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What I’ve Been Up To Lately
- dumbest article on jewish identity i've read so far this year http://su.pr/2Vcr4X 8 hrs ago
- rushkoff on colbert moved to july 15 1 day ago
- is drinking the #moonfruit juice 1 day ago
- More updates...
Ron Paul's Jewish Problem
[Update 12/21] Ron Paul poses with neo-Nazi leader Don Black. Photo via Ace of Spades.
Ron Paul has a Jewish problem.
Last month, the dark horse Republican candidate was barred from the Republican Jewish Coalition’s Candidate’s Forum due to his stance against providing further foreign aid to Israel.
Typical of his view, at an event on September 11 of this year at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies, Paul argued for withdrawing from the Middle East, telling his audience that “Israel is quite capable of taking care of itself” — though interestingly adding that US policy has “hurt Israel tremendously.” Paul also downplayed the threat Iran poses to Israel, saying that even if Iran does develop nuclear arms, that it would not be a serious danger to Israel, which, he added, possesses roughly 300 nuclear weapons of its own.
Paul’s position towards Israel is not innately anti-Jewish, nor is it necessarily even anti-Israel — particularly with such a caveat about America impeding Israel’s interests. Such a statement lends weight, for example, to Zionist extremists who wish to terminate Israel’s Herodian dependence on the US, such as the members of Zionists for Ron Paul, a group run by American expatriates now living as religious settlers in the West Bank.
Nor is it a particularly uncommon position, especially within paleoconservative circles. Pat Buchanan led the charge in March of 2003, writing in The American Conservative that neoconservatives participating in and advising the Bush administration were steering the United States into wars that were not in America’s interests, but rather Israel’s.
Now fed up with the neocon’s wars abroad and the diminishing of civil liberties at home, many conservatives are rallying behind Paul, whom they view as the only Republican candidate who isn’t in the pocket of the Israel lobby. They have helped him become an Internet sensation — the Republican Howard Dean, if you will — who in the last quarter raised over $5 million, outpacing more mainstream candidates like John McCain.
Even with his hardline protectionist isolationist stance, Paul has managed to garner the support of Jewish Republicans and Libertarians alike, some of whom have banded together to form an ad hoc coalition called Jews for Ron Paul, which condemned the RJC’s decision to bar the Congressman from their Candidate’s Forum. [Update 12/18] Jews for Ron Paul has since been exposed as a fraud.
Yet, much to his Jewish supporters’ chagrin, Congressman Paul’s willingness to stand up to the neocons has also had the effect of making Paul a popular candidate among those from whom Presidential candidates would typically not desire support: Bona fide antisemites.
Indeed, Ron Paul has become the most popular candidate among right-wing extremists, including white separatists, neo-Nazis, and conspiracy theorists who believe that “the Zionists” were behind 9/11. This group includes Frank Weltner, creator of the antisemitic website JewWatch.com, who in a YouTube video, accuses the “Zionist-controlled media” of attacking Paul’s candidacy. Paul has also received favorable coverage from the Vanguard News Network, a White Nationalist news organ, members of Stormfront, an online neo-Nazi community, as well as the National Alliance, the “mainstream” White Nationalist group featured prominently in Marc Levin’s 2005 film Protocols of Zion. [Update 12/18] Read the comments on this entry for more examples of anti-Jewish hate by Paul’s supporters, as well as this lengthy round-up at The American Thinker.
Of course, Congressman Paul cannot be held accountable for the views of his extremist supporters, unless he publicly acquiesces to those views. Yet, when his extremist supporters begin providing a substantial amount of campaign funds, things get a bit dicier. And that’s Paul’s biggest problem.
According to the Lone Star Times, White Nationalists have become a noticeable source of financial contributions to the Paul campaign. Indeed, even Don Black, the founder of Stormfront, and one of the most notorious neo-Nazis in America, has personally contributed $500 to Paul’s campaign.
Though it’s true that Paul’s campaign has no control over who sends them money in advance, once it becomes apparent that a neo-Nazi leader is sending money, any sensible politician who does not wish to be identified with neo-Nazism should send the money back. Not so for Ron Paul, however, whose campaign is still making up its mind as to whether or not to return Black’s money.
