WorldNetDaily is reporting that New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who is currently here on a visit, is vowing to form a coalition to oppose American funding of Ehud Olmert's convergenceconsolidation surrender plan.
"It is absurd that the American taxpayers should fund a plan that will ethnically cleanse an area of Jews by expelling tens of thousands of Jews from their homes," stated Assemblyman Dov Hikind, D-Brooklyn.
"And why should U.S. citizens whose government is in the midst of fighting a war on terror pay to help establish what will clearly become a center for global jihad after Israel evacuates?"
WorldNetDaily continues:
Hikind said he is working with Christian and Jewish organization to establish a coalition to sponsor public information campaigns about what he called the dangers of an Israeli withdrawal from Judea and Samaria, and to lead solidarity missions to communities Olmert seeks to evacuate.
The politician also said he will personally petition U.S. senators and congressmen to drop their support for Olmert's plan.
"There are a lot of members of Congress who are pro-Israel and who blindly support the Israeli administration believing it is in America's and Israel's best interests. [Sounds like AIPAC. CiJ] I think they would be very receptive to learning Olmert's withdrawal plan is immoral and strategically disastrous," said Hikind.
"Hamas explicitly declared a victory for terror after 9,000 Jews in Gaza were driven from their homes. Gaza is now a terror base for local and global jihad groups, al-Qaida has moved in and rockets are fired from Gaza almost daily. The last thing America needs now is another major terror zone in Judea and Samaria. And Israelis would get Palestinian and global terrorists situated just outside their major population centers with rockets aimed at them."
Hikind called the Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria "the home center of Zionism. These are some of the most dedicated people to the land and state of Israel living in biblical Jewish communities. It is a crime to uproot them."
Here's what I find to be the most interesting tidbit in this article:
"The Bush administration does not have faith that Olmert has the parliamentary coalition needed to sustain the firestorm of political activity that is sure to surround the implementation of the withdrawal," said a political source, speaking on condition of anonymity. "They do not see him as the strongman Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was to them."
Hysterical: Jon Stewart on Dov Hikind's Purim costume
As many of you know, there is a custom on Purim to dress up in costume. Here in Israel, people dress up in appropriate costumes, like the ones below, and no one makes a big deal out of it. For an example, see below:
Of course, in America, where they actually know what that costume signifies, no one would wear a Fez (here, everyone wears them). Here's an example from America:
And with that we come to New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind. Hikind, the man that Chuckie Schumer doesn't want to be, dressed up in a costume that would not have made anyone bat an eyelash in Israel: He colored his face black (that's him in the middle).
That was too much for the politically correct New York City media and for some in the black community in New York who are looking for an excuse to seethe.
But Jon Stewart has the answer. Let's go to the videotape (Hat Tip: Debbie R).
This ad, sponsored by New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind, is appearing in many Anglo-Jewish weeklies this week.
NEWS FROM ASSEMBLYMAN DOV HIKIND
December 6, 2006 for immediate release
Contact: Charni Sochet 718-853-9616 917-873-9194
HIKIND LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGN IMPLORING ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER:
“OLMERT, PLEASE RESIGN. FOR THE SAKE OF ISRAEL AND THE JEWISH PEOPLE.”
“OLMERT IS ARROGANT, IRRESPONSIBLE, DEFEATIST & INCOMPETENT.”
FULL-PAGE ADS PLACED IN ANGLO-JEWISH WEEKLIES THROUGHOUT U.S. REACHING MILLIONS
“Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting different results,” said Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn). “Unfortunately, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has become an expert at failing over and over again and expecting success instead. He has failed in Lebanon, in Sderot, in Gaza. He is weak when he should be strong, demonstrating ineptitude and incompetence in the face of growing threats from Hamas, Hezbollah, Iran, and Syria. Olmert is arrogant, refusing to acknowledge and apologize for the defeat in Lebanon.
“I know Ehud Olmert, and I like him as a person, but his tenure as prime minister has been one of abject failure. Israel cannot go on like this. These ads mark the launch of a campaign to save Olmert from himself – and to save Israel from Olmert.” The ads will appear in seven Anglo-Jewish weeklies in New York; New Jersey; Florida; Washington, DC; and California.
“Olmert is overwhelmed, failing to stop Kassam rocket fire on Sderot. Olmert’s desperation does not permit him to recognize the futility of disengagement, as he continues with his delusional fantasies about realignment. The West Bank cannot be forged into the terror breeding ground that Gaza has become.
