Opinion: The history of Israel, the Jews and the Democrats

Posted

By David M. Singer

Issue of Oct. 31, 2008 / 2 Cheshvan 5769

In a recent article in The Jewish Star (Selective memory; Oct. 10, 2008)

it was suggested that Democrats in the Oval Office are better for Jewish

interests and for Israel than Republicans. Since 1920, there have been just

six Democrats in the White House. Let¹s review the facts:

1) In 1933, FDR turned away a ship named The St. Louis, carrying 937

upper middle class and wealthy German Jews fleeing The Holocaust. They, and

thousands more just like them, were sent back to Nazi Germany, to their

deaths.

When prominent American Jews begged FDR to publicly oppose the highly

restrictive immigration quotas on the number of Jews who could enter the

United States ­­ which were resulting in thousands of Jewish deaths in

Europe ­­ Eleanor wrote in 1939 that "Franklin said he did not want to say

anything  publicly at the present time." The quotas were never increased;

millions of Jews  perished.

In 1944 and 1945, Jewish leaders begged FDR to bomb the  railroads

leading into the concentration camps, or even the concentration camps

themselves. FDR refused to do so, saying it was not possible. He lied! Years

later, concentration camp survivors spoke about the air raid bombings that

took place daily within earshot of the concentration camps.

2) President Truman confronted New York's two senators over the pending

decision whether to recognize the State of Israel. "I am not from New York.

I am from the Middle West. I must do what I think is right." He stated he

opposed recognition of Israel.

In 1948, Truman finally agreed, reluctantly, to recognize  Israel. He

did so when his re-election campaign advisors insisted he needed to do so if

he wanted the Jewish vote in New York and elsewhere. Truman called NYC, "the

capital of Israel."

Television producer David Susskind once asked Truman if he  could go

inside the Truman home. Truman refused, saying, "You¹re a Jew, David, and no

Jew has ever been in the house. Bess runs it, and there's never been a  Jew

inside the house in her or her mother's lifetime."

3) In his brief term, JFK managed to inform Israel it would  be best for

all concerned if Israel sought its desperately needed loans, arms sales, and

political cover in the United  Nations from Europe, rather than from the

U.S.

4) In 1979, according to writer Hugh Fitzgerald, while pressing Menachem

Begin to make concession upon concession to Egyptian President Anwar Sadat,

President Jimmy Carter erupted that he was "sick and tired of hearing about

the Holocaust."

When Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1991, Carter wrote in  The New

York Times that the invasion could have been avoided if only Israel had

withdrawn from the West Bank.

According to a press release issued by the Anti-defamation League, "Many

scholars criticized Jimmy Carter's book, for its distortions,

misrepresentations and one-sided arguments that blame Israel for the

conflict while giving the Palestinians a pass."

In a 2002 op-ed in The New York Times, Carter advocated that the  U.S.

take "more forceful action" with Israel, taking away Israeli aid and

establishing a legal requirement that American weapons be used by Israel

"only  for defensive purposes," and not in response to terrorist attacks.

Carter traveled to a Geneva conference in 2003 to help  formulate a

"peace plan" that columnist Charles Krauthammer described as a "suicide

note" for Israel. At the end of the conference, Carter proclaimed, "Had  I

been elected to a second term, with the prestige and authority and

influence  I had in the region, we could have moved to a final solution."

5) Under President Bill Clinton in 1995, Republicans sponsored a bill,

S.1322, the Jerusalem Embassy Relocation Act, providing for the relocation

of the United States Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem. Republican Senator John

McCain was a key co-sponsor. The bill passed, but then Clinton, citing a

loophole, punted to the next president to follow. That president, George W.

Bush, likewise punted. Had Clinton implemented the law anytime during his

final five years in office, greater Jerusalem would now be internationally

recognized as the capital of Israel.

In 1999, Hillary Clinton, running for senator of New York, called for

the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem as per the Jerusalem Embassy

Relocation Act. President Bill Clinton's State Department responded: "the

first lady was expressing her personal views" ­ and "the U.S. position on

Jerusalem" had "not changed" ­ that the final status of Jerusalem was "a

matter to be negotiated between the parties themselves."

If these are Israel¹s friends, "uch un vey!"

David M. Singer is a public relations consultant whose past clients include

The State of Israel, American Friends of Tel Aviv University, El Al

Airlines, the Israel Export Institute, Kedem/The Royal Wine Corporation,

Heritage Affinity Services, Shaare Zedek Medical Center and Yarden/Golan

Heights Winery, among others. He can be reached at singer2389@aol.com.