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Thursday, May 22, 2008

Note to American Jews: Stop Being Stupid

Posted by Jill | 7:19 AM

Before you get all into a lather and call me an anti-Semite, let me be quite clear: I am a member of the tribe, so I get to write this.

Would you people please stop this idiocy about worrying about whether Barack Obama is "good for Israel"? You're making us all look like morons:

At the Aberdeen Golf and Country Club on Sunday, the fountains were burbling, the man-made lakes were shining, and Shirley Weitz and Ruth Grossman were debating why Jews in this gated neighborhood of airy retirement homes feel so much trepidation about Senator Barack Obama.

[snip]

“The people here, liberal people, will not vote for Obama because of his attitude towards Israel,” Ms. Weitz, 83, said, lingering over brunch.

“They’re going to vote for McCain,” she said.

Ms. Grossman, 80, agreed with her friend’s conclusion, but not her reasoning.

“They’ll pick on the minister thing, they’ll pick on the wife, but the major issue is color,” she said, quietly fingering a coffee cup. Ms. Grossman said she was thinking of voting for Mr. Obama, who is leading in the delegate count for the nomination, as was Ms. Weitz.

But Ms. Grossman does not tell the neighbors. “I keep my mouth shut,” she said.

On Thursday, Mr. Obama will court Jewish voters with an appearance at a synagogue in Boca Raton, Fla. A longtime Democratic constituency with a consistently high turnout rate, Jews are important to his general election hopes, particularly in New York, which he expects to win; in California and New Jersey, which he must keep out of Republican hands; and, most crucially, here in Florida, where Jews make up around 5 percent of voters.

This is the most haunted state on the electoral college map for Democrats, the one they lost by hundreds of votes and a Supreme Court decision in 2000, and again in 2004.

“The fate of the world for the next four years,” mused Rabbi Ruvi New as his Sunday morning Kabbalah & Coffee class dispersed in East Boca Raton.

“It’s all going to boil down to a few old Jews in Century Village,” he added, referring to a nearby retirement community.

[snip]

Because Mr. Obama is relatively new on the national stage, his résumé of Senate votes in support of Israel is short, as is his list of high-profile visits to synagogues and delis. So far, his overtures to Jews have been limited; aside from a few speeches and interviews, he has left most of it to surrogates.

American Jews hold two competing views of Mr. Obama, said Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism in Washington. First, there is Obama the scholar, the social justice advocate, the defender of Israel with a close feel for Jewish concerns garnered through decades of intimate friendships. In this version, Mr. Obama’s race is an asset, Rabbi Saperstein said.

The second version is defined by the controversy over his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr., worries about Mr. Obama’s past associations and questions about his support for Israel and his patriotism.

“It’s too early to know how they will play out,” Rabbi Saperstein said.

Alan M. Dershowitz, a professor at Harvard Law School, said he had been deluged with questions from Jews about the race, especially about what to think of Mr. Obama. “I have gotten hundreds of e-mails asking me, ‘Who should we vote for?’ ” he said. Mr. Dershowitz, who supports Mrs. Clinton, says he tells voters that Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton and Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee, are all pro-Israel and to reject false personal attacks on Mr. Obama.

Because of a dispute over moving the date of the state’s primary, Mr. Obama and the other Democratic candidates did not campaign in Florida. In his absence, novel and exotic rumors about Mr. Obama have flourished. Among many older Jews, and some younger ones, as well, he has become a conduit for Jewish anxiety about Israel, Iran, anti-Semitism and race.

Mr. Obama is Arab, Jack Stern’s friends told him in Aventura. (He’s not.)

He is a part of Chicago’s large Palestinian community, suspects Mindy Chotiner of Delray. (Wrong again.)

Mr. Wright is the godfather of Mr. Obama’s children, asserted Violet Darling in Boca Raton. (No, he’s not.)

Al Qaeda is backing him, said Helena Lefkowicz of Fort Lauderdale (Incorrect.)

Michelle Obama has proven so hostile and argumentative that the campaign is keeping her silent, said Joyce Rozen of Pompano Beach. (Mrs. Obama campaigns frequently, drawing crowds in her own right.)

Mr. Obama might fill his administration with followers of Louis Farrakhan, worried Sherry Ziegler. (Extremely unlikely, given his denunciation of Mr. Farrakhan.)

South Florida is “the most concentrated area in the country in terms of misinformation” about Mr. Obama, said Representative Robert Wexler, Democrat of Florida, the co-chairman of the Obama campaign in the state. His surrogates can put these fears to rest, Mr. Wexler said, by simply repeating the facts about Mr. Obama — his correct biography, his support for Israel, his positions on other important issues.

But the resistance toward Mr. Obama appears to be rooted in something more than factual misperception; even those with an accurate understanding of Mr. Obama share the hesitations. In dozens of interviews, South Florida Jews questioned his commitment to Israel — even some who knew he earns high marks from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, which lobbies the United States government on behalf of Israel.

