en

Reader comments on this item

Ha-Ha

Submitted by Billy Crystal, Jun 9, 2012 01:37

And the winners is..................................................Pascrell

ROFL!!!

 

One Sided Piece

May 9, 2012 16:14

I read with great dismay this one-sided and conclusory piece. The insinuations and distortions as to the motivations of Congressman Pascrell are blatant attempts to rile Jewish voters to oppose his re-election. My fear is that writing like this, ostensibly in support of the strengthening the State of Israel, will actually do more harm than good. As a staunch supporter of the State of Israel myself, the records on behalf of both Congressmen running in the 9th Congressional District in New Jersey and their rating by AIPAC are almost identical.

This piece intends to leave the impression that Pascrell has sided with Islamists and outright terrorists in his career in Congress. I point out that former Congressman Herb Klein and former President of AIPAC David Steiner, along with many other prominent voices in the Jewish-American community, are supporting Pascrell's reelection. Pascrell's pro-Israel credentials were defended by none other than his colleague Steve Rothman, who in a letter to The Jewish Standard in 2010 wrote, "Bill Pascrell votes in favor of issues important to the pro-Israel community." Using the same faulty logic as the author of this article, would these well-respected Americans, including Rothman be considered 'Islamist fellow travelers' as well? Of course not.

The piece seems to suggest that Israelis and supporters of Israel are monolithic in their positions on public affairs involving the state of Israel. Nothing could be further from the truth. I point to several pieces recently in the New York Times, The New Yorker and other periodicals suggesting Israelis are very much divided on important issues of the day, and in some instances, oppose Prime Minister Netenyahu and the Israeli government's stance. A premptive strike on Iran is the most recent example of this.

Finally, as has been raised in one article on the race in the 9th District, if your litmus test for gauging support for Israel and deciding who is worthy of Jewish American political support excludes otherwise excellent non-Jewish supporters like Pascrell (to the point of disparaging him in this article), don't you risk losing the hearts and minds of those Americans (including those who are Jewish) even less inclined to agree with you?

 

Comment on this item

Email me if someone replies to my comment

Note: IPT will moderate reader comments. We reserve the right to edit or remove any comment we determine to be inappropriate. This includes, but is not limited to, comments that include swearing, name calling, or offensive language involving race, religion or ethnicity. All comments must include an email address for verification.

Click here to see the top 25 recent comments.