Posted on 03/16/2002 8:03:22 PM PST by churchillbuff
WorldNetDaily.com
Posted: March 8, 2002
5:35 p.m. Eastern
A prominent American rabbi insists the Anti-Defamation League has defamed Rev. Billy Graham in its criticism of remarks the Protestant evangelist made about Jews 30 years ago in the Oval Office.
Rabbi Daniel Lapin, president of the activist group Toward Tradition, maintains ADL director Abraham H. Foxman's characterization of Graham as a purveyor of "age-old classical anti-Semitic canards" is unfair.
The "canard" in question, notes Lapin, is that Jewish people are disproportionately represented among Hollywood and other media powerbrokers. In secretly recorded remarks to President Nixon that recently were released to the press, Graham spoke of a Jewish "stranglehold" on the media.
"The unfairness of this ADL attack was highlighted by the week's news that the producers of 'A Beautiful Mind' deliberately left out any references to the genuinely anti-Semitic beliefs and comments of their protagonist, mathematician John Nash, amply documented in Sylvia Nasar's biography on which the film is based," said Lapin, author of "America's Real War," a book that encourages a return to Judeo-Christian principles.
Lapin pointed out that according to published reports, the film's director, Ron Howard, did this at least partly because he hoped to garner Academy Award recognition.
"Given that the Hollywood establishment indeed includes a considerably greater proportion of people of Jewish ancestry than does the American populace as a whole, Mr. Howard was concerned that the Academy would justifiably spurn a film that lionized an anti-Semite," Lapin explained. "To call that a 'stranglehold' may not be polite, but it is no lie, either."
Lapin says he cannot understand why it is acceptable for Howard to "acknowledge this reality, however implicitly; but when Billy Graham did so, long ago and in private, it was somehow different – 'chilling and frightening,' in Mr. Foxman's words."
The ADL's statement "forced a heartfelt apology from the frail and elderly Rev. Graham," Lapin noted. In a statement released by his public relations firm March 1, Graham said: "Although I have no memory of the occasion, I deeply regret comments I apparently made in an Oval Office conversation with President Nixon ... some 30 years ago. They do not reflect my views and I sincerely apologize for any offense caused by the remarks."
Foxman has refused to accept Graham's apology, however, which he called "mealy-mouthed."
"Such insults are truly inappropriate," said Lapin. "Could it be that these attacks are directed at Billy Graham because he is a conservative evangelical Christian – whereas Ron Howard gets a pass because he is not a Christian in that mold?
Whats really frightening is someone like Abraham Foxman making a claim that Graham has "been playing a charade for all these years" based on one recorded conversation in 1972. Graham has already apoligized, we've beat this to death in other threads. Let it go, Foxman, unless your Christian bashing bigotry won't let you stop....
Mr. Graham's sterling reputation as a healer and bridge-builder was so at odds with Mr. Haldeman's account that Jewish groups paid little attention, especially because he denied the remarks so strongly.
"Those are not my words," Mr. Graham said in a public statement in May 1994. "I have never talked publicly or privately about the Jewish people, including conversations with President Nixon, except in the most positive terms."
That was the end of the story, it seemed, until two weeks ago, when the tape of that 1972 conversation in the Oval Office was made public by the National Archives. Three decades after it was recorded, the North Carolina preacher's famous drawl is tinny but unmistakable on the tape, denigrating Jews in terms far stronger than the diary accounts.
It is especially repugnant that he would bear false witness. There is no excuse for what he said nor how he lied about it. I wonder if his own past had anything to do with his defense of Bill Clinton. At least he is admitting the truth and repenting now.
A poor and transparent attempt to shift the focus from the topic of this thread.
Mr. Graham, like Mr. Jackson, purports to be a minister of God. He spoke as a bigot. He lied about it. He was caught on tape. Now he admits there is enough evidence to convict him and repents.
Abe better watch his mouth. The ADL had to fork out $10 million bucks in this case:
The article doesn't quote his remarks in full. But why is it "antisemitic" or beyond excuse to say 1) that Jewish people are disproportionately represented in the media - - that's simply a statement of fact - - - and 2) that Jewish people in the media tend to be very liberal. I agree with Graham that liberals in the media (whether Jewish or Gentile) ARE undermining this country - - they certainly helped speed our defeat in Vietnam, which was the crisis when Graham made his remarks. If Southern Baptists dominated the media, it wouldn't be anti-Baptist to point out that fact - nor to point out that the media would be conservative as a consequence.
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