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Obama Bloggers Tout "The Israel Lobby," Call Israel an "Apartheid State"
IsraPundit ^ | 3/31/08 | Bill Levinson

Posted on 03/31/2008 11:34:02 AM PDT by Winged Hussar

Barackobama.com is Barack Obama’s official Web site, and the content is under his editorial control. The following items are entirely consistent with the Trinity United Church of Christ’s promotion of Hamas and a blood libel that accuses Israel of developing an “ethnic bomb” to kill Arabs and Black people.

[Screen shot of page with Barack Obama's picture at the top that touts Walt's and Mearsheimer's "The Israel Lobby."]

“Free Palestine” at BarackObama.com says the following.

For 58 years Washington has ignored the Palestinian rights. These are people who were displaced from their homes and suppressed by the apartheid control of Israel. Ignoring this issue can only increase the bloodshed. Raise your voice for justice.

(Excerpt) Read more at israpundit.com ...


TOPICS: Israel; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: apartheid; hamas; israel; lobby; mearsheimer; obama; walt
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Key talking point: the material was posted by pro-Obama bloggers, but in a venue that is under Obama's editorial control. "Exercise of editorial control" is the key phrase.

We actually have a huge collection of anti-Israel hate speech, Tony Wicher's "Blog for Peace" that calls for the abolition of Israel as a Jewish state (e.g. http://obamasharpton.blogspot.com/2008/03/obama-web-site-hosts-final-solution-to.html), actual anti-Semitic hate speech (http://obamasharpton.blogspot.com/2008/03/anti-semitic-pages-at-barackobamacom.html, taken down by Obama only after it became a scandal, like the New Black Panther Party page), and 9/11 conspiracy theories that blame "Big Oil" and Bush for 9/11.

This is exactly the same kind of scandal that almost destroyed MoveOn.org in 2006, and probably would have done so had the National "Jewish" Democratic Council not stepped in to whitewash MoveOn.org.

It is imperative that we circulate this material as widely as possible to destroy Obama's candidacy. The Democrats will then have to choose between Hillary Clinton (for whom many of Obama's backers will simply not vote) or someone who has been exposed as such a left-wing flake that he cannot be elected either.

God BLESS America: McCain '08!

1 posted on 03/31/2008 11:34:04 AM PDT by Winged Hussar
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To: Winged Hussar
"It is imperative that we circulate this material as widely as possible to destroy Obama's candidacy."

Circulate, let's...but if Jeremiah "Kill Whitey" Wright couldn't irredeemably devastate Obama's candidacy...
But here's hoping.
2 posted on 03/31/2008 11:37:34 AM PDT by kelsiejackson ("We will not tire, we will not falter, and we will not fail." Invincible Eagle.)
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To: Winged Hussar

Guess Obama didn’t miss all the Wright rhetoric at issue.


3 posted on 03/31/2008 11:39:36 AM PDT by tennteacher (Hunter Conservative)
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To: Winged Hussar

Jimmy Carter is blogging for Obama now?

This is the Democrat platform, no?


4 posted on 03/31/2008 11:48:06 AM PDT by weegee (Famous moments in history: March 18th, 2008 “I have a bridge (to sell you)...” - Barack H. Oba)
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To: tennteacher

Send copies of the material to all the members of “the view”.

Maybe the dumb blonde will corner the big mouth red head on it. (but I doubt it)You never know though.


5 posted on 03/31/2008 11:52:21 AM PDT by Nathan Zachary
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To: Winged Hussar
From MyObama-Change we can believe. It's his forum, he owns it.

A Middle East Peace Initiative for President Obama

By Tony Wicher - Sep 8th, 2007 at 6:23 pm EDT

What was once known to the world as the cradle of freedom and democracy, the United States, the hope of the world, is now known as the world's greatest hypocrite as it attempts to carry out a program of world hegemony, and does so in the name of "freedom and democracy". We are at the lowest point in our history in the world's esteem. We should all hang our heads in shame at what this country has come to. To restore our country's honor and self-esteem, and reaffirm the fundamental American values from which we have strayed so far, the next president will need a peace initiative that is really something new and different, a new policy of REALLY spreading peace and democracy through peaceful and democratic means, not promoting U.S. hegemony through military conquest and threats, while CALLING it "spreading peace and democracy". I hope you will join with me in helping to create such a peace initiative within the Obama campaign.

