Today's Letter Against Israel: Israel's "Crimes"

Nadene Goldfoot
It just amazes this Portland born Israeli how much people are against Israel on the basis of hearsay. I doubt if a lot of people actually read about the history of Israel. They conclude their negativity from propaganda that they somehow pick up.

Today's letter made me think of this. Here is my response.

Letter to the Editor,
In response to the letter from William Seaman, "Israel’s crimes ignored", I ask, " Is it a crime to protect your citizens from attacks?" That’s precisely what Israel has had to do. Israel discovered that Fatah puts its rocket artillary in the midst of its own population to do the very thing that you are condemning Israel for; that of hitting the population. What they are achieving is negative propaganda against Israel, and that’s their aim. The Israel blockade was done in lieu of going in and killing everyone. Israel has now developed weapons that are better at pinpointing targets. This is war, but the terrorists hide behind their population.
Israel left Gaza completely, and their reward has been constant shelling. Now Ashkelon, Portland’s sister city, has been shelled for the second time. The rockets have a longer range. Palestinians refuse to recognize Israel, which means to leave Israel alone in peace and to have a neighborly relationship with them. This goes against their charter which is to drive Israel into the sea. Until they have a change of heart, Israel must defend itself.

What I had no space to reply to were the completely incorrect charges that he makes against Israel. The charge of occupying and expanding its theft of Palestinian land is so wrong. Here we inherited Gaza from the 1967 attack on Israel from the Arabs and fortunately for us, won, but by doing so came to inherit Gaza from the Egyptians! After leaving the area completely, we are charged with occupying and expanding. I'm beginning to lose my patience with people. As a teacher, I am disgusted with people's obvious prejudices.

Here we have one of the smallest states in the world either attacked by surrounding Arab states or by disgruntled stateless Palestinians who now say they want their own state but can't stop shooting at us in order to achieve this goal and this small state is the bully in the neighborhood because it doesn't lie down and die. It has the audacity to want to protect itself.

The logic of some people today just floors and disgusts me.

Ashkelon, Our Sister City, Hit by Rockets

Today Ashkelon, our sister city in Israel, was hit by long range Iranian -made Grad rockets from Gaza terrorists that they smuggled in through Egypt.

Ashkelon is only 11 miles north of Gaza. One of several hit an apartment building and one landed near a school and injured a 17-year-old girl.

I lived in Ontario, Oregon for at least 12 years. I know that it was only 12 miles to Vale, Oregon. That seemed so close. To think that rockets could be fired from there to Ontario and injure and kill people is shocking. Now I live in Gresham, and it's at least 12 miles to my son's home in Portland. That's how close the terrorists are to our sister city in Israel.

In the past, more than 24 rockets have hit the Ashkelon area and did not find a target. The latest round of rockets was the most intense so far, and the building hit was the first. Two days ago, a rocket exploded in the parking lot of Ashkelon's Barzilai Hospital.

Since the terrorists now have longer range missiles, they have new targets. Sderot, a town with 20,000 residents has been hit the most. They lie just 1 mile from Gaza. On Wednesday an Israeli father of 4 was killed that hit the Sderot community college.

Ashkelon is a city of 110,000 residents. The rockets fired at it have the range of about 14 miles. Hamas is also upgrading its Qassams which they mass produce in Gaza, and they will have the range of 12 miles, though their range now is 10 miles so they fall just outside of Ashkelon at this time. Its residents want a warning system like Sderot has. They have no protection. The hospital also needs fortifications for the emergency room, maternity ward and surgery departments. They had better get protection quickly as Israel is not planning any ground offensive right now.

The Israeli army finally struck back on Thursday from Midnight into the afternoon in an effort to cease their firings. They are targeting rocket squads. The problem is that these squads are situated in populated areas on purpose. Israel's defense minister said that he would not be afraid to reoccupy Gaza if necessary in order to stop the attacks. Ehud Barak said Israel has not wanted to go into Gaza again but that an offensive is an option.

