Posted on 06/23/2009 12:12:45 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
President Barack Obama’s refusal to take a stand on protests in Iran stands in sharp contrast to demands he has made on Israel, Morton Klein, president of the Zionist Organization of America, says in a Newsmax interview.
“I think he should take a strong stand to support the protesters in Iran who want to transform that society into one that promotes democracy and human rights,” Klein says. ”But while meddling in Israel’s affairs and making specific demands, he explicitly states he refuses to meddle in Iran’s policies and has said almost nothing.”
Klein says leaders of Jewish organizations are rethinking their support of Obama in light of his attitude toward Israel.
“There are many leaders in the organized Jewish world who have privately discussed this issue with me, and say they are deeply concerned about Obama’s actions and policies toward Israel, and now they’re rethinking their support for Obama during the campaign and the election,” says Klein, whose organization of 30,000 members is the oldest pro-Israel group in the country.
Based on the president’s speech in Cairo on June 4 and many of his foreign policy appointments, Klein thinks Obama “may become the most hostile president to Israel ever.”
Obama’s speech was “inimical to Israel and supportive of the stream of false Palestinian Arab claims concerning Israel,” Klein says. “He is relentlessly pressuring Israel while applying virtually almost no pressure on the Palestinian Authority to fulfill its written obligations.”
(Excerpt) Read more at newsmax.com ...
Thank you.
May a million stars shine on your fortunes.
It’s refreshing to see that more than a few “get it.” I am becoming convinced that we have clandestine leftist operatives among us. There are just too many “indignant” pantywaists whining over nothing for me to believe this site hasn’t been well infiltrated by the moron lefties.
Which again makes me wonder why we are so loyal to Israel
Especially in light of incidents like this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Liberty_incident
They're not political. They don't endorse candidates, they take positions on issues. Yes, the ZOA lines up somewhere to the right of George Bush, but they're not political which is proper. Their positions are their positions, irrespective of which side of the political spectrum supprorts them.
Clearly we shouldn't be supportive of Israel, particularly in view of the USS Liberty incident.
I was just a kid when it happened so I don’t remember it.
More interesting than what happened at the time is the fact that the subject hasn’t been raised in years, apparently.
Are you being facetious?
I don't, but I admit I don't feel hostility to blacks, hispanics, Catholics or young people either, so it just might be be. However, this being a political forum, you must acknowledge hostility is no way to win voters. Would you invite a middle of the road Jewish voter here, to embrace the love of the right? Better be selective in the threads you let him read.
I won’t insult these posters’ intelligence or impugn their motives by claiming it is anti-Semitism that makes them rail against the US Jewish vote.
In most cases I think it's stupidity. The internet encourages that, you can say things here you wouldn't under normal circumstances. The other side of the coin, it's there forever.
How can I? I feel the same anger and betrayal. I see from their anger caring for the reverse - not just caring for the US but also caring for Israel.
It's not about Israel. Anyone who embraces the Chamberlain approach to the WOT will obviously embrace it for Israel. It's about their worldview. Accusing a Chamberlain Jew of not caring about Israel is fruitless, he may well care. I've no doubt Chamberlain cared about Englands security, he was simply wrong.
Nevertheless some comments are over the top. It is not ALL Jews. And Jews alone are not responsible for Obama’s election. Please don’t alienate the posters here. We are on the same side.
I'm not alienating anyone, other than the over the top posters perhaps.
I will say that The Factor happened to be on the TV when I signed up for FR about 8 years ago.
I'm not very creative as you can see.
The USS Liberty incident has been raised frequently, there are dozens of threads here about it. If someone advocates ending our relationship with Israel about it, so be it. Most people have worked the issue out.
I should have added to my post, Morton Klein shouldn’t be attacked because he’s ethical in carrying out his job. I wish there were more, I wish he’d give Abe Foxman lessons.
I haven’t heard or seen the USS Liberty matter raised on political talk shows or in any publications that I’ve read in I can’t even remember how long, so I don’t know what sources are mentioning it that you’re hearing/seeing, unless you just meant that it’s been raised on FR frequently.
Do you advocate ending our relationship with Israel (for whatever reason)?
Of course not, I was being sarcastic, though people who advocate that should. There have been plenty of threads here on it which is what I was referring to, it’s been mentioned several times this week. I heard the authors of a recent book on the incident interviewed on FOX this weekend, but no, it’s not often in the news, nor are most 40 plus year old incidents.
If you don’t think it has some relevancy to the discussion on this thread, what was the reason you brought it up?
I guess I should have asked you if you were being sarcastic rather than asking you if you were being facetious.
I was serious. I didn't bring it up, I was responding to the question raised in post 82 questioning why we support Israel in light of the incident. My answer to the poster was simple, don't support Israel. It's not as though it's something most people here aren't aware of.
Let’s start with your last comment:
“I’m not alienating anyone, other than the over the top posters perhaps.”
I was not referring to you. I was saying that the people who make over the top comments about Jewish voters run the risk of alienating Jewish conservative voters.
“In most cases I think it’s stupidity.”
Sorry I don’t think they are stupid or anti-Semitic. I agree with them. Are they not entitled to feel the way I do just because they are not Jewish. That’s the same as only blacks can say the ‘N’ word.
“I don’t, but I admit I don’t feel hostility to blacks, hispanics”
I do. I think the Obama election set back race relations tremendously. I am very upset at the racism that resulted in Blacks voting for Obama just because he was black.
“It’s not about Israel. Anyone who embraces the Chamberlain approach to the WOT will obviously embrace it for Israel. It’s about their worldview. Accusing a Chamberlain Jew of not caring about Israel is fruitless, he may well care.”
I agree. In my construct the Chamberlin J Street Jew is not reachable. I and Morton Klein, I believe, are talking about group #3. They are not appeasement minded. They were misled due to their leftist penchants.
They are the group that voted 39% for Reagan in 1980 after they saw Carter’s stripes.
In the recent past President Reagan in 1980 against Carter won the largest share of the Jewish vote — 40%.
What does this tell us? That when a leftist president makes it clear that he is hostile to Israel, a large percentage of normally leftist Jews will defect.
I would guess 20-30% additional votes might be weaned away from Obama if he continues to side with the Palestinians as he is doing now.
In the past this has had coat tails.
My concern is with Israel not with the almost 80% of American Jews that voted for the present resident of the White House. I am not the one who voted for the guy who is stabbing Israel in the back.
You may see a future in a “two state” solution I've been there and anyone who's walked in East Jerusalem would not feel that way. My problem is with liberals selling their country down the river because they can only pull the lever with the D on it.
“and if you excuse what you acknowledge are over the top comments against minorities, in this case Jews”
I did not excuse anything.
I distinguish between the USS Liberty posters and the innocent but poorly phrased comments of those who at core are clearly concerned with the fate of Israel and of course the US.
While I would like to win over Jewish voters I see no point in alienating non-Jewish voters who support Israel. One is already an ally. The other is a maybe. When GW was pressuring Israel the call campaign came for non-Jews like the ones on this forum.
Good. That’s something to work toward.
I hope disaffection will translate to some congressional wins for us in ‘10.
Something’s gotta give. We can’t go on like this.
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