Democratic presidential hopeful former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean greets supporters after his address during his caucus night party in West Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Jan. 19, 2004. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
Posted on 02/18/2005 7:37:02 AM PST by SJackson
Howard Dean on Israel: Why We Should All Be Concerned
Thursday, February 17, 2005 By: Matthew Brooks
The National Jewish Democratic Council’s hurried and politically motivated defense of new DNC Chairman Howard Dean should worry not only the American Jewish community, but everyone who hopes for a bipartisan commitment to stand with Israel in the war on terror. While NJDC may be willing to ignore the unpleasant facts about Dean, leading Democrats have joined the Republican Jewish Coalition in expressing deep concerns over Dean’s weak record of support for Israel and for the war on terror.
These concerns, as addressed in our recent advertising campaign, are fully justified, based upon Dean’s past statements. While he was campaigning for president, Israel was suffering regular terror attacks encouraged by Yasser Arafat, Hamas and others. Yet Dean said, “I don’t believe stopping the terror has to be a prerequisite for talking, you always talk,” clearly indicating that he would force Israel to negotiate while under the threat of terrorist attacks (The Associated Press, 9/10/03).
It’s no surprise, given such statements, that Clinton White House aide Kenneth Baer warned, “The pro-Israel community would be very worried if Dean became DNC chair” (The Forward, 1/28/05). For their part, President Bush and his Administration have made clear that stopping terrorist attacks is absolutely a prerequisite for moving forward in the peace process.
Dean went even farther, adding, “I don’t find it convenient to blame people. Nobody should have violence, ever. But they do, and it’s not our place to take sides” (The Associated Press, 9/10/03, emphasis added). These comments suggest Dean has accepted the dangerous moral equivalency shared by many on the American and European Left.
As Senator Joe Lieberman noted, “Dean’s statements break a 50-year record in which presidents, Republican and Democrats, members of Congress of both parties have supported our relationship with Israel based on shared values and common strategic interests” (Congressional Black Caucus Democratic Debate, 9/9/03). Now the Democrats have chosen Dean to lead their party.
Previously, Dean described Hamas terrorists as “soldiers” in a war, legitimizing their cause and their tactics while they murdered innocent Israeli citizens, including Arabs (CNN, 9/10/03). In one television interview, Dean even indicated that a Hamas takeover of Palestinian territories might be a “good” thing (CBC/PBS, 1/3/98). It is deeply disturbing that the Democrats have elected a national chairman so willing to welcome terrorists to power.
Jay Footlik, who was Senator Kerry’s presidential campaign liaison to the Jewish community, warned that once Dean was elected DNC chairman, “a lot of mainstream, middle of the road, centrist Jewish Democrats would be very turned off and concerned and would be left wondering whether they have a home in the Democratic Party” (The Forward, 1/28/05).
Indeed, many Jewish Democrats are left wondering whether they have a home in their party, and not just because of Dean. As Democrat strategist Kenneth Baer wrote, “[T]he broader group of Democratic elected officials, and those who advise them, seem to wish the whole topic [of terrorism] would disappear, allowing Democrats to focus on the domestic concerns … To this group, foreign policy is merely a base to be touched and then ignored” (The New Republic Online, 2/14/05). As long as America and Israel face terrorist threats, Jewish voters must support leaders who will bravely confront terrorists, not hope they will go away.
Even more disturbing, Baer notes, is “a faction, which coalesced around Dean in the primaries, that takes foreign policy seriously but has a view antithetical not only to Republicans but also to a majority of the electorate. This group shies away from employing force abroad, almost instinctively doubts America's stated intentions in foreign affairs, and tends to look inward at what the United States has done to incite and fuel hatred rather than focus on causes intrinsic or unique to America's enemies” (The New Republic Online, 2/14/05).
Just one example of this faction’s worldview is Dean’s insistence that “the capture of Saddam has not made America safer” (Remarks to Pacific Council of International Policy, 12/15/03). If it were up to Dean and this group, Saddam Hussein would still be paying terrorists to kill Israelis and Americans. With Dean’s election as DNC chairman, it is this group that has seized control of the Democrats’ agenda, and all defenders of freedom should be concerned.
Despite the criticism of Dean’s views coming from leading Democrats, Dean’s unanimous election is an important barometer of the Democratic Party’s direction. Regrettably, that direction is towards indifference, if not outright opposition, to the war on terror. As The New Republic’s Peter Beinart wrote, “[P]ost-September 11 liberalism has produced leaders and institutions – most notably Michael Moore and MoveOn – that do not put the struggle against America's new totalitarian foe at the center of their hopes for a better world,” and the Democratic grassroots increasingly “views America's new struggle as a distraction, if not a mirage” (The New Republic, 12/13/04). In Dean, these grassroots activists may have found their oasis, but Jewish Democrats have found themselves wandering in the desert.