Paul’s spokesman Jesse Benton told the Lone Star Times:
At this time, I cannot say that we will be rejecting Mr. Black’s contribution, but I will bring the matter to the attention of our campaign director again, and expect some sort of decision to be made in coming days.
Frankly, this is a no-brainer. Any other candidate would unequivocally reject that money as soon as its donor’s identity was known. That Paul’s campaign needs time to think about it is shocking.
Also of concern is the fact that Paul’s campaign has ignored my repeated attempts to interview the Congressman for JTA, the Jewish newswire service by which I am employed. I had intended to write a story about the Congressman, and to provide him with the opportunity to distance himself from his extremist supporters, to clarify his position on Israel, and to state his case to the Jewish community. Yet, after three weeks of repeated telephone calls, two chats with his Deputy Communications Director, and several left voicemail messages, I have yet to receive a callback to schedule an interview.
Which leads me to conclude the following about the Congressman from Texas: Ron Paul will take money from Nazis. But he won’t take telephone calls from Jews.
This should be a cause of great concern to those of us in the antifascist community, whereas, for me, it elicits echoes of Europe’s re-embracement of right-wing extremism, the attendant resurrection of ethnic nationalism, and the growing success of far-right parties, many of which have taken over large swaths of European parliaments.
They say such things could never happen in America, but guess what…Here it is.
The sad part is that, as a radical libertarian, I somewhat favored Paul as a candidate, though as a libertarian socialist, he is not my ideal choice. Now, I want him out of the running, and frankly, out of the Capitol. Those who pander to White Nationalists and neo-Nazis have no place serving in the United States government, which exists to serve the most ethnically and culturally diverse nation on Earth, which counts among its citizens Jews and Zionists alike.
[Update 11/1] Just to put a stop to this idiocy before the comments are flooded with it: I absolutely believe in the right to every American citizen, no matter what their beliefs, to political representation. However, no citizen has the right to deprive others of their rights due to their ethnic, cultural, or political identity.
White Nationalists seek to use the democratic process to alleviate Jews and other ethnic and political minorities of their civil and democratic rights. The democratic process is, in fact, the process by which the Nazi Party came into power in Germany. The Nuremberg Laws soon followed.
Therefore, while White Nationalists are certainly entitled to believe whatever they wish, and to vote for whomever they choose, it is my responsibility to insure the rights of myself and my fellow citizens, by insuring that the preferred candidate of those who seek to deprive us of our rights fails miserably on Election Day.
I’d also like to add that I made no criticism of Paul’s position towards reducing aid to Israel, because I share his position. So the accusation that I am attacking Paul on that basis is without merit.
Furthermore, this has nothing to do with me feeling snubbed. As I made explicitly clear to his Communications Director and Deputy Communications Director, JTA’s news is syndicated to over 100 Jewish newspapers nationally and is read daily by the tens of thousands of American Jews, including the leadership of every major Jewish organization in America. I was trying to do Paul a favor by giving him an opportunity to reach the Jewish community. He clearly wasn’t interested.
[Update 11/13] After this blog entry began getting attention, Ron Paul’s campaign finally got in touch with JTA, and we now have the story up on our site, albeit written by another staff member.
[Update 12/18] Since the writing of this entry, Ron Paul has gone on PBS’s program NOW and denounced his neo-Nazi supporters’ racism, saying that he would prefer not to have their support. Nonetheless, Paul will still happily take their money, which he claims he will put to better use than they. The problem: Paul’s idea of “better use” means promoting economic policies that, by their very nature, discriminate against people of color, who tend to fall on the lower end of the economic spectrum. Watch the entire PBS special for more information.
[Update 12/21] Paul appeared on Neil Cavuto’s program on Fox News earlier this week and adamantly refused to return Don Black’s money, arguing that taking money from Nazis is less evil than the actions of the federal government.
To learn why I continue to believe that Paul is capitalizing on anti-Jewish and anti-Israel sentiment in order to bolster his campaign, view my blog entry here.
[Update 12/26] American Nazi Party chief Bill White tells VNN readers that Ron Paul is one of them.
