Jim Lobe notes that McCain’s AIPAC speech predictably invoked the Holocaust to explain why the U.S. and Israel must stand alone as a bulwark against Iran:
…While he did not repeat the Bush administration’s mantra that “all options”, including a military attack, should remain “on the table” in dealing with the alleged threat, he suggested that he would resort to such measures when he focused on the post-Holocaust promise of “never again”.
“(W)hen we join in saying ‘never again,’ that is not a wish, a request, or a plea to the enemies of Israel. It is a promise that the United States and Israel will honour, against any enemy who cares to test us,” he declared to enthusiastic applause…
It’s a nifty sound bite, especially before a hard-right Jewish audience like AIPAC. However, it completely twists political reality. While Ahmadinejad articulates hatred for the U.S. and Israel and the wish that they would disappear (and don’t we feel the same way about his regime?), he has never advocated genocide against Israel. He certainly realizes, unlike McCain and Israeli right-wing politicians like Bibi Netanyahu, that Iran doesn’t have the capacity to seriously damage, much less eradicate Israel. This is yet another example of misusing the Holocaust for pure partisan political gain.
Another point to keep in mind is that the slogan “Never Again!” was first popularized by Meir Kahane. Is this the Jewish model that McCain wishes to embrace? It tells you how poorly McCain’s advisors are guiding his efforts that he should embrace the words of the foremost Jewish racist of the past 50 years. Whoever’s advising him is either Jewishly ignorant or has a very bad case of amnesia.
Let’s also keep in mind that most Americans, including several of McCain’s own foreign policy advisors, reject the candidate’s “Nyet” approach to Iran:
…A new poll just released by the Gallup organisation found that nearly six in 10 U.S. voters, including nearly half of all Republican respondents, believe a U.S.-Iranian summit would be a “good idea”…
Obama[‘s] views on engaging Iran without conditions reflect the views of much of the U.S. foreign policy establishment, including even two of his [McCain’s] key policy advisers, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and neo-conservative thinker, Robert Kagan. They have called for direct talks with Tehran…
Personally, I’m beginning to think a McCain candidacy is going to echo the clueless, out of touch 1996 campaign Robert Dole ran against a far younger, more politically nimble Democrat by the name of Bill Clinton. If 6 in 10 Americans and some of his own key advisors believe the precise opposite of what McCain espouses regarding Iran, how long before we all see that the Republican emperor is hopelessly out of touch and has no clothes?
Recent interview with Daniel Levy on McCain’s Apocalypse Now and AIPAC
Apparently an Israeli attack is a more imminent issue according to Joschka Fischer. In another interview he talks more explicitly on the need of Iranian leadership to get the message.
Just because Wikipedia says something doesn’t necessarily mean it is true. I recall mainline Jewish organizations using the phrase as well. McCain probably doesn’t even know who Kahane was. One has to admit that the phrase is pretty pithy and memorable so I can see how people would want to use it.
In the 1999 Israeli election campaign, Ehud Barak decided that the Labor Party’s slogan would be “mahar shayach li” which is “Tomorrow Belongs To Me”, which people pointed out was the slogan of the Hitler Youth, leading Barak to drop it like a hot potato. Does that mean that Barak was a closet Nazi?
@bar_kochba132: After a Google search, I discovered that Kahane likely latched on to the phrase via a Holocaust documentary circa 1961. If you do the same search you will find another NY Times article marking Kahane’s death in which the reporter confirms Kahane’s association w. the phrase. It may be true that other groups took up the call after Kahane. But it was his phrase and most American Jews who are engaged with Jewish issues & identity know this, as I do.
As for Barak embracing the phrase “tomorrow belongs to me,” his campaign staff were stupid if they didn’t do a search to discover the connection to the Nazis BEFORE they adopted it.