Posted on 09/21/2008 4:03:03 PM PDT by SJackson
Statement from ZOA President Morton Klein on disinviting Palin
Distributed by IMRA with permission from Morton Klein
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FROM: Morton A. Klein, President, Zionist Organization of America
TO: ZOA National Board and Regions
The following statement is from Morton A. Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America.
"The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) strongly opposes the disinvitation of Vice-Presidential candidate Governor Sarah Palin to be one of many speakers at a "stop Iran from gaining nuclear weapons rally." This rally will also protest the presence of Iran's president Ahmadinejad at the United Nations on Monday, September 22. This is an anti-Iran rally, not a partisan political rally, as Democratic Senator Hilary Clinton was invited as was vice-presidential candidate Joe Biden and later Democratic Congressman Robert Wexler of Florida. Clinton withdrew and Biden apparently couldn't attend.
"Under tremendous pressure from Jewish Democrats and liberal Jewish groups, Palin's invitation was withdrawn with a decision made not to include any politicians. Why are we excluding political leaders who have the real power to act on this critical issue? The ZOA believes this was a serious mistake.
"This was not a political rally for any party or individual. All Democrats and Republicans are united against Ahmadinejad developing nuclear weapons which he indicated he would use "to wipe Israel and America off the map." We thought that one of the themes of Democrats this year was "promoting unity" and "bringing people together." Well, here was an opportunity to do just that on an issue we can all support and certain groups and interests have caused us to fail. The ZOA is so disappointed by this unnecessary and harmful outcome.
"At this rally, there would be no implied or explicit endorsement of any candidate or party, only a unified condemnation of Ahmadinejad. No one was going to speak about politics, only about loving America and Israel, and fighting Iran, and standing up to evil.
"The ZOA deeply regrets that certain Jewish groups and individuals believed the inadvertent benefit that would accrue to Sarah Palin outweighed the enormous benefit that Israel and the United States would receive when a Vice-Presidential candidate and others give visibility and power to this life and death issue.
"It seems for these people politics and their personal political agenda were more important than Israel and America's security. This wrong-headed action of cancelling the appearance of major political leaders hurt Israel and the United States. Ahmadinejad must be delighted that those who oppose his policies are so divided they can't even stand on the same stage to condemn him. I assure you, if we were holding a rally to condemn an internationally-known racist, anti-Black leader, no one would dare disinvite a speaker and no speaker would dare back out.
"The ZOA strongly urges that Sarah Palin be reinvited along with any other key Democratic or Republican leaders.
"Otherwise, this will become a day of shame and humiliation for the Jewish people instead of a day of Jewish pride, strength, courage, and will. On this day, we should have put aside all other political interests and together fight against this existential threat against Israel and major threat to the United States and the entire western world."
Apparently that is not a true statement. No prominent Democrat was willing to show up on a non-political basis and others used this as yet another forum for bashing Palin.
But someone must disclose who did what in this debacle or nothing will be done about it. Naming groups of anonymous democrats just won't cut it.
TYPO correction: I should NOT have attacked Klein.
Yes....How about Megan Kelley on Fox or Greta!!
Some investigative reporting needs to be done.
Politico is good about getting the dirt!
Everybody was playing nice together and promoting unity until Hillary got divisive.
Gov. Palin should give the address that she would have given at the protest, at wherever she is speaking. Maybe it should be an abbreviated version. But at least, give it.
Hillary's pet Jews...she keeps them on hand whenever emergencies occur in HER territory.
If her intent was disruption, she succeeded. And it doesn't help Obama.
She doesn’t want to help obama....she just can’t let that show. This was brilliant on her part!!!
Great idea. She could give the address, and if they want to throw it up on a screen at some convention they can do so. Otherwise, she can offer it to FOX or some similar media outlet.
Palin should just show up anyway.
Am Israel Chai!
I do not say this lightly: if Obama is elected, Israel will be in even greater existential danger than it already is.
***I don’t know if Senator McCain and Governor Palin have a rally anywhere tomorrow ***
They have a rally late tomorrow afternoon in Media, Pa. (western suburb of Phila.) and I’m going.
Yeah!!
You are so lucky. Being in Arizona, I’m not expecting McCain/Palin here anytime soon. They don’t need to come here. Have a great time!!!
Earlier this week, Sen. Clinton learned that Gov. Palin was also invited to speak at the rally and chose to withdraw her participation, essentially trivializing would have been a united, bipartisan demonstration of opposition to the Iranian government. Yesterday, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, under pressure from the Obama campaign, withdrew its invitation to Gov. Palin. The text of Neumann's letter follows:
Dear Malcolm: When I heard the disturbing news that the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations had allegedly chosen to disinvite vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, I was in a state of disbelief. I cannot and do not believe that you, the consummate professional, could have made such an inappropriate and foolhardy decision. My first instinct was that, as a member of the Conference of Presidents, JINSA would disassociate itself from the rally to be held on Monday. Nothing, however, could be more important on the American agenda than preventing Ahmadinejad's Iran from becoming a nuclear power. Therefore, we must remain united in opposition.
So while we cannot withdraw from the rally, we want to be very clear that we not only dissent from the decision to disinvite Governor Palin, but we condemn in no uncertain terms those within the Conference of Presidents who chose to impose their narrow partisan agenda on a very important undertaking.
The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, as a member organization, was not consulted on the decision, as I'm sure was the case with many other members. I call for those who are responsible for this decision to step forward and speak in their own name and not hide behind the skirts of the Conference of Presidents. In disgracing themselves they disgrace us all.
Tom Neumann
Executive Director
Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
For further information or to arrange an interview with Tom Neumann, JINSA Executive Director, contact Jim Colbert at 202-667-3900.
The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs is an independent, non-profit, non-partisan, non-sectarian educational organization established in 1976 to educate the public on national and international security issues, including the importance of an effective U.S. defense capability and the key role of strategic allies, including Israel, to promote democratic values in the Middle East. SOURCE: Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
(JINSA)
Good article, ping me if you post it as a thread.
They wanted to avoid enhancing Palin’s reputation by putting her on the same stage as Clinton. No doubt she would have outshone Clinton since this was not a SNL skit.
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