On Capitol Hill, Senator Kaine, as a member of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee, has consistently advocated the need for a two-state
solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the only way to ensure
that Israel can survive and flourish as a Jewish and democratic state
and that Palestinians can live with independence and dignity. He was
also a leader in the successful effort to defang the Iranian nuclear
program through tough sanctions and effective diplomacy that produced
the JCPOA agreement.
Funny, but didn't I read something remarkably different yesterday? Oh yes, here. And that's why others feel differently about Kaine.
But for the hawkish Republican Jewish Coalition, such background did not
garner their approval or commendation. They swiftly lambasted Kaine as
enabling Tehran in acquiring a nuclear arsenal and, indeed, his
affiliation with J Street itself — an organization they regard as
lobbying positions that do not serve Israel’s interests.
“After leading President Obama’s disastrous
foreign policy in the Middle East, Hillary Clinton’s selection of
Senator Kaine as her running mate further proves she cannot be trusted
to keep our country safe,” RJC’s executive director Matt Brooks said in a
press release.
“Whether it’s his vote for the Iran deal,
which paves the way to a nuclear-armed Iran, or his proud support of the
progressive anti-Israel J Street agenda which earned him their
enthusiastic endorsement, Senator Kaine has shown how out of touch he is
on the dangers facing our country,” he added. “A Clinton-Kaine White
House would continue the same failed policies that have made the US and
our allies around the world less safe.”
Hey Times of Israel - it's not just the 'hawkish Republican Jewish coalition' that regards J Street as lobbying positions that do not serve Israel's interests - it's the Israeli Knesset.
If Trump wins this election, one of the first actions of Israel's supporters should be the defenestration of J Street.
How the Obama administration paid J Street to push the Iranian nuclear sellout
The Obama administration through its National Security Council passed hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Ploughshares Fund, an NGO that favors allowing Iran to have nuclear weapons. And the Ploughshares Fund paid J Street over $500,000 to push its agenda last summer. That's what came out over this past weekend.
A group the White House recently identified as a key surrogate in
selling the Iran nuclear deal gave liberal Jewish lobbying organization J
street $576,500 to advocate for the deal.
...
J-Street, a liberal Jewish political action
group, undertook a comprehensive campaign last year to support the
nuclear deal, amid lobbying by Jerusalem and other pro-Israel groups to
convince Congress to block the landmark pact.
Ahead of a crucial congressional vote to either ratify or block the deal, J Street in July 2015 took out a full page advertisement in The New York Times supporting urging Congress to refrain from “sabotaging” the Iranian nuclear agreement.
J Street also created TV ads and built a wesbite to stump for the accord.
The group said called the New York Times ad
was “the latest phase of [our] multimillion dollar campaign to ensure
that the US Congress does not sabotage the nuclear deal.”
The Ploughshares Fund’s mission is to “build a
safe, secure world by developing and investing in initiatives to reduce
and ultimately eliminate the world’s nuclear stockpiles,” one that
dovetails with President Barack Obama’s arms control efforts. But its
behind-the-scenes role advocating for the Iran agreement got more
attention this month after a candid profile of Ben Rhodes, one of the
president’s top foreign policy aides.
Waiting to hear regrets from Senate Democrats over their votes in favor of letting Iran become a nuclear power.
Here are some more Ploughshares donees.
The Arms Control Association got $282,500; the
Brookings Institution, $225,000; and the Atlantic Council, $182,500.
They received money for Iran-related analysis, briefings and media
outreach, and non-Iran nuclear work.
Other groups, less directly defined by their independent nuclear expertise, also secured grants.
More than $281,000 went to the National Iranian American Council.
Princeton University got $70,000 to support
former Iranian ambassador and nuclear spokesman Seyed Hossein
Mousavian’s “analysis, publications and policymaker engagement on the
range of elements involved with the negotiated settlement of Iran’s
nuclear program.”
The Ploughshares grant to NPR supported
“national security reporting that emphasizes the themes of US nuclear
weapons policy and budgets, Iran’s nuclear program, international
nuclear security topics and US policy toward nuclear security,”
according to Ploughshares’ 2015 annual report, recently published
online.