“More than ever, Israel needs strong leadership. Olmert does not have what it takes: integrity, decisiveness, determination, vision, the strength and skill to lead Israel. Ehud, please resign, for the sake of Israel and the Jewish people.”
Bakehilla, a local Hebrew weekly (no web site) reports that New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind claims to have had a conversation with Republican frontrunner Rudolph Giuliani in which Giuliani promised him that if elected, he will 'use all of his efforts' to free Jonathan Pollard, who has been in an American jail for more than twenty years for spying for Israel. A close friend of Hikind's told Bakehilla that he has 'no doubt' that Giuliani will keep his word. Hikind plans to seek a similar commitment from Hillary Clinton.
But some activists have expressed doubt whether Giuiliani will be able to keep his commitment saying that it does not depend solely on him.
As many of you may recall, one of the reasons that Binyamin Netanyahu signed the Why Why Wye agreement was that then-President Bill Clinton committed to release Jonathan Pollard in return for Netanyahu signing the agreement. Clinton broke his promise when then-CIA directorGeorge Tenet threatened to resign if Pollard was released.
The bottom line is that if he wants to keep a commitment to release Pollard, Giuliani - or for that matter whoever else is elected President - can just pardon him. And they doesn't have to wait until their last month in office to do it.
Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee will speak at a reception at Jerusalem's Shepherd's Hotel next week according to a report that was confirmed on Wednesday. Contrary to a previous report, Huckabee will not do his Fox News program live from the site on which 20 new Jewish homes are to be constructed.
Huckabee's stop at the hotel will be part of a larger tour around the country, meant to highlight opposition to recent US policies, in particular the Obama administration's demands that Israel halt construction in east Jerusalem.
"This is an opportunity to shine the spotlight on Obama's policy in Jerusalem, which has just been a horror," New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind told The Jerusalem Post.
Hikind, who will be traveling with Huckabee on the tour, also said he is planning to bring thousands of Americans, to Israel soon in a show of solidarity with the Jewish state.
"But Huckabee's arrival is significant because, this is a guy who's a major figure in America, and in my opinion will be a presidential candidate again," Hikind said. "To have a guy like him, you know, from Arkansas, come at this particular time, and say the kinds of things he's going to say, it's going to send a very strong message to the Israeli people and to the American administration."
Trip organizers were equally enthused, telling the Post that Huckabee was currently the No. 1 Republican consideration for the 2012 presidential race, and "one of the best friends Israel has in America."
"Huckabee has also said, in a personal conversation with me, that one of his first acts, should he be elected president, would be to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem," said the trip's organizer, Dr. Joseph Frager, who chairs the American Friends of Ateret Cohanim.
The Republican party has a lot of potential votes to gain from Jews who are disgusted with the scorn and disdain with which President Obama has treated Israel. Mike Huckabee is a religious Christian and an ordained Baptist minister. While unfortunately, there are many Jews who believe that all religious Christians want to convert us to Christianity, the fact is that without our Christian supporters, Israel would not enjoy the support that we enjoy in the US Congress (ask anyone at AIPAC). Curiously, in my experience, the fear of someone wanting to convert us seems to run much higher among non-Orthodox Jews than among the Orthodox (so do the intermarriage rates, as I think I mentioned the other day). In any event, given how miserably Israel and Jews have been treated under the Obama administration, I believe that many Jews will be willing to look at a Republican candidate in 2012 - even if the Republican candidate is a religious Christian.
Huckabee: 'US support of Israeli territorial compromise is misguided'
Former Arkansas governor and potential Republican Vice Presidential nominee Mike Huckabee is here visiting this week. While I have expressed some skepticism with respect to Huckabee in the past, this week he seems to be saying almost all the right things.
"It is a historic reality that Jerusalem, and the entire land, was originally intended to be a homeland for the Jewish people," he said. "The Palestinians should in fact have a place and opportunity to settle but it doesn't have to be in Jerusalem."
Palestinians demand all of east Jerusalem including the city's holy sites as capital of their future state.
Huckabee said that US support of Israeli territorial compromise was misguided.
"Sometimes politicians get wrapped up in what we can achieve rather than what we should achieve," he said.
At an overlook of the Old City and east Jerusalem, the former presidential candidate also said that Israel needs to distance its enemies as much as possible.
