Truemors
is reporting from
Member
NP Rank:
NP Rank:
Antisemitism charged against CAP organization aligned with Obama
Share:
by YankeeJim | January 19, 2012 at 03:29 pm
141 views | 4 Recommendations | 10 comments
Photos
Bigotry in any form by anyone is deplorable
There is a lot of bigotry in the USA, and we need to get a grip on it; wipe it out with education and negative feedback.
Bigotry -- Bigoted attitudes; intolerance toward those who hold different opinions from oneself.
That is a very broad definition. I don’t subscribe to Republican conservatism, for instance. Does that make me bigoted? We have to get specific about what Republican conservatism means. I am not bigoted against financial conservatism. I am not bigoted against people wanting high performing government with a small footprint. I am against people who are intolerant of the plight of poor people. I don’t find religious evangelism attractive, but I tolerate it as people have a right to their beliefs of that type.
I am intolerant of people who discriminate or look down upon others who are different from themselves.
Right now, there are many Republicans who don’t like candidate Romney because he is a Mormon. That is religious discrimination and a form of bigotry. Some Republicans didn’t like President Obama because his father was a Muslim and he bears a Muslim name. That is religious discrimination and a form of bigotry.
The story posted here is about some people in an organization aligned with President Obama who allegedly made anti-Semitic remarks. If they did, that is wrong and they should be removed from any positions of influence or leadership. Ant-Semitism is a form of bigotry.
Let’s discuss Israel and anti-Semitism.
Can you disagree with America’s foreign policy toward Israel without being anti-Semitic? I think you can. You have to be specific about what you don’t like about Israel and its policies.
I don’t believe in religious statehood – governments aligning with specific religions. Am I bigoted against religions? No, I am in favor of separation between church and state as that is a way to ensure individual freedom of belief including freedom from religion.
After seeing how the Nazis treated Jewish people during WWII, I think many people including me would yield extra empathy for Jews who fled Germany to form Israel. In hindsight, however, creating a Jewish nation was in conflict with American values as are Middle Eastern countries creating Islamic nations. That is hard to reconcile.
I don’t want to discriminate against Arabs, for instance. I am not in favor of many radical sects of Muslims who advocate violence for any reason. I don’t want to be bigoted against the people, though I don’t respect religious extremism. In fact, I tolerate religions, but I genuinely don’t respect them.
“Center for American Progress, group tied to Obama, under fire from Israel advocates
By Peter Wallsten, Updated: Thursday, January 19, 8:45 AM
The Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank closely aligned with the White House, is embroiled in a dispute with several major Jewish organizations over statements on Israel and charges that some center staffers have used anti-Semitic language to attack pro-Israel Americans.
The controversy reflects growing divisions among important allies of President Obama over Middle East policy that could complicate the president’s reelection outreach to some Jewish voters, just as he is seeking to assure them of his commitment to Israel’s security amid fears of an Iran nuclear threat.
Among the points of contention are several Twitter posts by one CAP writer on his personal account referring to “Israel-firsters.” Some experts say the phrase has its roots in the anti-Semitic charge that American Jews are more loyal to a foreign country. In another case, a second staffer described a U.S. senator as showing more fealty to the prime U.S. pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, than to his own constituents, replacing a standard identifier of party affiliation and state with “R-AIPAC” on his personal Twitter account. The first writer has since left the staff.
Critics are also pointing to writings on the CAP Web site, where staffers have suggested the pro-Israel lobby is pushing the U.S. toward war with Iran and likened Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in Gaza to the policies of the segregated American South.
Those statements, among others, have gained notice largely because of CAP’s influential role in Obama’s Washington. Founded and chaired by John Podesta, a onetime chief of staff in the Clinton White House, the center is an idea generator for the administration and a source for many of its top officials. The executive who headed the arm overseeing the CAP bloggers, Jennifer Palmieri, recently became a top communications official in the White House, and Podesta is now a part-time adviser to the State Department.
Several major Jewish groups have demanded corrective action by the think tank and asked for answers from friends in the White House.
“The language is corrosive and unacceptable,” said Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center. He added that the blog posts and tweets from CAP staffers “are the responsibility of the adults who run the place, not only the kids who play.”
Cooper conveyed his concerns about CAP during a private White House meeting last week with Obama’s newly hired Jewish community liaison.
The White House official, Jarrod Bernstein, told Cooper that the situation at CAP was “troubling,” adding “that is not this administration.”
A White House spokesman, Matt Lehrich, declined to comment on CAP. He said Obama “has repeatedly reiterated America’s unshakable commitment to Israel’s security and stood up against attempts to single out Israel in international forums.” He added that the administration has “ratcheted up unprecedented pressure on Iran.”
Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, said some of the statements from CAP staffers “are anti-Semitic and borderline anti-Semitic.””
Advertisement
NowPublic on Facebook
What is NowPublic?
NowPublic lets people work together to cover news events around the world.
Most Recommended Comment
"thirty-aught-six" (not verified)
Crowd Power
-1.jpg)
YankeeJim
Arlington, Virginia, United States
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (10)
at 15:27 on January 19th, 2012
at 02:46 on January 20th, 2012
Hi Jim,
What did you mean by "creating a Jewish nation was in conflict with American values". ?
I am truly confused at this remark since Israel is a Democracy where State and Religion is in principle, according to law separate. It is a Jewish State or rather a State of the Jews where ALL minorities are given full rights under the law. Tolerance of extreme views are accepted legally. Even the U.S. congress would have thrown out a few of the characters we have in the Knesset for some of the "treasonous" statements they have made.