Oh yeah, and NPR got $100,000 too. Because government funding isn't enough.
J Street didn’t deny receiving the funds and
said it “acted in order to advance the nuclear deal with Iran out of
faith that it was an important deal, that it had a great contribution
also to the security of Israel.”
“(This) faith is shared by us as well as many
sources, both in the American government and in the Israeli security
establishment, as well as among the Jewish public in the US, most of
whom supported the nuclear deal,” the group said in a press release on
Sunday.
“The nuclear deal with Iran has blocked Iran’s
pathways to a nuclear weapon for the coming years,”said J Street,
adding “we are proud of the activities of the organization to advance
the nuclear deal between the world powers and Iran, a deal that we
believe is of the utmost importance for the security of the state of
Israel.”
Among those J Street cites as Israeli supporters of the deal is pathological liar Ami Ayalon. The endorsements of the deal have already been proven false.
One day, this will all be part of Obama's legacy - along with his infesting American politics with sleaze.
Surprise: Most of the 340 'rabbis' for Iran came from Iran-supported J Street
After the 98 'Hollywood Jews for Iran' letter, the Obama-Kerry junta has produced 340 'rabbis' Iran. I'm sure you'll all be shocked to see this Zionist Organization of America press release disclosing that the vast majority of them are affiliated with Iran-funded J Street (Hat Tip: Liz B).
ZOA Analysis Shows "340 Rabbis For
Iran Deal" Are From Groups Hostile to Israel,
Including J Street (Which Works With Apparent
Iranian Regime Group NIAC), BDS Group "Jewish
Voice for Peace," and Israel-Bashing "Rabbis for
Human Rights"
94% of U.S. Rabbis Did NOT Sign
Pro-Iran Deal Statement, While American Jews
Oppose Deal by 2-1, Israelis 7-1, and All
Americans by 2-1
NEW YORK, August, 18, 2015 -- The Zionist Organization
of America (ZOA)'s analysis shows that the
overwhelming majority of the "340 Rabbis for Iran
Deal" come from groups that routinely take
positions and engage in activities that are
hostile towards Israel and inimical to American
interests. The "340 Rabbis for Iran
Deal" are a small fringe group. There are
over 5,000 Rabbis in the United States. In
other words, 94% of American Rabbis did
not sign the statement
supporting the Iran deal.
J Street has financial and other ties to the
National Iranian American Council (NIAC), an
apparent arm of the Iranian regime.
Dissident journalist Hassan Daioleslam revealed
that NIAC
serves as a lobbying group for Iran, and that
NIAC's president and founder, Trita Parsi, has a
long-term close relationship with Iranian Foreign
Minister Javad Zarif. J
Street's financial filings revealed that J
Street's initial funders included NIAC board
member Genevieve Lynch. J Street's first
national conference held an Iran panel with NIAC
head Trita Parsi and Iran apologist Hillary Mann
Leverett, who insisted that no sanctions be placed
on Iran. At the J Street event, Leverett
also condemned anyone who did not trust the
Iranian regime as "reinforcing stereotypes of
Iranian duplicitousness" and asserted that such
"stereotypes" of Iran's Mullahs were
"fundamentally racist." Leverett also
compared Iran's mullahs to Israeli rabbis.
See Trouble
on J-Street, by James
Kirchick.
In addition, several months ago, J Street ran
and touted a phony poll to falsely claim that Jews
support the Iran deal. The poll asked
about a hypothetical Iran deal that would only
give Iran "modest relief from sanctions," and that
would only reduce sanctions gradually as Iran met
compliance benchmarks, in exchange for enrichment
restrictions to civilian use and full time
inspectors at Iran's nuclear facilities "to make
sure Iran is not developing nuclear
weapons." This loaded polling question
is a far cry from the actual Iran deal, which
gives hundreds of billions of dollars of sanctions
relief and economic windfalls to Iran, allows
enrichment in excess of the amounts needed for
civilian use, and delays and places all sorts of
roadblocks in the way of obtaining inspections of
Iran's undeclared nuclear activities. In
addition, no Americans are allowed to inspect
Iranian facilities, and inspectors must first be
approved by Iran officials before they can even
enter Iran.