Condoleeza Rice met with Olmert in Tokyo. She urged calm on all sides. She's worried about the humanitarian situation in Gaza. I wish she'd talk to Hamas terrorist officials about that. It's they that bring on the situation in Gaza. There's not much that Israel can do until the terrorists stop firing rockets at us. Olmert may be calm in Tokyo, but I don't think anybody else is, especially those within range of the firings; Ashkelon.

Reference: USA Today

Hezbolla and Hamas's Value of Life

Nadene Goldfoot
I just watched a video on my computer this morning by a famous news reporter reporting the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon. Though Keven explained how media can be used as propaganda, he continues to do exactly that and presented a very one-sided program viewing the Lebanese Hezbollah as innocent victims and Israel as the advanced technically armed army, and therefore the bad guys.

There are some differences. Israel received statehood after waiting 2,000 years for it. We never forgot Jerusalem, and remembering it has been in our prayers ever since. "Next year in Jerusalem" is said every year by our families. Israel was born again May 14, 1948 through the U.N.'s vote. We are a certifiable state.

One of the things we have had to do is to keep an army and be updated in whatever armies use. The difference between the USA and Israel's army is that every man and many women in Israel have to serve. We're a very small group of people. Work just about comes to a halt and no one takes your place when there is a crisis. The population becomes the army.

I was there in 1982 when Israel went into Lebanon and saw this firsthand, being I was living in Safed, which is very close to Lebanon. Suddenly all the men teachers were called into service and I volunteered to cover their classes. It was horrible. It was a traumatic time for all of us, more so for the civilians-turned-soldiers who had to rush to their posts.

We work very hard to protect our citizens from the attacks of terrorists, which continue at this time from Gaza. When you're attacked, you have to try to stop it. I am appalled at the populations who have been taught to hate us, our neighbors in Lebanon and Gaza. They attack us and then cry and scream when we retaliate in defense. Do they think we will just throw stones at them? It's like a teeny dog attacking a huge dog and getting the worst of it. One has to have the sense not to take on an opponent who will obviously win.

So I come to the conclusion that our enemies do not value the life of their compatriots. They use them as pawns in their propaganda fight against us. Getting people to side with them is more important than the lives they say they are working for. All their crying and screaming means that they have succeeded in rousing their people in a hatred for us. They cry for Israel to lift its import and export punishment and return the electricity to them, but they continue to bomb us. We have had to use something as punishment for attacking us, thus the cutting of electricity during certain hours and hurting them economically. What we should have done was just go in and attack them with our army, I suppose, and kill them all. I think that's what they would have done to us, and is what Iran is threatening to do with atomic weapons. They have bombed our station that supplies them with electricity and then they cry about it. These people are showing that their value system is completely different from ours.

We will not be driven into the sea, as our neighbors have threatened to do to us. We are fighting very hard for a "next year in Jerusalem and another year in Jerusalem." We mean to stay, cousins. Since there are millions and millions of Arabs and only about 5 million Jews, I am grateful that the numbers of casualties reflect this difference between countries. If we lost the same numbers as they, it would certainly be lopsided. Kevin, realize the difference in population when you print loss of lives on both sides. Perhaps percentages would be a more accurate number. And remember, we didn't start this war. We don't want it or need it.

Israel, Barak Hussain Obama and his friend, Louis Farrakhan

Nadene Goldfoot
Yesterday's Oregonian had an article in it that Farrakhan is giving his support to Obama. Obama had attended the church that was very friendly with Farrakhan. I wondered about Farrakhan's background and feelings towards Jews and Israel.

Farrakhan is the acting head of the Nation of Islam. He is a well-known advocate for African American interests. How does this affect his views about Jews and Israel? He is known to be antisemitic, though he denies these charges. One reason he is charged with being antisemitic is because when Jessse Jackson ran for president in 1984, Jesse referred to New York City as "Hymietown". He thought he was speaking off the record, but it was printed in the paper. In retaliation, Farrakhan said, in reply to Jesse Jackson receiving death threats, " If you harm this brother, it'll be the last one you ever harm." The chairman of the anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (ADL) called Farrakhan "the new Black Hitler", and others called him that, also. My personal feeling about all this, from only this piece of information, is that Jesse Jackson was anti-semitic. Farrakhan was just mad about the death threats. However, Farrakhan took things too far with a speech praising Hitler. He was censured by the United States Senate for the speech. In fairness, Farrakhan did mention that he wasn't proud of Hitler's evil toward Jewish people. ..and don't compare me with your wicked killers.

