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February 13, 2012
Binyamin Rose: Back to the Bunker: How a life-risking act by a Christian family during the Holocaust saved a family and built a thriving community a world away
Menachem Wecker: Business Schools Teach Real Estate Despite Troubled Housing Market
February 10, 2012
Lisa M. Krieger: Man with defibrillator demands access to his own heart's information
David G. Savage: Why activists may not be in a hurry to have High Court rule on alternative marriage
February 9, 2012
Laura McMullen: 10 Least Expensive Public Schools for Out-of-State Students
Kimberly Palmer: How to actually enjoy -- relaxing, financially -- your vacation
February 8, 2012
Warren Richey: Why momentous Prop. 8 ruling might not satisfy gay-rights groups
Menachem Wecker: Though Controversial, LL.M.'s Can Lead to Specialized Legal Jobs
The Kosher Gourmet byDana Velden: Going to the bother of making soup? You know it better be good. This CREAM OF TOMATO SOUP certainly is! And it's a cinch to make, too (Includes techinques and serving secrets)
February 7, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney, Jr.: Caught off-guard? President's Super Bowl interview with Matt Lauer gives those who need a reason not to vote for him, a darn good one
Suzanne Bohan: Leaping lizards! Tiny reptiles advancing robot design
February 6, 2012
Jonathan Tobin: Iran Threatens Israel With Destruction, But the New York Times Doesn't Hear It
Jeffrey Fleishman: In newly democratic Egypt, tens of democracy activists jailed, to stand trial; their groups are 'threatening the stability of the homeland'
Julie Deardorff : Researchers say antioxidants may not be that effective and could do more harm than good
Mark Clayton: How did Anonymous hackers eavesdrop on FBI and Scotland Yard?
February 3, 2012
Edmund Sanders : Israeli official says Iran is creating missile that could reach East Coast of US
Victoria Kim: Immigrant-smuggling ring used black drivers to avoid racial profiling
February 2, 2012
Jim Carney: Wrong number call may have saved her life
Reza Kahlili : Ex-CIA spy in Iran's Revolutionary Guard: What Obama doesn't grasp about striking deals with Tehran
Tina Susman: For woodchuck rescuer, every day is Groundhog Day
February 1, 2012
Brian Bennett: US officials see increasing threat of domestic attack from Iran
Emily Brandon: How to Take Advantage of New 401(k) Fee Disclosures
January 31, 2012
January 30, 2012
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim: Misreading Teheran's limits -- deadly and economically devastating as they may be -- is a risk administration, Europe seem willing to take
Suzanne Bohan: Warning: Nap-deprived tots missing more than sleep, study finds
Meg Handley: Banks Revamping Rewards Programs to Woo Customers
January 27, 2012
Caroline B. Glick: Obama: Of course I intend to prevent a nuclear holocaust . . . in a few months
Yochonon Donn: In liberal New York City, fervently-Orthodox Jews may soon be getting a district to call their own
Jeannine Stein: An inflated ego and thinking you're 'all that' doesn't just make others sick of you, it can make you ill
Katy Hopkins: New budget rules may affect how much money you get for college
January 26, 2012
Ed Koch: To the New York Times, calling for the murder of Jews by those capable of having their incitement taken seriously isn't news
Jeannine Stein: Mental illness struck one in five U.S. adults in 2010: Report
January 25, 2012
Richard Simon: House passes two bills endorsing the use of religious symbols at military memorials
Fred Weir: Putin: Multiethnic Russia cannot survive as a US-style 'melting pot'; must find its own way
Susan Johnston: 5 Sneaky Coupon Strategies Consumers Should Watch Out For
January 24, 2012
Carol Clark: The price of your soul: How your brain decides whether to 'sell out'
Caroline B. Glick: America lost most in 'Arab Spring'. Sadly, many voters still don't grasp the extent
Warren Richey: Drug criminal scores win in GPS ruling from conservative-leaning high court
Erika Bolstad: Black conservatives gather to talk about gaining strength
January 23, 2012
Melissa Dribben: Jewish voters to play a key role in Florida's Republican primary
Jordan Rau: In quest to grow, Catholic hospital system will announce this morning its break from church
Ali Safi: U.S. envoy gives Taliban terms for peace talks
January 19, 2012
January 18, 2012
January 17, 2012
Frank J. Gaffney Jr.: No-kidding red lines: U.S. response to an Iranian nuke may be bluster, but Israel's won't be
David G. Savage: They sued their principals after slandering them online --- now the cases are headed to the Supreme Court
David Francis: Where to Invest in 2012: With stocks expected to rebound, opportunity abounds for investors
January 13, 2012
Ben Lynfield: Israeli lawmakers move to annex Jewish Judea, one museum at a time
Alexia Elejalde-Ruiz: Thriving through touch: Gentle massage helps older people with low mobility improve in mind and body
January 12, 2012
Warren Richey: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a 'resounding win' for religious groups
Warren Richey: Supreme Court says no to new rule on eyewitness testimony
John Fauber : Statins found to raise diabetes risk in postmenopausal women
Katy Hopkins : Consider This Before You Pay for an Online Degree
The Kosher Gourmet by Joseph Erdos: This mushroom and barley soup has an intense -- almost nutty -- flavor that mixes robust with Middle East. It has creaminess without cream
January 11, 2012
Shari Roan: Millions of atrial fibrillation sufferers at risk for devastating, but preventable, stroke
Tom Hussain: Pakistan -- recipient of more than $21 billion in civilian and military aid -- speeds pursuit of Iranian pipeline, defying US
David G. Savage: High court signals it won't be loosening TV's 'indecency' rules
Stephen Ceasar: Oklahoma's Islamic law amendment can't go into effect, court rules
January 10, 2012
Reza Kahlili: From an ex-CIA spy: US must exploit new split in Iran's Revolutionary Guard
Karen Kaplan: Study: Nicotine replacement products ineffective when used in real-life situations
January 9, 2012
Michael Doyle: Put through legal hell over dream home, couple fought back hard --- all the way to Supreme Court
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Jewish World Review
July 21, 2004
/ 3 Menachem-Av, 5764
There's nothing wrong with a pandering platform
By
Jonathan Tobin
While we are right to be skeptical about any promise made in the summer
of a presidential election year, this doesn't mean that supporters of Israel
should sit out the process
http://www.jewishworldreview.com |
Do the platforms put forward every four years by our major political parties
matter? In general, the answer would have to be no.