Moreover, Ameinu (which is the group
promoting the "340 Rabbis for Iran Deal") is
closely tied to J Street. Ameinu appears to
be serving as a front group for J Street here -
since J Street has been so discredited.
Ameinu National President Kenneth Bob doubles as J
Street's Treasurer. Ameinu Vice
President and Executive Committee Chair Judith
Gelman is a member of J Street's Montgomery
County, MD steering committee. Ameinu and J
Street recently ran together on the same election
slate.
Other "340 Iran Deal Rabbis" include a board
member of Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). JVP
is featured on the Anti-Defamation League (ADL)
list of the "Top 10 Anti-Israel Groups in
America," and actively promotes anti-Israel
boycotts, divestment and sanctions (BDS).
The Iran Deal Rabbis also include over a
dozen significant contributors to the so-called
"Rabbis for Human Rights" (RHR). RHR
participates in anti-Israel demonstrations and,
along with other anti-Israel groups, launched a
website with false
testimonies accusing Israel of human rights
violations in Gaza. ZOA members witnessed an
RHR Rabbi invent and widely publish false stories
to demonize pro-Israel young people at the Israel
Day Parade Concert in New York several years
ago.
ZOA's comparison of the names and locations
on the 340 "Rabbis for Iran Deal" list with lists
published on the websites of hostile-to-Israel
groups showed the following:
187 (the
majority) of the Iran Deal Rabbis are members of
the "J Street Rabbinic
Cabinet."
12 of
the Iran Deal Rabbis are members of the "J
Street Rabbinic Cabinet Executive
Council"
The
Iran Deal Rabbis also include 2 (out of 3) of
the J Street cabinet's
co-chairs
13 of
the Iran Deal Rabbis are significant donors to
the falsehood-purveying "Rabbis for Human
Rights."
Iran
Deal Rabbi Linda Holtzman is on the Board of
Directors of the anti-Israel BDS group, "Jewish
Voice for Peace." Rabbi
Holtzman is known as a "pioneer lesbian
Rabbi." As a homosexual, she should be the
first to condemn Iran's horrendous human rights
record, which includes Iran's brutal executions
of hundreds of innocent individuals for the sole
reason that they are gay.
Incredibly, she is fostering a deal that will
give the Iranian regime hundreds of billions of
dollars to continue its brutal oppression of
gays and minorities.
Iran
Deal Rabbi Arthur Waskow [pictured - CiJ] states that the people
at the Council on American-Islamic Relations
(CAIR) are "people
I trust and admire and respect."
CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in the Holy
Land Foundation case (the case against groups
that sent funding to Hamas). CAIR is also
among the top groups that ADL has frequently
condemned for its anti-Israel
activities.
ZOA
President Morton A. Klein stated:
"The Rabbis signing the Ameinu letter do not
in any way represent the viewpoint of American
Rabbis. To only be able to get 6% of U.S.
rabbis to sign this statement supporting the
catastrophic Iran deal clearly indicates that
Rabbinic leaders are deeply concerned about the
Iran nuclear deal. This is especially true
when 75% of American Jews voted for President
Obama. More importantly, reliable polls show
tremendous opposition to the Iran deal. The
Quinnipiac poll shows that Americans oppose this
dangerous deal by a margin of 2 to 1, and the
Israel Project poll shows that American Jews also
oppose the Iran deal by the same 2 to 1
margin. In addition, a poll conducted
this week by Israel's Channel 10, reported in the
liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz, shows that
Israelis oppose the Iran deal by a margin of 7 to
1."