He had his own gripe against us Jews. He said that Jewish distributors blocked his plan for Nation of Islam cosmetics and toiletries sold under the Clean and Fresh label. Important hair product companies serving Blacks refused to do business with him. One company that was worried was Johnson. He felt that if he did business with Farrakhan others would boycott his other products. This caused Farrakhan to feel that blacks would not be free unless they have a different relationship with Jews. What this had to do with Jews, I do not know. I doubt that George E. Johnson is Jewish.

We had amongst our Jewish population a group that is not assisting in Israel's existence in any way. It is the extreme Orthodox group called Neturei Karta, and of course Farrakhan had made friends with them. They feel that G-d alone will bring us back to Israel, and man can not help.

In Febraury 2006 at an NOI event in Illinois, Farrakhan stated that "These false Jews promote the filth of Hollywood. It's the wicked Jews, the false Jews that are promoting lesbianism, homosexuality, and Zionists have manipulated Bush and the American government on the war in Iraq. I'm afraid we see his true feeling about us in this speech.

Other famous quotes are that he wants to see black intellectuals free...I want to see them not controlled by members of the Jewish community. Frankly, Minister Farrakhan, Jews could not possibly control any intellectual. And nobody can control our intellectuals, either. He has gone on to say that "Dewey, Kant and Hegel, and the rabbis that wrote the Talmud, make blacks inferior. Now that is slamming our Talmud and all the rabbis who wrote it; in essence slamming our religion. Whatever has caused him to rant in such a way against us could be his friends in the Muslim environment, who don't like us, either. How he has convinced himself to think that our Talmud makes blacks inferior is beyond me. This tells me that he has never read the Talmud; not one page. Has he read that Moses had a black "Cushite" wife? How does he explain that? How about the Queen of Sheba coming with her entourage to visit with King Solomon? How about the Black Ethiopians who are now living in Israel and were Jews dating way way back. From a very primitive people who tried to cook their lunch on the plane with a bonfire to soldiers in the army who are now becoming commanders, we put faith in people and do not treat them as inferiors. We were slaves for 400 years in Egypt and remember that event every year at Passover. We were treated as inferiors by the Nazis in Germany. One of our commandments that we still follow is to treat others as you would have others treat you. Being people and not angels, some of us must slip up once in a while. But as a group, we try very hard to follow our ethics. Our religion is not a racial one, but a conglomerate of people who have decided to take the faith. How about the young Jewish kids who went to help the Blacks in the south in the 60's? Are we teaching our children that Blacks are inferior? Of course not.

Farrakhan has referred to Jews, Palestinian Arabs, Koreans, and Vietnamese as "bloodsuckers", has said that "Murder and lying comes easy for white people." At least we are not alone in his hatred for others. I think it's delightful that he puts us and the Palestinian Arabs together as a group to hate.

He has called Judaism a "gutter religion," but when called on it, denies it. Instead, he says he called it a "dirty religion," and when he says this, it has a particular meaning. He says it means a distorted faith which emerges from its manipulation by hypocrites or sinners. So he's calling all of us Jews sinners and hypocrites with a distorted religion.

This man is one year older than I am. He appears to be full of hatred for Jews and naturally for Israel since he does not respect Israel's faith. This is the man who has befriended Obama, and being a minister, has given lots of sermons. How much affect does he have on the decisions Obama makes?

Fox News is talking about this subject right now. I'm not alone with this worry. Barak Hussain Obama is younger than my son by nine years, and I'm still telling my son not to go running at night in Portland. I do worry about the feelings towards Jews that this presidential candidate has picked up despite what he says as a politician. Actions speak, too; not just nice words.

One thing that Obama has done is to choose Zbigniew Brzezinski as his Foreign Relations advisor. Brzezinski, a Harvard Professor from Poland who became a US citizen in 1958, was a part of the Carter team. He supports Walt and Mearshimer's criticism of Israel that Rabbi Stampfer of Portland, OR spoke against. Anyone who listens to advisors with this type of opinion is not going to come to the aid of Israel. I have also written about the Walt and Mearshimer tome in this blog below.