I can't even begin to tell you how angry this makes me. It's one thing when people who don't have a lot of education and who don't have access to sources of news other than Fox News refuse to consult any part of their brain other than the reptilian one. But I know who these "few old Jews in Century Village" are. My grandmother was an old Jew in Century Village and I spent four days with her in the early 1980's. These are not stupid people. These are not people who don't know where to get information. This is willful fucking ignorance.

My mother isn't an old Jew in Century Village, but she's an old Jew in North Carolina. She's been to Israel, she loves Israel, and she voted for Barack Obama. So don't tell me that these people don't have access to the same information she does.

So who are these people going to vote for? John McCain, who's "proud" of his endorsement from a so-called "pastor" who thinks God Himself sent Hitler to move the Jews to Israel?

Come on, people! The deal has always been that we may not be athletic, but we're smart. Don't take that away from us.

Labels: American Jewry, Barack Obama, idiocy, Israel

7 comments

7 Comments:

DBK said...

Call them all the names you want, but I had to plead with a an elderly family member from Florida who supported Clinton not to support McCain because my family member believes that Obama hates Jews. Call them all the names you like, but that won't stop it from losing yet another election because of a poor choice of candidate. People said it over and over: Clinton has been so thoroughly vetted so many times that there is no new dirt they can throw at her and everyone is tired of hearing about the old dirt.

So now you got your Obama and you have this to deal with. And what do you do? You call people "stupid". Yup, that's gonna win it for Obama. Maybe if the campaign picks it up they can call people who don't like him "stupid" on Meet the Press.

They are not stupid; they are scared and mistrustful and they have heard things to make them think twice before trusting Obama.

I think maybe what I've been hearing is correct: Obama is another intellectual elite candidate and it's going to scupper the Democratic presidential chances once again.

5/22/08, 2:13 PM

Anonymous said...

Ok dbk, "They are not stupid; they are scared and mistrustful..." And this fear and mistrust are making them do and say stupid things.

(Maybe Jill should've tiled this post "When Smart Jews Do Dumb Things.")

5/22/08, 2:27 PM

DBK said...

That helps a lot. People always do what you want them to when you disregard their concerns and just call them names.

Oh johnp, I should add how lovely it is to have you respond in such a condescending manner. Why, it's just the sort of thing one might expect from the elite types who think they are just so much smarter than everyone else. That's the attitude that's elected a lot of good presidents.

When I start tallying up the people I think are genuinely stupid, it won't be Jews who are mistrustful of Obama on the issue of Israel in my tally.

5/22/08, 3:36 PM

Freedom Fighter said...

I too am 'a member of the tribe' as you put it, and I find it ludicrous that you would label Jews who look at Obama's long time associations and questionable views and refuse to drink the kool-ade as just a bunch of racist knuckle draggers.

He may not personally hate Jews, but it sure is interesting how many rabid Jew haters and Israel bashers
are salivating at the thought of Obama as president. Ever wonder why?

You're also misinformed regarding Pastor John Hagee.

I've seen the first tape in question and listened to the other IN FULL.

What he was referring to as `The Great Whore' is the false church mentioned in revelations that will spring up to support the anti-Christ. The only mention of the Catholic Church (or Hitler)in the whole piece is a quote by Hitler that he was going to do nothing more to the Jews than th Roman Church had been doing for centuries.

As for the other,Pastor Hagee was exploring a passage in Jeremiah in an attempt to explain why even Hitler may have had a part in G-d's divine plan.

I'm quite familiar with Pastor Hagee and his church, and it would be difficult to find better friends of Israel and the Jewish people on this earth.They not only back that up with words but with action...and they've been doing it for years.

We live in strange days indeed when a man like John Hagee can be demonized and libeled as a hater and an anti-Semite...

ff

5/22/08, 7:29 PM

Distributorcap said...

john hagee's comments about hitler - no matter the context - were vile, disgusting and plain anti-semitic

with friends like him who needs enemies? he can take his friendship toward the Jews (and i too am a member of the tribe) and shove it up his you know what.

as for obama --- it took 50 emails to finally convince my liberal jewish mother that he wasnt a muslim. she wouldnt vote for mccain but was gonna sit it out -- and she lives in florida (but not century city)

5/23/08, 5:53 AM

DBK said...

ff:

Yeah, John Hagee is a real pal to the Jews. Sure. So was Hitler. And Hamen. And Pharaoh. All chums. And I'm sure that when Hagee's congregation sings a few choruses at the end of his services about the hoped for devastation of Israel and death of all the Jews, it's with great affection. Also, when he talks about how Jews have inert, non-living souls, it is more evidence of his appreciation for them.

You don't know what you're talking about or you're deliberately trying to mislead us.

5/23/08, 9:24 AM

DBK said...

I just came back because I suddenly remembered this line from ff's ridiculous apologia: "I'm quite familiar with Pastor Hagee and his church, and it would be difficult to find better friends of Israel and the Jewish people on this earth."

The arrogance of these people is unbelievable. They aren't just "friends" who yearn for the death of all the Jews who refuse to accept their theology, but it would be tough to find better "friends" than them.

5/23/08, 9:33 AM