"ALL CAPS IN DEFENSE OF LIBERTY IS NO VICE."

Saturday, March 18, 2023

With his sordid record, Andrew Cuomo has no business establishing a "pro-Israel" movement

Former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who led the state into an utter disaster 3 years ago during the Coronavirus pandemic, and was forced to resign following sexual misconduct scandals, is now establishing a supposedly pro-Israeli group meant to appeal to Democrats:
Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a new project, a year and a half after resigning amid a flurry of sexual harassment allegations: a pro-Israel organization targeting Democrats.

Cuomo delivered the message via video on Monday evening at an event at Carnegie Hall hosted by the World Values Network, the organization led by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach — an author, television personality and onetime Republican congressional candidate. Boteach organized the event in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising and in memory of his recently deceased mother.

The launch of the organization, to be called “Progressives For Israel,” was first reported by Matthew Kassel at Jewish Insider.

While Cuomo provided few details about the organization, he said that it would call on Democrats to stand with Israel, “because silence is not an option.”
Putting aside for a moment that many leftists today are more hostile than ever to Israel, how can one truly give backing to a movement formed by a man whose record consists of sexual harrassment/abuse, and even went miles out of his way to impose LGBT ideology, among other woke elements, upon a now collapsing state? Boteach should also consider how embarrassing it is to associate with somebody like Cuomo, who didn't do any true favors for Jews in New York either, unless it's the Satmar we're talking about.

If Cuomo still retains the far-left ideological perspective he had before on issues like LGBT ideology and appeasing high crime rates in NYC, that's reason enough to reject whatever he's doing now, and Boteach would do well to distance himself from Cuomo too. NY's former governor is just not worth wasting time with.

Update: it's important to note that as of now, many more Democrats side with Islamists against Israel. Even if Cuomo weren't as corrupt as he is, the movement he's formed is bound to fail miserably.

Monday, March 13, 2023

Those Jewish groups who push the US government to pressure Israel should be avoided

Irit Tratt's raised an issue that may be overlooked, of doubtlessly leftist Jewish movements who've pushed for the US government to pressure Israel for all the wrong reasons:
On Feb. 27, Israeli-American Elan Ganeles was fatally shot by Palestinian terrorists while driving by the town of Jericho on the way to a friend’s wedding. The horrific murder followed a tragic month in Israel during which 14 lives were lost to Palestinian terrorism.

After the attacks, American officials, including U.S. President Joe Biden and U.S. Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides phoned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or issued expressions of “deep condolences” to the victims’ families.

While expressions of sympathy are a reassuring indicator of a stable alliance, there has also been a torrent of American criticism on a host of issues ranging from Israel’s strategy on Ukraine to internal Israeli debates over judicial reform.

The Biden administration’s pivot away from Israel became clear last month when the U.S. backed a U.N. Security Council statement condemning Israel’s legalization of nine “settlements” in Judea and Samaria.

Little attention has been paid to the Jewish leaders who are abetting this change in U.S. policy. It remains expedient to blame politicians for this shift but, in fact, American Jewish institutions have fostered an atmosphere favorable to cooling U.S.-Israel relations for decades.

In his 1998 article “Netanyahu and American Jews,” Jonathan Broder described a White House state dinner that took place the previous year honoring Israel’s then-President Ezer Weizman. Among those invited were ten senior representatives from U.S. Jewish organizations.

The article stated that President Bill Clinton went around the room and asked each Jewish dignitary if they agreed with the conclusions of a poll conducted by the Israel Policy Forum (IPF) that showed 84% of American Jews surveyed “favored U.S. pressure on both Israel and the Palestinians to save the faltering Middle East peace process.”

To Clinton’s surprise, the Jewish organizational leaders expressed unanimous agreement with the IPF study and rejected any attempt to dispute its findings.

Moreover, not one Jewish attendee spoke favorably of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
. This left the task to Clinton, who suggested that Israel’s cabinet, rather than Netanyahu, was causing an impasse in the peace process.
While the organizations' attitude towards Israel is obviously bad, Clinton was still reprehensible in his own approach, considering he pushed through some very bad demands of his own, had a lenient view of Islam, and of course, let's not forget his record of sexual abuse allegations. Based on that, one must wonder if he really did find it surprising the Jewish organizations in question were hostile to Israel.

But that told, of course these organizations are a most repulsive lot, and no decent person should have anything to do with them. That's the vital lesson to consider in this whole affair, a tragedy that's been caused by people who've been taught to otherwise reject their heritage and history. Worst, they're sympathetic to Islamofascism, and that's one more reason why they should be avoided.