Reference: My blog on Democratic Candidates for President, Obama, on this blog below
Wikipedia on Louis Farrakhan. http://www.politico.com/,

Circumcision: Newspaper Confronted With Situations

Nadene Goldfoot
Today's Letters to the Editor in the Oregonian contained two letters about circumcision and the Jewish faith. There is a case of a man who converted to Judaism who wants his 12 year old son to now be circumcised, but his divorced non-Jewish wife is highly against it. The case has gone to the courts have decided to not make a decision as yet, and have not sided with the husband.

Harley Sachs wrote in something that I did not know. Many Russian Jewish immigrants to the states wanted to confirm their Jewishness with circumcision, and it was done in a very simple way. He said, "they simply prick the foreskin and draw a single drop of blood". They do not do it as is done on an 8 day old male baby. Harley stated that going to court was not necessary.

I ask why the father of the boy did not look into this further? His Rabbi should have known these facts. All this publicity that made the front page of the paper a week or so ago could have been avoided.

In the same paper today was another article called, All circumcision "barbaric'. The writer, a man, compares Jewish circumcision with Muslim circumcision of girls and thinks that they are all barbaric practices and can't understand why we condemn the Muslims and embrace the Jewish. He thinks it is duplicity on our part.

I would like to tell him that the reasons for circumcision on the two sexes are completely different and for different reasons. On the girls in the Muslim faith, it is to stop the desire for sex, thus controlling the behavior of the female. On the boys in the Jewish faith, it is similar to baptism, confirming your faith in Judaism, but this practice has been found to be very effective in controlling disease involving the penis in men. This is why it is practiced in the United States. It's been the usual practice of all boy babies here as a matter of cleanliness,and unless a parent disagrees, it is done in the hospital before the baby goes home. In the Jewish faith, it is done on the 8th day of life and includes a big ceremony and party for the family and friends.

It's like this writer is comparing apples and oranges when talking about eating the outside of the fruit. We can eat the apple peel but not the orange. You can't compare the two procedures at all.

Republican Presidential Candidates Views On Israel

Nadene Goldfoot
My gut feeling is that the Republicans don't stand a chance in the presidential race. People want a change and want to get out of Iraq. I admire the Republicans that are running. None have a website that I have found like Hillary Clinton's telling of their accomplishments involving Israel, but all have visited Israel and have cultivated good rapport with Israel. In September of 2006 the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, asked four questions of the candidates, and I show the men's scores in regards to concern for Israel.

Rudy Giuliani, b: 28 May 1944 and Roman Catholic, the former New York mayor, ranks high by the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz as being favorable towards Israel. He had many Jewish constituents in New York and is looked upon as a friend of Israel. He led them to believe that he would make a great effort to take military action to stop Iran's nuclear weapons plan. He returned a $10 million dollar donation from a Saudi prince after 9/11 following his comments on Israel. I'm not sure what the prince's motives were; to compensate for the bombing by Saudi citizens, a reward for his Israeli speech, or a bribe to not support Israel. Overall, he received a rating of 8.75.

John McCain, b: 29 Aug 1936 and Episcopalian, is the Arizona senator who believes that America must give Israel whatever equipment and technology it needs for defense, so he also supports Israel. He's 71 years old and has been a senator for 21 years. His father and grandfather were Admirals in the Navy. During the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict, McCain said Israel's response to the guerrillas was appropriate. "What would we do if somebody came across our borders and killed our soldiers and captured our soldiers?" said McCain. "Do you think we would be exercising total restraint? Such restraint should come from Hezbollah and the nations sponsoring it, notably Iran." John just won in South Carolina's race. He sees Israel as a strategic asset, and received an overall score of 7.63.
3/3/2008: In April 2002 in a speech to the American Israeli Public Affairs Committee he said that no free nation can tolerate a terrorist state on its border. ... We can allow terrorists no role in the political process. "the Oslo accord failed because it was based on...Palestinians and Israeli could live peacefully together. Israel determines their security....there can be no comprehensive peace between Israel and the Palestinians until Palestinians recognize Israel, forswear forever the use of violence, recognize their previous agreements, and reform their internal institutions. (May 2006). About a Palestinian state, it should be the "ultimate end,", but first there needed to be "peace,". Hamas is not a partner for peace so long as they advocate the overthrow of Israel. (Jan 26, 2006).

Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor, is a Mormon and graduate of Harvard. He talked about Israel's security and said that "the United States must keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear bomb", and that "he's helping a former Israeli prime minister (Benjamin Netanyahu) lobby Massachusetts to divest pension funds from companies that do business with the country (Iran). He opposed Khatami's recent U.S. trip, saying taxpayers shouldn't fund a man "who supports the destruction of Israel." Romney does view Israel as a strategic asset, but was not as strong about it as the other candidates. He received an overall score of 6.0

Mike Huckabee is the governor of Arkansas. He has made nine visits to Israel, including a trip to Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum. I take it that he wants to be informed. He has advocated forcibly transferring the Palestinians to other Arab nations. He has close associations with prominent End Times theological proponents like Pastor John Hagee, head of a Pentecostal congregation in San Antonio, Texas. They have 18,000 members and the executive director of Christians United for Israel belongs to this group. They are against the two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine crisis and are in favor of a military strike on Iran. Huckabee delivered two sermons there and received a standing ovation. He said that Hagee is one of the great Christian leaders of our nation. Hagee has written a book that I have, titled, In Defense of Israel. In it he states that he would not try to convert Jews and seems to respect our religion. This differs from the other evangelicals. Interestingly, Huckabee started preaching in 1980. Huckabee had his own television show in Arkansas called Positive Alternatives. Hagee's zealous support for Israel comes from his belief that Jesus will one day return to "biblical Israel" to usher in a kingdom of Heaven on Earth...We will live by the law of God and no other law." In 1989 Huckabee became the youngest president of the 500,000 member Arkansas Baptist State Convention. I wish that more people would read Hagee's book. He received an overall rating of 5.5.

References: Political positions of John McCain-Wikipedia
The Israel Factor: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=759107
Romney In Israel-Elections Blog-The Stump
Israel News: The Real Mike Huckabee: Israel and the Apocalypse

Democratic Presidential Candidate's Views On Israel

Nadene Goldfoot
Now that the candidates are speaking and people are voting, I am one of the 15% of Jews who consider what their views are about Israel. I think we are lucky to have such fantastic people in the running, but guess that some are more opinionated than others about Israel. I want the person who not only is the best for America, but also for Israel. We don’t need another holocaust there, and a good president will value the country and their lives.

First, I looked at Hillary Clinton, b: 26 Oct 1947 and Methodist. She is 60 years old and has been the senator from New York for 7 years. She graduated from Yale Law School. I quickly found that she has a marvelous website about her views and deeds involving Israel. Go to: http://clinton.senate.gov/issues/nationalsecurity/israel/. I found it by googling: Clinton, Israel,
and read about her accomplishments concerning Israel. She has even gone against her husband’s decision about Jerusalem being divided. It appears right now that she would not push to divide it. I was very impressed with the information on her website and feel that this shows she is a well organized person who values the votes of the less than 1% of the Jews of America. She isn’t all talk and promises; she’s a doer and has done well so far. She was in favor of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. I'm all for that! On Haaretz's ratings, she received an overall score of 7.63, which was high. However, the memory of Hillary's kiss for Yasser Arafat's wife Suha in 1999, after she accused Israel of poisoning Palestinian women and children, is still fresh in the memory of many Jews.

