Sunday, September 21, 2008

When 20,000 Becomes a "Majority" or, The J Street Mob

We won? We?

Remember the Tonto-Lone Ranger joke? (*)

Well, read on to find out who the "we" is in the story of removing Sarah Palin from the speakers' list at the anti-Iran rally. (Kippah tip: AtlasShrugs)


We Won! Palin Not Speaking at Iran Rally

We collected over 20,000 signatures in 24 hours asking Iran Unity rally organizer Malcolm Hoenlein to take Sarah Palin off the schedule for Monday's rally, and he caved to our pressure on Thursday afternoon citing the fact that the rally had become too partisan.

This is the right decision. A unity rally to express communal solidarity is no place for partisan politics. And to give such prominence to Sarah Palin alone would have spoken neither to, nor for, the American Jewish community.

This is a victory not just for the 20,188 others who signed J Street's petition. It's a victory for the broader community. And we're pleased the rally's organizers came to their senses so quickly.

Victories like these don't come easily - or often. But when they do, we should savor them, at least briefly.

We'll be back at it tomorrow, because our next task is making sure that the messages at the rally reflect the view of a majority of Americans - Jewish and otherwise - that the best way to deal with Iran is through tough, smart diplomacy - not saber rattling and threats of force.


The "we" is the J Street Gang. The latest radical, progressive mob who, with big bucks, is trying to take over the American Jewish establishment and specifically do in Israel.

How did Malcolm collapse?

For example, I received this notice:-

CAMERA was never consulted in this matter and would not have agreed to the course taken.

We have been in contact with Malcolm Hoenlein, Vice Chairman of the Conference, have expressed our dismay and have urged the invitation be restored, along with one to a representative chosen by Senator Obama's campaign.

Like untold numbers of Jews, we're angry and offended by what's been done in our name.

Eli Hertz, Chairman, CAMERA

Andrea Levin, Executive Director, CAMERA


Were proper procedures followed?

Was there any sembalnce of democracy?

Or are the radicals running roughshod?

When Malcom was directing the Soviet Jewry rallies of over three decades ago, there were always politicians. Who is going to do the actual work of government, the 20,000 lefties, the 100,000 protestors or the few politicans who realize our cause is just, for Israel, for Jews and for America.

If there was anything partisan in this affair it was the hostile takeover by the J Street mob.

Here's from The Forward's report:-

...Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines told the Forward that “the attendance from a representative of the McCain campaign was news to us. This was never billed to us as a partisan political event, and because it is such an important issue, we do not want to distract from it by contributing to a political show.” Michael Goldfarb, a spokesman for the McCain-Palin campaign, blasted Clinton’s justification for bailing out.

“The claim made by Ms. Clinton’s office that she did not want to attend because it would be a partisan event doesn’t add up, since Ms. Palin’s attendance would seem to make it bipartisan,” he told the Forward.

...Sources close to the issue said, on condition of anonymity, that the flap had caused heated discussions among the rally organizers, with the New York-based groups expressing dismay about the decision to invite Palin.

Several left-leaning members of the Presidents Conference, which comprises 52 Jewish organizations, also criticized the decision to reach out to the Republican Party, which they claimed was made by Hoenlein. They argued that having Clinton, who is the junior senator from New York and no longer running on a presidential ticket, is legitimate, while inviting McCain’s running mate was a political decision.

“I am very disappointed that the rally organizers approached Governor Palin in the first place,” said Kenneth Bob, national president of Ameinu, formerly the Labor Zionist Alliance. “While such rallies in the past have included a bipartisan speaker list, in an election year you want to take special care to invite figures from both sides of the aisle who are well respected by the Jewish community. This certainly does not include Palin, and this invitation has taken the focus away from the matter at hand, Iran. While the conference likes to maintain good relations with both parties, the Democrats can’t like how this was handled,” said Bob, whose organization is a Presidents Conference member.



Something is wrong.

Something needs to be corrected.