Please clarify.
at 04:00 on January 20th, 2012
Well, actually, I have been confused and am anticipating your clarification. I back Israel with the caveat that we have to find a way to get Arab nations to accept Israel and to reach a workable solution.
at 04:39 on January 20th, 2012
Not so simple
Israel democracy or theocracy
at 13:07 on January 20th, 2012
Jim, you said, "I back Israel with the caveat that we have to find a way to get Arab nations to accept Israel and to reach a workable solution."
It would be wonderful if you could find a way to get Arab nations to accept Israel. But they are not interested in the Palestinians and in fact despise them.
I think one needs to look at it from a little different perspective: Ask the questions WHY are they not interested publicly. Certainly, they have fairly good relations under the radar, in all fields including goods and services.
Aside from the irritation of Jews no longer being second class citizens in Arab countries, Israel has been for generations the scape-goat and the deflection used by these dictatorships away from the pain and suffering the general populations have had to live under.
While I support a Two State solution there is currently NO interest in the Palestinian camp(s) for such a compromise as long as EU States and the UN and its agencies give mixed signals to Abbas and et.al hinting that they can bypass any agreement to become a State. This is a fools gold that will go no where and hurt them deeply. But it does serve these interests of the Un and the EU in a variety of ways that I can elaborate if interested.
Third. The real fight about to get public is the Sunni-Shia hatred and mistrust that has been brooding for centuries and with the turmoil in the Middle East it is only going to get worse and keep Israel on the side lines.
The premise that there is a need to "solve" the Pal-Israel dispute in order to make order is just not true. Wishful thinking but not that important at the present time.
Israel by its very nature is Jewish..meaning many different things but essentially guided by the Jewish principles that most of the countries of the West including the U.S. have inculcated into their culture and laws.
I must say that just the TEN Priniciples-commandments-utterances-words that are the pinnacle of Jewish tradition is in itself a manifesto for an open and democratic civilization that any of us would be proud to live under.
This is the place that we Jews can be free to express ourselves completely and be creative in every facet of life with out fear. It is our homeland, our tribal and ancestral roots. Be one secular, traditional or any other branch of religious observance this country celebrates LIFE and rejuvenation of the soul every Sabbath and holidays. This is a place where the vibrancy of living is a thousand fold more intense than any other place I have lived in the world.Not better just different. Not for everybody or for all Jews, but once bitten by the "specialness" of the place there is no going back.
Many feel this energy who are not Jews but participate fully in the reality of the place in all walks of life. Be they Christian, Muslim, Druze, or any of the other religious minorities living fully in Israel.
Not perfect by any means but in less than a century old it has shaped and created a society made up of so many peoples from so many cultures that only a miracle has kept it functioning and prospering.
at 14:18 on January 20th, 2012
That is a completely understandable and respectable explanation.
The reality on our world is that there are a number of minority populations that have become enclaves, surrounded by majorities that may be vastly different in thought and values. Protecting minority rights to exist and to pursue a good life is a premise for Americans that extends to foreign policy. On that basis and historical context, Americans are allied to help Israel defend itself as needed.
at 14:26 on January 20th, 2012
Israel's successes may appear miraculous but, they have taken a lot of damn hard work in spite of consistent hostility. From my perspective the only thing lacking is the codification of Israel's Basic Laws into a formal Constitution.
at 19:32 on January 20th, 2012
This is an excellent discussion. May I suggest that Israel and my country Canada have much in common : the combined lived experience of immigrants from all over the world. Like Canadians, most Israelis are only a generation away from 'someplace else.' They bring all the best from those nations, and pitch it into the pot. Perhaps this is a romantic notion, but I believe Israel, like Canada, is an experiment in that sense, and as such it must succeed. The alternatives are the great tragedies of history, which have resulted in the systematic dehumanizing of our species through various forms of oppression and exploitation. In my view, Israel is a secular nation - albeit with strong religious currents that inform the national spirit but are not synonymous with it - and a defacto response to the struggle of people from all over the world to survive with a measure of freedom, dignity and control over how they are governed. Perhaps their only thread of commonality is descent from a Sumerian who happened to have his life story and that of his children recorded for posterity, for better or worse. I'm sure there are Israelis who have nothing else in common aside from the desire to live in peace and be free from persecution, just as there are Canadians with the same humble goals. Israel must survive, as must Canada. The alternative of a world without them is hideous.
at 04:26 on January 21st, 2012
I am hoping that a formal constitution is in the works and will be pushed forward this coming election cycle. I did not mean to imply that it is a miracle things work here but rather an ethical and "obsessive" need to get it "right". To be fair and equitable.
at 11:44 on January 21st, 2012
Not to worry. I know what you meant. I wanted to emphasize hard work under hostile conditions for the critics who find it unnecessary to see beyond the US to judge Israel, or any other country for that matter, on their own merits. Our own history of working towards merit being replaced with entitlement may answer for the arrogance of such thinking. There are more than 50 Islamic States, 57 under the OIC, but only one Jewish State. We send our armies among the Muslims to repel the over throw by Islamist extremist and to protect that Islamic State as an Islamic State. Eg: Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Libya. It's hypocritical to not uphold that same standard when speaking of Israel and the Israeli right to self determination as a Jewish State.