I believe our theme should be civil rights on the international level. This is harmonious with the general message of the Obama campaign, which began in Springfield, Illinois, home of Abraham Lincoln. It also brings the Democratic Party back to its heyday, the civil rights movement of the sixties, before the Vietnam War, when our party really stood for freedom and democracy, and people had hope and inspiration.

Jimmy Carter was the first president to announce a policy of supporting human rights internationally. I believe he really meant it, and for that he was considered naïve at the time. I often think it was his good conscience that prevented him from giving himself over altogether to political expediency, and this internal struggle may have resulted in a one-term presidency. Be that as it may, Carter has been a very distinguished ex-president, and in his old age political expediency is much less of a factor. He has recently published a controversial book, "Palestine: Peace not Apartheid" which I believe shows the way for the Democratic Party and the Obama campaign to a new peace initiative that can change the world.

The key to peace in the Middle East is the Israel/Palestine conflict. It has political and religious significance going back thousands of years. If this central conflict can be truly resolved, I believe there will be such a relaxation of tension that we will see a new era of peace and progress in the Middle East and the whole world. If it cannot be resolved - and it is getting worse every day - I think it likely that it will ultimately lead to nuclear war and the destruction of civilization. An issue of that importance is what is needed to inspire our people.

The current U.S./Israel alliance is a marriage made in hell. The current situation in Israel is intolerable to anyone with a genuine concern for human rights. There are millions of people living in the West Bank and Gaza and in refugee camps in Lebanon, who have no country of citizenship and no rights. In the West Bank they have lived under military occupation for 40 years, while Gaza is virtually a concentration camp. Palestinians have watched while Israeli settlements are built in open defiance of international law, with the obvious intent of eventually absorbing the whole of the West Bank and expelling its non-Jewish population, by making their lives so miserable and intolerable that they (or their children) will eventually leave. Yet Israel keeps maintaining that it is a beacon of peace and democracy and that there is no problem but Palestinian terrorism. That is because Israel is constituted as a "Jewish state", which means that that it puts what it considers to be the safety and security and rights of Jews above human rights. Israel therefore should not be considered a democracy. It is in fact an apartheid state, similar to South Africa, and should be treated as such by the United States, until it changes its policies to come into conformity with universal principles of human rights and international law. As long as it does not do so, terrorism against Israel and the United States will continue to grow. The United States must alter the nature of the relationship, by conditioning further support of Israel on its respect for the human rights of non-Jewish people and its obedience to international law. In the name of national sovereignty, the U.S. and Israel have combined to undermine international law for forty years. They have virtually destroyed the United Nations as an effective institution. They have rejected the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court. These sorry, reactionary policies must end forever. The strengthening of international law is the only way to really "spread freedom and democracy". It is also the only right way to deal with terrorism - not bombs, not invading countries, and not "Jewish self-defense". We must all understand how critical it is for national sovereignty to be exercised within a context of the rule of international law, which applies to all countries equally, whether large or small. It is that vision of the world that we must set before us.

