We here in Israel we speak a good deal these days about a world arrayed against us – a world ready to do business with Iran for self-serving reasons. In doing my writing, I have been remiss in not mentioning Canada, under the leadership of Prime Minster Steven Harper (pictured below). Israel has no better friend in the world. What is more, Harper has come out against both Iran and Islamic State – refusing to lift sanction against the former, and sending troops against the latter.
See please, an article, below, by Dan Illouz, the Legal Ground Campaign Knesset strategist and a JPost columnist, who grew up in Canada. “In the Middle East,” writes Dan, “Harper has led the world with moral clarity.”
http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/A-Fresh-Perspective-Proud-to-be-a-Canadian-412005
This is a matter of some significance in this horrendous world, and I would have been remiss had I not called my readers’ attention to this.
Credit: National Post
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Just over a week ago, 340 putative rabbis signed a letter to Congress endorsing the Iran deal. Claiming to represent “all streams of Judaism,” they were, in fact, almost exclusively progressive and left wing radical.
“We fully support this historic nuclear accord,” read the letter. “Fully.” Not a touch of reservation.
Unable to take on everyone and everything that is inherently offensive, I had let news about this pass. Although even before now I should have strongly encouraged you to read the article – “Rabbis for Hamas, Obama, and Iran: – by Daniel Greenfield. It describes some of the rabbis involved and provides context:
We are talking about rabbis who serve on the rabbinic cabinet of the anti-Israel JStreet, and rabbis who signed a letter demanding that Israel lift the blockade at sea of Hamas, rabbis who worked for Obama’s re-election, at least one who participated in the “Fast for Gaza,” and even one (may Heaven help us) who read the names of dead Hamas terrorists alongside names of Israeli casualties – from the pulpit.
Greenfield names names – Burton Visotzky, Elliott Dorff, Rachel Mikva, Chaim Seidler-Feller, and on and on. It is instructive. And vastly shameful.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/259835/rabbis-hamas-obama-and-iran-daniel-greenfield#.VdXP9Uv2_Ys.gmail
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And now I have a different reason to write, a reason that is imbued with a touch of hope (emphasis in the original):
“The Orthodox Union and the Rabbinical Council of America are sponsoring a massive Rabbinical March on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to demand that Congress vote down the suicidal agreement with Iran. The march is set for [Wednesday] September 9th, just 4 days before Rosh HaShana, which is also marks the beginning of debate on the deal in Congress.”
Plans are moving ahead and hundreds of rabbis are scheduled to march. May hundreds morph into thousands! Let the country see where rabbis who are true to tradition and Jewish values stand.
“The Rabbis March will take place on September 9th and I would like to propose that countrywide demonstrations begin on Sunday, September 6th. These pre-DC demonstrations will keep the media focused and created a build up to the Rabbinical March on September 9th…
“The march will mirror a rabbinic march that took place back in 1943, when 400 Orthodox Rabbis marched on DC to demand action on behalf of what remained of European Jewry.”
Yosef Rabin, who wrote the blog in which this information appeared, is carrying the idea one step further:
“I am calling upon Jews across the US to follow in the footsteps of these courageous Rabbis and organize demonstrations in cities throughout the US before the Rabbis march on DC.
“The Rabbis March will take place on September 9th and I would like to propose that countrywide demonstrations begin on Sunday, September 6th. These pre-DC demonstrations will keep the media focused and created a build up to the Rabbinical March on September 9th.
See more, including specifics on how to proceed:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Blogs/Message.aspx/7415#.Vd3FRJsVjIU
(Thanks Moshe D. for catching this.)
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At the bottom of this posting, please see a list of rallies that are already independently scheduled.