The platforms are documents that bind neither presidential candidate, and
often have little impact on the policies that the winner in November will pursue.
The fact that for decades both Republicans and Democrats passed platform
planks calling for moving the U.S. Embassy to Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem,
only to have presidents of both parties reject this advice, is testimony to how
meaningless this exercise can be.
But while we are right to be skeptical about any promise made in the summer
of a presidential election year, this doesn't mean that supporters of Israel
should sit out the process.
Even though we can't be sure that anything the Democrats or the GOP promise
in their platforms will come to pass, the value of the symbolism involved is
not to be minimized. If we are to continue the tradition of bipartisan support
for Israel, then both parties must be put on record saying so.
That's why we are encouraged by the decision of the Democrats to specifically
support Israel's right to hold on to parts of the West Bank in any possible
peace settlement. By echoing President Bush's stand on this question, the
Democrats are doing more than ratcheting up the bidding in the struggle for Jewish
votes. Call it pandering if you like, but they are also sending a signal that
those who hope to detach the United States from Israel in the coming years are
bound to lose.
In this light, friends of Israel should hope the Republicans, who are bent on
substantially increasing the small share of the Jewish vote that they won
four years ago, will see the Democrats and raise them by explicitly endorsing
Israel's right to build a security fence — a point that the Democrats chose to
omit from their plank.
While some will dismiss this competition as mere electioneering, let's
remember that such pro-Israel statements are not being made in a vacuum. Hatred for
Israel generated by anti-Semitism is on the rise around the world, a
phenomenon illustrated by the preposterous ruling of the International Court of Justice
in the Hague that Israel must tear down its West Bank security barrier.
Even more ominous are the signs that anti-Israel sentiment is finding a home
on the margins of American politics. The Green Party, the far-left
environmentalist party that, under the leadership of maverick candidate Ralph Nader, had
an enormous impact on the 2000 race, recently issued its own platform. But, in
addition to pushing for cleaner air and water, the Greens have also a foreign
policy agenda these days: the eradication of Israel.
Though media coverage of the recent Green convention in Milwaukee
concentrated on the party's refusal to back Nader this time, as the Wisconsin Jewish
Chronicle reported earlier this month, the Greens also passed a platform
endorsing, among other things, the so-called Palestinian "right of return," an end to
U.S. support for the Jewish state, and the replacement of the State of Israel
with a binational Jewish/Arab state.
It would be easy to laugh this off as the ravings of a bunch of tree-huggers,
but that would be to miss the point.
Although they are a tiny minority, the Greens are given respectful treatment
in the national press that is not accorded to other fringe groups. Few causes
are considered more chic than environmentalism and even though the Greens are
Luddites with no chance of winning a national election, their support has
steadily grown over the years. Unlike other extremists, the Greens can count on
both the media and their base in academia to soften any criticism of their
stands.
The fact that they have lined up behind the Jew-haters points to the growing
legitimacy accorded such despicable ideas on not only the far left but in
academia as well. That they did so without so much as a peep of protest from the
mainstream press also speaks volumes about the way such views are increasingly
accepted.
All this shows that anyone who scoffs at the Democrats or Republicans lining
up for Israel should think again. At a time when it is more vital than ever
that American Jews speak up for Israel, the Greens have shown that the radical
anti-Zionism so fashionable in Europe today has won a toehold on our own
shores.
Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in Washington and in the media consider "must reading." Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.
JWR contributor Jonathan S. Tobin is executive editor of the Philadelphia Jewish Exponent.
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Jonathan Tobin Archives
© 2004, Jonathan Tobin
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