Jim Stillman
Nevar
Why a Jew should Support Senator Obama.—Part I
May 27th 2008 19:57
The political imperative of an American Jew is complex. What are the priorities? How does this affect the candidacy of Barack Obama? What of the argument that a litmus test is appropriate; the Republicans use Roe v Wade as their test, should Jews use absolute and unquestioning support of the State of Israel as their test?
During the past weeks, I have had an exchange of correspondence with a cousin with a distinctly different political point of view from my own. My inclination is to support and vote for Senator Obama; my cousin, on the other hand, is far more in tune with the strong Zionist beliefs of my paternal grandfather. Our respective viewpoints are tempered by our personal and family situations, ones that are not uncommon in this country. My cousin and her husband lived in Israel for many years and their children and grandchildren now live there. For them, the safety of Israel and its future are not academic or abstract considerations but matters of family members’ survival. I, on the other hand, live in the United States and have the luxury of writing as a theoretical exercise. If members of my immediate family were in an area both threatened and fired upon by those bent on their extinction, I would have my beliefs challenged.
Let me further preface my remarks by stating that I join with many of my fellow Jews in a realization that, in the not too distant past, a threat to the very existence of the Jewish population was in place. In the third and fourth decade of the last century, the government of Germany embarked on a scheme to eradicate all Jews from Europe. Two very important points to ponder and consider: first, Germany was not a backward, poorly educated nation, its citizens were fully aware of the difference between right and moral and wrong, immoral and barbarism; second, the rest of the world voluntarily chose not to become aware of the slaughter taking place and, for the most part, couldn’t have cared less. Lest that appear overly harsh, I refer to my article on the 1939 voyage of the St. Louis.
Really Long Link
Just fewer than 1,000 Jews who were destined to be killed in concentration camps were allowed to board the SS St. Louis which left Germany for Cuba where they would allegedly find a haven. They did not know that they were part of a propaganda scheme orchestrated by the Nazi Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels to demonstrate to the world that no country would accept them. No one cared about the existence or slaughter of Jews in Europe, including the alleged bastions of liberty and freedom, the United States and Canada. Most important, Hitler felt that, if no country would admit Jewish refugees, and then there would be no world-wide opposition to his eventual goal, the utter elimination of Jews from the entire continent of Europe.
Because of these circumstances, the creation of a homeland to which Jews could turn and return, finding a measure of security was and is vital to our survival and very lives. Indeed, this belief is questioned by virtually no one. In a published article by Jeffrey Goldberg in The New Republic, Senator Obama is quoted,
Acknowledging that the foregoing is not sterile historical fact is the first step in appreciating how this plays a role in current politics.
My mother used to ask, whenever a natural catastrophe occurred somewhere, a flood, a hurricane, a devastating fire, “What does this mean for the Jews”. She was convinced that the rest of the world would use the event to place blame on the Jews and her feelings were not unrealistic. One result is that Jews became, once the State of Israel was established, Israel-centric, all political choices and decisions are made in the light of their effect on Israel.
In the light of the foregoing, the upcoming United States presidential election has become focused on the attitude toward Israel of Senators McCain and Obama.
These men have had “baggage” affixed to their candidacies: John McCain sought the political support of John Hagee and Rod Parsley, two right-wing preachers with considerable following in a segment of the GOP base and, more recently, repudiated the anti-Catholic, anti-Islam and anti-Jewish rhetoric spewing from these men. Barack Obama has had a long term spiritual relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright who has preached anti-American, anti-Semitic and anti-white doctrines. Whether this is a true picture of Wright’s extreme afro-centrism is subject to debate but, in any event, Senator Obama has repudiated his pastor’s political statements – perhaps more tardily than I would have wished.
In a column published in the New York Times on May 18, 2008, Thomas Friedman discusses rumor and e-mail messages circulating that suggest Senator Obama would be “bad for Israel”. Mr. Friedman writes,
I heard that Barack Obama once said there has to be “an end” to the Israeli “occupation” of the West Bank “that began in 1967.”
I heard that Barack Obama said that not only must Israel be secure, but that any peace agreement “must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people.”
I heard that Barack Obama once said “the establishment of the state of Palestine is long overdue. The Palestinian people deserve it.”
Those are the kind of rumors one can hear circulating among American Jews these days about whether Barack Obama harbors secret pro-Palestinian leanings. I confess: All of the above phrases are accurate. I did not make them up.
There’s just one thing: None of them were uttered by Barack Obama. They are all direct quotes from President George W. Bush in the last two years. Mr. Bush, long hailed as a true friend of Israel, said all those things.
What does that tell you? It tells me several things. The first is that America today has — rightly — a bipartisan approach to Arab-Israeli peace that is not going to change no matter who becomes our next president. America, whether under a Republican or Democratic administration, is now committed to a two-state solution in which the Palestinians get back the West Bank, Gaza and Arab parts of East Jerusalem, and Israel gives back most of the settlements in the West Bank, offsetting those it does not evacuate with land from Israel.
The notion that a President Barack Obama would have a desire or ability to walk away from this consensus American position is ludicrous. But given the simmering controversy over whether Mr. Obama is “good for Israel,” it’s worth exploring this question: What really makes a pro-Israel president?
Personally, as an American Jew, I don’t vote for president on the basis of who will be the strongest supporter of Israel. I vote for who will make America strongest. It’s not only because this is my country, first and always, but because the single greatest source of support and protection for Israel is an America that is financially and militarily strong, and globally respected. Nothing would imperil Israel more than an enfeebled, isolated America.”
In my opinion, the final paragraph of the lengthy quotation is appropriate and expresses my view.
A continuation and expansion of these views follow. I am fully aware that my opinions are not universally held, to say the least. We are a divided country. I urge those who disagree with me to join in discussion.
During the past weeks, I have had an exchange of correspondence with a cousin with a distinctly different political point of view from my own. My inclination is to support and vote for Senator Obama; my cousin, on the other hand, is far more in tune with the strong Zionist beliefs of my paternal grandfather. Our respective viewpoints are tempered by our personal and family situations, ones that are not uncommon in this country. My cousin and her husband lived in Israel for many years and their children and grandchildren now live there. For them, the safety of Israel and its future are not academic or abstract considerations but matters of family members’ survival. I, on the other hand, live in the United States and have the luxury of writing as a theoretical exercise. If members of my immediate family were in an area both threatened and fired upon by those bent on their extinction, I would have my beliefs challenged.
Let me further preface my remarks by stating that I join with many of my fellow Jews in a realization that, in the not too distant past, a threat to the very existence of the Jewish population was in place. In the third and fourth decade of the last century, the government of Germany embarked on a scheme to eradicate all Jews from Europe. Two very important points to ponder and consider: first, Germany was not a backward, poorly educated nation, its citizens were fully aware of the difference between right and moral and wrong, immoral and barbarism; second, the rest of the world voluntarily chose not to become aware of the slaughter taking place and, for the most part, couldn’t have cared less. Lest that appear overly harsh, I refer to my article on the 1939 voyage of the St. Louis.
Really Long Link
Just fewer than 1,000 Jews who were destined to be killed in concentration camps were allowed to board the SS St. Louis which left Germany for Cuba where they would allegedly find a haven. They did not know that they were part of a propaganda scheme orchestrated by the Nazi Propaganda Minister, Joseph Goebbels to demonstrate to the world that no country would accept them. No one cared about the existence or slaughter of Jews in Europe, including the alleged bastions of liberty and freedom, the United States and Canada. Most important, Hitler felt that, if no country would admit Jewish refugees, and then there would be no world-wide opposition to his eventual goal, the utter elimination of Jews from the entire continent of Europe.
