Has Obama Turned on Israel?
Jerry Gordon comment: I had been told last weekend by friends in Boston that this Dershowitz Wall Street Journal op ed was coming and would reflect some ‘concerns’ by him about what the Obama Administration is doing regarding pressures on Israel about settlements and shelving military options to deter Iran’s nuclear threat to the Jewish state. I scoffed at the representations of my friends who are good Zionists. The leopard doesn’t change his spots I told them. Back in December, 2006, Dershowitz, Frank Luntz and I were part of a hasbarah training program for Israeli regional consular press officers, with a sprinkling of both FMO and IDF spokespersons. I was presenting on the power of blogs. At one point in Dersh’s presentation I heard him say that if he made aliyah to Israel he would join Brit T’zedek and reform it from within. Dersh is an unalloyed left wing Democrat who campaigned for Obama who finds it excruciatingly painful to distance himself from him. Thus, the meretricious quality of this op ed from Dersh in today’s Wall Street Journal. Meanwhile, the only Mainstream Jewish leader who has gotten it big time is Malcolm Hoenlein, of the Council of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. At that, Hoenlein’s own COPMAJO President has distanced himself from Hoenlein’s charges. Liberal Jews are now caught in a bind of their own making after voting in droves for someone they thought they knew, but didn’t, when it came to US support of ally Israel. Dersh is abetting this dumbing down of American Jews by not speaking the truth about Obama. Hoenlein on the other hand is but getting no support from his alleged colleagues. Pity!
by Alan Dershowitz, Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2009
Alan Dershowitz, Obama advocate
Many American supporters of Israel who voted for Barack Obama now suspect they may have been victims of a bait and switch. Jewish Americans voted overwhelmingly for Mr. Obama over John McCain in part because the Obama campaign went to great lengths to assure these voters that a President Obama would be supportive of Israel. This despite his friendships with rabidly anti-Israel characters like Rev. Jeremiah Wright and historian Rashid Khalidi.
At the suggestion of Mr. Obama’s Jewish supporters — including me — the candidate visited the beleaguered town of Sderot, which had borne the brunt of thousands of rocket attacks by Hamas. Standing in front of the rocket shells, Mr. Obama declared: “If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I’m going to do everything in my power to stop that. And I would expect Israelis to do the same thing.” This heartfelt statement sealed the deal for many supporters of Israel.
Now, some of them apparently have voters’ remorse. According to Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, “President Obama’s strongest supporters among Jewish leaders are deeply troubled by his recent Middle East initiatives, and some are questioning what he really believes.” I hear the same thing from rank-and-file supporters of Israel who voted for Mr. Obama.
Are these fears justified? Rhetorically, the Obama team has definitely taken a harsher approach toward Israel compared to its tone during the campaign. But has there been a change in substance about Israel’s security? In answering this question, it is essential to distinguish between several aspects of American policy. (Continue Reading this Article)
DELUSIONAL DERSHOWITZ
“Are these fears justified?”
I.e., “I don’t want to admit to myself that I have made a mistake, so let me look for even the slightest hint that my sense of insecurity isn’t well founded. In order to do that, I will grasp at any straw, and pretend that Obama’s siding with Israel’s enemies and reneging on past administration promises can be ignored in favor of my personal expectations for the future. And, since the future hasn’t happened yet, there’s still a shred of hope that Obama will do what I, in my moral confusion, want him to do.”
Reading more of Dershowitz’ drivel merely reveals the mental contortions he has to practice to sustain his fantasies.
Comment by yonaton — July 2, 2009 @ 7:24 pm
I originally thought to take issue with Jerry Gordon’s characterization of Dershowitz’ reading of chicken entrails as “meretricious” (I confess, I had to look it up), because if anything Dershowitz is quite sincere in his ramblings: and pathetically so. But, since all the other facets of that adjective would seem to apply, I really can’t think of a better charcterization of the prostitution Dershowitz is engaged in. It really is obscene.
Comment by yonaton — July 2, 2009 @ 7:43 pm
Dershowitz is maybe the world’s biggest hipocrit. He, as did the other liberals, went through the election process with his eyes closed to the truth. Now that the truth has jumped up and hit him between the eyes, he acts contrite. I don’t believe in his contriteness because I think that he is just embarrassed to be proven wrong. The Jewish population in the US, as well as in Israel, no longer look to him for his advise and declarations, but will see him as an ardent, but subdued idiot.
