The Dersh fights back
As we noted in an earlier post, Alan Dershowitz has been taking heat for his recent column defending President Obama.
Among those taking aim is British columnist Melanie Phillips:
Alan Dershowitz is one of the most prolific, high-profile and indefatiguable defenders of Israel and the Jewish people against the tidal wave of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish feeling currently coursing through the west. So a piece by him in the Wall Street Journal giving expression to the rising anxiety being felt about Obama by American Jews naturally arouses great interest.
But just like the majority of American Jews, getting on for 80 per cent of whom voted for Obama, he is a Democrat supporter who is incapable of acknowledging the truth about this President. For most American Jews, the horror of even entertaining the hypothetical possibility that they might ever in a million years have to vote for a Republican is so great they simply cannot see what is staring them in the face -- that this Democratic President is lethal for both Israel and the free world. And in this article Dershowitz shows that he too is just as blind. ...
In response, The Dersh writes:
... Phillips, for all her good work in Great Britain on behalf of Israel, has absolutely no understanding of American politics. She would turn Israel into a wedge issue, in which Republicans were seen as the supporters of Israel and Democrats as its enemy. This is precisely what has happened, with disastrous results, throughout much of Europe. In most European countries, the left-wing political parties are anti-Israel, often virulently so. The right-wing political parties are generally more supportive of Israel, though not nearly as supportive as they should be in many instances. Because young people tend to be more liberal than their elders, support for Israel throughout Europe, has also become a generational wedge issue, with younger people opposing Israel far more than older people.
This is precisely the situation American supporters of Israel want to avoid. We do not want to replicate the horrible situation that currently exists in Phillips' Great Britain. We want Israel to remain a bipartisan issue and an issue that does not divide generations. During the Bush administration, Republican support for Israel - which they linked to their failed Iraq policy - alienated many younger and more liberal voters who despised Bush, Cheney and their policies.Among the reasons that I supported Obama, having first supported Hillary Clinton, is because I believed, and continue to believe, that a young, extremely popular African American President who supports Israel, even if he disagrees with its policies regarding settlement expansion, would be far more influential with mainstream Americans and with people throughout the world than an old conservative republican, who also supported Israel. That is why I gave, and continued to give, President Barack Obama the benefit of the doubt in his dealings with Israel. I take him at his word that he seeks to bring about peace, by means of a two state solution pursuant to which all the Arab states recognize Israel's right to thrive as a Jewish democracy, while agreeing that any Palestinian state must be demilitarized and incapable of waging war or terrorist attacks against Israel....
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There is an old proverb:"You can take the Jew out of the ghetto but you cannot take the ghetto out of the Jew!” Dershowitz is a worthy successor to the tradition of the Jewish “leadership” in WW II, like R’ Stephen Wise or Sam Rosenman, for whom it was more important to to lick FDR’s boots than to save their fellow Jews from the Shoah. Congenital lack of spinal fortitude and abandonment of Jews in danger on the altar of Democratic party ideology is ingrained in the elitist Jews that infest the halls of academe not only in the US but in Israel as well. The late great Jabotinsky termed this attitude - “ideological sha’atnez”.
To the benighted Mr. Shugerman: If you consider Obama in the same vein as Cater, you are right - but not for the silly reasons that you cited. They are both, in the depth of their being, anti-Semites who cloak themselves in the mantle of pacifism.
I’d understand that Haim from Zhmerinka never heard about hidden tape of Los Angeles Times. But to say the same about Harvard Law Proffessor? Read this old publication, recall friendship of Farragan and his pastor White and think where our “leaders” push us.
Mon, 10/27/2008 - 11:24 — Judicial Watch Blog A major U.S. newspaper (L.A.Times, A.) is withholding a damaging video tape of Barack Obama toasting a Palestinian paramilitary operative at a celebration attended by a group of Palestinians openly hostile towards Israel. The California paper used the tape as a source for a story documenting Obama’s close ties to a radical Palestinian scholar (Rashid Khalidi) who once served as a spokesman for Arab terrorist icon Yasser Arafat and his extremist Palestinian Liberation Organization. According to the piece, Obama and the college professor became good friends, lived in the same Chicago neighborhood and often dined together. In 2000 Khalidi held a fundraiser for Obama’s unsuccessful congressional bid and Khalidi’s wife got a $40,000 grant from a charity headed by Obama. .... The Palestinian celebration was held so that Chicago-area leaders could say farewell to their friend who took a job in New York. At the bash, Obama toasted his buddy ...... A young Palestinian recited a poem accusing Israel’s government of terrorism and threatening that if Palestinians cannot secure their own land “you will never see a day of peace.” ...major U.S. newspaper, which incidentally has endorsed Obama for president, covers up information that could hurt his bid. One popular news blog, that helped expose the controversial video’s existence, points out that if the American public saw this side of Barack Obama he would never be elected president. The tape would greatly damage Obama who has already been hurt by his circle of close anti-Semitic friends.
78% of US Jews vote for Obama. 100% of World Jews will suffer.
It is amazing how quickly opinions are formed about President Obama. After a few days in office, he was accused of not doing anything for the economy. In less than a couple of months, he is accused of being anti-Israeli. We must remember that at least 8 years were wasted under the previous administration as far as progress on almost anything is concerned. The environment, Iran, health issues, education, infrastructure; the list goes on ad nuseaum. Now, let us give the President a chance. His stand on the settlements in the West Bank is no different than previous administration with the exception that they looked the other way. Some compromise will have to be reached with the Palestinians but until they look into the mirror to see where their problems lie, there is not much hope. Their leadership has been nothing but disastrous. Arafat stole what ever he could from his people. Haniye is a thug, as is much of Hamas. The Palestinians have suffered much but much of it self inflicted. My brother had two workers from Gaza for many years but once the border closings began, he could not longer depend on them to run his farm and hired someone from Thailand. Abba Eban, the great scholar and diplomat could not have phrased the Arab/Palestinian situation better: “they never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Chaval.
My neighbour once asked me if I would lend her my lawn mower.It was old..an antique of sorts ..passed down from my Grand father.I thought about it and thought why not she is my neighbour after all..she used it and thanked me..the following week she asked me once again if I would lend out my lawn mower..Sure why not...she returned it but this time it was dirty and I had to clean it...the borrowing went on for a long time...I cleaned it was silent and looked the other way...until one day it was never returned to me...So I went to her house not far from my own and asked her for my lawn mower.She said she wass going to ..but never got around to it...In the backround I heard her children say that it was in fact her lawn mower. she used regularly anyway...So now I took my lawn mower home and swore never to lend it out again....a few weeks had passed and she came back to borrow my lawn mower once again...I felt guilty but I stood my ground and said I am sorry but I could not lend it out to her again....
She huffed and puffed as if I owed her what was mine for a generation...as if she had an entitlement to what was never hers in the 1st place...add that there was a time where she could have helped me as a neighbour but refused....
Ok what is the point?..A good lawyer like Dershowitz should understand that Israel and Jews owe nothing to the Arab world and the Myth of a Palestinian state that they created inorder to undermine the rights of Jews and their entitlement to Israel and Jerusalem.If it were not the Arabs that conquered Jerusalem in the 7th century it could have been the Crusaders or the Turks etc..Yet none outside of the Muslims had the Chutpza to suggest that Jerusalem was the center of their religion. A myth promoted by the Muslim world that is contradicted by the Koran which does not mention Jerusalem even one time.Jews are entitled to have a tiny country that is only 20 thousand sq km along side an Arab/Muslim Middle East that is well over 4.5 Million SQ KM in size. Maybe one day when a Jew in the Arab/Muslim Middle East is allowed the rights of 1.2 Million Arabs in Israel than we can talk about some concessions.For now every concession is a gain for the Islamic world.
Liek the lawn mower that was never my neighbours to own,Israel was never Palestinians to own...and should never be! Palestinians have enough land...Jordan was once promised to Jews in 1922 by the league of Nations.It was called Trans Jordan and instead the territory promised to Jews was given to the Hashemite Kingdom as a reward for helping the Brits.In fact Israel is 1/8 th the size that was promised in 1922. Think about it...20,000 sq.KM is too much territory for a Jewish state...and Jews have been ethnically cleansed from the Arab world.The sign in GAZA and the West Bank says “NO JEWS ALLOWED”..In fact a Palestinian who sells a home to a Jew in West Bank will recieve an Islamic death penalty.where as a Jew who sells a home to an Arab in Israel gets a commission cheque from his realestate co.Time to stop apologizing for being a Jew.One last thing..the only natural resources that Israel has or had at any time...is Jews!They built Israel!
I remember hearing Dershowitz justify representing OJ Simpson by using the Talmuds teaching that everyone deserved representation before the court. That would have been a lot more convincing if OJ didn’t already have a crew of high priced lawyers twisting the truth to help him get away with murder. I thought at the time there were probably a lot of inmates at Lorton who would love to have a lawyer represent them...but I never heard of Dershowitz offering his serves to them. All this is a way of saying why ....if Dershowitz believes in Obama...I wonder what he’s getting out of it. It just underscores why I don’t. Obama spent his campaign telling each audience just what they wanted to hear. Its so sad that so many never took the time to see the big picture then and are now so shocked, truly shocked at his actions now. Paging Lt. Renault...!
Dershowitz is a hero in my eyes. He always rises to the defense of Israel, that embattled state besieged by vicious enemies like Syria and terrorist Lebanon. He wants to let Obama bring greater numbers of the youthful left and African Americans on side in Israel’s corner. That is a fantastic objective but Obama is not playing ball.
Last year on the campaign trail in Israel Obama made a speech asserting Jerusalem was the eternal capital of Israel. After the Arabs objected, he retracted that assertion within 24 hours. Now in power, he takes gratuitous jibes at Israel and no gratuitous jibes at the Arabs. So we have here another Sotomayor personality - says one thing out of power and does the direct opposite in power. Hilary Clinton is no better, having repudiated her alliance with Schumer on protecting Israel against Palestinian incitement and hate.
I have advised Dershowitz to support another Democratic candidate for President -Joseph Lieberman. This man is a true friend of Israel.
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Earl Shugerman
07/15/09 11:53 AM
I live in Israel and my family has been here for decades. My career is that of an interfaith represenative. Bush was not well received by many Muslims in our area, especially for his policy on Iraq. Will, or can Obama make any difference? Who knows? My personal opinion is that only the parties in this region can achieve peace when they are ready to negotiate in good faith. Obama could, as did Carter, help facilitate the process as an honest and neutral mediator. Hamas, controlled by Iran still will not even talk. Israel has solid relations with Egypt, Jordan, and progresses with Mr. Abbas. One million plus Muslims live in pre-1967 Israel and things are faily solid. There are some real positives in our region. Can Obama change the attitiude of the regime in Iran? I do not believe that he can, but peace with the Palestinian Authority is possible. Saudia Arabia is thinking in a more progressive way as are many other “Arab” countries. Trusting the leadership in America can help to promote even more progress; but again it is up to us.
Earl in Haifa