Next, I looked at Barack Obama, who just won in South Carolina, and was endorsed by the Kennedy family. He is 46 years old, b: 4 Aug 1961 and member of United Church of Christ for past 20 years, and has been a senator from Illinois for 3 years, since Jan 4, 2005.
2/25/08 He has selected his foreign policy adviser. Sadly, it is a man who supports Walt and Mearsheimer's volume against the Israel Lobby. He is Zbigniew Brzezinski, Harvard Professor from Poland who became a citizen in 1958. He was a part of Carter's team, so it is not surprising that he is also holding anti-Israel feelings. This foreign Relations Advisor to Obama will probably have a lot of clout with him. I note that Alan Dershowitz has contributed to Hilary Clinton's campaign. Alan is a Harvard law professor, and Obama graduated from Harvard. I heard a news bulletin today that told about how he felt about Israel, and it wasn't that promising; in fact, it was scary. I need to see it in print. I note from below that promises or support in Israel's welfare is changing, as is usual for many politicians. For example, just look at past presidents.

He made a speech to AIPAC on March 2, 2007 and stated these issues:
1. He ensures a strong US -Israel partnership
2. He supports Israel's right to self defense
3. He wants to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons
4. He supports foreign assistance to Israel
5. He works towards two states living side by side in peace and security
6. He wants to help Palestinian families get the aid they need without suppporting terrorism
7. He wants to limit Hezbollah's influence in the region.
8. He supports US-Israel research and development
9. He wants to achieve energy independence.
In his speech he mentions that our job is to do more than lay out another road map; our job is to rebuild the road to real peace and lasting security throughout the region.

Ha'aretz Newspaper in Israel said that Obama sounds as strong as Clinton, as supportive as Bush and as friendly as Giuliani. He is pro-Israel. Period.

I could not find a website like Hillary’s, but have found some articles that are wary about his feelings about Israel. Ed Lasky has written several such articles. One thing he is concerned about is that Obama has only been a senator for two years, and has not done much to show how he feels in foreign policy. The problem I see is that Obama has been surrounded by friends that are not favorable towards Israel. Some troubling thoughts are things such as his name. He has a Muslim father. Though he was not raised by him, his mother did remarry another Muslim, and he had a smattering of Muslim education which is not favorable towards Jews , and it's been hard to find Muslims favorable towards Israel.

We all know that he is now a Christian, but the church he has been attending is the Trinity United church of Christ, and their Pastor Wright is a supporter of Louis Farrakhan. In 1984 Farrakhan and Wright traveled to visit Col. Muammar al-Gadaffi, who is a supporter of terror groups and archenemy of Israel and America. Wright has been a severe critic of Israel. His pastor and mentor, being a fan of Louis Farrakhan, who called Judaism either "a dirty religion" or "a gutter religion," depending on the reading of the audiotape, causes concern. Obama has publicly distanced himself from Wright now that he is in the presidential race. Another friend of Obama to worry about is a well-known Chicago activist for Palestinian causes, Ali Abunimah. He met Obama in May of 1998 at a community fundraiser where the late Edward Said was the speaker. Edward Said was a severe critic of Israel. Abunimah has written columns for the Chicago Tribune and has been critical of Israeli and US policy. I would classify Obama as an extreme leftist Democrat. He has worked with the poor in the states and may be identifying the Palestinians as the poor ill treated people who problems are all due to the mean Israelis. When asked about Israel’s wall that was constructed to save Israeli lives from terrorists, he said, "the creation of a wall dividing the two nations is yet another example of the neglect of this Administration in brokering peace." I note that Palestine is not yet a country or nation. The fence is saving the lives of many innocent civilians in Israel. Less than 5% is a wall; the rest is a fence.
3/16/08: Saturday's Oregonian article:Obama condemns pastor's words but won't quit church page A3. It amazes me that Obama has been attending this church for the past 20 years, yet claims that the pastor has never used such words as have been on TV the past few days villifying the USA and saying, "damn the USA" and He has always just preached the gospel, claims Obama.
Pastor Wright said that the United States invited the attacks by supporting Israel's treatment of Palestinians. This pastor is now retiring from his Chicago church. Obama has been busy denying. I can't help but wonder how much has influenced Obama and his wife's thinking after attending for 20 years. I heard his wife speak about how this is the first time she has been proud of America. It seems to me that she certainly was influenced by Wright's sermons if this is the first time, meaning that her husband is now running for president, that she is proud. This same church ha honored Louis Farrakhan with an award in Wright's name. Obama claims that his interest in the church is because of their work with the poor and homeless and those with HIV/AIDS. Obama says he strongly condems the statements. They make him feel uncomfortable.

