This recent post by Cecilie Surasky of Muzzlewatch (Jewish Voice for Peace) attests to reality of a behind the scenes smear campaign to peg Barak Obama as antiIsrael in the Jewish community.
The campaign was apparently initiated by right wing hawkish proIsrael individuals and groups, who see Hillary as the only Democratic candidate right for Israel. Hillary’s positions on Iran and Israel-Palestine appear to be right out of the right wing Neocon/AIPAC playbook: stay the course in Iraq, bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities, and support for the continuing colonization of the West Bank (no Palestinian state). Unlike any presidential candidate, Hillary is so hawkish that she is to the right of Bush on Israel-Palestine and has even gone beyond the Olmert government in supporting the exclusive right of Israel to annex all of Jerusalem for itself.
According to the Muzzlewatch article,
We may never know what Obama really thinks about the Israeli-Palestine conflict. At one time, he was known to be relatively balanced in his approach, but as his political ambitions grew, his positions on Israel/Palestine predictably drifted rightward.
In contrast, Hillary Clinton, her once infamous embrace of Soha Arafat excepted, has clearly established her bona fides as the Israel right-or-wrong candidate of choice among hawkish Democrats.
Unable to escape the sneaking suspicion that Obama, who once said, “No one has suffered more than the Palestinians,” could never be a true friend of (the hawks of) Israel, he has predictably become the target of a nasty whisper campaign, in the form of an email.
I quote the entire email:
Subject: Barack Obama
This is very interesting – please take a few moments and read it.
Who is Barack Obama? Something that should be considered when you make your choice. If you do not ever forward anything else, please forward this to all your contacts…it is very scary to think of what could lie ahead for us here in our own United States …better heed this and pray about it and share it. We checked this out on ` snopes.com `. It is factual. Check for yourself.
Who is Barack Obama? Probable U. S. presidential candidate, Barack
Hussein Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii , to Barack Hussein Obama,Sr., a black MUSLIM from Nyangoma-Kogel , Kenya and Ann Dunham, a white Athiest from Wichita, Kansas .
Obama’s parents met at the University of Hawaii . When Obama was two years old, his parents divorced. His father returned to Kenya . His mother then married Lolo Soetoro, a RADICAL Muslim from Indonesia . When Obama was 6 years old, the family relocated to Indonesia. Obama attended a MUSLIM school in Jakarta . He also spent two years in a
Catholic school. Obama takes great care to conceal the fact that he is a Muslim. He is quick to point out that, `He was once a Muslim, but that he also attended Catholic school.’ Obama’s political handlers are attempting to make it appear that that he is not a radical.
Obama’s introduction to Islam came via his father, and that this influence was temporary at best. In reality, the senior Obama returned to Kenya soon after the divorce, and never again had any direct influence over his son’s education. Lolo Soetoro, the second husband of Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, introduced his stepson to Islam. Obama was enrolled in a Wahabi school in Jakarta . Wahabism is the RADICAL ISLAMIC teaching that is followed by the Muslim terrorists who are now waging Jihad against the western world. Since it is politically expedient to be a CHRISTIAN when seeking major public office in the United States , Barack Hussein Obama has joined the United Church of Christ in an attempt to downplay his Muslim background. ALSO, keep in mind that when he was sworn into office he DID NOT use the Holy Bible, but instead the Koran.
Barack Hussein Obama will NOT recite the Pledge of Allegience nor will he show any reverence for our flag. While others place their hands over their hearts, Obama turns his back to the flag and slouches.
Let us all remain alert concerning Obama’s expected presidential candidacy. The Muslims have said they plan on destroying the US from the inside out, what better way to start than at the highest level – through the President of the United States , one of their own!!!! Please forward to everyone you know. Would you want this man leading our country?……
NOT ME!!!
The email was apparently sent to institutional Jewish leaders across the country and was posted across the internet. It obviously relies on extreme anti-Muslim prejudices to paint Barak Obama as unfriendly to Israel, and hence to Jews everywhere.
The Muzzlewatch article goes on:
The actual source of the campaign remains a mystery-it is possible that Republican dirty tricksters have decided that Hillary Clinton would be easier to beat in a final match-up with a Republican candidate, but this is just conjecture.
Nonetheless, the increasing traction of the attack campaign prompted a letter from seven Jewish Senators and a rare public statement from leaders of nine major Jewish organizations defending Obama:
As leaders of the Jewish community, none of whose organizations will endorse or oppose any candidate for President, we feel compelled to speak out against certain rhetoric and tactics in the current campaign that we find particularly abhorrent. Of particular concern, over the past several weeks, many in our community have received hateful emails that use falsehood and innuendo mischaracterizing Senator Barack Obama’s religious beliefs and who he is as a person.
At the same time, a a confidential memo questioning Obama’s support for Israel written by an American Jewish Committee staffer was leaked to the press. (The AJC stated that “no element” of the memo should be considered official AJC policy.)
The Muzzlewatch article goes on to describe Obama’s response to this smear campaign, but it is sufficiently broad, and in some ways also disappointing, that it calls for an essay all its own. Fear of AIPAC is a variable that now haunts every presidential candidate, with only Hillary Clinton and John McCain safe from smearing campaigns, the like of which could sink a presidential aspirant.