American Jews Baffled By Gingrich's Focus on Israel
Byrnzie
Posts: 21,037
This just shows how out of touch and self-serving this idiot is. He thinks that by indulging in bad history and racism against the Palestinians that he will win over America's Jewish community. It's good to see that the majority of Jews in America see through this mans bullshit, and realize that he's merely seeking to win election points. The Christian Evangelicals, on the other hand, are loving what he says as it feeds into their twisted Biblical fantasy regarding the end of days, e.t.c.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ja ... ida-jewish
'...The Jewish community in the US leans heavily toward the Democrats. Close to 80% of Jewish voters supported Barack Obama in 2008. But that support eroded in the months after Obama came to power after he made a speech in Cairo reaching out to the Arab world and attempted to pressure the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, in to halting the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The Republicans sought to portray Obama as endangering Israel, accusing him of disrespecting the Jewish state and of "not being a friend of Israel".
Obama has also been criticised for failing to visit Israel as president, although he did go before he was elected to the White House.
Rabbi David Steinhardt, head of a congregation in Boca Raton for 18 years, said that all of that generated concern within the American Jewish community but those fears have largely fallen away.
"I don't think initially that Jewish voters were as in touch as a group with the nuances of the Cairo visit and speech. But I think over time they've come to understand what Obama was attempting to do," he said. "There's a greater sense that Obama is a supporter of Israel, and at the same time Obama had been pushing - and I think things have come to a standstill - for a two state solution, which is something that the Israeli administration has also gone on the record as supporting."
Steinhardt said that while the Jewish community is very protective of Israel, it sometimes feels as if politicians believe that is the only issue of concern.
"What we're seeing in the political conversation right now is that politicians go out of their way to talk about how supportive they are of Israel. Our politicians seem to outdo Israeli politicians in terms of their positions regarding considerations of Israel," he said. "My sense about the voters in my congregation is that they're sophisticated and that they're always concerned about Israel but Israel is not the only issue on which they vote. They're interested in other domestic issues. Policies regarding immigration are important to them. Issues around healthcare are very important to my congregation. There are a lot of seniors."
But Gingrich's vocal support of Israel has less to do with support from the Jewish community than the votes of a much larger group: Christian evangelicals, who are strongly supportive of Israel for theological reasons.
Many evangelical votes are up for grabs. Some have gravitated toward Rick Santorum because of concern among deeply religious people over Gingrich's history of adultery and divorces. He has sought to win over the waverers in part through virulent support of Israel.
That has included his deeply controversial claim that the Palestinians are an invented people, implying that they are not entitled to their own state.
That statement did not win favour among many Jews because it is a denial of the two state solution the Israeli government favours.
"He was historically accurate," said Nat Trayger, who runs a medical supply business. "Until the 1960s, they didn't identify with the name Palestinian. However they have created a people and that has to be recognised. I don't understand what Gingrich was trying to do."
But Gingrich's implicit denial of a Palestinian state did go down well with evangelicals who, among other things, believe that the Jewish state is entitled to claim all of the land identified as Israel in the Bible. It disturbs Steinhardt.
"One has to look at the evangelical position there and question what that support means. I have been in meetings with evangelicals where they speak about a greater Israel. They do not believe that any settlements (in the occupied territories) should be withdrawn and their position tends to be to the right of Netanyahu's government," he said. "They don't see coexistence among Palestinians, Muslims, Israelis, Jews, Christians. And that's a different language than the majority of the Jewish community is speaking. It's heavily driven by theology as opposed to political considerations."
Gingrich's outspoken positions on the Jewish state are also likely to have been influenced by the fact that he has received the backing of a vigorous Israel supporter, Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate and multi-billionaire who has so far poured at least $10m into political adverts in support of the Republican contender. Adelson has donated heavily to Zionist groups, including Birthright Israel and One Jerusalem, an organisation working to keep the entire city in Israel's hands. He is a friend of Netanyahu.
Tellingly, when it came to questions from the audience to Gingrich at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, not one was about Israel.
Trayger said he cast his ballot in early voting for Santorum.
"I don't really understand Gingrich. On the one hand he says he's a conservative. On the other, his solutions are all big government," he said. "I voted for Santorum but I would not be unhappy if Romney wins. There are lots of issues with Gingrich. Santorum has a real clean personal life. I've been married a long time and I respect that. Gingrich has ethics issues. He seems to say very many different things. He says he was a "historian" for Freddie Mac. It's a reflection of his character. Israel has nothing to do with it."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/ja ... ida-jewish
'...The Jewish community in the US leans heavily toward the Democrats. Close to 80% of Jewish voters supported Barack Obama in 2008. But that support eroded in the months after Obama came to power after he made a speech in Cairo reaching out to the Arab world and attempted to pressure the Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, in to halting the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank. The Republicans sought to portray Obama as endangering Israel, accusing him of disrespecting the Jewish state and of "not being a friend of Israel".
Obama has also been criticised for failing to visit Israel as president, although he did go before he was elected to the White House.
