Obama hijacks Chanuka, makes it into a 'Palestinian' holiday
The White House threw an afternoon 'Chanuka party' this past week, which featured the Maccabeats and one 'rabbi' Susan Talve, who gave an appalling anti-Israel harangue which apparently went unanswered (and has not, as far as I have seen, been reported at all in the Israeli media). It took the President of the United States less than 90 seconds to start promoting the 'Palestinians' at the event, but it's Talve's speech (which starts at 8:48 in the video below) that is truly appalling.
Let's go to the videotape. More after the video (Hat Tip: Instapundit).
The 'party' was exposed by blogger Daniel Greenfield on Friday.
Obama's Chanukah parties have had issues in the past. But this time
it teetered over into full-blown violently offensive territory. Obama's
own remarks were boilerplate inoffensive stuff. Israel's President
Rivlin, a political hack who desperately sucks up to the media, was
equally insipid.
But the White House chose Susan Talve to
light the Menorah. Talve is a member of the anti-Israel group T'ruah
which is currently promoting assorted "soft BDS" programs.
She's also a
Ferguson activist. Her behavior was deeply insulting to the religious
Jewish community and made it clear that the White House was determined
to hijack even a Chanukah party to promote an anti-Jewish agenda.
So the general conviviality of the Chanukah party was disrupted by a
crazed rant from Susan Talve in which she seemed determined to jam as
many leftist talking points as possible in her limited time. Instead of
talking about Chanukah, Talve blathered on about getting, "guns off our
streets" and to "clean up the fires of toxic nuclear waste".
Talve screeched, "I stand here with my fierce family of clergy and black
lives matter activists who took to the streets of Ferguson".
Having celebrated the race riots which destroyed a community, she
pivoted to Syrian Muslim migrants. Chanukah is a celebration of the
Maccabees defeating a Syrian occupation, but Talve may not even know
that. Radical clergy tend to be light on the religion and heavy on the
social justice.
Instead she rambled on about how the "gates of this nation would stay open for all immigrants and all refugees".
Then, not satisfied with having made a disgrace of the Chanukah
ceremony, Susan Talve declared, "I stand here to light these lights to
say no the darkness of Islamophobia and Homophobia and Transphobia."
Talve babbled about insuring "justice for Palestinians" and began
gleefully chanting, "Ins'Allah, Ins'Allah". Or "Allah Willing".
Power Line's Paul Mirengoff makes it clear that the Jewish community ought to feel insulted.
Talve’s position on these matters is well known, as is her
outspokenness. Team Obama had to know, or strongly suspect, that Talve
would deliver remarks like these. Presumably, that’s why it selected
her.
If Greenfield’s account is accurate, it makes me wonder whether Obama has much use for Jews other than as cheerleaders for his “social justice” agenda — in other words, left liberalism.
...
I should note, however, that it was Israel’s president, who first
said “Ins’Allah,” after Talve talked about justice for the Palestinians.
Talve then repeated it several times.
The Israeli president looked towards President Obama as he said this,
thus living up to Greenfield’s description of him as a “suck up.”
Israeli Jews live among Arabs, and I have heard them say “Ins’Allah.”
I wouldn’t have expected to hear it during a Jewish religious
ceremony, but the White House event turned into more of a political
event than a religious one.
I have to wonder who the kipot in the audience were and why none of them had anything to say about this. I had never heard a speech like that before east of Berzerkely.
While singing the blessings for the Hanukkah candles, Talve added a word to the second prayer
which states that God “performed miracles for our forefathers in those
days, at this time.” She added the Hebrew word which would translate as
the feminine “foremothers” following the recitation of that word in the
prayer.
In Reform prayers, female equivalents to male words are often added to the liturgy.
Some conservative commentators expressed outrage at the introduction of politics to the reception.
“Yet again, Obama disrespects Jewish people, this time on Hanukkah,” radio personality Mark Levin Saturday posted on Facebook,
Levin linked to an American Thinker article where Thomas Lifson wrote, “Does anyone remember a White House Iftar dinner calling for an end to Islamic persecution of Jews? I didn’t think so.”
“Her behavior was deeply insulting to the religious Jewish community
and made it clear that the White House was determined to hijack even a
Chanukah party to promote an anti-Jewish agenda,” Daniel Greenfield wrote in FrontPage Magazine.
I've got to wonder whether anyone there other than Rivlin had a clue what the words of Maoz Tzur (which they sang at the end) mean....
I have been sitting on this story since last night when Glenn Reynolds (Instapundit) posted it on Twitter and I posted it there. I did not (and really still do not but have to reboot my computer anyway) have time to post it here. It seems to have gotten little attention since. I guess the Jewish community (and American Jews in particular) have become so accustomed to being belittled and insulted by the mamzer in the White House that no one even reacts to it anymore.
We Jews have no pride in our God, in ourselves, or in our religion and its traditions. Shame on us.
Red Sox outfielder skipping trip to the White House
The World Champion Boston Red Sox are taking advantage of the fact that they are playing in Baltimore to drop in on the White House on Tuesday. But one player won't be going along. No, this is not another TimThomas story (although the comments about the visit on Facebook were surprisingly nasty given that Massachusetts is probably the bluest state in the Union). But Jonny Gomes is staying in Baltimore.
BDD has learned that Turnaround King Jonny Gomes has decided to stay in
Baltimore this morning as the team bus prepares for a trip to the White
House. Gomes said this was not in protest of any government policy or
activity, i.e. former Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, but it is a protest
of the fact that Red Sox manager John Farrell elected to keep Gomes on
the bench in Boston's 2-1 Opening Day loss to the Orioles.
Gomes could have pinch-hit for new Red Sox catcher A.J.
Pierzynski in the eighth inning, or again, batted for the struggling
Jackie Bradley Jr. in the ninth inning. But Farrell chose to let the man
with a World Series tattoo rot on the bench.
Gomes indicated that he may hit the Baltimore aquarium today in lieu of
the White House trip, but stopped short of saying he was going to head
back to Boston and hope for a better fate in the home opener on Friday
at Fenway.
Every time Israel's interests are in conflict with America's, must
Israel capitulate to American dictates or risk compromising the two
countries' long alliance? A cursory look at recent history reveals that
Israel has consistently rebuffed American pressure when critical
interests were at stake, strengthening the relationship.
Remember this guy? His name is Abdul Rahman Ali Issa Al-Salimi Alharbi and he's the Saudi national who at one time was a 'person of interest' in the Boston Marathon terror attack, and who was supposedly deported to Saudi Arabia after Michelle Obama came to visit him at the hospital?
Would you believe he returned to the White House on July 4?
He's the guy on the right. He was part of a group of 'military families.'
Morning in America? Bush visits White House, steals show from Obama
Former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura returned to the White House to unveil their portraits on Friday. And they reminded the American people of what they've been missing for the last three and a half years.
Anti-corruption campaigners lauded the case against the shadowy former aide, Mohammed Rashid, as a sign of the maturing of the Palestinian political system, although the probe also appeared to be tinged with political intrigue. Rashid, who has in the past denied wrongdoing, made veiled threats on a website to disclose purported secrets about the rise to power of Arafat's successor, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. And Palestinian watchdogs, while praising growing government vigilance about corruption, expressed concern that such investigations are at times being used selectively to settle personal scores. The tall, dark-haired Rashid left the Palestinian territories after Arafat's death in November 2004, and his current whereabouts were not immediately known. Rafik Natche, head of the Palestinian Anti-Corruption Commission, said Rashid holds business interests in Jordan, Egypt, Montenegro, Iraq and the United Arab Emirates, and that the Palestinian Authority has asked all five countries to freeze his assets and extradite him.
Here's what's important in these paragraphs: "although the probe also appeared to be tinged with political intrigue" and "expressed concern that such investigations are at times being used selectively to settle personal scores." Here's what's misdirection: "a sign of the maturing of the Palestinian political system."
Rashid, for whatever reason, has fallen out of favor. That's why he's being targeted. Or maybe it's as simple as what Willie Sutton reputedly said about banks, Mohammed Rashid is where the money is. As Ronen Bergman and David Ratner wrote in 1997, in The man who swallowed Gaza:
This is how Yasser Arafat's Fund B works: The Al-Bahr Company, for example, belongs to his chef de bureau and economic advisor. The cement monopoly is run by mystery man Muhammad Rashid, who signed the multi- million dollar contract with Dor Energy on behalf of the Authority. In a first interview with an Israeli newspaper, Rashid confirms the existence of a secret bank account in Tel Aviv. ... The Hahashmonaim branch of Bank Leumi is where Palestinian Authority chief Yasser Arafat maintains what people in the know in the territories call "A-Sunduk A- Thani," Fund B, the Chairman's second, secret budget. According to an investigation conducted by top brass of the nations contributing to the Authority, only two people have the right to sign vis-a-vis this account: Yasser Arafat and his senior economic advisor, mystery man Muhammad Rashid, known also by the name Khaled Salaam. According to other sources, the Palestinian finance minister, Ahmad Zuhadi Nashashibi, also has access to the account. Since it was opened in 1994, Israel has transferred at least NIS 500 million into the secret account in Tel Aviv. An International Monetary Fund (IMF) internal document in Ha'aretz's possession raises the possibility that the sums are even greater. The IMF states definitively that the account in Tel Aviv "is not under the control or supervision of the Palestinian finance ministry."
So if you say that you hold Jews and Israel to higher standards remember equally that they have been treated, misexplained, misunderstood and lied about to lower standards. That there are people--often the main supposed witnesses to the things you denounce Israel for--who have a vested interest in making Israel look bad and who are willing to lie, along with reporters and others who have an antagonism to Israel. What are you doing to correct that side of the balance? I'm going to hold you to a higher standard in your coverage of Israel and of Jews for the same reason.
Which is appropriate as I just ran across this brutal critique of Middle East reporting by Sultan Knish, How to write about Israel:
Pay a visit to Jerusalem. Mention a place or two that you like to eat, make sure that it is owned by Arabs, accept their tale of being here for thousands of years with complete credulity. If they mention that they are worried about East Jerusalem being taken over by the Palestinian Authority, don't report that. Do report any complaints that they have about the Judaization of Jerusalem. Draw a picture of the neighborhood as a wonderfully multicultural place dating back to when the Jordanians expelled all the Jews—that is now under assault by the returning Jews. Mourn all the tourists and the Jewish families who are getting in the way of your orientalism. Be sure to remind readers that the Muslim name of the city, or as you will write, the Arab name, is Al-Quds, and that it is holy to three great religions. Visit with politicians. Israeli Prime Ministers will invariably be unpleasant obstructionist types, if they make jokes, describe it as a transparent effort to curry favor with you. Generals are even worse. Press them about the separation wall, checkpoints, misery and deprivation in the territories. Then get your NGO friends to introduce you to friendly left-wing pols who will commiserate with you about the state of the peace process and the leap of faith that needs to be taken to make peace. Get a quote from them about the next generation and describe them as saddened by their government's unwilling to make peace. Palestinian politicians are always willing to make peace, even when they aren't. Work at it and you will get a hypothetical quote about their willingness to one day live in peace with the Jews. Turn that quote into the centerpiece of your article. Contrast it with Israeli leaders who still refuse to come to the table. Never ask them any tough questions about the budget, their support for terrorists or why they refuse to negotiate. Instead feed them softball questions, take their talking points and plug them into the template for the same article that your predecessors have been writing since the seventies.
3) Do we need White House plumbers?
It seems clear that some of the particulars of the recently attempted underwear bombing of an American flight were leaked to the press. Some have suggested that it was sources within the administration. The New York Times reports, F.B.I. Chief Says Leak on Qaeda Plot Is Being Investigated:
At a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee, the director, Robert S. Mueller III, said that the disclosure of the information about the plot, which was first reported by The Associated Press on May 7, compromised the United States’ operations against Al Qaeda. Mr. Mueller said that such a leak threatens operations, “puts at risk the lives of sources, makes it much more difficult to recruit sources, and damages our relationships with our foreign partners.” ... The investigation continues an unprecedented focus by the Obama administration on targeting the sources of unauthorized disclosures of classified information to the news media. The administration has prosecuted six such cases, compared with a total of three under all previous presidents.
No further details are provided about the prosecutions mentioned and it isn't an area I'm familiar with. Though if the Bush administration had proceeded with similar prosecutions at an "unprecedented" level, I'm sure the New York Times would have been a lot more vocal about it.
The problem with public housing is that the residents are not the owners. The people that live in the house did not earn the house, but were loaned the property from the true owners, the taxpayers.
Because of this, the residents do not have the "pride of ownership" that comes with the hard work necessary. In fact, the opposite happens and the residents resent their benefactors because the very house is a constant reminder that they themselves did not earn the right to live in the house.
They do not appreciate the value of the property and see no need to maintain or respect it in any way.
The result is the same whether you are talking about a studio apartment or a magnificent mansion full of priceless antiques. If the people who live there do not feel they earned the privilege, they will make this known through their actions.
The pictures below illustrate the point:
The Resolute Desk was built from the timbers of the HMS Resolute and was a gift from Queen Victoria to President Rutherford B. Hayes. It is considered a national treasure and icon of the presidency.
Mr. Obama, you are not in a hut in Kenya or public housing in Chicago. With all due respect, get your ***** feet off our desk! (Hat Tip: Stephen D).
Messiah's times: Obama seeking advice on Egypt from bipartisan panel, including (gulp!) former Bush NSC official
I think this is a first. President Obama has invited a bipartisan panel of experts, which was among the few groups to warn of the coming crisis in Egypt, to advise him on how to handle what's going on in Egypt. The panel includes (gulp!) former Bush administration National Security Council official Elliott Abrams.
Several foreign policy scholars and former officials have been urging the U.S. administration for months to prepare for the end of the Hosni Mubarak era and the instability that would accompany it.
Now that the administration has found itself scrambling the past few days to, first, try to avert a bloodbath in Egypt and more broadly, figure out what to do amid a hugely complicated power transition there with much at stake for the U.S., it's worth noting the people who have been pleading for policy attention on this issue long in advance. Chief among them, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Michele Dunne, a former NSC and State Department Policy Planning official, and the Brookings Institution's Robert Kagan, who co-chair a bipartisan working group on Egypt.
...
To their credit, the National Security Council's top Middle East hands Dennis Ross and Dan Shapiro met with Dunne and Kagan in November to discuss the issue (at a stuck moment of the peace process which has remained stuck), and other democracy and human rights specialists in the administration, including the NSC's Samantha Power and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East democracy issues Tamara Wittes, have frequently met with them. But the regional advisors' priorities mattered most, advocates believed, and to a great extent, much of their focus (as for that of the principals above them, and indeed, the wider policy community and media) has been on the peace process, and looking at Egypt through the prism of its role in supporting the peace process.
Just got late word that Dunne, Kagan and others from their group including former Bush NSC Middle East hand Elliott Abrams, as well as George Washington University Middle East expert Marc Lynch, have been invited to the White House Monday.
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
