Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. ambassador to the UN, found a short letter in his mailbox two days ago. The sender: Barack Obama. The subject: The Security Council meeting regarding the situation in Gaza.
Here is the text of the letter:
Dear Ambassador Khalizad:
I understand that today the U.N. Security Council met regarding the situation in Gaza, and that a resolution or statement could be forthcoming from the Council in short order.
I urge you to ensure that the Security Council issue no statement and pass no resolution on this matter that does not fully condemn the rocket assault Hamas has been conducting on civilians in Southern Israel for over two years.
All of us are concerned about the impact of closed border crossings on Palestinian families. However, we have to understand why Israel is forced to do this. Gaza is governed by Hamas, which is a terrorist organization sworn to Israel’s destruction, and Israeli civilians are being bombarded by rockets on an almost daily basis. That is unacceptable and Israel has a right to respond while seeking to minimize any impact on civilians.
The Security Council should clearly and unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks against Israel, and should make clear that Israel has the right to defend itself against such actions. If it cannot bring itself to make these common sense points, I urge you to ensure that it does not speak at all.
Sincerely,
Barak Obama
United States Senator
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35 Responses
No doubt, it is obvious he is looking for the jewish votes.
Don’t forget he learned in a Madrassa.
We should all copy this letter and keep it for our records.Also we should start a letter-writing campaign to our leaders similar to this letter.
Of course he’s looking for votes! It was certainly not his Ahavas Yisroel motivating him to write the letter; it was his opportunism, just like any other politician.
The Democrats will likely have a poor choice at their convention: either this guy, who’s galach is a well-known anti-Semite; or, Hillary Clinton.
Edited by Site Moderation Panel.
Certainly a step in the right direction…
I think we are over-estimating the power of the Jewish vote. We are an insignifcant part of the national electorate.
Hakol BiYidei Shamayim.
But, from a secular point of view…..Obama or Hillary have a very realistic chance of winning the election and becoming President. Not that they can’t or won’t be defeated, just that if I was handicapping the race, for better or for worse I would make Hillary or Obama the favorite.
AAnybody BBut CClinton!. If he wins we will have an Obama-nation!
Joli
please dont fall into the hands of ABAMA osama …this guy is a big liberal and will cave in on security
Barak Obama is a good thing. He anyway will never win the presidentail election, but for the time being he is a good thorn in the side of Hillary Clinton.
Anything is better than the entrenched hop-scothing faker. My sympathies to all the Yiden who have lent her support. Eisav was also able to decieve Yitzchok Avinu.
If R. Avigdor Miller zt”l were here, I’m sure he would state publicly for Yiden NOT to issue any votes to her.
plp –
You are spouting rhetoric which has been proven incorrect. Please educate yourself before spreading more misinformation:
http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/01/22/obama.madrassa/
justajew!
you might be correct on that which by the way since when to we beleive CNN
lets say its true
hes still the biggest liberal of them all
he has no record of being an advocat on israel behalf all of a suddon hes their best friend
comon people dont fall for all this non sense
@Joli –
We can probably discuss the candidates without silly nicknames, especially those which try to link a candidate to a terrorist. Where’d you pick that nugget up, Rush Limbaugh?
In reference to your comment about Obama being a “big liberal” and how he will “cave in on security,” I suggest you read Israel’s security reports about how the great job that Bush’s administration did regarding attacking Iraq has had a negative impact on the Middle East and had made **a more dangerous environment for Israel**. Not to mention the recent arms deal with Saudi Arabia, the willingness to give our port security over to the United Arab Emirates, or this:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7044914.stm
Is this the party you want to re-elect?
I think most Da’as Torah would say not to vote for Hillary or Obama. I wonder, however, who they will endorse (publicly or privately), if any, on the other side of the aisle. Probably Rudy, but if he does not win, of the three of McCain, Romeny, or Huckabee which is MOST likely to get the endorsement of MOST of the Rabbonim?