Rabbi David Steinhardt, head of a congregation in Boca Raton for 18 years, said that all of that generated concern within the American Jewish community but those fears have largely fallen away.
"I don't think initially that Jewish voters were as in touch as a group with the nuances of the Cairo visit and speech. But I think over time they've come to understand what Obama was attempting to do," he said. "There's a greater sense that Obama is a supporter of Israel, and at the same time Obama had been pushing - and I think things have come to a standstill - for a two state solution, which is something that the Israeli administration has also gone on the record as supporting."
Steinhardt said that while the Jewish community is very protective of Israel, it sometimes feels as if politicians believe that is the only issue of concern.
"What we're seeing in the political conversation right now is that politicians go out of their way to talk about how supportive they are of Israel. Our politicians seem to outdo Israeli politicians in terms of their positions regarding considerations of Israel," he said. "My sense about the voters in my congregation is that they're sophisticated and that they're always concerned about Israel but Israel is not the only issue on which they vote. They're interested in other domestic issues. Policies regarding immigration are important to them. Issues around healthcare are very important to my congregation. There are a lot of seniors."
But Gingrich's vocal support of Israel has less to do with support from the Jewish community than the votes of a much larger group: Christian evangelicals, who are strongly supportive of Israel for theological reasons.
Many evangelical votes are up for grabs. Some have gravitated toward Rick Santorum because of concern among deeply religious people over Gingrich's history of adultery and divorces. He has sought to win over the waverers in part through virulent support of Israel.
That has included his deeply controversial claim that the Palestinians are an invented people, implying that they are not entitled to their own state.
That statement did not win favour among many Jews because it is a denial of the two state solution the Israeli government favours.
"He was historically accurate," said Nat Trayger, who runs a medical supply business. "Until the 1960s, they didn't identify with the name Palestinian. However they have created a people and that has to be recognised. I don't understand what Gingrich was trying to do."
But Gingrich's implicit denial of a Palestinian state did go down well with evangelicals who, among other things, believe that the Jewish state is entitled to claim all of the land identified as Israel in the Bible. It disturbs Steinhardt.
"One has to look at the evangelical position there and question what that support means. I have been in meetings with evangelicals where they speak about a greater Israel. They do not believe that any settlements (in the occupied territories) should be withdrawn and their position tends to be to the right of Netanyahu's government," he said. "They don't see coexistence among Palestinians, Muslims, Israelis, Jews, Christians. And that's a different language than the majority of the Jewish community is speaking. It's heavily driven by theology as opposed to political considerations."
Gingrich's outspoken positions on the Jewish state are also likely to have been influenced by the fact that he has received the backing of a vigorous Israel supporter, Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate and multi-billionaire who has so far poured at least $10m into political adverts in support of the Republican contender. Adelson has donated heavily to Zionist groups, including Birthright Israel and One Jerusalem, an organisation working to keep the entire city in Israel's hands. He is a friend of Netanyahu.
Tellingly, when it came to questions from the audience to Gingrich at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting, not one was about Israel.
Trayger said he cast his ballot in early voting for Santorum.
"I don't really understand Gingrich. On the one hand he says he's a conservative. On the other, his solutions are all big government," he said. "I voted for Santorum but I would not be unhappy if Romney wins. There are lots of issues with Gingrich. Santorum has a real clean personal life. I've been married a long time and I respect that. Gingrich has ethics issues. He seems to say very many different things. He says he was a "historian" for Freddie Mac. It's a reflection of his character. Israel has nothing to do with it."
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Mr. Adelson made an initial $5 million contribution to Winning Our Future, a pro-Gingrich super PAC, before the South Carolina primary, which proved pivotal in Mr. Gingrich’s victory there.
Fred Zeidman, a Texas energy executive active in Jewish and Republican circles, said he talked to Mr. Adelson early last week, before it became public that Mrs. Adelson, 66, had also donated $5 million to the super PAC. Mr. Adelson told his friend that he was going to give more money and seemed to signal that he was willing to keep it flowing.
“I think what he’s trying to say is, ‘Newt ain’t going away, and I’m going to make sure of it,’ ” Mr. Zeidman said.
“Read the history of those who call themselves Palestinians and you will hear why Gingrich said recently that the Palestinians are an invented people,” Mr. Adelson said at the event for Birthright Israel, which takes young Jews on trips there.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/us/po ... money.html
i think it is hilarious how he is throwing millions at a time at gingrich and gingrich is floundering in florida at the moment... i say let him piss away his money on gingrich, because that is all the man is doing since gingrich can not beat obama if he gets the nomination... it is telling that not one congressman who served under gingrich has endorsed him for president, while people like palin and cain have......
it is also funny to me that gingrich is embracing the tea party and pandering to them, because he is a whore and needs their support if he has any prayer of getting the nomination. not surprising though, the tea party and their moral crusaders have said nothing of this man's morals and nothing of his divorces and infidelity. they just like him because his last name is not romney..
as the article states, gingrich is more pro-israel than most israelis and most jewish people...and THAT is what baffles american jews..