Tags: antisemitism, election, fascism, libertarianism, presidential race, racism, ron paul, white nationalism
Ray
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33-_9nOX8KM
I dislike that guy about as much as I disliked Falwell and Mother Theresa. While entertaining, I have mixed feelings about how Michael Moore deals with the whole thing.
Michael Moore certainly seeks publicity, but I found that clip somewhat amusing. ‘Bowling for Columbine’ was ingenious, but ‘Fahrenheit 911′ lacked what I’d expect from a journalist: the willingness to see, portrait and gauge both sides of the medal; it was too focussed on its very creator and his stand on politics. I found it pretty disappointing to say the least even though it caused a few chuckles.
Candidate’s comments on blacks questioned
Catalina Camia
Washington Bureau of The Dallas Morning News
735 words
22 May 1996
The Dallas Morning News
WASHINGTON – Dr. Ron Paul, a Republican congressional candidate from Texas, wrote in his political newsletter in 1992 that 95 percent of the black men in Washington, D.C., are “semi-criminal or entirely criminal.”
He also wrote that black teenagers can be “unbelievably fleet of foot.”
An official with the NAACP in Texas said the comments were racist and offensive.
Dr. Paul, who is running in Texas’ 14th Congressional District, defended his writings in an interview Tuesday. He said they were being taken out of context.
“It’s typical political demagoguery,” he said. “If people are interested in my character . . . come and talk to my neighbors.”
Dr. Paul, an ex-congressman and former Libertarian Party presidential candidate, defeated Rep. Greg Laughlin, R-West Columbia, in April for the Republican nomination for the U.S. House.
An obstetrician from Surfside, he faces Democratic lawyer Charles “Lefty” Morris of Bee Cave in the November general election. Mr. Morris, who said he was familiar with the writings in question, declined to comment about the specifics.
“Many of his views are out on the fringe,” Mr. Morris said. “But voters in the 14th District have to characterize these the way they see it. His statements speak for themselves.”
According to a Dallas Morning News review of documents circulating among Texas Democrats, Dr. Paul wrote in a 1992 issue of the Ron Paul Political Report: “If you have ever been robbed by a black teenaged male, you know how unbelievably fleet of foot they can be.”
Dr. Paul, who served in Congress in the late 1970s and early 1980s, said Tuesday that he has produced the newsletter since 1985 and distributes it to an estimated 7,000 to 8,000 subscribers. A phone call to the newsletter’s toll-free number was answered by his campaign staff.
Dr. Paul also said he did not know how his newsletter came to be included in a directory by the Heritage Front, a neo-Nazi group based in Canada. The newsletter was listed on the Internet under the directory’s heading “Racialists and Freedom Fighters.”
No one answered calls to the Heritage Front, which lists only a hotline connected to a tape-recorded message in the Toronto telephone directory.
Gary Bledsoe, president of the Texas NAACP, urged Dr. Paul to apologize for his comments about blacks and asked Republicans to denounce their nominee.
“We need someone who can represent all the constituents of Texas, not someone who is negative or engages in stereotypes,” Mr. Bledsoe said. “Someone who holds those views signals or indicates an inability to represent all constituents without regard to race, creed or color.”
About 11 percent of the population in the 14th District, stretching from near Austin to the Gulf Coast, is black.
Dr. Paul denied suggestions that he was a racist and said he was not evoking stereotypes when he wrote the columns. He said they should be read and quoted in their entirety to avoid misrepresentation.
Dr. Paul also took exception to the comments of Mr. Bledsoe, saying that the voters in the 14th District and the people who know him best would be the final judges of his character.
“If someone challenges your character and takes the interpretation of the NAACP as proof of a man’s character, what kind of a world do you live in?” Dr. Paul asked.
In the interview, he did not deny he made the statement about the swiftness of black men.
“If you try to catch someone that has stolen a purse from you, there is no chance to catch them,” Dr. Paul said.
He also said the comment about black men in the nation’s capital was made while writing about a 1992 study produced by the National Center on Incarceration and Alternatives, a criminal justice think tank based in Virginia.
Citing statistics from the study, Dr. Paul then concluded in his column: `Given the inefficiencies of what DC laughingly calls the criminal justice system, I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.”
“These aren’t my figures,” Dr. Paul said Tuesday. “That is the assumption you can gather from” the report.
I have to agree with FZappa, Pauls campaign is dedicated to the constitution, instead of increasing our problems by increasing federal government he wishes to counteract it by reducing the federal government possibly removing it alltogether, allowing your community to create policy for yourselves without federal interference.
Personally I feel he should keep the money from all of his supporters whether they are white nationalists, hippies, socialists, anarchists, or black supremacists. You have to understand his platform before so openly condemning him for accepting money from those you dissagree with. It has nothing to do with whether he agrees with them or not, it has to do with what this country was founded on.
Freedom and liberty for all. Even the ones you dissagree with.
Everyone has the right to exist, there will always be people whom you dissagree with, thats why voluntary segregation is the solution, not forcing conflicting views to work together under the same flags and laws. You simply cant govern everyone and expect to respect their views.
I’m Jewish, fiercely zionist, conservative, and not a Ron Paul supporter. However, I think any and all of the criticism of Ron Paul as being anti-Semitic is absolutely absurd.
I found nothing to suggest that he is anti-Semitic. He’s perfectly consistent. He opposes foreign aid to ALL countries…not just Israel.
The anti-Semites single out Israel. Ron Paul does not. Nor does he blame Israel for the Arabs hating us. He blames our interventionist foreign policy.
And if some crazy white-nationalist 9/11 conspiracy nuts decided to donate money to my campaign (which is non-existent), I’d take it. Their money is green just like everyone else’s. If they were stupid enough to donate to me, why should I return it???
BTW…SARAH…..would you mind providing links to sites in English??
Note to writer: Mitt, Rudy, Barak & Hillary aren’t going to give you an interview either.
This reporter has to how the media works and is being disingenuous. Like it or not, in today’s 24 hour news cycle a “disavowal” of anything is equal to an admission of wrongdoing. That’s just the way it is. If you “disavow” somebody, the MSM automatically assumes your guilt and plays it as an apology. And being “guilty” of an association with neo-nazis is just about as bad as it gets.
Also, H’aaretz sums up the real scoop on Ron Paul and Israel.
“Republican candidate Ron Paul is somewhat more irritated with Israel than with most other countries. But for a candidate opposing foreign aid and any American involvement in the Middle East, this is not an unreasonable annoyance.”
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/p.....mNo=921350
Jared,
“I think it’s pretty clear, with Blackwater, KBR, Halliburton, the privatization of our prisons and our for-profit health care system serving as some of the most glaring examples, of when the private sector, despite what you may say, doesn’t do a better job than the government.”
Those organizations, when acting at the behest of the government, are, for all practical purposes, the government. The reason the government uses private contractors, when it can get away with it, is because those organizations are basically free of government oversite. But, it is still the government that provides them with the bulk of their revenues. In a truly free market with minimal (or no) government interference, such questionable institutions would not be able to survive.
You show an incredible naivete in your eagerness to have so many problems addressed by the government, with the proper funding and oversite of course. In America, Congress clearly has Constitutional superiority over the Executive branch, but even with Democrats in the majority, a party with much supposed hostility to Bush, they forfeit the very oversite that is their right and that you claim will fix all problems and keep those in power in check.
Puhleeze!
Dr. Paul neither acts anti-Jewish nor espouses anti-Jewish policies (unless you think non-interventionism, including Israel, is such). The fact that a few fascists give him money is no big deal. No candidate can vet the histories and views of all who donate to him.
As for Paul’s remark about criminality in DC, perhaps the remark contained a bit of hyperbole, but in essence it’s true–crime rates among black males are far higher than among Hispanics, Whites or Asians.
He’s got a few hobbyhorses, such as the gold standard, that I question, but he’s the only non-interventionist, anti-centralization candidate out there. A fringe candidate attracts a few kooks from time to time, but there’s no reason to believe Dr. P shares their views.
[...] returned when notified – a donation from an American Neo-Nazi (as reported at Jewcy by the Daniel Orthodox Anarchist). And despite several attempts from the OA Blogger and professional journalist, R.P. never called [...]
Shalom Achi.
I like your orthodox anarchist views: it’s too bad you focus so much on money before God. You should support the guy who follows his commandments and constitutions before his commanders and cronies.
If your head wasn’t so far up your tuches, this whole neo-nazi thing wouldn’t smell so bad. Ron Paul is obviously the least “Nazi”-like and the most transparent of the candidates. Besides, by dragging this guilt-by-association argument on, you’ve lost it. Would you rather these idiots got to keep there money anyway?
[...] After having said something like that, I cannot understand why he would knowingly accept donations from people like Don Black. [...]
Dear Noble sir,
It is apparent that it is OK for you to be a Zionist, yet if a White Nationalist donates, Paul is to send the money back.
Kind of double standard. It is know that your race in the only race in the World claiming supremacy, is it not?
Have you read your Talmud lately?
It is OK to steal, lie and cheat and even kill a Gentile yet if you put your hands on a Zionist like yourself a Gentile can be killed.
You need to listen more to Walt and Mearshimer! Why do you think we have went to War over your people in the Country numerous times.
Maybe you need to listen to Ben Friedman (not sure the spelling) you know of the man.
Your people are the racist, supremest people on the planet and over time more and more will see it.
Take me for example, My father was a Christian Zionist and believe me from my youth on I heard bless them that bless you and so forth, but over time I saw how Zionism is destroying this Country.
Ben Franklin and our Forefathers knew you people and over time America will see that you are not Americans but Zionist.
You lied about the Holocaust and got us into the first two world wars and your people want the oil in the mid east. Nothing more nothing less.
You want to talk about it? Let’s talk, I think your argument could never hold and ounce of truth!
Ladies and Gentlemen–
Here’s a glowing example of what a Ron Paul supporter looks like: An anti-Jewish bigot and Holocaust denier who says that the Jews are racists driving the world to war.
In other words, a Nazi.
I could easily rebuff every single one of your statements “Noble Sir” but you will never listen because it is easier for you to believe your idiocy and have someone convenient to blame for the world’s troubles than to understand how much more complex matters truly are.
But just for the hell of it, here’s the Rambam:
“The Sages and prophets did not yearn for the Messianic Era in order that [the Jewish people] rule over the entire world Rather, their aspiration was that [the Jewish people] be free [to involve themselves] in Torah and its wisdom, without anyone to oppress or disturb them, and thus be found worthy of life in the World to Come In that era there will be neither famine nor war, neither envy nor competition, for good things will flow in abundance and all the delights will be as freely available as dust For the world will be filled with the knowledge of G-d as the waters cover the ocean bed.’”
The Talmud says that a Righteous Gentile is like a High Priest — ie., he is higher and holier than the common Jew.
Go read a book that wasn’t written by David Duke.
Even with his hardline protectionist isolationist stance
should be non-interventionist stance.
I wouldn’t say he’s a glowing example of anything. Just an imbecile who needs to open a history book.
this is complete bullshit.
[...] organization has a lot of loons supporting it. Ron Paul does not appear to be anti-Semitic. His anti aid-to-Israel stance is consistent with his no aid to anyone principle. However, some of [...]
I think we should use the term “anti-Jewish” rather than “anti-semite” whenever we encounter anti-Jewish rhetoric. Semites, of course, include Arabs, so it makes more sense to distinguish between anti-Jewish and anti-semitic behavior.
SEMITE: 1 a: a member of any of a number of peoples of ancient southwestern Asia including the Akkadians, Phoenicians, Hebrews, and Arabs
b: a descendant of these peoples
2: a member of a modern people speaking a Semitic language
Ron Paul is not anti-semetic. He thinks that taxpayers should not be funding other countries, especially in the Middle East. He argues that since Israel has a strong and capable military, including a few hundred nuclear weapons, that America should no longer be subsidizing them. He also advocates taking away funds from everyone else too, so he’s being consistent. His argument is that the threats to Israel receive more money combined than Israel does, so taking money out of the Middle East actually helps Israel.
Ron Paul remains the only candidate with the common sense to see that America needs to have friendship and trade with all countries over there. That will restore our credibility and it will let us be a more effective third-party negotiator of peace.