Unfortunately

[connecticut yankee]

there are many Jewish people who will vote for Lieberman, no matter what. They think he's "good for Israel," "he's one of us," and are adamant about their position.

They may be the deciding factor. What can we do to make them realize how totally misguided they are?

[calico1]

1. Not much, I'm afraid.

Plus you have the people who may not be crazy about him but "I know Lieberman, I don't know the other guy." That is very difficult to overcome.

[JerseygirlCT]

9. I think that's the biggest problem he faces. nt

[furman]

2. You can help by countering anti-semitism from the far-left

Did you read DU during the Israel-Hezbollah war?
Do you read the Israel/Palestine forum?
If you do, you will see that a fair number of DUers spew anti-semitic and anti-Israel remarks on a regular basis.

The virulent anti-semitism from the left sometimes makes me reconsider whether I stay with Lamont.

I know that Lamont has stated strong support for Israel, but I would not want the far-left to have so much influence on this issue.

I hope that that the stuff I read in the I/P forum represents a small minority of the US electorate.

So what can you do?
Participate in the I/P forum by posting things that defend the Israeli view and counter the Hamas/Hezbollah propaganda that I see on DU all too often.

Even more importantly, take your message beyond DU. Tell the people on the fence that Lamont will be a strong supporter of Israel and provide quotes from his campaign site, articles, and blog postings.

[Larkspur]

3. Opposing Israel's apartheid policies is not anti-semitism and

Arabs are Semites too, so AIPAC is anti-semite too.

[furman]

4. This is the kind of rhetoric I am talking about

Calling Israel apartheid is incorrect.
Anti-semitism is a term used against Jews, although technically you are right about origin of the word.

And you guys ponder why Lieberman is still polling well?

[Larkspur]

5. Archbishop Tutu of South African called Israel's policies against

the Palestinians "apartheid". Too bad you don't like it but that's what they are.

When the world, including the US boycotted South Africa, Israel was the only industrialized nation to continue trading with the aparthied regime in South Africa. That's a fact.

Only Americans are intentionally kept in the dark about Israel's brutal policies against Palestinians. Most Americans if they knew the truth, would be pissed off at how the Palestinians are treated and demand justice. My late aunt, who traveled the world, told me after her last visit to Israel that Israel treats the Palestianians horrbily. That was in 1985 about a 1 and a half before the first Intifada.

And Intelligence reports continue to report that our heavily biased support of Israel in the I/P conflict further inflames Muslim extremists against us.

I'm half Irish. My ancesters were persecuted by the British occupiers, so I relate more to the Palestian plight that the Israeli one.

[furman]

6. Again, my point is that US public opinion favors Israel

Please read this about apartheid and Israel:
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/History/Human_Rights/Israel_&_apartheid.html">Israel Is Not An Apartheid State

I'm not going to get into discussing the Middle East on this forum anymore.
Take it to I/P.

[Larkspur]

7. Its a biased article

The British never saw themselves as occupiers of Ireland, but the native Irish did. All conquerors and occupiars see themselves in a positive light and as the agents of civilization. It's national hubris.

[CTyankee]

20. There are strong differences of opinion among Jews in Israel

which I am sure you are aware of. Plenty of Israelis oppose some of the policies that they feel oppress Palestinians. They, like you, relate to the oppressed because the Jews themselves have been so oppressed throughout the long history of the planet. So they have much in common with your Irish ancestors.

[Ken Burch]

15. Is it your position that ANY criticism of Israel is anti-semitic?

Do you regard support for a two-state solution(the only possible moral solution to the I/P issue) as anti-semitic?
What, exactly, is the line that must not be crossed?

(Also, whatever the treatment of Arabs within Israel proper, can you really say there is any difference between the administration of the Occupation and the privelegded status of the racist, right-wing West Bank "settlers" and apartheid?)

[JerseygirlCT]

8. I don't disagree with your first point -- at all

Frankly, it shocked me.

But I do take exception to the characterization of Lamont as "far-left". I think this is important. He's only that in the media's eye -- because they're not terribly interested in looking at the situation in depth, and it's much better to paint it as a story of the rise of the blogosphere far-left.

Being against this stupid war doesn't confer far-left status, IMO. Makes one smart, but not some sort of wild-eyed liberal.

Lamont's positions are nothing that veers too far from moderate, from all I've read. "Far-left" is just the part he's seemingly been assigned in this drama.

[JanusAscending]

10. I think that John Kerry campaigning for Ned will be a big help !

I heard he will be in Ct. on Oct 25th? Do you or anyone know where, and when yet? I would love to be there, if it's just a rally and not going to cost me an arm and a leg!! Any info would be appreciated, as I don't get a newspaper. Thanks, DC

[JerseygirlCT]

11. I haven't heard anything, but I'm sure someone here will

alert us all!

[Nutmegger]

12. October 25th is correct.

Not sure where though. Probably in New Haven....everything is always down there.

[furman]

13. Lamont is not far left but some of his supporters are antisemitic

and most of these antisemitic supporters come from the "far-left".

[connecticut yankee]

14. It isn't anti-Semitism

to be critical of israel and some of its policies.

I'm far, far Left and am very critical of a lot of the things that Israel has done. But I'm nowhere near an anti-Semite.

The neo-cons are the ones who call people like me "Anti-Semites." It's a very useful weapon they pull out when necessary.

[furman]

16. This is Antisemitism

Here is one of the most heinous Antisemitic posts I have seen on DU:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=124&topic_id=151046&mesg_id=151069

sugapablo (320 posts)
Sat Oct-14-06 08:25 AM
Response to Original message
21. Don't worry, Israel is ALWAYS at fault...

Edited on Sat Oct-14-06 08:27 AM by sugapablo
Israel is the biggest evil on planet earth.

There are no such thing as Palestinian "terrorists". They are all justified in killing mothers and their children because of Israel's evil deeds in wishing to return to their "supposed" home.

We must all blame Israel, constantly, relentlessly until they capitulate, Palestine is returned to the Palestinians, and the Palestians heroic actions of resistence are rewarded and used as a model for all future conflicts!

The Jews must never be allowed to return to their homeland or to own another country of their own. They must return to the state they were in pre-1948, a people without a home, left at the mercy of those who know what's better for them, for obviously, they can't be left to their own devices.

After all, they have proven that they are not worthy of self-determination.

Besides, who cars if Israel allows it's minorities and women full participation in civil life? Who cares if women and minorities can vote, run for office, petition the supreme court? This kind of "western" behavior has no place in the Middle East.

[JerseygirlCT]

21. Yeah, there was some ugly stuff

Pretty disgusting.

But what's this post got to do with Lamont?

[CTyankee]

19. Good point.

What I know about Ned Lamont would make me doubt any smidgen of anti-semitism in him. But some of his supporters do seem to have antisemitic tendencies. I wish we could have some kind of "sensitivity" training for lefties who have, for some reason, remnants of old prejudices. But this has been going on for eons, so I guess you just have to keep your radar up and correct those who spout anti Jewish sentiments.

[Chan790]

17. Explain why the Lieberman positions

(which are in-line with hard-line right positions within Israel's own political landscape and not broadly supported by average on-the-street Israelis) make America and Israel less safe. It's that simple. Lieberman's positions on Israel are more broadly supported here among Jewish populations than they are in Israel. If they feel that his positions are making them unsafe, who are Americans to argue?

It is not dissimilar to the fervency of pro-IRA positons among Irish-Americans (regardless of religion) exceeding that of Irish-Catholics living in Ireland.

[CTyankee]

18. (sigh) I have tried

in my phone calls from Ned's hq. I have learned that party loyalty really doesn't work with the hard line Joe supporters, Jewish or not.

The ones I can't even talk to about it are those who claim they are personal friends of Joe and go to his synagogue (or went, I should say, now that he and Hadassah have a condo downtown and it's too far to walk to his former synagogue in Westville). They are not nasty to me; indeed, they are polite when I call and explain how they feel in a very nice way.

But to tell you the truth, in a way I understand the way some Jewish voters must feel, given what has happened to them historically. Of course, there are plenty of Jewish voters who ARE disillusioned and won't vote for Joe again. There was a big article in the Hartford Courant a few weeks ago about some Jewish voters in West Hartford who differed on support for Joe.

I guess now that I have 3 granddaughters who are being raised Jewish I am getting more sensitive. Not that I am switching from Ned. No way. I can just understand it better.