"Almost every major Jewish and pro-Israel
group strongly opposes this disastrous Iran
deal. These major groups opposed to the Iran
deal include: the American Israel Public Affairs
Committee (AIPAC); the Anti-Defamation League
(ADL); the Zionist Organization of America; the
American Jewish Committee; the American Jewish
Congress; B'nai Brith; Christians United for
Israel (CUFI); the Orthodox Union; over 100
organizations who are members of the
StopIranRally.org Coalition; and Jewish
Federations across the country including in Los
Angeles, Boston, Miami, Houston, Phoenix, Chicago,
New York, and many
more."
Hmmm. The entire AIPAC budget to fight the deal is supposedly around $40 million.
Aipac expects to spend some $40m on an ad campaign in about 40 states,
focusing on vulnerable Democrats, turning up the pressure on them in
their home states over the summer recess. Its liberal, pro-deal
counterpart, J Street, can only hope to spend up to $5m.
But with Iran allowed to contribute, who needs J Street's money. Khameni can just take $1 billion or so of his 'sanctions relief' and use it to make sure all goes 'smoothly.'
Every organization that claims to be Jewish is lining up against the Iran nuclear sellout. Everyone except one: Pro-Obama, pro-Iran, anti-Israel J Street. Charles Jacobs and Elliott Hamilton argue that it's time to kick J Street out of the Jewish communal tent. In fact, it's long past time.
But the J Street lobby has broken ranks with that sentiment. Back when the deal’s framework was reached in early April, J Street co-authored a statement with the National Iranian-American Council (NIAC) and the Arab American Institute,
welcoming the agreement. Now that the details have become known and
almost every major Jewish organization is trying to kill the deal, J
Street is undertaking a multi-million dollar campaign
to get Jews to support an arrangement that at best keeps Iran nuke-free
for about a decade while it gives the mullahs $150 billion to arm
Israel’s enemies. This puts J Street in direct confrontation with the
more than 80 percent of the Jews of Israel, whose political parties from
left to right are fiercely united against President Barack Obama’s
deal.
J Street’s campaigning for the Iran deal comes as no
surprise to those who have been carefully watching the organization
since its inception in 2008. J Street’s policy on Iran has never been
aligned with the rest of the American Jewish community. In Americans for
Peace and Tolerance’s film “The J Street Challenge,” Professor Alan
Dershowitz complains that: “It’s impossible to know what J Street’s
position on Iran is. I actually offered to contribute money to J Street
if they would answer a series of specific questions about their
positions on Iran, and I couldn’t get an answer to any of those
questions.”
J Street has a history of taking significant sums of
money from anti-Israel sources—and lying about it. For example, J Street
continuously lied about its funding from George Soros, who has blamed
Israel and the Jewish people for the rise of global anti-Semitism. While
J Street President Jeremy Ben-Ami kept denying it, Eli Lake reported in
2010 that J Street acquired $750,000 from Soros’s family. Ben-Ami was
eventually forced to apologize for lying.
Even more troubling was
the discovery that Genevieve Lynch, a board member of the NIAC, also
funded J Street. NIAC is no ally of the Jewish community, and has
recently created a 501(c)4 to counter pro-Israel groups’ attempts to
halt the Iran deal.
In 2012, J Street spent $100,000 trying to
convince lawmakers on Capitol Hill to both ease the rhetoric against
Iran and to alter the status of the Palestinian Diplomatic Mission to
the U.S.
J Street has also received funding from the Ploughshares
Fund, Inc., a global security foundation that supports a “peaceful
world, including on free of nuclear weapons.” This same organization
spent millions of dollars pushing for Chuck Hagel’s nomination for
Secretary of Defense and lobbying to lift sanctions off Iran. According
to the Ploughshares Fund’s Form 990 in 2012, J Street acquired $25,000
“to support efforts to educate members of Congress on the consequences
that preemptive use of military force against Iran’s nuclear program may
have on Israel.” In its Form 990s in both 2013 and 2014, it shows that
Ploughshares gave J Street a total of $275,000 “to use a pro-Israel
frame to educate members of Congress on the dangers that a military
confrontation with Iran could have for both Israel and the U.S., and to
promote political solutions to the nuclear impasse.”