Matthew Brooks is Executive Director of the Republican Jewish Coalition
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RJC Fact Sheet: Howard Dean and Israel
Contact: Matthew Brooks
Saturday, February 12, 2005
Dean: It’s Not America’s Place To “Take Sides.” “I don’t believe stopping the terror has to be a prerequisite for talking, you always talk … I don’t find it convenient to blame people. Nobody should have violence, ever. But they do, and it’s not our place to take sides.” (Ron Fournier, “Front-Runner Finds Words Can Be His Political Friend And Enemy,” The Associated Press, 9/10/03)
Dean Calls Hamas Soldiers At War, Not Terrorists Killing Innocent Civilians. “I will say, however, that there is a war going on in the Middle East, and members of Hamas are soldiers in that war.” (CNN’s “Wolf Blitzer Reports,” 9/10/03)
Dean Sees Good In Possible Hamas Take Over Of Palestinian Authority. “Sooner or later … Arafat is going to leave the scene, either by the usual means in the Middle East, which is some sort of political violence, or the fact that he’s in his late 60s and he’s got a lot of miles on him. When that happens, I think Hamas will probably take over. There will probably be good and bad out of that. The bad, of course, is that Hamas is a terrorist organization. However, if they have to run a quasi-state, they may actually have to be more responsible and start negotiations …” (CBC/PBS’ “The Editors,” 1/3/98)
Sen. Joseph Lieberman: Dean Would End 50 Years Of US Mideast Policy. “I will simply say that Howard Dean’s statements break a 50-year record in which presidents, Republican and Democrats, members of Congress of both parties have supported our relationship with Israel based on shared values and common strategic interests.” (Congressional Black Caucus Democratic Debate, Baltimore, MD, 9/9/03)
House Minority Leader Pelosi And More Than Two Dozen House Democrats: “It Is Unacceptable For The U.S. To Be 'Evenhanded' On These Fundamental Issues.” (Nedra Pickler, “Pelosi, Other House Democrats Criticize Dean's Israel Comments,” The Associated Press, 9/10/03)
Sen. John Kerry Criticizes Dean’s Comments. “‘We are an ally of Israel. And when you say things like “We don’t take sides,” you send messages that have profound implications on people’s perceptions. I’ve never heard an American politician call Hamas “soldiers,” like Governor Dean did,’ Kerry said. ‘I think those are the kinds of mistakes that I’m talking about that if you don’t have experience, you don’t understand it, that you make.’” (Kathie Obradovich, “Kerry Says Dean Lacks Foreign-Policy Experience,” The Des Moines Register, 11/17/03)
Kerry’s Campaign Liaison to Jewish Community Jay Footlik Worries Dean Will Turn Off Jewish Voters From Democrat Party. If Dean becomes DNC Chairman, “a lot of mainstream, middle of the road, centrist Jewish Democrats would be very turned off and concerned and would be left wondering whether they have a home in the Democratic Party.” (E.J. Kessler, “Ancient Woes Resurfacing As Dean Eyes Top Dem Post,” The Forward, 1/28/05)
Democrat Strategist And Former Clinton-Gore White House Aide Kenneth Baer Says Dean Is “Flat-Out Wrong” For Pro-Israel Community. “He's just flat-out wrong on foreign policy … The pro-Israel community would be very worried if Dean became DNC chair …” (E.J. Kessler, “Ancient Woes Resurfacing As Dean Eyes Top Dem Post,” The Forward, 1/28/05)
"DNC Vice Chair Susan Turnbull, speaking on behalf of the DNC, said, "Howard Dean has a strong record, as does the Democratic Party, of working to support peace in the Middle East."
She said the RJC campaign seemed "a response to the tremendous success the Democrats had in the Jewish community in November."
"President George W. Bush won roughly 25 percent of the Jewish vote in the last election. Different polls in 2000 showed Bush winning between 19% and 22% of the vote. "
uh...
pinging for later
Mr. Foxman obtained his diploma from the William Jefferson Clinton School Of Damage Control Parsing.
The only logical conclusion is that Dean is willing to negotiate with terrorists.
"First, I just don't understand why they're dealing with the past. He doesn't 'say' ['It's not our place to take sides.'] He said it. So it's inaccurate to say 'says.' He has taken those words back," Foxman said.
Sounds like more "that depends on what the meaning of 'is' is" nuancing to me. Everyone knows it's disingenuous to directly quote a Dim, while it is totally appropriate to misquote a Republican if it makes him/her look bad...
Democrats - no longer just the party of gays and abortion... now also the party of terrorists and anti-semites.
At least it's fun watching! hehe
I agree. Dean will be a fun guy to see out front.
I like Dean. Because theres no BS about him. He's a Left wing Global socialist. And he's not going to hide that. He stands for everything the Democratic Party stands for but refuses to say. I want people to see that. I want people to see the Democratic party for who they are collectively. Yes, you have Decent people in there like Lieberman, I want this thrust in Lieberman's face. Europe's anti-semetism is disgusting and all the Democratic party has is Token Jews.
Does this mean that some Jews are noticing that anti semitism resides in the Left?
John Kerry should work on shutting his Stepson up instead of Howard Dean. His step son was quoted saying something like
'lets stop treating Isreal like the 51st state'
The Left is about Globalisation and creating a Global community. Well, the Global community is Anti Semetic. You have little Jewish children in France getting called Racist slurs on their way to school.
The USA loves their Jews and has provided the safest haven for them since the colonial era when Jewish groups colonized here.
This jerk sure can't stand free speech, can he? Witness his attempts to silence Mel Gibson and defame his character.
I pretty much agree with everything you are saying. It is an irony, though, that Jews tend to be part of the Left. I believe that is changing, though. OTOH, my opinion is that America as a whole continues to move leftwards, partly through the efforts of leftists, and partly because, as Jefferson noted, government power tends to increase, while freedom and liberty tend to recede. Maybe someone can provide the exact quote.
I always wonder if, by the time Jews get around to discarding leftism, America will have adopted it.
Democratic presidential hopeful former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean greets supporters after his address during his caucus night party in West Des Moines, Iowa, Monday, Jan. 19, 2004. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)
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