Playing the Anti-Semite Card Again
Moran Upsets Jewish Groups Again U.S. House Democrat Said Pro-Israel Lobby Promoted War
By Amy Gardner Washington Post Staff Writer Saturday, September 15, 2007; B05
Rep. James P. Moran Jr. (D-Va.) has again come under fire from local Jewish organizations for remarking in a magazine interview that the "extraordinarily powerful" pro-Israel lobby played a strong role promoting the war in Iraq.
In an interview with Tikkun, a California-based Jewish magazine, Moran said the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) is "the most powerful lobby and has pushed this war from the beginning. I don't think they represent the mainstream of American Jewish thinking at all, but because they are so well organized, and their members are extraordinarily powerful -- most of them are quite wealthy -- they have been able to exert power."
Moran's remarks were criticized by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington and the National Jewish Democratic Council. Ronald Halber, executive director of the first group, said Moran's remarks are anti-Semitic and draw on ugly stereotypes about Jewish wealth, power and influence.
"He uses several age-old canards that have been used throughout history that have brought violence upon Jews," Halber said this week. "He uses clearly anti-Semitic images such as Jewish control of the media and wealthy Jews using their wealth to control policy."
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An anti-semite is someone who 'hates and would persecute Jews.' Does Jim Moran sound to Halber like someone who is drawing on 'ugly stereotypes' or possibly 'ugly truths?'
Perhaps Halber can explain the following, footnoted appropriately, from John Mearsheimer's and Steve Walt's 'The Israel Lobby and U. S. Foreign Policy;'
Peres told reporters in September 2002 that “the campaign against Saddam Hussein is a must. Inspections and inspectors are good for decent people, but dishonest people can overcome easily inspections and inspectors.” At the same time, former Prime Minister Ehud Barak wrote a New York Times op‐ed warning that “the greatest risk now lies in inaction." His predecessor, Benjamin Netanyahu, published a similar piece in the Wall Street Journal entitled “The Case for Toppling Saddam.” Netanyahu declared, “Today nothing less than dismantling his regime will do,” adding that “I believe I speak for the overwhelming majority of Israelis in supporting a pre‐emptive strike against Saddam’s regime.” Or as Ha’aretz reported in February 2003: “The [Israeli] military and political leadership yearns for war in Iraq.”
Moran is right and, by being right, he has become the latest poster--child for AIPAC going after anyone who criticizes their power, by calling them the 'A' word, anti-Semite.
The American public (including 70% of the Jewish population) have about had enough of the likes of Ronald Halber, a distinctly minority voice spewing his own brand of racism.
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