Wonder of wonders, the Los Angeles Jewish Federation either understood the lunacy of hosting a lecture by Pam Geller, or they were embarrassed beyond belief by the Council for Islamic-American Relations press release that announced Geller’s public event, that was to be hosted by the far-right Zionist Organization of America in the Federation board room.
Geller and ZOA are howling with rage. She’s even charging that the Federation capitulated to CAIR, likening the latter to the Nazi Gauleiters. This woman is beyond twisted. She’s beyond pathological and sociopathic. She’s truly off her gourd. Read it (and weep):
In a jaw-dropping act of cowardice and submission, LA Federation is not allowing ZOA (Zionist Organization of America) to hold the event where I was scheduled to speak this morning.
Jewish leadership is on the trains and thinks we will go quietly. This is tragic. Imagine, without so much as firing a shot, they’re caving in to a Hamas front group, the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Hamas’s fundamental goal is the annihilation of Israel.
This mirrors Nazi Party Representatives attending a 1933 Berlin Jewish Community charity drive gathering — back on December 20, 1933, three thousand Jews attended the first official Jewish gathering in which uniformed Nazis participated. The mass meeting was arranged by the Berlin Jewish community to open the special campaign for winter relief. And we know how that worked out.
Is it any wonder that the American Jewish left has become a problem for Israel? Who are these people? What is their role? What is their mission? What’s the point of Jewish lay leadership if they submit before their executioners? Shame on our cowardly leadership for throwing one of our own under the bus. We expect that from kapos, not from proud Jews who should hold the freedom of speech as a fundamental Jewish value.
According to ZOA, the Federation expressed concerns about the safety of the building if it hosted Geller. If this is true, I agree with Geller and the group this it is a shandeh. But not for the reasons they argue. It is a shandeh because it is a cop-out. Instead of standing against Jewish racism and hate and saying it has no part in the Jewish federation building, they are using the excuse that Pam Geller will arouse the ire of local Muslims, who will take a pot-shot at the building or its occupants because of her presence. This is an insult to local Muslims and their leaders, who do not espouse the sort of hatred of Jews that Geller does of Muslims. The federation hasn’t even said it refused to hold the event because of the friction it would cause with the local Muslim community. Indeed, it probably doesn’t even care about that.
But I would like to congratulate CAIR, a local inter-religious clergy group, and all (including you, good reader) who united to denounce this odious event at the Federation building. And if a Federation leader understood the toxicity of hosting this event and canceled it–good for him or her.
Here is the statement released by the interfaith coalition in praising the decision to cancel the event:
“We commend the Jewish Federation for taking action to dissociate from Pamela Geller’s bigoted views. It is also encouraging to see that when interfaith communities work together, we can help promote tolerance and reject misinformation that only serves to confuse and promote hate. Americans must continue to stand up and ensure that voices of hate and bigotry stay on the margins of our society, where they belong. We further ask people to take a moment to send a note of thanks to the Federation’s leadership.”
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Richard, which interfaith coalition was involved with this? I can’t find it. Thanks 🙂
Forgive us for a critical question, but how do you think Geller gets so much time on major media outlets? A foreword to one of her books was written by John Bolton, published by Simon & Schuster, a CBS Corporation. Hardly fringe. The ADL labels her a hate group, but joined in the Park 51 debate at the forefront along her side. Hardly enemies.
Someone with so much “baseless hatred” – to borrow the term Shimon Peres relayed to Vladimir Putin during his visit to his now pretty much overt client state regarding Iran’s desire to kill every Jew for fun – simply defies logic. Does not pass the smell test.
Islamophobia is trendy.
Why do you think Geller gets so much time on major media outlets? What do you think the reason is?
Why are Rush Limbaugh & Anne Coulter so popular? Because they’re bloated caricatures of crazy, foaming at the mouth right-wing fury. Makes for good TV & sound bytes if you’re FoxNews or Breitbart.
That’s a good answer, Richard, but is it true? Do you think these people all only have a profit motive? Is that why a head of BainCapital, who owns all of ClearChannel, including Beck’s voice, Hannity’s voice, and Limbaugh’s voice, is now running for President with the most unsurprising of endorsements?
We weren’t born yesterday and neither were you. This person, Geller, like some of the people who post here, are bad actors and somehow fooling you into thinking “baseless hatred” exists. It does not. It defies all logic.
I agree with this assessment. However, the commenter I was responding to wrote something that I found confusing. About something not passing “the smell test” so I was hoping for clarification on what they meant.
Yawn @ Bob’s transparent hasbara behavior
You didn’t answer the question, Bob, and I clearly did above. You need to stop projecting your own psychological insecurities about Zionism and its criminality on to others. Zionists are the racists, not vice versa.
What the heck are you talking about? I didn’t say anything about Zionism or Zionists. I just asked why you thought Geller got the attention that she did. You seem to not be clearly stating your opinion on this matter. Are you willing to be more direct about it?
Your insinuations are as sophisticated as your seemingly “incompetent” analytic skills, hasbara.
Mann: do you ever make an actual point or are you just here to control the conversation?
That seems like kind of a loaded question. Not sure how I am “controlling” the conversation. I asked one question in response to a post that another commenter made that I found mysterious. They asked a possibly rhetorical question about why Geller gets time on major media outlets. I’m not sure why they won’t simply and directly state why they think Geller gets the time she does on major media outlets (which is all I asked), but I am perfectly happy to drop the matter. Though I would mention that I don’t understand why that commenter isn’t accused of trying to control the conversation in light of their initial remarks and their various personal attacks directed against someone who merely asked for clarification about their obtuse comments.
Just for fun I posted over on Atlas Shrugged that I live in Israel and I will be happy to have a Palestinian state next door to me. That I do not HATE Palestinians. They let it stay up for less than 3 hours before taking it down.
The right wing hates democracy, freedom, and the free interchange of ideas. Just like all other totalitarian regimes. They have NO BUSINESS running the Jewish state.