If I were attending a synagogue that I did not agree with, it wouldn't even take me 6 months to change to another one. Why has he attended for 20 years? He and his wife, two super intelligent lawyers, had to learn at some point about how much of an agitator their pastor was and what he stood for politically. Nothing has been brought out that the Obamas tried to change him in any way.

What’s interesting is that the Republican, McCain, was just on television and spoke about how he knows how to have a fence between Mexico and the USA and all the things he would have on it to keep the Mexicans out. I don’t believe that Obama understands the value of such a fence at all. He doesn’t realize that in Israel, this fence or wall is saving lives. Obama now has the approval of billionaire George Soros who has tried to shake the American-Israel alliance by donating to Wesley Clark who is a severe critic of Israel, and has written an essay that is critical of the ties between America and Israel. Also approving Obama is ex President Jimmy Carter. In fact, some are calling him the next Jimmy Carter. Need I say more? That is the kiss of my vote not going towards Obama, I had felt before discovering the AIPAC speech. Now, I think I'll just say "present", and not yes or no. This is how Obama handled voting time in Illinois as a state senator many times. I know that everybody is speaking nicely and saying things we want to hear in order to win votes. What matters is: actions. On Haaretz's rating, he received an overall score of 4.88, which was the lowest score of all the candidates. He was weakest on his answer about if he would take military action to stop Iran's nuclear weapons plan. His highest was playing a role in the peace process and having an emotional tie to Israel. He talks about bringing change. I just hope that his change would not be to be against AIPAC , being it supports Israel but is chastized by Mearshimer and Walt and ex President Carter unfairly. He has never stated just what kind of change he would bring.
Edited 1/28/6:31pm. with positive information about Obama.

1/29/08 I keep finding more information on Obama, both good and bad. One of his inner circle friends is Robert Malley, a foreign policy critic of Israel. However, Obama just spoke to Jerusalem and Jewish reporters in a conference call from Florida at 12:00, just an hour ago. It it he states these views:

1. He opposes the return of all Palestinian refugees to homes they fled in Israel.
2. He says that Israel must remain a Jewish state. refugees should be resettled in a future Palestinian state.
3. Palestinians must set up a security force to make sure militants cannot attack Israel.
4. He is against talks with Hamas who control the Gaza Strip until it recognizes Israel's right to exist.
5. He wants diplomatic contacts between Iran and US, and believes in carrots and sticks.
Iran is Israel's biggest worry right now because Iran has vowed Israel's destruction, and the fear is that they might be developing nuclear arms. They say they only need energy.
4/5/08 Co chair for Obama's presidential campaign is General Merrill McPeak, resident of Lake Oswego, Oregon. He is against the Israel Lobby in the United States. He has spoken out against Israel's settlement policies in the Palestinian territories and U.S.'s lack of interference. He wants Israel to withdraw some of the settlements that are already there. This was voiced in 1976 in an article to Foreign Affairs Journal. He's also against the Christian Zionist movement's influence on US foreign policy in the Middle East. It appears that anyone that is supportive of Israel is someone he is against. There is an article about him in the Oregonian that came out on 3/27/08.

John Edwards is the former senator for North Carolina. He has said that Iran is a big threat to Israel and the Israeli people. When asked what the greatest threat to world peace was, he answered, "Israel would bomb Iran's nuclear facilites." This was not very positive in viewing Israel. He was strongest about viewing Israel as a stategic asset. His overall score was 6.25.


Edited 2/7/08 about Hillary and Obama
References: Hillary Clinton's website shown above
Thoughts on Israel: Ed Lasky on Barack Obama
American Thinker: Barack Obama and Israel by Ed Lasky
http://www.haaretz.comhasen/spages/832668.html
http://www.barackobama.com/2007/03/02/aipac_policy_forum.php
http://www.electronicintifada.net/v2/article6619.shtml
Obama'08 Israel Fact Sheet.pdf (35.6KB)
Obama speaks to Jewish voters on Israel: ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5giFJHDWVc
Suzanne Field: "John McCain as Judah Maccabee"
Oregonian Newspaper; March 27 and April 5, 2008