Why would a
seemingly pro-Israel organization acquire funds from pro-Iran sources to
promote a pro-Iran agenda to the United States Congress? One reason
seems clear: J Street’s usefulness to Israel’s adversaries is its
“pro-Israel frame,” and that can be successfully monetized.
The White House is targeting Jewish groups in its latest push to
blunt congressional criticism of an Iran deal that observers expect to
be sealed in the coming days, according to a recording of a strategy conference call obtained by the Washington Free Beacon and experts familiar with the call.
The White House’s liaison to the Jewish community on Monday advised
dozens of progressive groups to push a poll commissioned and distributed
by the liberal fringe group J Street, which has been defending a deal
with Iran.
Matt Nosanchuk, an official in the White House Office of Public Engagement, who also serves as Jewish liaison, cited J Street’s poll and urged liberal activists present on the call to cite its numbers when defending a deal with Iran.
The private strategy call, which included more than 100 participants, was organized by the Ploughshares Fund,
a liberal group that has spent millions of dollars to slant
Iran-related coverage and protect the Obama administration’s diplomatic
efforts.
Nosanchuk told participants there is support for the deal “within the
Jewish community, where J Street has recently done a poll that shows
even in that community when you describe the terms of a deal you have
upwards of 78 percent of respondents supporting it.”
Virtually all polling stretching back several months, including
polling featured on conservative and progressive outlets, shows that
while Americans are divided on the wisdom of negotiations, they believe
that a deal would not prevent Iran from constructing a nuclear weapon.
Critics of J Street’s poll have pointed out that it polled respondents on a hypothetical deal that does not actually exist.
The Ploughshares Fund's efforts to promote a nuclear Iran are led by Robert Creamer, a convicted felon
who served time for fraud and tax charges in 2006-07. Creamer is married to none other than "J Street Jan" Schakowsky (D-Il). This is from the first link in the paragraph.
[Washington Free Beacon's Adam] Kredo obtained an audio recording of the call. “Progressive leaders
on the call told participants to prepare for a ‘real war’ and repeatedly
declared that “the other side will go crazy” in the coming days,” he
reported.
White House officials stressed “the importance of this to the
president,” and Creamer told activists they should be “blitzing the hell
out of the Hill,” particularly Democrats. His wife, self-styled
“pro-Israel” Rep. Schakowsky, reportedly shouted her
encouragement during the call.
Creamer rose to public attention in 2009, when Breitbart News revealed
that he had written the political blueprint for passing Obamacare while
serving time in federal prison. Anticipating the election of a
“progressive” president in 2008, Creamer had advised a campaign for
“universal health care” that would serve as the first of several radical
policy changes aimed at transforming America and the world. Creamer, a
community organizing guru in Chicago, had advised the Obama
campaign upon leaving prison.
Writing in Israel Hayom, Richard Baehr notes that Creamer
and fellow activists aim to reduce the Iran deal to political terms:
“This is to be all about party loyalty, and supporting the president
and his agenda, because this is very important to him,” Baehr notes. “In time, after the critics make their case, the deal will likely be sold as a choice between war and peace…”.
Given that the emerging deal favors Iran, Baehr adds, the left-wing
activists backed by the White House are effectively lobbying for the
regime.
This post is being presented in the interest of knowing your enemy.
At 'pleasant, cooperative' meeting Jewish group urges Obama to remove UN backing for Israel
There was a second meeting of Jews with President Hussein Obama at the White House this week. The meeting was led by supporters of J Street, the organization for anti-Israel JINO's. In an atmosphere described as 'pleasant and cooperative,' the group urged President Obama to stop protecting Israel at the United Nations.
The exchange took place in the second of two meetings Obama held with
American Jewish leaders to discuss the current negotiations with Iran
over its nuclear program, as well as other regional issues. According to
a source who was in the room, one J Street supporter told the president
that if he decided to back a Palestinian state resolution over Israeli
objections, “let us know first, and we’ll do the legwork for you, in the
community… so you’re not going to come in cold.” Among the J Street
supporters who were part of the delegation meeting with Obama were
Alexandra Stanton, Lou Susman and Victor Kovner.
