time I ask an arab cab driver in NYC who theyre voting for and they say kerry, I then tell them hed be the first half jewish president.
All of them have responded in surprise and ask me if hes really jewish, half hiding their contempt at this new found information.
someone should really post on pro kerry muslim boards this info.


7 posted on 10/26/2004 9:02:07 AM PDT by Selkie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: dennisw; Cachelot; Yehuda; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; ...
If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.
8 posted on 10/26/2004 9:10:51 AM PDT by SJackson (They're not Americans. They're just journalists, Col George Connell, USMC)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: veronica

I just don't understand why the Jewish people continue to vote for the Dems no matter what they learn about their candidate. When I learned that Arafat endorsed Kerry I thought perhaps that they would finally come to their senses. But, I guess that doesn't matter.


9 posted on 10/26/2004 9:11:25 AM PDT by KeyLargo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: KeyLargo
I just don't understand why the Jewish intelligent people continue to vote for the Dems no matter what they learn about their candidate.

Pardon the editing.

10 posted on 10/26/2004 9:14:37 AM PDT by Valin (Out Of My Mind; Back In Five Minutes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: Selkie
And when they ask "if hes really jewish", what do you tell them?

I suppose "America's Jewish community" will also be voting for Hillary in 2008 because she's also Jewish (well, her mother's second husband was Jewish). Close enough.

11 posted on 10/26/2004 9:18:15 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen

I ask them if they have internet access. Funny all of them say they do. And I tell them to see for themselves.


12 posted on 10/26/2004 9:51:50 AM PDT by Selkie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

Comment #13 Removed by Moderator

To: Selkie
"And I tell them to see for themselves."

And what would they find?

14 posted on 10/26/2004 10:11:04 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen

http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=KERRY+JEWISH&csz=&ei=UTF-8&fr=FP-tab-web-t-156&cop=mss&tab=&toggle=1


15 posted on 10/26/2004 10:31:08 AM PDT by Selkie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Selkie
Ah, I see. They would go to their computer, log on the internet, do a Google search, and then find out that you were a liar. Ha-ha. The joke's on them, huh?

So, having a Jewish great-grandfather makes one half Jewish?

16 posted on 10/26/2004 10:41:15 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: veronica

Kerry has to be a real flipflopping piece of sh--, er, work to appeal to both the American Muslims and the American Jews!

I can see the Muslim support, but I find the Jewish support curious. I guess they just don't like Isreal.


17 posted on 10/26/2004 11:08:12 AM PDT by SpinyNorman (Kerry's "global test" doesn't pass the smell test. Come to think of it, neither does Kerry.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen

From Me to Jews
Why, despite everything, Jewish-Americans keep voting for Democrats.
by Joel Engel
10/26/2004 12:00:00 AM
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/833ifcua.asp

FOR NEARLY SIXTY YEARS, since the birth of Israel, American Jews have faced accusations that they care more about the well-being of their ancient homeland than of their home. Well, barring some unforeseen circumstance, the canard of dual loyalty should be retired forever on November 2, 2004. On that Tuesday, Election Day, up to 80 percent of American Jews will pull the lever for John Kerry, thereby proving that they not only do not care about Israel's well-being, but that they don't mind making common cause with people who wish them ill. Or worse.

The evidence is overwhelming that acceptable anti-Semitism has moved from right to left on the political continuum, and that its philosophical home now resides in the Democratic party, which has become less the party of liberals than of leftists. Even before Al Sharpton stood as a presidential candidate last year, Democratic politicians genuflecting for black votes--Al Gore, Bill Bradley, and Hillary Clinton, for example--often trekked up to Harlem to kiss his ring. And yet, this was a man who in previous years had either led or instigated two anti-Jewish demonstrations, one in Crown Heights and one in Harlem, which together resulted in the deaths of eight people. Does that matter to Democrats and John Kerry? Apparently not. Sharpton was rewarded with a choice slot at the Democratic National Convention, something that is impossible to imagine being given to the likes of former Republican David Duke, whose incitements have frankly born far less blood than Sharpton's.

Put aside his disgraceful role in the Tawana Brawley hoax. The fact that Democratic candidate Sharpton never had to answer questions during primary season from either the press or the other contenders about his anti-Semitic statements (to wit: "diamond merchants" whose hands bear "the blood of innocent babies") should tell Jewish Democrats something important about their party. It should tell them that anti-Semites have found safety in numbers.

Partial proof of that was on display in a VIP box at the Democratic national convention, where two other prominent guests were seated shoulder to shoulder: Jimmy Carter and Michael Moore. Considering their on-the-record statements, it's not terribly difficult to imagine them leaning close during breaks to compare notes on Jewish conspiracies and the world's locus of evil, Israel.

