With all the noise and bluster issuing from the rabid Islamophobic right over the non-fact of Obama's imagined Muslim heritage, one can certainly imagine that the people of Israel would be alarmed and scared out of their wits at the thought of a violently anti-Israel, Muslim Manchurian Candidate being elected to the office of President of the United States.
Imagine my surprise, then when a search of the Israeli press failed to turn up any articles proclaiming the imminent doom and destruction of the State of Israel, should Obama win the nomination and, ultimately, the White House.
Over the jump for the rest....
In fact, most of the Israeli press coverage for Obama seems to be overwhelmingly positive, and some of it is very pro his Candidacy. After reading these stories, one can only wonder at the strange and warped reality inhabited by the pundits on the right who are seeking to create a Bogeyman out of Obama to scare...... who exactly? Certainly not many people in Israel, judging by these reports.
As much as smearing Obama has been the top priority, smearing-by-association has also gotten a pretty good workout. His advisers on Foreign Affairs have been Demonized in various ways. Shmuel Rosner, writing in Israeli daily Haaretz, seeks to straighten out the much distorted record in an interview with Samantha Power. Power has been accused of calling the Israelis "Bastards" in a book she wrote. The truth behind this much repeated myth is quite prosaic:
She came to New York to launch her book, fresh off the press, about Sergio Vieira de Mello, a Brazilian diplomat with the United Nations who spent years tackling various humanitarian crises, until he was killed in Iraq in 2003. She opens the conversation with a reference to this book, which her critics now quote. De Mello was in Lebanon in 1982 when Israel started the Lebanon War, and didn't like what he saw. She quotes him, among other things, calling the Israelis "bastards." She says the book depicts its subject's thoughts, not her own.
Obama`s top adviser says she does not believe in imposing a peace settlement
That's right - she was actually quoting someone else.
On to the man himself: what does the English-language Israeli press have to say about Obama. Are they eying him with suspicion after Tim Russert, Hillary Clinton and the MSM made such a big deal out of the un-asked for and unwanted support from Farrakhan ? Er, not exactly.
Here's some feedback following yesterday's debate:
If anyone had any doubt that Hillary's campaign is trying to score points against Obama in the Jewish community - today she gave us the proof, publicly. "You asked specifically if he [Obama] would reject it [the endorsement] and there's a difference between denouncing and rejecting", she argued. Meaning - Obama is merely denouncing Farrakhan instead of rejecting the endorsement.
What was she trying to say - that Obama is somewhat anti-Semitic? Let's assume she was just thinking that Obama was playing politics and is trying not to offend Farrakhan's supporters while he denounces his views.
In any case, in this exchange Obama got the upper hand: "If the word 'reject' Senator Clinton feels is stronger than the word 'denounce', then I'm happy to concede the point and I would reject and denounce [Farrakhan]" he said.
Obama spoke about this same issue a few days ago as he was meeting a group of Jewish activists in Cleveland. Some who attended the event and do not belong to his camp said he was very convincing. "At his best," one of them said. But in the debate he was even better and was able to score again on the same topic, elaborating on something of great importance to Jewish liberals.
Israelis are not quaking in their boots after Farrakhan flap
It might surprise those who may have been swayed by all the right-wing fear-mongering that Obama actually paid a visit to Israel in 2005. The Jerusalem post reported on that study trip, which made a stop and an Arab/Christian town:
We were very glad to see him here for about five hours," [George Ayoub] told The Jerusalem Post by telephone on Thursday. "We didn't know that he was going to be the Democratic presidential candidate at the time, and now all of Fassouta are with him, with [Barack Obama], and we hope he is going to be the next president of the [United] States."
"Obama asked how it was being on the border with Lebanon, and he asked about the Christian minority in Israel, and we explained our situation to him," Ayoub said. "He believes in dialogue with Syria, Iran and Lebanon, and in my opinion he's right, because in order to remove all our problems, we have to sit at the table and talk about peace."
It was also in that address, in which he first spoke publicly about his visit to Israel, that Obama stated his policy on the country most succinctly: "Peace with security," he said. "That is the Israeli people's overriding wish. It is what I saw in the town of Fassouta on the border with Lebanon."
