Thursday, March 19, 2015

Where Is Obama's Denunciation of the Left?

As we are all aware, petulant Obama had his spokesperson say

“The United States and this administration is deeply concerned about rhetoric that seeks to marginalise Arab Israeli citizens. It undermines the values and democratic ideals that have been important to our democracy and an important part of what binds the United States and Israel together.”

And he added: 


“Rhetoric that seeks to marginalise one segment of their population is deeply concerning, it is divisive, and I can tell you that these are views the administration intends to communicate directly to the Israelis.”

That was called a 'snub'.   'Unseemly' and well as 'pettiness' and 'petulance'.  An anti-Netanyahu 'slam',

In responding the Tom Friedman of the NYTimes, I provided an explanation for his statement.

But let's not let Obama off the hook too quickly.  What were his reactions to these malignant and divisive statements?

• Author and cultural figure Alona Kimhi: "Long live stupidity, maliciousness and false consciousness. Drink some cyanide, f---ing Neanderthals. You won. Only death will save you from yourselves" (March 18, 2015).

• Haaretz columnist Gideon Levy: "The people need to be replaced. We don't need an election to choose the leadership of the country; we need a general election to choose the new Israeli people. [Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu deserves the people of Israel and the people of Israel deserve Netanyahu" (Haaretz, March 18, 2015).

And earlier:


• Cultural figure Yair Garbuz: "Superstitious amulet kissers are running this country. How is it that such a minority controls us?" (March 8, 2015).

• Author Amos Oz: "I am guilty for Netanyahu's behavior -- I kicked him in the head when he was three years old. Either I kicked too hard, or not hard enough" (TheMarker, Feb. 14, 2015).

• Zionist Union leader Tzipi Livni in a veiled criticism against Netanyahu: "Herzog and I will take out the trash together" (Channel 10 satirical program "Matzav Ha'uma," Feb. 14, 2014).

Could it be that he agrees with the sentiments?  The rhetoric?






________________

Follow-up from the WashPost



Organizations that were active in the Israeli elections “with the political goal of replacing Netanyahu as Prime Minister.” 

  • “A Million Hands,” an NGO, organized the massive demonstration “Israel Wants Change; ” Netanhayu says it was funded by foreign donors, primarily Daniel Lubetzky and S. Daniel Abraham, and “cost hundreds of thousands of shekels, and its promotion cost hundreds of thousands of shekels more,” the campaign said. (A shekel is worth about 25 cents.)  The total costs of the activity of “A Million Hands” to replace Netanyahu was $6 million to $7 million, the campaign asserted, though an article it cited did not contain that figure.
  • V15 (“Victory 15”), which is tied to a U.S. group called OneVoice and included the involvement of a former top Obama campaign aide.  “The activity of V15, and especially its activity on election day, was several million dollars, the overwhelming majority of which came from American donors,” the campaign claimed.  A spokesman for OneVoice promised a response but we have not received one.
  • “Commanders for the Security of Israel,” a group of former generals, which the campaign said was funded to the tune of “hundreds of thousands of shekels.” That’s maybe $100,000 to $200,000.
  • Ameinu, another group, sponsored a get-out-the-vote campaign in the Arab community.  The campaign cited a fundraising documentfrom December that sought $3 million, but Ameinu president Kenneth Bob said it turned out to be “closer to $2 million.” He said the effort was “nonpartisan” intended to improve Arab participation. Though he acknowledged that Arabs tend to support left-leaning candidates, he noted that a Druze candidate on the Likud list also benefited from the group’s work.
  • Activities of political strategist Eyal Arad, which the campaign said was funded primarily by American donors and cost “several million dollars.”  Arad has previously denied that claim, and had shot back that in 1994 Netanyahu had offered him a job that would have been funded by a “foreign and unnamed businessman.” (Netanyahu’s campaign denied that claim.)
__________________________________________

UPDATE

And remember this?

"... .. The point I was making was not that my grandmother harbors any racial animosity. She doesn't. But she is a typical white person who, uh, if she sees somebody on the street that she doesn't know there's a reaction that's been been bred into our experiences that don't go away 
Obama, 2008.

Typical.





No comments: