Israel Matzav

Will the White House be forced to fire Gutman?

Thanks to Tundra Tabloids for the new picture of Howard Gutman - I'm sure a lot of you were getting tired of the other one.

The Washington Jewish Week reports from a source said to be close to the Obama campaign that while the White House is 'distancing' itself verbally from Gutman, much more will need to be done.

We condemn anti-semitism in all its forms, and that there is never any justification for prejudice against the Jewish people or Israel," the White House said in a statement that was sent tonight to Jewish leaders and others. A copy of that statement was forwarded to this blog.

While the White House appears to be making it clear that it will not tolerate Ambassador Howard Gutman's seemingly anti-Semitic comments* chastisement of Israel, at least one source close to the Obama campaign implied that the administration must take concrete action.

"Anti-Semitism is anti-Semitism," said the source. But "if the Obama administration's rebuke of its Belgium ambassador is to be taken seriously, we expect greater action than a statement."

And so, in the interest of not letting the Obama administration off the hook on this one, here are a couple of more condemnations that have come in. This is from the Republican Jewish Coalition.

"The remarks reportedly made by President Obama's Ambassador to Belgium are outrageous," [Executive Director Matthew] Brooks said. "It's no wonder that hearing such a message from this country's representative left an audience of European Jewish leaders 'stunned.'"

Brooks continued, "Unfortunately, this administration's policies of 'daylight' and pressure toward our ally Israel encourage the dangerously misguided tendency to make excuses for anti-Semitic hatred and bigotry.

"The linkage in the ambassador's remarks, blaming Israel for anti-Semitism, is a short step from the linkage that President Obama has expressed several times himself, that Israel is to blame for the unrest and instability in the Middle East. Both forms of linkage are fundamentally wrong.

"Given the importance of the US maintaining its leadership role in the fight against resurgent European anti-Semitism - including in Belgium - it is good that the administration has distanced itself from Ambassador Gutman's remarks. Now, it is essential that the administration address the question of how Gutman can credibly represent our nation in his important post."

And this is from Z Street.

How many non-Jews would dare to raise the outrageous charge that it is the fault of the Jewish State, Israel, that Muslims hate Jews? And yet, perhaps if uttered by a Jew the hope is that it might gain some traction. When the US Ambassador to Belgium, Howard Gutman, (a Jewish name, a Jewish face...) said at a conference in Brussels this week that "Muslim anti-Semitism ‘stems from the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinians," we have to wonder whether that was an official statement of this US administration. Because if it were not, this administration must fire Mr. Gutman for his calumny of the Jewish State. And if Gutman is merely representing the position of his employer, this US administration, then we must ask every voter in America whether that represents their views. Already the Emergency Committee for Israel has, in no uncertain terms, condemned Gutman's remarks and called for his dismissal, as has the Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and the Simon Wiesenthal Center. Z STREET is adding its voice to the call. As any casual student of the Middle East surely knows, Muslim hatred of Jews far precedes the rebirth of the Jewish State in 1948, and in fact dates all the way back to the time of Mohammed, the father of Islam. How Gutman could be so undiplomatic is hard to fathom. Whether this Administration allows Gutman to continue playing diplomat is worth asking. If you don't think it should, as we don't, contact President Barack Obama and let him know.

I don't believe contacting Obama will help, but I suppose it can't hurt. Truthfully, the biggest problem here is that what Gutman said reflects the Obama administration's views (and the views of certain commenters on this blog who are trying to maintain political correctness), but they cannot admit that until after next November.

One of my friends points out: Remember that mainstreaming on this one isn't limited to the US ambassador. Soros has been saying the exact same thing since 1999 and he said it again in 2003. That second time ended up getting posted all over hate sites like Stormfront, the conspiracy sites, the Democratic Underground, etc. That would make it more likely than not that Obama agrees with his ambassador, even if he cannot do so in public right now.

Labels: anti-Semitism, Barack Hussein Obama, Howard Gutman

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:18 PM