Comment by Ed D — July 2, 2009 @ 7:53 pm
I never had respect for this man. watch the 1985 debate between him and Kahane, He grasps at straws and spews childish,”Kumbaya” arguments. All I can say is that he had some,”Chutzpah” to write a book entitled “Chutzpah.”
Comment by tov — July 2, 2009 @ 8:32 pm
All youse guys view anyone left of Attila the Hun as flaming reds. Enough of your ignorant chatter. Can someone come up with an original idea rather than your incessant BAAAHING like a herd of sheep.This is not the McCarthy era- You all belong in the dinasaur era.It is the Extreme Right that is the enemy, HAVING DESTROYED THE AMERICAN ECONOMY-DESTROYED AMERICA’S FUTURE AND IS CLOSE TO DESTROYING ISRAEL’S FUTURE,
The enemy was Bush-
by virtue of destoying the mid east stability- such as it was
by virtue of installing a pro-Iranian regime in Iraq.
By virtue of mishandling the Afghanistan invasion.
By virtue of almost destroying the Western alliance.
By virtue of his fucking up the war on terrorism to the extent that Jihadi influence has expanded exponentially during the last 8 years
..Stop with this Kumbaya garbage.
Place the blame where it squarely belongs- at the foot of the thugs of the Bush administration.
It will take many generations to heal the damage wrought by by those criminals.
Comment by h peskin — July 2, 2009 @ 9:50 pm
Peskin right left in your falsch context do not apply to our situation. What does or should though is what is good for the Jews and Israel. It has nothing to do with your mish mash of interconnecting suppositions even if there might be some pico element of truth in what you have said above. For us, dingbat it’s not about your stupid ideological view of how the world according to Peskin ought to be, we are dealing in the real world reality where lives, ours especially can be snuffed out in a moment.
I think Orwell had you in mind when he wrote:
THE PAST WAS ERASED, THE ERASER FORGOTTEN, AND LIES BECAME TRUTH!
Comment by yamit82 — July 2, 2009 @ 10:36 pm
Peskin must be off his meds, again. Somebody wipe the drool from his chin, and up his Haldol.
As bad as Bush policies were for Israel, Obama’s are MUCH worse, and they cannot be blamed on Bush.
While no American administration has been a true friend of Israel, Obama’s is by far the worst. He openly sides with our enemies and reneges on past understandings/agreements (which doesn’t matter because they were just a ploy to begin with). We cannot trust him.
But Peskin, is one of these, which is why he’s so delusional - that and his aforementioned mental state, which probably explains why he belongs to that club in the first place.
Comment by yonaton — July 2, 2009 @ 10:51 pm
Obama’s Obaminable venomous Cairo speach.
Anyone who says Obama doesn’t want to harm Israel is either a liar, or totally deluded.
Comment by yonaton — July 2, 2009 @ 11:03 pm
Why should Jews be surprised at Obama’s positions on Israel since he came to office? They simply chose to ignore the obvious based on his lifelong assocations with communists and anti-Semites. Those who did bring these issues up during the campaign were demonized as engaging in smear tactics. Liberal Jews just looked for any excuse to justify their support for hussein obama which was based on their insane and blind loyalty to the democratic party above all other considerations.
Comment by Laura — July 2, 2009 @ 11:12 pm
Just one final comment for today. That photo of Dershowitz you chose to accompany the article says it all. Let’s see, now, where have I seen that look before? Hmmm, perhaps on a racoon’s face when he’s staring at this?
Comment by yonaton — July 2, 2009 @ 11:46 pm
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Pingback by Israpundit » Blog Archive » Has Obama Turned on Israel? : PlanetTalk.net - Learn the truth , no more lies — July 3, 2009 @ 12:36 am
Comment by h peskin — July 3, 2009 @ 8:04 am
yonatan here are some modern day Jewish traitors Press any letter and you get an incomplete list: I submitted Peskins name to be included but I don’t know if they have yet acted upon it.
http://www.masada2000.org/dirt-list.html
There is a difference between not wanting to hear crap from the likes of you and unpleasant as they may be truths. Your truths are not truths but wishes by a vile and odious anti-semite who gets off on our troubles whether they be inflicted from without or from within is irrelevant, you delight in just its prospect.
Peskin why don’t you find some Hari krishna site and torment them for a while you both deserve ea. other.
Comment by yamit82 — July 3, 2009 @ 9:38 am
yamit82 — July 3, 2009 @ 9:38 am
Thanks, yamit82, I’ve got it. It’s just too depressing to see that many traitors all at once, though, so I don’t often go there.
Comment by yonaton — July 3, 2009 @ 9:50 am