The atmosphere at that second meeting was described as pleasant and
cooperative, in marked contrast to the first meeting, described by one
source as “ungiving, very stern and tense.” The Algemeiner spoke to four individuals who attended the
meetings, as well as one other who did not attend, but was extensively
briefed on what was said. All of the sources declined to be named for
this report, as they were not authorized by the Administration to speak
on the record.
The discussions totaled approximately two hours and forty minutes and
were likely the most significant ones between the two sides since the
start of the Obama presidency. “For sure this was the most important”
one prominent Jewish leader stated, “because it was about Iran.”
The President was only at the first meeting for about an hour and ten minutes.
Regarding the first meeting, at which senior representatives of
groups like the World Jewish Congress, the Conference of Presidents and
the Anti-Defamation League were present, one source said the
conversation was “difficult” and “depressing.” The source added that
“nobody was breaking ground, they were at cross purposes.” An attendee
who spoke with JTA described the gathering as “intense” and said, “There
was an openheartedness, there were some deep reflections by the
president.” Other participants who spoke with JTA used the term
“therapeutic” to describe the tone of the talks.
...
The second meeting, which was largely stacked with Obama allies, “was
very pleasant,” according to one of the guests. It was “all his
friends,” the guest said. As well as J Street supporters, others present
included Haim Saban, the Israeli-American entertainment mogul who has
been critical of Obama’s Middle East policies, and Democratic donors
associated with AIPAC, including past presidents Amy Friedkin and Howard
Friedman
Obama presented himself as thinking “like an ultra-liberal Jew” and conveyed the “J Street mantra,” according to the source.
Although some pointed questions were asked, Obama faced far less
resistance, and was even encouraged to take steps against Israel and
remain steadfast in his approach to Iran negotiations.
According to the source, one “J Streeter” pushed Obama to remove the
American veto protection of Israel at the UN in the event that a
Security Council resolution called for the creation of a Palestinian
State.
The individual “said if you decide to go against Israel at the UN,
‘let us know first, and we’ll do the legwork for you, in the community…
so you’re not going to come in cold…’ and they pushed him to do it,” the
participant told The Algemeiner. “Another major Jewish leader…
not J Street, more centrist, but he wants to cosy up to Obama, says
[regarding Iran] ‘you are doing the right thing, we are behind you 100
percent’.”
Jewish support for Obama has dropped 23% since 2009. One can only wonder how many American Jews would have supported the likes of Hitler and Khomeni had they been given the chance.
J Street Jan Schakowsky attacks former rival Joel Pollak for being 'Orthodox' Jew
Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Il) thanked J Street for backing her Congressional campaign in 2010, and took the opportunity to attack her long-gone rival Joel Pollak for being 'Orthodox.' Pollak has moved to California and become an editor at Breitbart.com (Hat Tip: Mike P).
Schakowsky begins by thanking J Street for its backing of her positions when it comes to Israel.
“I’d like to begin with just a great thank you for J Street. I have
to tell you that the courage to take positions that I’ve been able to
take are [sic] really because of the space that, in a very short time, J
Street had opened for members of Congress to expand political
discussion about the State of Israel and our relationship to it.”
In the video—which was provided by Paul Miller, who served as a
senior policy adviser for Pollak’s campaign and is now the executive
director of the Salomon Center—the Democratic Rep. from Illinois rips
into the Breitbart editor.
“In 2010, I had an election… an election within our community. That
is, I ran against a Jewish-Orthodox, Tea Party Republican who made it
very clear that actually Jan Schakowsky was anti-Israel because of the
positions that she took,” the Congresswoman said of Pollak.
“J Street came to my rescue,” she added. “Not just with money, but
with the kind of moral support that was able to assure a substantial
victory in that election.”
Schakowsky represents a heavily Jewish district in the Chicago area. I hope that any Orthodox Jewish constituents will respond to her. She's disgusting.
White House Chief of Staff calls Israel's existence 'occupation'
On Monday, White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough, who was representing his boss, told the J Street convention that Israel must end 'more than 50 years of occupation (Hat Tip: Eliyahu P).'