#10 (JUSTAJEW)
It sounds like you are a good old liberal Jew, I don’t see how watching and listening to CNN can be called education.
In any case I would strongly suggest, STOP listening to CNN and instead listen to Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt’l; perhaps you might change your name to A-PROUD-JEW.
#10 justajew — January 24, 2008 @ 11:27 am
I certainly don’t need you to educate me!
Obama lived in Indonesia as a child, from 1967 to 1971, with his mother and stepfather and has acknowledged attending a Muslim school.
According to my search “a Madrassa is the Arabic word for school and is used to refer to a Islamic religious school. It is variously transliterated as madrasah, madrash, medresa, madreseh, madrassa”.
I never knew that Muslim schools teach other religions than Islamic.
So please don’t fall for everything you see on CNN.
p.s I second comment #14
Never ran a government or a business, started running for president as soon as he got in the senate, basically running as a good performer who looks good in a suit.
And that is one of the FRONT RUNNERS in this gevaldige Democratic party which you love, JUSTAJEW. Not to mention the other one, Clinton, whom we know too well…
Even if your poor Hashkofo makes you want to be a Democrat, at least put up there some one like Ridchelson or Byden who ones in a while threw in also something good in their Democratic carrier…
Obama suddenly loves Israel! Who yo kiddin,MAN?
I never endorsed Obama. I just don’t like seeing incorrect information or rhetoric being thrown around. Not to mention the snide nicknames and name-calling. It gives whatever argument you are trying to make a lot less credibility.
As to the comment by MDshweks – what was GW Bush’s background again? He had lots of business experience, you say? And endorsed Israel from the beginning? And where do we stand now? Our economy is in shambles, and he is selling weapons to Saudi Arabia and calling for a Palestinian state. Please, defend the party.
And even if he attended a “madrassa” – whether that school was a public school or religious school – what exactly is the argument here? Don’t beat around the bush, spit it out.
justajew,
You haven’t touched my question. I’m not getting into analysis about the parties, which will not be done effectively in this setting, I just asked why are they the favorites of your party???
I’m sure there are many reasons why they are currently the forerunners in the Democratic race. I’m not a political scientist, so I won’t analyze group behavior and quantify the effectiveness of each candidate’s campaign. At a very basic level, I’m sure it’s a mixture of money, personality, experience, and political stance on the pertinent issues. Same for any party in any race.
We won’t know who the “favorite” of the party is until the official Democratic nomination is announced.
Assuming Obama is writing letters looking for votes, how does this make him different from the other nine candidates? Aside from Kucinich (and maybe Gravel), they’re all trying to do whatever they can to get votes- which, last I checked, was the primary goal of politicians in the first place. It’s funny, nobody here seems to mind when Guiliani or Bloomberg has a photo-op with a local Hasidic sect. How is this different?
And let’s not forget that if “madrassa” is just the name for “school” that it means we can’t really infer anything about the CONTENT of that school. Just because madrassas in Pakistand and Saudi Arabia are Jihadist doesn’t mean Obama’s was. Is every school that calls itself a Yeshiva the same?
L’elef alfei havdalos, anyone notice the language similarities between “madrassa” and beis “medrash?”
#24 Friar Yid, Who made you Fri?
The question is not whether politicians do that, the question is why Jews like yourself fall for it. (If you did not like him in your heart you wouldn’t of stick up for him.)
We don’t look at speeches, letters TV ads or CNN & BBC (like #10 #12 JUSTAJEW does), we look what their history is.
Rudy had a good relationship with the Jewish community & Israel in addition to his gutsy way of doing things that are NOT politically correct (i.e. kicking out Arafat & sending back $10,000,000.00 to the Saudis), which are very attractive (or should be very attractive) to the Jewish/Israeli communities.
#27 y2r –
“We don’t look at speeches…we look what their history is. ”
Who is this “we” you’re talking about? Do you officially represent some group that I should know of?
