If I Forget Thee

Jerusalem. Next thing I expect they’ll have one of those maps of “Palestine,” that doesn’t include Israel, on the State Department web site. And then there’s this:

Robinson’s record is well known to most Jews with even a passing familiarity with the Jewish media. It cannot be a surprise that honoring Robinson in this way would be anathema to the Jewish community. In addition, I know from having worked in the White House that these selections go through extremely careful vetting of public and non-public databases to make sure that they would not embarrass the president in any way. The staff secretary’s office, which clears all paperwork that goes to the president, would also make sure that all of the relevant offices sign off on important selections before they happen. The two most important sign offs on something like the Medal of Freedom would be the chief of staff’s office, now headed by Rahm Emanuel, and the senior advisor’s office, now run by David Axelrod. For the Obama White House to have made this selection could mean one of only two possibilities: that they did not vet and clear the candidates, which suggests a level of incompetence beyond even missing tax evasions by cabinet nominees. Uncaught tax evasion does not come up on Google; Robinson’s record does. The other, more likely, possibility is that they knew and did not care.

It’s almost like they’re on the other side. And American Jews continue to play the sucker.

[Update a few minuts later]

But wait! There’s more:

Israel has a less favorable view of the United States now than it did in 2007 — by 6 points. Aren’t you glad we’ve appeased places like Syria and Venezuela and Cuba and Burma, though?

But a few other interesting data points come from the Pew survey as well: The Palestinian territories — run by Hamas and Fatah — do have a better opinion of the United States. So our chief ally in the Middle East is more nervous, and Yasser Arafat’s legatees are more happy.

But now get this from the survey: There is little evidence that support for suicide bombing in the Muslim world has decreased.

You don’t say.

9 thoughts on “If I Forget Thee”

  1. It’s almost like they’re on the other side.

    Right — Rahm Emanuael and David Axelrod are actually enemies of Israel.

    Isn’t it possible that there is a position somewhere between “Israel can do no wrong” and “Israel must be destroyed”?

  2. why is it so hard for Jim to conceive of a Jewish person who hates Israel?

    That isn’t hard to conceive of. It is hard to conceive of Rahm Emanuael or David Axelrod being such a person.

    Seriously, giving a medal to a former president of Ireland is supposed to indicate a secret desire to destroy Israel? They’re also giving a medal to the late Jack Kemp — does that mean Obama is a secret supply-sider (or, much worse, a secret Bills fan)?

    Honoring someone is not the same thing as agreeing with all of their views.

  3. Seriously, giving a medal to a former president of Ireland is supposed to indicate a secret desire to destroy Israel?

    No, just an indifference to its fate.

  4. “That isn’t hard to conceive of. It is hard to conceive of Rahm Emanuael or David Axelrod being such a person.”

    Based on what? So far, they seem okay with the pressure Obama is applying to Israel and the lack of it on the “Palestinians”. Robinson is, at best, a naive useful idiot or, at worst, a terrorist supporting anti-semite idiot. Neither should qualify her for our highest civilian honor.

    It’s okay for you to criticize the One once in a while. He really isn’t perfect. TOTUS is but not POTUS.

  5. Based on what? Bill, when the first Gulf War broke out, while Israeli citizens were carrying gas masks with them, Rahm Emanuel flew to Israel, and volunteered for Sar-El (look it up right here: http://www.sar-el.org or click on my name, and look at the Israeli guys in military uniforms) and spent the war at an Israeli Defense Force base cleaning brakes for military vehicles. There are many ways to work with Sar-El — Emanuel chose to do it during wartime, while Israel was receiving Iraqi missile attacks, at an Israeli base. Emanuel demonstrated support for Israel in the most tangible way an American citizen could do so.

    Here’s a balanced article on Emanuel (and to a lesser extent on Axelrod) that was published in Israel examining the two men’s relationship with Israel:
    haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1104187.html

    Here’s how the article starts (keep in mind that the author is Israeli):

    When I ask a liberal American Jew involved in politics what he thinks of the claim that Rahm Emanuel is an anti-Israeli fifth column in the Obama administration, he laughs. “So, do they really think in Israel that Rahm Emanuel, David Axelrod, Dan Shapiro, Mara Rudman, Dennis Ross and the other good American Jews who work with Obama are a fifth column?” And then he says slowly, like someone explaining something to a person who has difficulty understanding: “How many times do you have to be told … ”

    “… that you love us?” I try to complete the sentence.

    “No. That your policy is screwed up.”

  6. Yes, kill them with kindness. Your policy is screwed up. Hamas will change, just give them what they want, you’ll see. Haaretz is one of the most far left newspapers in Israel and all she did was write hagiography worthy of Chris Matthews about Obama.

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