McDonough then described the alternate to a two-state agreement: a
one-state solution based on unilateral annexation and abandonment of
democratic rights for Palestinians that, he warned, “would only
contribute to Israel’s further isolation.” In other words, he said, more
divestment, boycotts and efforts to delegitimize Israel in the
international community.
“An occupation that has lasted more than
50 years must end,” McDonough said, one of several times he brought the
crowd to its feet.
While I have occasionally heard American officials refer to an Israeli 'occupation,' this is the first time I have ever heard an American official refer to an 'occupation' starting before 1967 (2015 - 50 = 1965).
Is the Obama administration now asserting - as Fatah and Hamas do - that Israel's very creation constitutes an 'occupation' of Arab land?
If yes, that's not likely to bring about a whole lot of trust for the Obama administration. And that's the least of the problems.
As to 'pro-Israel' J Street, no one should be surprised to see them applauding that assertion.
Democratic Senators won't say whether they're attending
Josh Rogin and Eli Lake report that many Democratic Senators, who feel caught between their loyalty to Barack Hussein Obama and their duties to their voters, are not saying whether they will attend Prime Minister Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress next Tuesday.
We spoke with almost a dozen Democratic Senators Tuesday who said
they still haven’t decided. Among them is Senate Intelligence Committee
ranking member Dianne Feinstein of California, who wrote a letter (with
Senate Minority Whip Richard Durbin of Illinois) Monday to Netanyahu
asking him to meet Democrats separately in their offices while he is
Washington.
“I won’t make a decision on that for a while,” she told us, insisting
there was no organized Democratic boycott. “But it does mean that I
would like an opportunity to sit down and talk to him rather than
listening to a speech of red lines. It isn’t a boycott, it's individuals
making up their own minds. There is no boycott.”
...
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut, the ranking Democrat on the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee subcommittee that covers the Middle
East, told us Tuesday he also is still weighing whether to attend the
speech and he acknowledged that he is getting calls from his supporters
in Connecticut encouraging him to go.
“I haven’t decided yet. This is a breach of protocol not a breach of
policy, so I’m still trying to make sure I’m not making more of this
than it deserves to be,” he said. “A lot of us are very angry and I
think we’ve got to figure out how serious of an issue this really is.”
Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia declined to say whether he
would attend: “I think the speech should be postposed. I’m just going to
leave it there for now.”
Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey wouldn't say anything on the
matter. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon said he was “expecting to” attend
but wasn’t 100 percent sure. Senator Chris Coons of Delaware said he
would make up his mind after meeting with the Israeli ambassador.
Nonetheless, many Democratic leaders have signaled they will attend.
The list includes House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, House Minority
Whip Steny Hoyer and, if he is physically able while recovering from
surgery, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid. Senator Chuck Schumer of New
York, Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking Democrat Robert
Menendez of New Jersey and Senate Armed Services Committee member Bill
Nelson of Florida will also be there.
It's tough having to answer to your constituents, isn't it? Here's a prediction: In the end, other than the Congressional Black Caucus and some of the more virulent J Street recipients, every last one of the Democrats will show up. They're not going to risk their seats to satisfy an unpopular President who is in the second half of his second term.
Probably inevitable: J Street Jan will skip Netanyahu speech
Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-Il) has announced that she will skip Prime Minister Netanyahu's address to a joint session of Congress next Tuesday. And she still has the gall to describe herself as an 'Israel supporter.'
I suspect that having seen one member after another of the Congressional Black Caucus announce that they will boycott Netanyahu, we will now see one recipient of J Street's Soros money after another announce that they too will boycott.
Honestly, I'm not convinced that it matters anymore who shows up and who doesn't. The real point of this speech has become for Netanyahu to be able to speak directly to the American people. It's something that both Barack Obama and Bill Clinton have done to hand-picked audiences of Israelis. Funny how no one objected then.