Obama goes to Israel and nothing remotely bad happens
Well how about that? Not only has Obama actually been allowed into Israel (some dangerous Muslim he must be), but at least some of the people he spoke to there think it might not be such a terrible idea to actually, like talk to Syria, Iran and Lebanon, in an effort to find peace in that region. The foaming-at-the-mouth Islamophobes would have you believe that Obama is covering up some deep-seated animus towards the nation of Israel, perhaps they mean such dangerous ideas as Israel needing to have "Peace with Security"? Hmmm?
Wait, there's more:
The Chicago Federation also arranged a lunch meeting focused on the immigration efforts it supports through the Jewish Agency, to which it invited young Ethiopian immigrants and Jewish Agency Chairman Ze'ev Bielski.
"We had a beautiful lunch in Jerusalem, to which we invited young people from the Ethiopian community in Kiryat Gat, and he showed great interest in them," Bielski said. "He told the youngsters that he had played basketball, and all the kids understood that if you play basketball, you may become a senator."
"He was very kind, and listened with a lot of patience and interest," Bielski said. "You can see that this is a self-made person who had to pave his own way and overcome difficulties."
Bielski said that Obama told them that "he is a strong supporter of the State of Israel, and there's no doubt in his mind that we should have a strong Israel.
Not much sign of seething anti-Israeli sentiment there and, gosh darn-it if they didn't seem to really like him right back.
Also, from the Jerusalem Post we have the stunning pronouncement that the allegedly anti-Israel, pro-Muslim Obama campaign is in fact nothing of the sort and this comes directly from none other than Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents. Yep, the very same Malcolm Hoenlein who has been reported in sections of the MSM as being "concerned about the Obama campaign":
The political campaign of Barack Obama is pro-Israel, as are the campaigns of all leading candidates in the current US presidential primaries, Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday in response to a press report that he had expressed concern over the Obama campaign.
"The Obama campaign is a brilliant campaign," said Hoenlein. "All the candidates are positive about Israel, and pro-Israel people in Chicago who know him well speak highly of Obama."
Hoenlein: Obama campaign pro-Israel
Read that again: "The Obama campaign is a brilliant campaign," said Hoenlein. "All the candidates are positive about Israel, and pro-Israel people in Chicago who know him well speak highly of Obama." .... but, but, according to All Wingnut Radio, he surrounds himself with pro-Muslim and anti-Israeli advisors. Not only that HE WORE A TURBAN!!!!! So how can this be?
While expressions of doubt about Obama coming from Israel seem to be thin on the ground, it hasn't all been gushing praise. Former Ambassador to the US, Danny Ayalon, in an interview with the Jerusalem Post said he had the impression that the Democratic candidate was "not entirely forthright" regarding Israel. Israeli daily Haaretz duly took him to task in an editorial for trying to present a smear rather than an opinion based on Obama's actual record:
Similar and even worse smears can be found in abundance in American blogs and e-mail chain letters.
While Obama was taking advantage of Martin Luther King Day to speak out against anti-Semitism among blacks, Jewish spokesmen were using racist language against him, solely because his father was Muslim. Since it is hard to find so much as a single anti-Jewish statement in Obama's political record, or even support for anti-Israel policies, his defamers base their arguments on the fact that his positions on the Middle East conflict are "leftist" - solely because he rejects the right's positions, which are more acceptable to some Jewish-American leaders.
Obama: Opponents trying to weaken my support in Jewish community
And there I think we have it in a nutshell: the smears against Obama have nothing to do his actual stance on Israel and everything to do with his politics and the fact he's not, well, to put it bluntly, a White Guy:
Racist attacks against a black American candidate could cause Israel and American Jews a great deal of damage - not to mention shame and disgrace. Obama has been forced to defend himself over things such as nonexistent ties with elements hostile to Israel, an appearance at an event at which Edward Said spoke, and praying at one church rather than another.
Great damage has already been caused because Obama announced that an ugly campaign was being waged against him in the Jewish community. That alone ought to be enough at least to make Israel's leaders say something about Jews who preach against anti-Semitism while employing similar tactics against other minorities.
Amen and Shalom to that.
(although I think that last bit should have been "waged against him in some of the more extreme parts of the Jewish community", because many people in the Jewish community in the USA like and support Obama.)
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