By David M. Singer
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.