-----------------

(*)

The Lone Ranger and his faithful companion Tonto find themselves surrounded by hundreds of hostile Indians, screaming and whooping. The Lone Ranger turns to his faithful companion, Tonto, and says, "Old friend, we seem to be in serious trouble." Tonto looks at him and replies, "What do you mean 'we', whiteman?"

7 comments:

Joel said...

By the way, J Street is funded and supported by George Soros, who is also backing Obama... did Obama, despite all his denials, force the organizers to disinvite Palin?

Anonymous said...

Not in my name - who are they to say they represent all of us??

Anonymous said...

Let me help you and your readers with some clarifications of facts:

1) The entire Conference of Presidents membership WAS invited to join a consultation on this matter. The fact that CAMERA chose not to participate was their decision. Not a SINGLE organizational representative supported keeping Palin as a rally speaker.

2) George Soros is not the main funder of J Street.

YMedad said...

I will check that with CAMERA. So, does he fund a little? a bit? or a lot?

YMedad said...

His spirit hovers


From April: One of J Street’s Israeli supporters in Washington, former Israeli peace negotiator Daniel Levy, says Israeli leaders need encouragement from Washington to make concessions that could contribute to the peace process. "I think there comes a point when, if the Israeli leadership actually wants to see this thing resolved, it’s clearly easier to say yes to the president of the United States, rather than to the [Palestinian Liberation Organization]," Levy says. "You need to have the president of the United States to help carry you there."

For now, Ben-Ami tells me he is working out of his basement, the organization has no headquarters and doesn’t plan for one, and plans to operate heavily in the online world. "We’re following the MoveOn model, of being virtual, and heavily online," he says. "Part of our goal and plan in the coming year is to develop an online presence in the way that Obama and Dean and MoveOn have done … and to tap into that and have a large base of small donors."

In May: "Early reports of this project focused on the participation of George Soros, the multibillionaire market speculator known for his outspoken views and his philanthropy for liberal causes. On April 12, 2007, Soros indicated in an article in the New York Review of Books that attacks on his character prompted him to withdraw his involvement from the group so as not to damage its efforts. As a result, Soros is not among the 100 people named on J Street’s advisory council.

Still, others on the council could become lightning rods for attack. One is Robert Malley, a former Clinton administration official who, as a Middle East policy consultant for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), has drawn fire for allegedly being “anti-Israel.” Malley has written critically of the U.S. and Israeli roles at the failed 2000 Camp David summit. Another is Henry Siegman, former head of the American Jewish Congress, who for years has written scathingly against Israeli policies in the West Bank.

A separate listing of 25 Israeli supporters includes professors, retired generals and former cabinet ministers. One controversial figure on this list is Avrum Burg, a former chairman of the World Zionist Organization and a prominent Labour Party politician. In 2004, Burg resigned from parliament, and last year wrote Defeating Hitler, an acerbic book that argues for an end to Zionism.

MoveOn financier George Soros, an initial backer of the concept for the group, pulled out of it, Ben Ami explains, because he thought his presence might ultimately be unhelpful, given his reputation as a bankroller for liberal groups."

YMedad said...

Another related aspect:

"Of course, the image of the International Crisis Group (ICG)seeking to prevent deadly conflicts sounds nice but the agenda may be a bit murkier and their views are quite critical of America and Israel. The group seems to advocate currying favor with various dictatorial and terror regimes. The group is funded by George Soros who serves on its Executive Committee and received a Founders Award from them. During his acceptance speech when he was given the award, he praised the ICG's work, especially the work that the group was doing on "the Palestinian question".

Of course, George Soros's dislike of Israel is well-known; he even explored the option of developing a lobby to counter the influence of a range of lobbies that advocate for a strong American-Israel relationship (including groups from America's large number of Christians who support Israel). George Soros was an early supporter and generous supporter of Barack Obama."

Anonymous said...

I went to last year's rally at great expense to myself. A day not at work, train fare etc and I will not repeat this in order to let the "presidents" get away with bowing down to Obama while his fundraiser Pritzker has a reception for the dictator of Iran.
My time and money would be better spent elsewhere