On April 25th, a rainy Sunday in New York, about 1,000 stalwarts of an extreme right-wing agenda for a Greater Israel, rallied against Pres. Obama’s call for a settlements freeze in East Jerusalem. As observed by Doug Chandler in his report for the NY Jewish Week, the organizers kept U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner, a potential New York mayoral contender and a figure of growing stature among House Democrats, waiting in his car while they mulled over his request to address the rally. They apparently would only allow him to speak if he completely broke with Pres. Obama on Israel, something he evidently was unwilling to do.
The rally was so extreme that speakers denounced Senator Chuck Schumer, the ADL’s Abe Foxman and even the Conference of President’s Malcolm Hoenlein—all figures who are prominent defenders of Israel (and too often, perhaps, apologists for Israeli policies that should not be defended).
The anti-Israel blogger, Max Blumenthal (in my view, an extremist at the other end), had a field day documenting on YouTube the views of some participants he interviewed at the event. My thanks to Prof. Stephen Sheinberg of Canadian Friends of Peace Now for the heads up on the video.
Leave A Comment