Israel and the United States are politically isolated from the rest of the world, and as its only friend, Israel desperately needs U.S. support. It therefore naturally does everything possible to influence U.S. policy to continue that support. It makes maximum use of Jewish-American citizens to accomplish this. There are many organizations in this country that look out for Jewish interests, such as AIPAC, the ADL, etc. These organizations have every right to exist in our democracy. In the past they have existed to protect the civil rights of Jews in this country, and so have contributed to American democracy. But in recent years they have become advocates for Israel and its policies which violate international law and the rights non-Jewish residents of the territory under its control. They exercise a constant message discipline saying that Israel is a democracy and the only problem is Arab terrorism. They exercise this discipline by smearing anyone who suggests that this image is false as an "anti-Semite" - or, if the critic happens to be Jewish, as a "self-hating Jew". This policy has worked to intimidate and silence Americans, Jewish or non-Jewish, who might otherwise speak out against Israeli behavior and policies. Thus the American people have not gotten a true picture of what is happening in Israel. It resembles very much the message discipline exercised by the Communist Party over American Communists, where everything the Soviet Union did had to be characterized as consistent with the ideals of socialism even though the Soviet Union was in fact a bureaucratic police state having little to do those ideals. We must break through this message discipline to give the American people a true picture of the situation. Then their good nature and democratic instincts will support our peace initiative.

There is a way to break through the censorship and misdirection currently exercised by this Israel lobby. It is to rely on the support of democratic, progressive Jewish Americans whose democratic values and humanitarian instincts (for which Jewish people in general have always been known) do not allow them to support anti-democratic Israeli policies, in spite of their concern for the safety and security of Jewish people living in Israel. These courageous and principled Jewish Americans are speaking out in ever-larger numbers. They can protect non-Jewish Americans whose only concern is democracy and human rights from scurrilous charges of anti-Semitism. Such charges only vitiate the concept of anti-Semitism and give real anti-Semites respectability. There certainly are plenty of real anti-Semites and their number is growing alarmingly. Anti-Semitism has been around for thousands of years, as a result of Christian dogma and superstition. This pre-existing social disease was used by the Nazis to gain power in Germany. But in recent years, anti-Semitism has been growing primarily owning to the Israel/Palestine conflict, where Israel's policy of putting Jewish security above human rights has antagonized the whole Arab world and is the perfect cover for anti-Semites to promote their thesis that Jews are lying, scheming evil people attempting to manipulate and control the world. Such anti-Semitism is then used by Israel as a further justification for its actions. It also puts pressure on Jews living in countries where anti-Semitism is growing to immigrate to Israel. Seeing where this is all going, democratic Jews in this country are repudiating the uncritical support of Israel and forming organizations to combat the pernicious influence of the Israel lobby.

One such organization, of which I am a member, is the Network of Spiritual Progressives (NSP). Its founder is Rabbi Michael Lerner. It puts out an excellent political affairs monthly magazine called Tikkun, which means "healing transformation" in Hebrew. Everyone, Jewish or non-Jewish, religious or secular, is welcome in the NSP. I recommend that everyone take a look at the Tikkun web site and consider subscribing to the magazine and becoming a member of the NSP. That's www.tikkun.org. Do check it out. The lead article in the latest issue is "The Israel Lobby: Bad for the U.S., bad for Israel, bad for the Jews". Join with Rabbi Lerner and all progressive, democratic Jews in this effort. Let those Jewish organizations which continue to identify Jewish interests with the current policies of the state of Israel support Republicans. That is the appropriate party for people, Jewish or non-Jewish, who don't care about human rights.

I am proud to say that Rabbi Lerner has seen fit to publish one of my letters in this month's issue of Tikkun, followed by his response. If you read them, you will see that although he and I have broad areas of agreement, we also have an important point of disagreement concerning the remedy for the conflict. He holds to the view that Israel has the right to exist as a Jewish state, and that justice for the Palestinians (without which there can be no peace, as we agree) therefore lies in the formation of a Palestinian state. He wants Israel to withdraw to its pre-1967 borders as required by international law, and give the illegal settlements built there to the Palestinians. This solution is acceptable to the Arab League and endorsed by the United Nations. It would seem that the only thing standing in the way is U.S. and Israeli intransigence. An Obama administration would only have to take a stand for human rights and vote for implementation of this solution in the United Nations, and Israel would not be able to resist. What would happen is that Israelis would elect a peace-oriented administration which would end the intransigence and comply with international law and world opinion.