Because of these circumstances, the creation of a homeland to which Jews could turn and return, finding a measure of security was and is vital to our survival and very lives. Indeed, this belief is questioned by virtually no one. In a published article by Jeffrey Goldberg in The New Republic, Senator Obama is quoted,
I think that the idea of a secure Jewish state is a fundamentally just idea, and a necessary idea, given not only world history but the active existence of anti-Semitism, the potential vulnerability that the Jewish people could still experience. I know that that there are those who would argue that in some ways America has become a safe refuge for the Jewish people, but if you’ve gone through the Holocaust, then that does not offer the same sense of confidence and security as the idea that the Jewish people can take care of themselves no matter what happens. That makes it a fundamentally just idea.
Acknowledging that the foregoing is not sterile historical fact is the first step in appreciating how this plays a role in current politics.
My mother used to ask, whenever a natural catastrophe occurred somewhere, a flood, a hurricane, a devastating fire, “What does this mean for the Jews”. She was convinced that the rest of the world would use the event to place blame on the Jews and her feelings were not unrealistic. One result is that Jews became, once the State of Israel was established, Israel-centric, all political choices and decisions are made in the light of their effect on Israel.
In the light of the foregoing, the upcoming United States presidential election has become focused on the attitude toward Israel of Senators McCain and Obama.
These men have had “baggage” affixed to their candidacies: John McCain sought the political support of John Hagee and Rod Parsley, two right-wing preachers with considerable following in a segment of the GOP base and, more recently, repudiated the anti-Catholic, anti-Islam and anti-Jewish rhetoric spewing from these men. Barack Obama has had a long term spiritual relationship with Rev. Jeremiah Wright who has preached anti-American, anti-Semitic and anti-white doctrines. Whether this is a true picture of Wright’s extreme afro-centrism is subject to debate but, in any event, Senator Obama has repudiated his pastor’s political statements – perhaps more tardily than I would have wished.
In a column published in the New York Times on May 18, 2008, Thomas Friedman discusses rumor and e-mail messages circulating that suggest Senator Obama would be “bad for Israel”. Mr. Friedman writes,
I heard that Barack Obama once said there has to be “an end” to the Israeli “occupation” of the West Bank “that began in 1967.”
I heard that Barack Obama said that not only must Israel be secure, but that any peace agreement “must establish Palestine as a homeland for the Palestinian people.”
I heard that Barack Obama once said “the establishment of the state of Palestine is long overdue. The Palestinian people deserve it.”
Those are the kind of rumors one can hear circulating among American Jews these days about whether Barack Obama harbors secret pro-Palestinian leanings. I confess: All of the above phrases are accurate. I did not make them up.
There’s just one thing: None of them were uttered by Barack Obama. They are all direct quotes from President George W. Bush in the last two years. Mr. Bush, long hailed as a true friend of Israel, said all those things.
What does that tell you? It tells me several things. The first is that America today has — rightly — a bipartisan approach to Arab-Israeli peace that is not going to change no matter who becomes our next president. America, whether under a Republican or Democratic administration, is now committed to a two-state solution in which the Palestinians get back the West Bank, Gaza and Arab parts of East Jerusalem, and Israel gives back most of the settlements in the West Bank, offsetting those it does not evacuate with land from Israel.
The notion that a President Barack Obama would have a desire or ability to walk away from this consensus American position is ludicrous. But given the simmering controversy over whether Mr. Obama is “good for Israel,” it’s worth exploring this question: What really makes a pro-Israel president?
Personally, as an American Jew, I don’t vote for president on the basis of who will be the strongest supporter of Israel. I vote for who will make America strongest. It’s not only because this is my country, first and always, but because the single greatest source of support and protection for Israel is an America that is financially and militarily strong, and globally respected. Nothing would imperil Israel more than an enfeebled, isolated America.”
In my opinion, the final paragraph of the lengthy quotation is appropriate and expresses my view.
A continuation and expansion of these views follow. I am fully aware that my opinions are not universally held, to say the least. We are a divided country. I urge those who disagree with me to join in discussion.
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