"If someone has a bomb or a missile or a gun pointed within a few feet of me I would want them to be as far away as possible," he said. "You don't have to be a military genius or strategist to know this."
New York Congressman Dov Hikind, who accompanied Huckabee on his trip, said that the issue boiled down to the right of the Jewish people to live anywhere in Jerusalem.
"Imagine if in our neighborhood I would say that Blacks cannot live here," he told Huckabee as they stood on the rooftop of a Jewish home in the Arab section of the city's Abu-Tor neighborhood.
For his part, Hikind lavished unstinting praise on Huckabee.
"He is one of the exceptional supporters of the State of Israel...who is not wrapped up with the Oslo Syndrome," Hikind said, referring to the failed Israeli-Palestinian peace accords of the 1990s.
Huckabee said that coming to Israel repeatedly reminded him of both the heritage and the founding values of the United States.
"It may be a tiny country but it occupies an extraordinarily large footprint in the day to day struggle for peace in the world," he said.
He said that Israel has succeeded in overcoming the tremendous odds and suffering and yet constantly looks forward instead of backwards.
"It is a microcosm of everything that the US understands about freedom," he concluded.
Stop supporting the ASA or give up your government funding
Two New York legislators plan to introduce a bill that would cut off government funding from any university that supports the American Studies Association or any other organization that boycotts Israel.
Senate co-leader Jeffrey Klein (D-Bronx) and Assemblyman Dov Hikind
(D-Brooklyn) plan to introduce a bill that would give colleges and
universities in New York 30 days to withdraw their support from groups
like the American Studies Association, which recently voted for such an
academic boycott.
New York University, Cornell, Columbia, SUNY Buffalo and SUNY Stony
Brook are among the institutions affiliated with the ASA, made up of
5,000 professors. The group overwhelmingly voted to bar Israeli academic
institutions from collaborations with their campuses over the country’s
treatment of Palestinians.
“Make no mistake: the ASA’s boycott is targeted discrimination against
Israel that betrays the values of academic freedom that we hold dear,”
Klein and Hikind said in a joint statement.
The legislation would also prohibit employees of New York State’s
public universities from participating in conferences sponsored by
groups that participate in discriminatory boycotts.
New York University President John Sexton and Provost David McLaughlin
on Dec. 20 sent a letter expressing “disappointment, disagreement and
opposition” to the boycott vote. An NYU professor, Lisa Duggan, is the
president-elect of the American Studies Association.
Haaretz is reporting that Republican Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee will do a Fox News program from the Shepherd Hotel in Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah section on Sunday in a show of solidarity with Israel in its battle with President Obumbler (Hat Tip: Memeorandum). Haaretz subsequently questions the report.
Former U.S. presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee plans to broadcast his weekend show on Fox News from the site of a disputed Israeli construction project in East Jerusalem, a New York politician has told Haaretz.
New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind said Huckabee will air the talkshow during a solidarity visit to the site of the project, which is in the Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Hikind, who is active in right-wing Jewish causes, told Haaretz that dozens of U.S. activists will participate in the mission, in order to express their support for the project and the man behind it, Irving Moskowitz.
A Fox News Channel spokesperson told Haaretz that this report was inaccurate, and that Huckabee was not planning to broadcast a show from Israel.
Well, if he decides to do one, can someone please get me into it?
Seriously, I believe that Republicans can make a lot of political hay here given the shabby treatment Israel's been getting from Obama and the strong support for Israel among Evangelical Christians, a natural Republican constituency.
I look for Huckabee, Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney all to show up here over the next few months.
Chuck, you and I go back to our many long dinners and debates in the
college dining room in the late 1960s, when your sensible moderation
first became evident. A hallmark of your career since then has been
consistently to show good sense and courage on Middle Eastern issues.
As you noted with pride in an April 2010 interview, your family name "comes from the word shomer,
which means guardian" in Hebrew. You mentioned that your ancestors were
guardians of the Jewish ghetto in the Ukraine, adding: "I believe
HaShem [God], actually, gave me my name, as one of my roles that is very
important in the United States Senate is to be a shomer for Israel. I will continue to be that with every bone in my body."
You expressed having had "genuine concerns"
about Hagel prior to your White House meeting with him; now is the
moment for you to follow the dictates of your conscience. I hope you
will now come out against the Hagel nomination, a shift that will have
profound repercussions for the country and secure your reputation as a shomer for U.S.-Israel relations.
The more things change, the more they stay the same
New York's WCBS television is reporting that the regions 'Jewish leaders' are outraged at the 'change' they have observed in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (Hat Tip: Memeorandum). The 'change' is that Mrs. Clinton is hammering Israel to speed up aid to Gaza.
"I am very surprised, frankly, at this statement from the United States government and from the secretary of state," said Mortimer Zuckerman, publisher of the New York Daily News and member of the NYC Jewish Community Relations Council.
"I liked her a lot more as a senator from New York," Assemblyman Dov Hikind, D-Brooklyn, said. "Now, I wonder as I used to wonder who the real Hillary Clinton is."
Clinton's decision to hammer Israel comes as the Clintons and President Barack Obama are planning to give the Palestinians $900 million toward the rebuilding of Gaza in the wake of the Israeli offensive that was sparked by Hamas rocket fire.
"We are working across the government to see what our approach will be," Clinton said.
"I don't believe that we should be in a position at this point to do anything to strengthen Hamas," Zuckerman said. "We surely know what Hamas stands for as I say they are the forward battalions of Iran."
For some, Clinton's change of position is upsetting.
"I feel it's unfortunate that they don't continue the policy of the Bush administration, which was much more pro-Israel," said Akiva Homnick of Jerusalem.
"I happen to have a lot of family who live in Israel and I feel, personally, when you are dealing with people who are very strong against you, you have to stand up to them," said Tami Davudoff of Kew Gardens.
I fail to see the 'change' of which Zuckerman and Hikind complain. Hillary was always 'pro-Palestinian' as the picture above (of her kissing Suha Arafat in 2000 right after Mrs. Arafat accused Israel of poisoning the 'Palestinians' water) shows. As Glenn Reynolds points out, she seems about the same to me.
At the Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg thinks the 'Jewish leaders' are 'over-reacting.'
Do I have to point out that this doesn't make her George Galloway? I understand Israel's hesitations here -- it has a kidnapped soldier, Gilad Shalit, in Gaza -- but a comprehensive easing of tensions might make Shalit's release more, and not less, likely.
I don't know if I would say that the 'Jewish leaders' are 'over-reacting.' I don't believe there is any greater chance (and in fact, there is probably less of a chance) that Shalit will be released if that release is not tied to the reopening of the crossing points into Gaza. But then, what do I know? I'm the one who said that Shalit's release should have been a goal of the operation while the IDF was still in Gaza.
Obama transforming American Jewish voting patterns
This deserves a lot more thought than I have time to give it right now.
It took Ronald Reagan time to determine that, rather than leaving the Democrats, it was the Democrat Party that had left him. So, too, the American South. Once Southerners had aligned with the Democrats during the Lincoln years, they put their hopes in that party, joined that party, and regularly voted for that party. A century later, when they truly were conservative Republicans in spirit, they still were joining the Democrat Party, people like Rick Perry in Texas, because that was where political opportunity for advancement and a career in government lay. Similarly, in liberal northeastern cities, it became so hopeless for a conservative to seek office as a Republicans that it became commonplace instead to see election campaigns pitting the "mainstream Democrat" against the "conservative Democrat." Because the local state Republican parties could not get their acts together in such a climate, national elections would see "Democrats for Nixon" or "Democrats for Reagan" as the major Republican organizing models in one northeastern city after another. In the same way, rock-solid conservatives, such as Orthodox Jewish New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who has represented his rock-solid conservative, Orthodox Jewish district in Brooklyn for 30 years since 1983, still run on the Democrat line. If Hikind had tried running as a Republican in 1983, he knew he would not have been elected, much as conservatives in the South could not get elected on the Republican line until the most recent era, finally terminating the paradox with the 2010 watershed nationwide shellacking of Democrats. The Republican Party owes a great deal to George McGovern, Jimmy Carter, and Barack Obama.
As the 2010 watershed shellacking elections evidenced, Obama has been transformational, opening new vistas for Republicans. That transformation slowly is reaching the Jewish electorate, reflected by Orthodox Jews electing non-Jewish Republican conservative Bob Turner, even as America's most prominent conservative analysts today include deeply conservative voices like Mark Levin and Michael Savage, as well as mainstream conservative thinkers like Ben Stein, Dennis Prager, Michael Medved, Charles Krauthammer, Jeff Jacoby, and Rabbis like Daniel Lapin and Aryeh Spero. They continue in a tradition going back to American Jewish conservatives and libertarians like Norman Podhoretz, Milton Friedman and even Ayn Rand (renamed from Alisa Rosenbaum). Newly emerging Jewish voices in conservative America include Eric Cantor and Josh Mandel, who is seeking the U.S. Senate seat in Ohio now held by Sherrod Brown, as well as Ben Shapiro, Steven Plaut, and the late Andrew Beitbart, who was raised Jewish by his adoptive parents. There are many more in the blogosphere. Major Jewish support for Republican conservative candidates has been coming from a geometrically expanding base of donors best typified by Nevada casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, now offsetting those on the left. Obama has been transformational.