This may be the most practical and best approach, and I hesitate to contradict Michael Lerner, a man who has vast experience, whose family was among the founders of Israel, who has personally known David Ben Gurion, Golda Meir, Abba Eban, and other famous Israelis. But I would like people to consider an alternative solution. It is that instead of implementing a permanent partition of the land into an "Israel" and a "Palestine", to see the very partition of the land as a mistake, and instead to solve the conflict by reunification of the country and repatriation of those who have been excluded from Israel as a Jewish state. This is is called the "One Democratic State" solution or ODS, as opposed to the more generally accepted "two-state" solution. It is to see the conflict as an internal civil rights struggle within Israel. It is to see it as analogous to South Africa, where the answer was not separate "Bantustans" for blacks but peaceful integration into one multicultural democracy. This was accomplished successfully in South Africa owing to the leadership of the great Nelson Mandela. Afrikaners today, although a small minority of South Africans, are proud to be citizens of a modern multicultural democracy that is a model for the world. I believe Israel could accomplish such a transition also, with the support of the United States, the United Nations and the international community. In this case the problem becomes a civil rights movement for the right of non-Jewish people to be full and equal citizens of Israel. As long as Israel is constituted as a Jewish state, as the national expression of the will of Jewish people, non-Jewish people are left out. That includes Arab Israeli citizens, who are about 20% of the population of Israel. These are peaceful people who are treated decently by Israel, but they are still second-class citizens without real power. They are beginning to form a common front with their Arab brethren in the West Bank and Gaza, and are therefore coming under increasing suspicion by the Israeli government. For this reason there is a movement gaining support in Israel to "transfer" all non-Jewish "citizens" out of Israel. This has to be seen as pure racism, but I see it as the logical consequence of the very project of a 'Jewish state". I believe this idea is anachronistic and undemocratic, and it is time for it to be given up in favor of the kind of multicultural democracy the United States prides itself on being. Israeli Arab citizens are currently proposing constitutions that will make Israel a country of all the persons living in it, with an integrated army and an integrated court system that will protect the rights of minorities whatever their religion or ethnicity. An Obama administration should contact these people and support their efforts.

I thank you for your attention, and I am looking forward to a lively discussion on the best way forward.

Tony Wicher

Ontario, California

6 posted on 03/31/2008 11:52:34 AM PDT by SJackson ( G-d da*n America, J Wright; Don't tell me words don't matter!, BH Obama)
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To: Winged Hussar

I don’t think a civial war in 1948, would have been a more positive outcome to the fate of the Palestinians or Israelis. Something had to be done, and the partitian was the result.

Obama should tell us what his solution to watching schools be taken over and hostages killed was.

The only reason the West Bank and Gaza are so inferior today, is that the Palestinians made the concious decision to focus on destroying Israel and not promoting their own economy. Even monies provied by foreign states to help out were embezzeled into Yasser’s own accounts.

It should also be noted that Israel itself provides funding to the Palestians. It has also provided weapons to help the Palestinians develop their own police force, which are not infrequently turned on Iraelis.

The Palestinians have thrown themselves into an anti-Israeli effort to the degree that very little else matters to them. Not their children, their wives or even their own economic success matters.


7 posted on 03/31/2008 11:56:21 AM PDT by DoughtyOne (New Europe, John Benedict Arnold McCain's bridge to 07/03/1776. Not even our past is safe.)
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To: dennisw; Cachelot; Nix 2; veronica; Catspaw; knighthawk; Alouette; Optimist; weikel; Lent; GregB; ..
If you'd like to be on this middle east/political ping list, please FR mail me.

High volume. Articles on Israel can also be found by clicking on the Topic or Keyword Israel, WOT

..................

search for Zionist will turn up all kinds of goodies.

8 posted on 03/31/2008 11:57:37 AM PDT by SJackson ( G-d da*n America, J Wright; Don't tell me words don't matter!, BH Obama)
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To: Winged Hussar

If this country turns against Israel, we’re finished.