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While I am sharing material from the very prolific and sharp Daniel Greenfield, I want to include another (dynamite) article from him related to Iran – “Traitor Senators Took Money from Iran Lobby, Back Iran Nukes” (emphasis added):
Once again, Greenfield names names. What he is talking about are – as the title of his article makes clear – Senators who received money from the Iran lobby, via one channel or another, and then declared support for the Iran deal or for Iran run by the mullahs more broadly. When he refers to the “Iran Lobby,” he includes in different contexts the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC), American Iranian Council, and the Iranian Muslim Association of North America. He alludes to Housang Amirahmadi, founder of the American Iranian Council, and Hassan Nemazee, who was Hillary’s campaign finance director and is a member of the Iran Lobby.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/fpm/259895/traitor-senators-took-money-iran-lobby-back-iran-daniel-greenfield
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Greenfield does not make idle charges: he provides links to background articles. There is, for example, a link to a 2008 article by Ken Timmerman that states:
”…Kaveh Mohseni, a spokesman for the Student Movement Coordination Committee for Democracy in Iran, calls Biden ‘a great friend of the mullahs.’ He notes that Biden’s election campaigns ‘have been financed by Islamic charities of the Iranian regime based in California and by the Silicon Iran network,’ a loosely-knit group of wealthy Iranian-American businessmen and women seeking to end the U.S. trade embargo on Iran. ‘In exchange, the senator does his best to aid the mullahs,’ Mohseni argues. Biden’s ties to pro-Tehran lobbying groups are no secret. But so far, the elite media has avoided even mentioning the subject.” (Emphasis added)
http://www.newsmax.com/KenTimmerman/biden-iran/2010/02/02/id/348731/
And from 2002, a Free Republic article on the “Kerry/Iran Connection”:
“This is an overview of the emerging campaign finance scandal involving the Kerry campaign and lobbyists for the terror-supporting regime in Iran.
“At the center of the controversy is one Hassan Nemazee, listed as a Vice-Chair by the Kerry campaign, and identified by CBS News as having raised more than $500,000 for the campaign.
“Nemazee has served on the Board of the American Iranian Council, the Iranian American Political Action Committee (IAPAC), and the Asia Society, all of which favor negotiations with the mullahs’ regime and eventual normalization of relations with Iran. (emphasis added)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1249569/posts
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It is obvious that Greenfield (pictured below) does not paint every Iranian organization with the same brush – the groups he is referring to support the Tehran regime.
The number and status of persons within the US government who have been connected to the Iran Lobby in one way or another (primarily as recipients of donations, but also in more complex political relationships) quite literally makes one’s hair stand on end.
Greenfield charges that those who have taken Iran Lobby money and then come out in support of Iran are treasonous.
Whether the links are solid enough to sustain this charge is not something that is clear to me. Perhaps there are readers who would want to pursue this further.
At the very least, this very damning evidence – which suggests betrayal of America – should be utilized as broadly as possible as we fight the fight against the deal, and then, subsequently, as the next election campaign goes into high gear.
Credit: Frontpage
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This is almost, but not quite, funny. Actually, on second thought this attempt to cover for Iran isn’t funny at all:
“On Monday, Hammond [British foreign secretary, visiting in Tehran] said Iranian President Rouhani had indicated a ‘more nuanced approach’ to Israel, and that aggressive statements by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei should not necessarily be seen as representative of the country’s foreign policy.”
However, Iran denied British claims that it had indicated a ‘more nuanced approach’ to Israel, saying Tuesday that such discussions had not taken place and that its attitude toward the Jewish state remained unchanged.”
http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-rejects-claims-of-more-nuanced-approach-to-israel/
What this incident tells us, I suspect, is just how eager the Europeans (and Brits) are going to be to cover for Iran when it comes to violations.
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It is reassuring, I think, to see that at least some Republicans in Congress are going to refuse to roll over and play dead if they cannot over-ride Obama’s veto. Already they are thinking of other actions they can take. See:
http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2015-08-25/republicans-plan-iran-sanctions-after-vote-on-nuclear-deal
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Other rallies that are already planned for the days ahead (not specifically in conjunction with the Rabbis March):
September 1, 5:30 PM, NYC
PRESS CONFERENCE AND RALLY
Outside Senator’s Schumer’s and Gillibrand’s office 780 Third Avenue, NYC (at 49th street)
The theme: “GILLIBRAND: DON’T SURRENDER AMERICA”
September 8, 12:30 PM – WASHINGTON, DC
Iran Deal Press Conference, featuring Members of Congress, Americans effected by Iranian terrorism
Sponsored by EMET – The Endowment for Middle East Truth
AFSI is a co-sponsor.
Washington DC: “West Grassy Area,” facing the Ellipse, in front of the Capitol building
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© Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by Arlene Kushner, functioning as an independent journalist. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution.
If it is reproduced and emphasis is added, the fact that it has been added must be noted.