"Well, you tell him that I don't talk to suckas."
Posting a picture of that idiot racist billionaire with a quote below it reminding us of his racism, contributes nothing to this discussion.
But somehow we're supposed to believe that this poster has an open mind?
His juvenile bullshit became boring a long time ago.
Agreed. USAmamasan is like my 3 yr old nephew when he acts out. ignore and he will go away.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree ... lson-donor
Newt Gingrich's agenda-setting big donor
Sheldon Adelson's Super Pac funding has heavily backed Gingrich – and found him a firm pro-Israel and anti-Muslim ally
Arun Kundnani
guardian.co.uk, Saturday 28 January 2012
By donating $10m to the pro-Newt Gingrich Super Pac campaign, casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, one of the richest men in the US, and his physician wife, Dr Miriam Adelson, have kept Gingrich in the Republican primary race, and given him the resources to win in South Carolina and, potentially, in Florida, without having to build a large donor base.
The power of corporate money in American politics is nothing new. But the rules set by the US supreme court in its Citizens United decision – that money is speech and corporations are people protected by the first amendment – have undone the limits set by Congress in the 1970s, allowing, in this case, one family to transform the Republican primary race.
Of course, like all private funding of politics, there is no way of knowing with certainty what the Adelsons expect to achieve with their money. And the mainstream US media has been coy about referring to the Adelsons' political views. The New York Times story on the latest $5m donation to the Gingrich-supporting Super Pac merely described Sheldon Adelson as "a longtime Gingrich friend and a patron".
This ignored the fact that the Adelsons use their wealth to fund rightwing groups in Israel and anti-Muslim campaigns within the US, causes that are also strongly supported by Gingrich. In Israel, Sheldon Adelson has been accused of using his newspaper Israel Hayom to promote support for his friend, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is also a political ally of Gingrich. In addition, Adelson is a financial backer of the One Jerusalem group, which opposes peace negotiations that would lead to parts of Jerusalem coming under Palestinian sovereignty. The couple's Adelson Family Foundation donated $4.5m to the founding of the Adelson Institute for Strategic Studies in Jerusalem, headed by Likud party former minister Natan Sharansky (pdf).
Adelson has also funded the leading pro-Israel lobby group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac). Aipac is known for its strong and effective advocacy of Israel's interests in Washington, but four years ago, Adelson reportedly complained to its director that it was too supportive of the Palestinians. He has called the two-state solution a "stepping stone for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people". He also reportedly supports the Clarion Fund, which produces scare-mongering films advancing the conspiracy theory that Muslims seek to impose sharia law in America.
Gingrich shares the same political agenda. On 9 December, in an interview with the Jewish Channel, Gingrich stated that the Palestinians are an "invented" people. Asked about the comments while in Israel, Adelson defended Gingrich. In an address to the Republican Jewish Committee last June, Gingrich called for the US to end negotiations with the Palestinian Authority and for the closure of UN camps that house 1.4 million Palestinian refugees. He has also said there is no reason for Israelis to slow down settlement activity and give up on "maximizing their bargaining position". He has enthusiastically perpetuated the narrative that Obama has been a poor friend to Israel, despite Obama's repeated statements and actions to the contrary.
Gingrich is "realistic" about the threat of Islamic fundamentalism, according to Adelson. He has endorsed the conspiracy theory that Muslim organisations are using a strategy of "stealth jihad" to infiltrate sharia law into US institutions. Speaking to the American Enterprise Institute in July 2010, Gingrich said: "I believe sharia is a mortal threat to the survival of freedom in the United States and in the world as we know it." He favours a federal law to ban sharia from US courts and has said he would require American Muslims to make a loyalty declaration before serving in his administration. With his wife Callista, he produced and narrated a 2010 film on the threat of radical Islam, entitled America at Risk: The War With No Name. Bernard Lewis, who coined the phrase "clash of civilisations", appears in the film, saying: "This war will go on until the entire world either embraces Islam or submits to Islamic rule."
While Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum have also declared their strong support for Israel, only Gingrich has embraced a vision of civilizational conflict between the west and Islam – a convenient narrative for the right in Israel, which fears growing international support for the human rights of Palestinians, and would prefer Americans to think of Israel as a bastion of western values threatened by Islamic barbarism.
The number of Americans holding this view is declining. One index of this shifting mood was the New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman writing last December that the standing ovation Netanyahu received at Congress was "bought and paid for by the Israel lobby", implying that money rather than shared values underlies the special relationship.
Yet there remains a reluctance to fully discuss these issues for fear of fueling the old hate libels about Jewish money controlling world events. This is a real concern: antisemitism continues to be central to much far-right ideology in the US and Europe. Equally, though, we should not be discouraged from properly scrutinising the millions of dollars being spent to advance the career of a politician who promotes conspiracy theories about a Muslim takeover of America and is running for the presidential nomination while espousing a Greater Israel agenda.