I hope New Yorkers aren't dumb enough to believe this statement by Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY).
In our meeting Monday, Senator Hagel clarified a number of his past statements and positions and elaborated on several others.
On Iran, Senator Hagel rejected a strategy of containment and
expressed the need to keep all options on the table in confronting that
country. But he didn’t stop there. In our conversation, Senator Hagel
made a crystal-clear promise that he would do “whatever it takes” to
stop Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons, including the use of
military force. He said his “top priority” as Secretary of Defense would
be the planning of military contingencies related to Iran. He added
that he has already received a briefing from the Pentagon on this topic.
In terms of sanctions, past statements by Senator Hagel sowed
concerns that he considered unilateral sanctions against Iran to be
ineffective. In our meeting, however, Senator Hagel clarified that he
‘completely’ supports President Obama’s current sanctions against Iran.
He added that further unilateral sanctions against Iran could be
effective and necessary.
On Hezbollah, Senator Hagel stressed that-notwithstanding any letters
he refused to sign in the past-he has always considered the group to be
a terrorist organization.
On Hamas, I asked Senator Hagel about a letter he signed in March
2009 urging President Obama to open direct talks with that group’s
leaders.
In response, Senator Hagel assured me that he today believes there
should be no negotiations with Hamas, Hezbollah or any other terrorist
group until they renounce violence and recognize Israel’s right to
exist.
Senator Hagel volunteered that he has always supported Israel’s right
to retaliate militarily in the face of terrorist attacks by Hezbollah
or Hamas. He understood the predicament Israel is in when terrorist
groups hide rocket launchers among civilian populations and stage
attacks from there. He supported Israel’s right to defend herself even
in those difficult circumstances.
In keeping with our promises to help equip Israel, Senator Hagel
pledged to work towards the on-time delivery of the F-35 joint strike
fighters to Israel, continue the cooperation between Israel and the U.S.
on Iron Dome, and recommend to the President that we refuse to join in
any NATO exercises if Turkey should continue to insist on excluding
Israel from them. Senator Hagel believes Israel must maintain its
Qualitative Military Edge.
Regarding his unfortunate use of the term “Jewish lobby” to refer to
certain pro-Israel groups, Senator Hagel understands the sensitivity
around such a loaded term and regrets saying it.
I know some will question whether Senator Hagel’s assurances are
merely attempts to quiet critics as he seeks confirmation to this
critical post. But I don’t think so. Senator Hagel realizes the
situation in the Middle East has changed, with Israel in a dramatically
more endangered position than it was even five years ago. His views are
genuine, and reflect this new reality.
Schumer may not want to be Dov Hikind. But Hikind retains his dignity, his self-respect and his integrity. Schumer has none of the above. They are gone forever.
Remember when Hillary Clinton loved Haredim? Sure you do - when she needed them to vote for her (Hat Tip: Will).
Funny, that when looking for votes in her successful senate bid she was comfortable to visit the most gender separated and most secluded Hasidic Shtetl in the US (and very likely on earth), and during her primary campaign her surrogates marched in Williamsburg, with Satmar leaders, in a gender separated group.
Haredi Jews have the rights to live their tradition in their neighborhoods. When campaigning for President Clinton understood it, as evident in the Jerusalem Post article “Clinton campaign marches to haredi Brooklyn beat .” According to the reporter, “female campaign staffers had to be sent to the back of the line of marchers so that there would not be any untoward mixing of the sexes. And then volunteers wearing Hebrew Hillary pins worked fast to remove the blue Stars of David stuck on their signs, lest they be confused with Israeli flags, a definite no-no in the anti-Zionist Satmar enclave.” This group included very hi-level Clinton supporters, like disgraced US Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-New York), who “shouted through a bullhorn.”