9 posted on 03/31/2008 11:58:51 AM PDT by beethovenfan (If Islam is the solution, the "problem" must be freedom.)
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To: Winged Hussar
Photobucket Pathetic. Obama can deny it all he wants, he is in bed with rev wright and all the other anti-semetic, anti-american nut cases.
10 posted on 03/31/2008 12:02:30 PM PDT by xuberalles ("Barack Obama: Change Is A Dime Bag!" http://www.cafepress.com/titillatingtees.225246874)
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To: Winged Hussar

I wonder if this is the election where Jews in America wake up?


11 posted on 03/31/2008 12:03:08 PM PDT by MarineBrat (My wife and I took an AIDS vaccination that the Church offers.)
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To: Winged Hussar

“Apartheid state” is straight from Jimmy Carter’s last book cover; it’s an example of why bad ideas matter as much sometimes as good ones. Some dolt, like Carter, doesn’t understand what he’s talking about and is willing to spread malicious lies about an American ally. Beware of Obama if you care about America and its allies because an Obama presidency would mean a return of the Carter types.


12 posted on 03/31/2008 12:04:36 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (If you share Wright's pews, you share his views.)
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To: Winged Hussar
A democrat racist? That is news.

And in other news, the sun rose in the east this morning and is projected to set in the west.

13 posted on 03/31/2008 12:06:18 PM PDT by Dr.Zoidberg (Mohammedanism - Bringing you only the best of the 6th century for fourteen hundred years.)
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To: MarineBrat
I wonder if this is the election where Jews in America wake up?

Perhaps they already have. I've got a number of (Jewish) relatives in the NYC metro area, and every single one I've talked to will vote for McCain over Obama, period.

14 posted on 03/31/2008 12:11:03 PM PDT by andy58-in-nh (Kill the terrorists, secure the borders, and give me back my freedom.)
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To: SJackson

I’m quite familiar with Tony Wicher’s material, and a key talking point is that he has been posting it on Obama’s site for more than a year. Obama does indeed own Mr. Wicher’s proposal that Israel be dismantled.


15 posted on 03/31/2008 12:13:54 PM PDT by Winged Hussar (http://moveonpleasemoveon.blogspot.com/)
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To: MarineBrat
The religious Jews are already with us. The others are not. It probably will not be the year they wake up. To many of today's Jews, their secularism is a badge of honor; they're too sophisticated to be concerned with their religion, like Teddy Kennedy, they won't even impose their religion on themself. The pull of being a Jew for the secular Jews is apparently just for Democratic identity politics and some type of ethnic identity. It's for conversation, not for influencing their actions. And the fate of Israel is such a far away concern for these types that they'd rather vote for Obama knowing he goes to a racist and anti-Zionist church than be thought of as having voted for the benighted Republicans they look down their noses at. We can hope they'll wake up, but I seriously doubt it. Obviously, the fate of Israel could be very impacted by this and our own nation's fate as well.
16 posted on 03/31/2008 12:16:36 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (If you share Wright's pews, you share his views.)
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To: andy58-in-nh

I sure hope you’re right about the change of voting habits.


17 posted on 03/31/2008 12:19:47 PM PDT by elhombrelibre (If you share Wright's pews, you share his views.)
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To: Winged Hussar

Did they mean Cuba?


18 posted on 03/31/2008 1:05:59 PM PDT by <1/1,000,000th%
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To: <1/1,000,000th%

I don’t know what you mean by Cuba, but there is indeed a picture of an Obama headquarters with a Cuban flag and a picture of Che Guevara.


19 posted on 03/31/2008 2:04:43 PM PDT by Winged Hussar (http://moveonpleasemoveon.blogspot.com/)
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To: Winged Hussar

If Obama could be elected to be our president, his noisier constituents would not get all that they want. The main requirement for our first black president will be amiability to every kind of group. Obama would be run ragged while trying to be the great peacemaker and unifier—mostly a public relations president, who wouldn’t be expected to get a whole lot done (but to raise taxes too much for projects, of course).


20 posted on 03/31/2008 4:40:26 PM PDT by familyop (Worthless male weekend warrior has-been trash with no degree.)
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