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May 23, 2012
Tony Pugh: More private colleges offering tuition discounts
Mary Beth Franklin: How to Choose the Right Annuity for You
Tina Susman: The wig wasn't enough: Man gets 13 years for posing as his dead mom
The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen:A simple way to do fish right
May 22, 2012
Warren Richey: Can US group challenge overseas surveillance act? Supreme Court to decide
Thomas M. Anderson: Walking Away From a Mortgage
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: Enjoy a celebration of the most rich and layered flavors: Black bean, sweet potato and quinoa chili
May 21, 2012
Mark Clayton: Cybersecurity: How US utilities passed up chance to protect their networks
Howard LaFranchi: NATO summit: Who will foot the bill for long-term Afghanistan security?
Chris Farrell : Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Stephen Whiteside, Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: Social anxiety disorder --- or just shy?
Guy Jackson : Victim's father regrets death of Lockerbie bomber
The Kosher Gourmet by Mario Batali: Famed chef's veal shoulder farsumagru: A festive meat course for late spring
May 18, 2012
Rabbi Berel Wein: Striving: The People of the Book's Book for (All of) the People
Steven Goldberg: 5 Great Stock Picks and the Exchange-Traded Fund that Owns Them
Mary Pickett, M.D.: Ask the Harvard Experts: Don't be forced into gluten-free lifestyle based merely on a doctor's false-positive test
The Kosher Gourmet by Carolyn Malcoun: DIY healthy lunchbox treats: HOMEMADE FRUIT BARS for kids and brown-bagging adults alike
May 17, 2012
Warren Richey: Teacher fired for being unwed and pregnant can sue religious school, court rules
Josh Mitnick: Netanyahu's 'centrist' coalition is already proving it's anything but
Steven Goldberg: Earn Dividends in Emerging Markets with This WisdomTree ETF
Amina Khan: Research links coffee to lower death rates
The Kosher Gourmet by Faith Duran : Cheesy Potato Breakfast Casserole with Cheddar and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
May 16, 2012
Carmen Terzic, M.D., Ph.D. : Mayo Clinic Medical Edge: A variety of exercises can help improve balance
Melissa Healy: National strategy on Alzheimer's disease aims to halt it by 2025
The Kosher Gourmet by Joyce White : GOODNESS GRACIOUS: GREENS! 4 winning recipes that are no longer just for down-home folks (Includes expert tips & techniques)
May 15, 2012
Kristen Chick: Obama administration resumes arms sales to Bahrain despite serious unresolved human rights issues. Activists feel abandoned
Pat Mertz Esswein: Homes are now affordable again and mortgage rates are low. What you need to know before you buy
Kathy Kristof: Our Practical Investor Fights Inflation with These 6 Investments
Sue Hubbard, M.D.: The Kid's Doctor: Lactose intolerant young child? Check again
The Kosher Gourmet by Kathy Hunt: Spread a Little Excitement with EXOTIC CONDIMENTS (4 RECIPES)
May 14, 2012
Lisa Gerstner: How to Protect Your Identity, Finances If You Lose Your Phone
Harvard Health Letters: Heart disease and dementia
The Kosher Gourmet by Megan Gordon: MANGO COCONUT OAT MORNING MUFFINS are a bright but hearty delight
May 11, 2012
Jessica L. Anderson: Get the Best Deal on a Used Car
Jett Stone: Forget face-lifts and fake knees. Scientists have seen the fountain of youth --- and it's broccoli
The Kosher Gourmet by Chef Mario Batali: The famed chef's vegetable dish that tastes true to the season: FAVAS AND SUGAR SNAP PEAS WITH POTATOES AND TARRAGON
May 10, 2012
Sergei L. Loiko: Putin sends warning to U.S., NATO in Victory Day speech at Red Square
Mary Rourke: How being a 'mentch' got Vidal Sasoon his start and fighting in Israel's War of Independence provided him with confidence and a strong sense of his own identity
Jeff Bertolucci: Get Home Phone Service for Less Than $10 a Month
The Kosher Gourmet by Betty Rosbottom: Gleaming with its golden, crimson, and snowy white hues, this silken smooth and creamy STRAWBERRY ORANGE TRIFLE looks impressive, but is easy to prepare
May 9, 2012
Sharon Palmer, R.D. How you can reduce your risk -- or delay -- chronic diseases associated with aging
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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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