Apparently, some right-wing Jewish individual or group (this smacks of Mort Klein and ZOA or someone of that ilk) has fed yet a new Obama smear story to JTA with which to regale American Jews and plant new doubts in their mind. The latest example of Jewish Obamaphobia involves, you guessed it, Pastor Jeremiah Wright. Apparently his Church’s newsletter reprinted an L.A. Times op-ed column written by a Hamas representative arguing that Hamas should not be expected to recognize Israel before negotiating with it.
Let’s get real here. Many Israeli and American Jewish analysts (including a former Mossad director) agree with the Hamas position here. So what’s the problem? If the L.A. Times didn’t find it was fomenting terrorism and Israel hatred by publishing the original column why can’t the Pastor’s church republish it?
People, this is going too far. As a result of this lunacy, Obama feels compelled to get down on his knees and beg the Jewish community’s forgiveness for something that wasn’t his doing in the first place; and in the second, wasn’t even something that Wright should have to apologize for (unless that is the L.A. Times should also apologize for publishing it in the first place). Here’s Obama’s craven response:
“I have already condemned my former pastor’s views on Israel in the strongest possible terms, and I certainly wasn’t in church when that outrageously wrong Angeles Times piece was re-printed in the bulletin,” Obama said in a statement emailed to JTA late Thursday, and referring to critics who noted that Obama had been in church when Wright had made controversial statements. “Hamas is a terrorist organization, responsible for the deaths of many innocents, and dedicated to Israel’s destruction, as evidenced by their bombarding of Sderot in recent months. I support requiring Hamas to meet the international community’s conditions of recognizing Israel, renouncing violence, and abiding by past agreements before they are treated as a legitimate actor.”
This is a sorry statement which takes us back quite a ways in figuring a way to get Israel and the Palestinians (including Hamas) together to negotiate a way out of their impasse. The Jewish community is forcing Barack Obama to go through ever smaller hoops in order to get, or not to lose its support. Pretty soon the hoop will be as wide as the eye of a needle and neither Obama nor a camel can thread that.
It speaks volumes that JTA thought this story was newsworthy. They’re carrying water for Hillary, McCain or the Republican Jewish Coalition whether they know it or not.
Hat tip to Sam Smith for featuring this story at his blog.