Carter's antipathy toward the Jewish state is well-documented, as is his affection for Arab dictators, especially Yasser Arafat. This is a man who endorsed the results of the sham 1996 "election" that transformed Arafat from self-appointed "chairman" to "president" of the Palestinian Authority, while he continues to suggest that President Bush stole Florida and therefore the 2000 election. (Remember, too, that Carter recently ratified anti-American Hugo Chavez's election in Venezuela under dubious circumstances.) Last year's Nobel Peace laureate once confided to historian/biographer Douglas Brinkley how eager he'd been to meet Arafat (another laureate!) for the first time--and why he felt such an affinity for the terrorist leader. He believes that Arafat truly wants peace and that Ariel Sharon truly does not. He considers it self-evident that the whole of the West Bank and Gaza belong to the Palestinians, a bias evinced by his insertion of "the" before the word "territories" in his written discussion of United Nations Resolution 242, though "the" had been specifically and deliberately excluded from the resolution's wording in order to demonstrate that all permanent borders are to be negotiated in good faith. No wonder his Carter Center receives substantial funding from Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, at a speech in Liverpool early this year, Moore informed his adoring audience who the world's real villains are: "It's all part of the same ball of wax, right? The oil companies, Israel, Halliburton." That statement sheds light on why he tried to prevent Fahrenheit 9/11 from being shown in Israel, and is congruent with both his speech denouncing the Israeli "occupation" at a 1990 Washington, D.C. demonstration, and his refusal that same year to attend a screening of his film Roger and Me in Jerusalem unless and until Israel met his demand to withdraw from "Arab lands." Moore has also suggested that we could solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by giving the Palestinians $4 billion worth of advanced weapons. Most egregious, though, was his dedication in the book Dude, Where's My Country? to Rachel Corrie, the pro-Palestinian activist who was killed while impeding a bulldozer sent to find and destroy tunnels used by the Palestinians for weapons smuggling. (Corrie was once photographed burning an American flag at a West Bank demonstration.)

You might think that the Democratic party, which receives 70-80 percent of the Jewish vote and a ridiculous amount of political cash, would have meted out at least verbal spanks to Moore and Carter for their anti-Israel animus. But both men, like Sharpton, remain among the adored--unlike, by contrast, the late Pennsylvania Governor Bob Casey, a liberal who was banned from the 1992 and 1996 national conventions because of his stance against abortion. Which leads inexorably to the conclusion that Moore and Carter accurately reflect their party's mainstream.


GIVEN THAT, it's no mystery how the far left has been able to hijack college campuses that used to be seedbeds of civil rights activism--much of it famously led and organized by liberal Jews. Now, under the politically correct cover of Palestinian rights, Jews find themselves lumped in with religious Christians as acceptable objects of revulsion, leaving squishy-left Steinbergs and Goldbergs to wonder what's happening as antiwar, anti-Bush demonstrations rapidly morph into anti-Israel, anti-Jew hatefests. San Francisco State, Duke, Berkeley, and Columbia (whose growing anti-Semitism in the classroom is now the subject of a short film) are only a few of the many schools where Jews have glimpsed the mob mentality of Kristallnacht.

Even individually, college-age anti-Semites feel comfortable enough these days to note publicly, as Duke senior Philip Kurian did recently, that those pesky over-achieving Jews are something of a problem. Inspired by Duke's hosting of the radical Islamist, pro-terror group International Solidarity Movement (to which Rachel Corrie belonged), Kurian unashamedly referenced "the powerful Jewish establishment" and "exorbitant Jewish privilege in the United States" before reaching the crux of his letter to Duke's newspaper the Chronicle: "It is well known that Jews constitute the most privileged 'minority' group in this country. Among the top 10 universities, Jews enjoy shocking overrepresentation."

Note the ironic quotation marks around the word minority, though Jews add up to barely 2 percent of the country's population (one-fifth of 1 percent of the world's); and the word overrepresentation as opposed to "disproportionate representation," whose use would have at least acknowledged Jews' work ethic and devotion to achievement. And then there was "shocking."

But instead of widespread outrage, condemnation, newspaper confiscations, demonstrations about hurt feelings, suspension, expulsion, and even prosecution, which are generally what follow when similar bile is directed at protected "minorities" on campus, Kurian's sentiments earned him nothing more than opprobrium from bloggers generally hailing from the right--Gentile bloggers, mostly. Liberal Jews themselves said little, much as the National Organization for Women fell silent during the Clinton era when the president was proved to be a serial groper; that "D" after his name inoculated him against charges that were similar to--if not more serious than--those that brought the wrath of feminists down on poor Senator Bob Packwood, who had the misfortune of playing serial tonsil hockey with an "R" after his name.


THEREIN LIES the explanation for why American Jews refuse obstinately to accept that the Democratic party's train, which they've ridden since FDR (whose reputation among Jews was less earned than awarded), is now carrying them toward some perilous destination. Sadly, by the time they realize that Harry Truman and Scoop Jackson have given up their conductor seats to Michael Moore and International Solidarity, it'll be too late to get off.

American Jews' allegiance to Democrats is nothing less than a religion. And conversion is considered a sacrilege.

If you ask even the most secular Jew, one who stays home to watch baseball on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, to convert to Christianity--say, in order to marry a shiksa--he'll likely recoil. It's a visceral thing, hatched in the belly eons ago.

