Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Liberal Jews Reluctantly Abandon Obama

American Jews are overwhelmingly liberal and overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party, so naturally they voted overwhelmingly for Barack Obama. But the American diaspora is increasingly troubled by the way Obama is showing deference to America's and Israel's enemies and failing to support the security of Israel. American Jews can criticize Israel, but they know very well that when push comes to shove it is crucial for the security of Jews worldwide that Israel continue to exist as an independent, Jewish state in the Jewish ancestral homeland.

Michael Lumish is one liberal, American Jew who has had enough of Obama. He has been reading the liberal blog Daily Kos with increasing dismay over leftist anti-Semitism and writes:
Speaking as a liberal, it is saddens me that anti-Semitism has become so prevalent on the liberal-left in the forms of exceedingly toxic anti-Zionism and Israel Hatred. The political right has done a very good job of marginalizing Skin-Head types and Klansmen, even as the Left provides venues, such as Daily Kos, for a movement that despises the Jewish state and gives tacit, and sometimes overt, support to organizations like Hamas and Hezbullah and al-Qaida, or countries like Iran, that oppress women, kill gay people, attack Jews, hate Democracy and western culture, and that represent everything that liberalism is allegedly opposed to.

- snip -

Oh, and by the way, I voted for Barack Obama. You can imagine my horror when he actually took it upon himself to tell Jews where they may, or may not, live in Jerusalem, the ancient capital of the Jewish people.

That was perhaps the final nail in the coffin of my support for President Obama and the Democratic party.

Jewish, Evangelical and neoconservative supporters of Israel have been turning up the heat on politicians like Pennsylvania Democratic candidate for the US Senate, Joe Sestak, who has been waffling on support for Israel. A recent letter to Obama urging support for Israel was signed by 87 US Senators and a majority of the House of Representatives. The effect of that letter was the recent meeting between Obama and Netanyahu at the White House, which was in sharp contrast to the disgraceful way Netanyahu was treated during his last visit to Washington. The May visit shows what Obama really thinks of Netahyahu, while the July one shows that Obama needs to appear to be showing support for Israel for domestic political reasons. But no one should be fooled: Obama would sell the Jewish state out in a heartbeat if he thought he could get away with it.

Here is a TV ad that is being run by the David Horowitz Freedom Center. It has a lot of liberal knickers in a knot. But they better get used to it because a pro-Israel stance is going be a major vote getter for the Republican nominee in 2012.


3 comments:

Unknown said...

Right on in your assessment Dr. Carter. Jews have for too long embraced the leftist socialist views that are advocating their demise. They do not appreciate the Conservative Christians who support their state since they are always afraid of being evangelized too (which is ironic since Pro-Zionist evangelicals like Charles McVety and John Hagee seem to have no interest in proselytizing Jews at all and affirm a dual-covenant theology which sees Jews as apart of God's salvific plan without believing in Jesus. The Christians most aggressive in evangelizing to Jews have been none other than Messianic Jews.) They also seem to be ignorant of the difference between conservative right-wingers of America and the right-wing fascism of Europe. Liberal Jews have failed to recognize that support of the Jewish state has become a right-wing stance and liberals are increasingly seeing Israel as an Apartheid state. I do think however that it is very difficult for Israel to survive as a Jewish state anyways. The secular part of Israel is having the birthrate problems that you mentioned with the rest of the western countries. The highest birthrates in Israel are comming from the orthodox and ultraorthodox communities (who do not acknowledge the state of Israel as secular); the West Bank Settlement Jews (who have no interest in leaving the West Bank) and I suspect the muslims who live in Israel (who though enjoying the privileges of being an Israeli probably desires a two-state or one-state solution). For Israel to survive it would have be very selective in who it allows as leaders especially since Israelis are so divided and many of them are even more leftist than the American and European Jews.

Unknown said...

I do think that the commercial is not effective. It should have focused on using soundbytes from Obama's speech in Cairo Egypt, his bowing before the Saudi president, his forbidding the building of settlements, photos of the hostile treatment he gave to Netanyahu. All the presidents have sat down with the Saudi royal family (there are even pictures of Bush and the Saudi king holding hands!). It bugs me when conservatives do not do a good job on capitalising off of good opportunities.

Craig Carter said...

Darnell,
I agree with you that the commercial could have been more effective. The Saudis are not our friends - only enemies of some of our enemies.