BTW, it’s interesting to read in that piece that “Orthodox Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a longtime friend of Clinton’s, said that he supported her work in the Senate, he added he would not be taking time to return from Albany to cast a vote in the primary on her behalf. “I’m not that enthusiastic to rush back to vote for one or the other,” said Hikind. “With Clinton, it’s the old story. What does she really believe in? She is measuring how the wind is blowing.”
He also said that many in the Orthodox community had not forgotten Clinton’s kissing Suha Arafat while she was first lady.
“They can’t get over the kiss, which is ridiculous in my view.” Now, with the benefit of the hindsight and his outspokenness against Obama, should he have backed Clinton more strongly?
Our rabbis warned us about the likes of Hillary in Avoth. "They appear to like us ... but they do not stand for us in our hour of need." (Sorry - my Avoth is packed in the checked bag). Indeed.
Rep. Dov Hikind tees off on Obama's double standards for Israel
Dov Hikind is angry and he's not going to take it from the Obama administration anymore.
Let's go to the videotape.
By the way, the story about the second-guessing comment may be found here.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not deny a report that
he told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Ambassador to
Israel Dan Shapiro "not to ever second guess me again" on how to deal
with Hamas, though he said the report did not reflect the general "tone
and substance" of the calls.
"First let me make a
general statement about our relationship with the United States,"
Netanyahu said in English on Saturday evening when an American
journalist asked about the report from Matt Lee of the Associated Press.
"I think the United States has been terrific."
Netanyahu then praised
President Barack Obama's "unequivocal stand with Israel on our right to
defend ourselves" as well as the "untiring efforts" of Kerry. He also
called Shapiro "a great ambassador" and thanked Congress for passing an
additional $225 million to help Israel pay for its Iron Dome defense
system.
I can see Netanyahu saying that, and with good reason.
Video: Democratic politician from New York warns Jewish voters
Here's New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D) talking about President Obama and warning Jewish voters against supporting him. This interview was apparently done before the movie incident.
Orthodox Jew held captive in Bolivia arrives in the US
Jacob Ostreicher, an Orthodox Jewish businessman who has been held captive in Bolivia since 2011, has arrived in the United States this evening, apparently after escaping.
A source familiar with efforts to have the businessman released
confirmed that an “operation” took place Sunday night that resulted in
Ostreicher’s return to his family.
In an email circulated to friends and supporters, his nephew Moshe confirmed the news as well.
“With happiness, we are informing the community of Israel that our
dear uncle… has already left the iron curtain in Bolivia, and is now,
with G-d’s great mercy, here in America,” Moshe wrote.
Jewish leaders, some of which have actively campaigned for his release reacted to the news Monday afternoon.
“With thanks to G-d, I am *thrilled* that Jacob Ostreicher is finally
home in America!,” tweeted Brooklyn Assemblyman Dov Hikind.
Councilman David Greenfield said “American Jews are celebrating the
news that Jacob Ostreicher, who was falsely imprisoned since June 2011
in Bolivia, is now back home in NY.”
I hope that Hussein Obama won't try to please his good buddy Evo Morales by trying to give Ostreicher back. Stick close to home Mr. Ostreicher. And if you want to do business in Israel, please be in touch....
#BDS_FAIL: American Studies Association turns itself into a pariah
Until last month's vote, I would bet that most of you had never heard of the American Studies Association. Now, you all have, and so have millions of other people. In fact, even the New York Times is reporting today that the group has turned itself into a pariah.
In sharp contrast to the international campaign for an academic and
cultural boycott of Israel, which had been slow to gain a foothold in
the United States, the campaign to rebuke the American Studies
Association has spread rapidly since the group’s mid-December boycott
vote. The presidents of more than 80 United States colleges have
condemned the vote.
“Such boycotts threaten academic speech and exchange, which it is our
solemn duty as academic institutions to protect,” Carolyn A. Martin,
president of Amherst College, said in a statement posted on the
university’s website. Nearly all of the presidents’ statements have
similarly denounced the boycott as impeding the flow of ideas. Several
have cited specific collaborations or exchanges with Israeli
universities as evidence of their institutional commitment to
maintaining strong relations with Israel.
At least five institutions — Bard College, Brandeis University, Indiana
University, Kenyon College and Pennsylvania State University at
Harrisburg — have withdrawn from A.S.A. membership.
As of last week, the boycott also had been denounced by three of the
United States’ most prominent higher-education organizations: the
American Association of University Professors, the American Council on
Education and the Association of American Universities. “Such actions
are misguided and greatly troubling, as they strike at the heart of
academic freedom,” said the American Council on Education’s president,
Molly Corbett Broad.
The scale and speed of the backlash against the boycott is striking,
considering that the A.S.A. has only about 4,000 members and lacks any
formal ties with Israeli institutions.
“Why anyone should care what the A.S.A. thinks bewilders me. It is not a
very large academic association, and it is not one that
characteristically has a big impact in the academy,” said Stanley N.
Katz, a higher-education policy expert at Princeton University and
president emeritus of the American Council of Learned Societies.
...
The A.S.A.’s recent experience clearly shows that boycott resolutions carry a potential price.
After the resolution passed last month, with the support of two-thirds
of the 1,252 association members voting on it, the A.S.A.’s national
office was too deluged with angry phone calls to carry on with business
and ended up having to close for a day, according to John F. Stevens,
the group’s executive director.
Two New York State lawmakers, State Sen. Jeff Klein of the Bronx and
State Assemblyman Dov Hikind of Brooklyn, said they planned to propose
legislation that would cut off state support to any public or private
college that participated in the A.S.A. or any other group involved in a
boycott of Israel. The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under
Law, an advocacy group devoted to fighting anti-Semitism on college
campuses, has threatened to challenge the A.S.A.’s tax-exempt status.
Among those who have spoken out against the A.S.A.’s boycott, Lawrence
H. Summers, a former president of Harvard University, has called on
college administrators to deny faculty members funds to attend A.S.A.
meetings. The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organizations has sent the presidents of all universities with ties to
the A.S.A. a letter similarly urging them to dissociate their
institutions from the A.S.A. and deny faculty members funds to
participate in the group or travel to its events.
At least one college president, however, has publicly resisted calls to
crack down on the A.S.A. Christopher L. Eisgruber, president of
Princeton University, has responded to alumni inquiries about the
boycott with a letter saying he opposes it but does “not intend to
denounce the A.S.A., make it unwelcome on campus or inhibit the ability
of faculty members to affiliate with it.” The better approach, he said,
is to engage with the association and hope “more thoughtful and
reasonable members will eventually bring the organization to its
senses.”
Read the whole thing. It will be really interesting to see what happens to the ASA's funding in the next 6-12 months. Maybe they can get a gift from the Saudis?
Democratic US
Senator Chuck Schumer, whose support is seen as key to help secure the
confirmation of the White House's nominee for defense secretary Chuck
Hagel, said on Tuesday he is prepared to vote for Hagel.
Schumer
said his concerns over Israel and Iran and other issues were addressed
after he met with Hagel for about 90 minutes, a meeting where he said
Hagel was "forthcoming and sincere."
Can a black man change his skin color (Jeremiah 13:23)? What a load of crap.
Here's hoping someone strong will run against Schumer in 2014. If he goes through with this, he deserves to go home.
Those of you who want to do something for Israel but cannot figure out what to do get your chance on Sunday in New York City. A 'massive' rally is to be held outside the Israeli consulate on Sunday at 1:00 to protest President Obama's treatment of Israel.
Thousands of Americans are preparing to protest in New York this Sunday against the Obama administration's increasing hostility towards Israel. The event is scheduled to take place outside the Israel Consulate on Sunday, April 25 at 1:00 p.m. EDT. A partial list of organizations who endorsed the demonstration is below.
Beth Gilinsky, head of the Jewish Action Alliance that is sponsoring the event, said, "We are outraged that President [Barack] Obama is scapegoating Israel and wants to expel Jews from their homes in Jerusalem. President Obama and Secretary Hillary Clinton show more anger about a Jewish family building a home in Jerusalem than Iran building a nuclear bomb," she added.
...
“Vast segments of the Jewish community will not tolerate the president's continuing attacks on Israel. Grassroots Jewry will not be silent,” Gilinsky vowed. A long list of Jewish organizations as well as a number of Christian and other non-Jewish groups have signed on to the event as well.
The demonstration will also feature a taped statement by former New York City mayor Ed Koch, a strong supporter of Obama's presidential campaign. Koch recently expressed his shock and disappointment with the increasing anti-Israel views expressed by the president and the increasing hostility of his administration towards the Jewish State.
Among the organizations who have officially endorsed the upcoming rally are:
AISH Center
Americans for a Safe Israel
Artists 4 Israel
Children of Jewish Holocaust Survivors
Christians and Jews United for Israel
Coalition for Israel
Crown Heights Women for the Security and Integrity of Israel
Dr. Joseph Frager, Jerusalem Reclamation Project
NY Assemblyman Dov Hikind
IsraelAlive
Israel Day Concert in the Park
Jewish Political Education Foundation
Dr. Michael Ledeen, Center for Defense of Democracies
Unity Coalition for Israel
Dr. Herbert London, The Hudson Institute
AMCHA, Coalition for Jewish Concerns
Stand With Us
Endowment for Middle East Truth
World Committee for the Land of Israel
Zionist Organization of America
Z Street
More information is available by contacting Ronn Torossian in New York at 212-999-5585.
I can't be there on Sunday - it's a bit far away. But you're all invited to send me photos and video and your thoughts about the rally and I will try to post them.
Could Chuck Schumer have been for the Iran deal before he was against it? That's what a Politico report suggests.
Chuck Schumer is getting an earful from opponents of the Iran nuclear deal.
More
than 10,000 phone calls have flooded his office line the past two
weeks, organized by a group looking to kill the deal. Another group has
dropped seven figures on TV in New York City to pressure Schumer and
other lawmakers to vote against the plan. The powerful American Israel
Public Affairs Committee has put its muscle behind an effort to lobby
the New Yorker against it.
And Dov Hikind, a state assemblyman from Brooklyn, was
arrested for disorderly conduct while protesting the deal outside
Schumer’s office.
People who have spoken with the senior New York
senator believe the pressure campaign is having an effect: They say
there is a growing sense inside and outside the Capitol that Schumer
will vote against the deal when the Senate considers it in September.
The bigger question many have now is this: How hard will he push against
it?
And Schumer isn't the only Senator who is wilting under pressure from deal opponents.
Sen. Chris Coons, who was personally lobbied by President Barack Obama
and national security adviser Susan Rice to back the deal during a trip
to Africa in July, said the view of the accord was about evenly split in
his home state of Delaware in the first few days after the
announcement. But the Democrat now says telephone calls against the deal
outnumber those in favor by 10-to-1 in his state, an avalanche of
opposition he has no choice but to listen to.
...
The New York and New Jersey delegations have been the top focus of
groups trying to kill the agreement, and there’s evidence they are
making headway. In New Jersey, Sen. Robert Menendez sounds like a “no”
vote, while Sen. Cory Booker is undecided. In New York City, the group
Citizens for a Nuclear Free Iran spent $1.6 million on broadcast
television and $119,500 on cable between July 16-July 30 advertising on
the issue, according to a media tracking source. Secure America Now, a
hawkish group trying to kill the deal, has organized the call-in
campaign to Schumer.
What a concept: Senators (and Representatives) who listen to their constituents! If only we had that in Israel!
Then why does Israel's Hebrew 'Palestinian' daily continue to editorialize against the pressure that is turning the tide? 10-1 is a lot more than 'more than half but less than two thirds.' Maybe because Haaretz doesn't listen to Israelis because they don't stand for elections?
In the meantime, it sounds like Schumer will not try to persuade anyone else how to vote. In fact, he may not even be able to.
If Schumer wanted to persuade members to side with him, “Chuck would
have let his intentions known a long time ago, and everybody would have
known,” said Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.). Winning over members now,
Manchin added, “would be much more difficult.”
The Iran vote
could reverberate for Democratic senators facing tough reelection races
in the coming years, especially if they back the accord and it fails to
rein in Iran. Only one of them, Colorado’s Michael Bennet, is up in
2016; several others will be on the ballot in 2018.
Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), a moderate who faces voters in three years, said she’s still carefully weighing the agreement.
“Schumer is not going to move anybody on this,” she said.
“I think he’s conflicted,” McCaskill added. “Many of us are. It’s hard.”
Sen.
Jon Tester (D-Mont.), another moderate up for reelection in 2018, said
Schumer would have “none, zero, nada” sway over his vote.
“Don’t tell Chuck that,” Tester joked.
So far, just one member of the Senate Democratic leadership team has
voiced his position on the matter — Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.),
who supports the plan. That’s far different than the House, where
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced her backing almost
immediately after the deal was announced. In the Senate, the other
members of the leadership team, including Reid, Schumer and Sen. Patty
Murray (D-Wash.), are playing coy.
Will it really come down to what the American people want? Wouldn't that be something!
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