So, too, is the notion of pulling the lever for dirty anti-Semite, racist Republicans. That's the catechism. No matter that Republicans booted out David Duke and Patrick Buchanan--or that both of them would find plenty of fellow travelers in today's Democratic party. Catechism states that only Democrats can be authentic liberals.


WHICH IS WHY, once upon a time, it would've given Jews (and all Democrats) pause to hear support for their candidate uttered by the likes of Arafat, Kim Jong Il, and Mahathir Mohamad, the former Malaysian prime minister who endeared himself to billions last year when he opined that "Jews run the world by proxy." Today, such observations are irrelevant to the more important goal of turning George W. Bush out of office. Typical is the email response of a Jewish friend to whom I'd forwarded a Charles Krauthammer column predicting that Kerry will sell out Israel: "Which leaves us . . . Ralph Nader? What folly!!!!" Same with a Jewish woman whose only reaction to every argument on the same subject is to quote chapter and verse from the New York Times editorial page--the bible of liberal Jews.

In their worldview, words are more important than outcomes, especially when those words are uttered by Democrats. Thus, Bill Clinton's can't-we-all-just-get-along peacemaking that relied on the exaltation of Arafat is far preferable to George W. Bush's support for the terror-reducing fence and insistence on new Palestinian leadership--though the former caused the deaths of a thousand innocent Israelis, and the latter has saved innocents on both sides and brought closer the possibility of Palestinians giving up terrorism entirely--which will, of course, bring peace. Instead, Jews circulate angry emails about the lack of Jews in the president's cabinet, as if Clinton's Jewish Agriculture secretary somehow canceled out the shame of Yasser Arafat's permanent White House parking space.

To borrow longshoreman-philosopher Eric Hoffer's phrase, Jewish Democrats are "true believers"--every bit as unquestioning of their faith as evangelicals are. (A year after the Six-Day War, Hoffer had a premonition: "As it goes with Israel," he said, "so will it go with all of us. Should Israel perish, the holocaust will be upon us.") And yet they fear evangelicals' unshakeable support for Israel on the grounds that it's biblically based, which is the equivalent of refusing to accept your dog back from the guy who found him after he admits doing it only for the reward. "I fear this presidency," claimed a Jewish man I know, "more than I fear any Arab, Muslim, or al Qaeda terrorist." (This was the same man who emailed me his outrage at there being no Jews in Bush's cabinet.)

Why won't Jews who plan to vote for John Kerry take the senator at his word, and consider the ramifications, when he says that he wants to refract his foreign policy through the prism of the United Nations and the European Union? Nearly one third of the United Nations is comprised of Islamic states, which helps to account for why Israel has been targeted by a relentless barrage of condemnatory resolutions--as well as the disgraceful ruling in the International Court of Justice against the anti-terror fence.

As for Europe, birthplace of anti-Semitism, the European Union publicly wrings its hands over dead Palestinian terrorists but not dead Jewish children and mothers, insisting that there will be peace when Israel withdraws from all so-called Palestinian lands; and if that pullback to the "Auschwitz borders" should someday result in Israeli Jews being driven into the sea, then good riddance. In the unvarnished words of Daniel Bernard, French ambassador to Great Britain, Israel is "a shitty little country" inhabited by "those people" who are putting the world "in danger of World War III."

"F*** the Jews," Republican James Baker snapped during Bush 41's reign more than a decade ago. "They didn't vote for us anyway."

Right he was. And if only 20 percent of them vote for Bush 43, American Jews won't need James Baker--they'll have done it to themselves.

For a supposedly smart people, we can be awfully stupid.


Joel Engel is an author and journalist in Southern California.


18 posted on 10/26/2004 4:22:18 PM PDT by KeyLargo
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: robertpaulsen

well Kerry's brother says that he and lurch are 50% jewish not a 25%.


And so do other news sources.

The Kerry brothers’ own Jewish background — their paternal grandparents were born Jewish in the former Austro-Hungarian empire
http://jewish.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=1185
http://www.wmtw.com/Global/story.asp?S=1689357
http://www.nationalvanguard.org/printer.php?id=2041


19 posted on 10/26/2004 6:30:54 PM PDT by Selkie
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Selkie
"well Kerry's brother says that he and lurch are 50% jewish not a 25%."

Nowhere does his brother say this! And even if he did, he'd be lying, wouldn't he? Kerry's brother is 100% Jewish, not 50%, ever since he converted to Judaism in 1983.

JF Kerry is Roman Catholic.
JF Kerry's parents are Roman Catholic.
JF Kerry's maternal grandparents are Roman Catholic.
JF Kerry's paternal grandfather was born Jewish but converted to Roman Catholicism (and changed his name from Kohn to Kerry).

JF Kerry has Jewish roots -- his paternal great-grandfather was Jewish.

That does not make JF Kerry half-Jewish. You are lying whenever you say that. I'm done with you, as I make it a practice not to correspond with liars.

20 posted on 10/27/2004 7:00:56 AM PDT by robertpaulsen
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 19 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-25 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson