Posted on 04/04/2011 2:42:00 PM PDT by Kaslin
J-Street suffered a humiliating defeat yesterday on Capitol Hill – which means Israel scored an important victory.
The George Soros-funded “pro-Israel” group inexplicably mobilized its machinery to oppose a bipartisan letter that merely called on President Obama to pressure the Palestinian Authority to end its longstanding practice of inciting its people to commit terrorism against the Jewish state.
Even in a town where tin-eared stupidity is commonplace, essentially protecting the PA’s ability to encourage violence against its Jewish neighbors is jaw-dropping.
The straightforward letter, authored by Reps. Steve Rothman (D-NJ) and Steve Austria (R-OH), asks Obama to pressure PA President Mahmoud Abbas to “fully renounce any and all Palestinian incitement against Israel and the Jewish people.”
Given how uncontroversial it really was, the letter unsurprisingly garnered support from over two-thirds of the members of the two key committees that actually handle foreign policy. There are only a few more Republicans signed on than Democrats, making it truly bipartisan.
Even some of the Congressmen who are considered the strongest supporters of J-Street signed the Rothman-Austria letter, including unabashed liberal Jan Schakowsky of Illinois.
More important, every single subcommittee chairman from the Foreign Affairs Committee signed the letter, signaling support from the most influential lawmakers. (As a matter of custom, the chair and ranking member don’t usually sign on to letters relating to their committee’s purview.)
As a practical matter, the letter won’t impact policy – at least not right away. But with the overwhelming majority of the members of Foreign Affairs and most of its leaders pressing the administration to end Palestinian incitement, there undoubtedly will be legislative action if PA incitement continues.
Considering how much direct and indirect support the U.S. provides to the Palestinians each year, Congress could take decisive action to at least ensure that U.S. taxpayers are not funding incitement against Israel.
The letter’s two authors, Reps. Rothman and Austria, are both on the Foreign Operations subcommittee of Appropriations, an 11-member panel responsible for all spending on the State Department and foreign aid – and all but two of them joined the letter.
Rep. Rothman, who could not be reached for comment, has a long history of using his perch on the highly influential committee to prevent U.S. taxpayer dollars from funding terrorist groups or their propaganda.
In 2007, for example, he helped close loopholes exploited by the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development to give financial and other assistance to the Hamas-controlled Islamic University in Gaza, among other terror-tied entities. But he didn’t stop there. His efforts ultimately led to the creation of the Partner Vetting System, which finally forced State and other agencies to screen foreign aid recipients against terrorist watch lists.
In other words, J-Street picked the wrong guy with whom to fight. (J-Street refused comment for this story.)
Urging Congressmen not to sign the Rothman-Austria letter, a J-Street memo circulated on March 18 claimed that it was “beneath reasonable standards of accuracy and objectivity” because it failed to talk about Israel’s misdeeds and all the positive actions from the PA. That mentality is what defines J-Street: Israel’s negatives must always be highlighted, while the PA should be put in the best possible light.
While J-Street complained that the letter didn’t give credit to the PA for increasing security cooperation with Israel, the “pro-peace” outfit neglected the repeated instances captured by Palestinian Media Watch of Abbas and his officials—including “man of peace” Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad—honoring and glorifying “martyrs.”
Perhaps the most baffling attack J-Street leveled against the Rothman-Austria letter, though, was that it didn’t mention that Abbas “has twice attempted to renew the activity of the Israeli-Palestinian-American committee for preventing incitement created at the Wye conference.” Since when does a government leader need an international conference to have the people on his payroll stop encouraging children to kill their neighbors?
Then again, it’s difficult to single out any one part of what was a deeply misguided endeavor that, in essence, provided cover for incitement to violence. It’s a tactical blunder that likely will haunt them long into the future, as it removes from J-Street any notion that it is “pro-Israel.”
A Democratic staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, summed up nicely the general attitude of many offices that joined the letter with the obvious question: “At the end of the day, what possible justification could there be for not telling the PA to end incitement?”
Is “J-Street” just another Hamas / Muslim Brotherhood front group?
I’ll pay big bucks to see the video taken by the Israeli fighter that bags Soros. Double if they take out that Obama-bag with one of our missiles.
Steve grew up on the same street I did. I am glad he helped to author this letter.
Soros - a jew-hating joo. Does that mean he hates himself? The answer is obvious.
If ever there was someone deserving of assuming room temperature it’s this waste of $5 worth of chemicals
I assume you mean Steve Austria from OH
Or, just another Happy Nazi Operation?
When the Nazis took total control of Hungary in 1944, the Holocaust followed. In two months, 440,000 Hungarian Jews were deported to death camps.
To survive, George, then a teenager, collaborated with the Nazis.
First he worked for the Judenrat. That was the Jewish council set up by the Nazis to do their dirty work for them. Instead of the Nazis rounding up Jews every day for the trains, they delegated that murderous task to Jews who were willing to do it to survive another day at the expense of their neighbours.
Theodore hatched a better plan for his son. He bribed a non-Jewish official at the agriculture ministry to let George live with him. George helped the official confiscate property from Jews.
By collaborating with the Nazis, George survived the Holocaust. He turned on other Jews to spare himself.
George moved to London after the war and then to New York, where he became a stockbroker. He’s rich now. Forbes magazine says he’s the 35th richest man in the world. Maybe you’ve heard of him. He goes by the name his father invented: George Soros.
How does Soros feel about what he did as a teenager? Has it kept him up at night?
Steve Kroft of 60 Minutes asked him that. Was it difficult? “Not at all,” Soros answered.
“No feeling of guilt?” asked Kroft. “No,” said Soros. “There was no sense that I shouldn’t be there. If I wasn’t doing it, somebody else would be taking it away anyhow. Whether I was there or not. So I had no sense of guilt.”
A Nazi would steal the Jews’ property anyways. So why not him?
Steve Austria is my representative. He’s done a good job so far, although he voted for the last CR, which I emailed and asked him not to. But, he is a solid conservative.
From the 60 Minutes interview:
Steve Kroft: And you watched lots of people get shipped off to the death camps.
George Soros: Right. I was 14 years old. And I would say that that’s when my character was made…
Steve Kroft: …My understanding is that you went out with this protector of yours who swore that you were his adopted godson.
George Soros: Yes. Yes.
Steve Kroft: Went out, in fact, and helped in the confiscation of property from the Jews.
George Soros: Yes. That?s right. Yes.
Steve Kroft: I mean, that?s?that sounds like an experience that would send lots of people to the psychiatric couch for many, many years. Was it difficult?
George Soros: Not-not at all. Not at all. Maybe as a child you don?t – you don?t see the connection. But it created no-no problem at all.
Steve Kroft: No feeling of guilt?
George Soros: No.
Steve Kroft: For example that, ‘I’m Jewish and here I am, watching these people go. I could just as easily be there. I should be there.’ None of that?
George Soros: Well, of course I could be on the other side or I could be the one from whom the thing is being taken away. But there was no sense that I shouldn’t be there, because that was-well, actually, in a funny way, it?s just like in markets- that if I weren’t there- of course, I wasn’t doing it, but somebody else would-would-would be taking it away anyhow. And it was the-whether I was there or not, I was only a spectator, the property was being taken away. So the-I had no role in taking away that property. So I had no sense of guilt.
Right Wing News says this about the interview.
Soros is right that he didn’t send any Jews to the gas chamber, but every time a Jewish family was sent off to their deaths, it helped put money in the pocket of George Soros. In other words, George Soros was making money off of the Nazi’s genocide and he doesn’t feel bad about it. If that’s the environment in which his, “character was made,” that really doesn’t say much for his character.
http://conservativeculture.com/index.php/2006/10/1131/
Soros may think there is no hell; but there is and he will spending eternity there.
Well.. do we really know he's a Jew? He supposedly has an explanation for his background, and his nazist existence during the war, and a Jewish family. But considering the lengths some of the nazi apparatchicks went to, does it really constitute proof?
If you were a really bad dude wanting to be camouflaged after the war, what would be a better disguise than melting into the Jewish survivor population?
Has anyone done DNA testing comparing George with his supposed father, for example?
If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.
..................
That scumbag was a card-carrying Nazi (member of Arrow Cross) who took an active role in confiscation of Jewish property in Hungary during WWII. According to his own account, those were the most happiest days of his life.
Since Soros was then in formative years it seems that looting of Jewish property equals happiness to him. That's why Soros supports destruction of Israel. It is not irrational, it is rational criminal intent.
His is beeing followed by the morally blind organized in various front organizations sponsored with his money.
Soros is not a philantrope. Soros is plunderer.
Yes. His parents and mine were friends. Lived on the same street. It’s been great watching his political climb.
That is great to know. I grew up in Xena-is that your town. (Live in Indy now-Burton is my rep.)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.