Report: James 'F*ck the Jews, they don't vote for us anyway' Baker to be keynote speaker at J Street gala
Mr. "F*ck the Jews, they didn't even vote 4 us" is the keynote speaker @ the J Street gala in March. I am at a loss for words.
— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) February 15, 2015
Why the surprise? This is entirely in keeping with J Street's anti-Israel agenda.
A foundation financed by Theresa Heinz Kerry - wife of US Secretary of State John FN Kerry - is underwriting a Pittsburgh restaurant that distributes anti-Israel propaganda with its food (picture from The Federalist Papers via Leah P).
A food cart that hands out anti-Israel propaganda with each of its
sandwiches has received funding from a foundation run by Secretary of
State John Kerry’s wife.
Conflict Kitchen, a pop-up restaurant located at the intersection of Carnegie Mellon University and Pittsburgh University the
University of Pittsburgh, seeks to use food to educate locals and
college students about countries that are allegedly in conflict with the
United States.
It recently began serving Palestinian food wrapped in leaflets that
include quotes from Palestinians defending terrorism and opposing the
existence of Israel.
“How can you compare Israeli F-16s, which are some of the best
military planes in the world, to a few hundred homemade rockets?” states
one quote on the wrapper, a reference to Hamas rocket attacks against Israelis. “You’re pushing them to the absolute extreme. So what do you expect?”
“Palestinians are not going to just let [Israel] in and drop their
arms,” it adds. “No, they’re going to kill and they are going to die.”
The statements on the wrappers were taken from interviews with
Palestinians. They are published without quotation marks and do not
appear to be edited for accuracy.
Another section of the wrapper refers to the creation of Israel as
“an intentional and ongoing offensive.” It also alleges that Israel
deliberately blocks Palestinians from obtaining drinking water, opposes
non-Jews from becoming citizens, and has assassinated or imprisoned all
of the non-corrupt Palestinian leaders.
According to the wrapper, Conflict Kitchen is supported in part by
the Heinz Endowment, which is chaired by Kerry’s wife, Teresa Heinz
Kerry.
A spokesman for the Heinz Endowment told the Washington Free Beacon that it gave Conflict Kitchen a $50,000 grant last April to support its relocation to another site in Pittsburgh.
The Conflict Kitchen claims to be interested in other conflicts. And indeed, it is.
Previously, Conflict Kitchen served Iranian food along with leaflets
that included quotes that claimed a nuclear Iran would not be a threat
and that the United States would profit from any military intervention.
“Iran should equally have the right to develop nuclear weapons,” said one quote on wrapper.
“In general, Iranian people have no issues with the Jews,” said
another quote. “What Iranians resent is the creation of the state of
Israel because of the disaster that it created for millions of
Palestinians. To this day, Israel refuses to recognize the United
Nation’s resolutions for Israel to leave the occupied lands.”
The Heinz Endowment was not listed as a supporter of Conflict Kitchen on the Iranian food wrapper.
According to Conflict Kitchen’s Palestinian leaflets, it also
receives funding from the Sprout Fund, the Benter Foundation, and the
Studio for Creative Inquiry. The Benter Foundation is run by
horse-racing tycoon and Democracy Alliance member Bill Benter, who was revealed to be a major funder of liberal Middle East lobbying group J Street in 2010.
Columbia University professor Rashid Khalidi, well-known for his
anti-Israel rhetoric, slammed J Street, an organization which claims to
be pro-Israel, for failing to adequately oppose Israel's military
actions in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge.
Speaking at the "Open Hillel" conference, Khalidi said that J Street
"needs more radical critique...if it wants real change,"Jeremy Pressman wrote on Twitter. One Jewish Voice for Peace activist noted
that Khalidi stated to J Street that "if u [sic] call Israel's attacks
on Gaza 'self defense' you can't be agents of change." Khalidi's remarks
were met with strong applause.
...
According to one attendee, J Street U members in attendance huddled
together at the conclusion of the speech, were "visibly upset" and could
be overheard reassuring each other not to worry about
Khalidi's demands.
Is Obama getting ready to throw J Street under the bus?
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