Giuliani has no chance in winning, and will probably drop out of the race after he loses the Florida primary. Yes, he has the most positive history with Jews and Israel, but it was on a very small level and didn’t really have to deal with larger repercussions of his actions (i.e. no one was going to stop shipping oil because a NYC mayor returned a check). You’re going to have to start looking at the other candidates and (gulp) reading about their stances.
“We don’t look at speeches…we look what their history is. ”
Can someone please explain me the nice history on Obama to look at
And PS to 26 if I may, Barack = Baruch.
#28 & #29
#28 according to you, NO ONE is qualified to run as a president, (did anyone in this country have an experience as the one you described??? NO (besides previous presidents which failed miserably),
#29, We! Yes! We all need to look for what they DID, not what they SAY they will do. If you disagree with this, I don’t know where you’re coming from.
Obama, what an American JOKE! Only in America can a Plapler/talker like this even get the stage.
What as he ever done that even hints to a remote qualification for the presidency of the United States??????????????????????????????????
#30 plp –
I created a comment with many links, but it did not get posted. So I suggest you do your own research online via the many many resources that are available to tell you about Obama’s political stance, personal history, public profile, and history as a senator.
#34
Here we go again, another liberal Jew!
From your previous posts quoting CNN & the BBC we can conclude were you LOOK for your information, NO THANKS!
We don’t want your links!
Now I see, my speculation of you (being a Obama supporter) is right on target, the truth always comes out, does it not?
#34 justajew
I think you would be better off by joining his campaign directly , instead of sitting at this blog and trying convincing all of us.
I’m not trying to convince anyone of anything. And for your information, I’m personally undecided as to who to vote for.
I’m just asking people to research and learn, and make educated decisions about who they vote for, rather than base it on rhetoric, lies/misinformation, and “the word in the shteeble.”
I haven’t heard any real facts being spoken in this thread, just old baseless accusations and general “feelings.” Is this is how your decision is made?
If you have researched your chosen candidate’s past and present, and truly believe that such a character is suited to lead this country, and is in the best interests of Americans, Jews, and Israel, then kol hakavod. But please – research and think for yourself, not just whatever your friend/Fox News/Jewish Press/chavrusa tells you to think. And take everything (yes, CNN included) with a grain of salt.
# 27- My Communist great-grandparents had a big hand in the family’s religious trajectory, and my psychotic Chabadnik BT grandfather didn’t help.
The question is not whether politicians do that, the question is why Jews like yourself fall for it. (If you did not like him in your heart you wouldn’t of stick up for him.)
First of all, I play devil’s advocate all the time. I spoke up against my own family when they said that Romney being a Mormon was “too weird” for him to be elected. There are legitimate and illegitimate reasons to vote or not vote for someone. It is just as wrong to not vote for Romney because you think Mormonism is creepy as it is to not vote for Obama because he’s being “too political” (particularly since in my eyes, he’s actually doing so far less than some of the other candidates).
Second of all, I will openly admit that I’m planning on voting for him. I frankly don’t care who you plan on voting for, I’m just annoyed at the biased and hypocritical sniping in the article heading and the comments here. You could just as easily add the same comment to EVERY speech and event the candidates have done since the race started. Looking for votes? No kidding!
Frankly, I’d be happier if none of the candidates played ethnic politics, but again, none of you seem to mind when other folks do it. How many times have the Republicans given their standrd “Rah, Rah, Israel” speeches? And you say liberal Jews are “falling for it?”
Third, you’re clearly dodging my question- in what way is this different from what all the other candidates are doing? Guiliani is openly courting all the NY expat Jews in Florida. I don’t see anyone here throwing the “suckup” jab at him.
We don’t look at speeches, letters TV ads or CNN & BBC (like #10 #12 JUSTAJEW does), we look what their history is.
Using what? Soothsaying? What are your sources?
Rudy had a good relationship with the Jewish community & Israel in addition to his gutsy way of doing things that are NOT politically correct (i.e. kicking out Arafat & sending back $10,000,000.00 to the Saudis), which are very attractive (or should be very attractive) to the Jewish/Israeli communities.
First, the Arafat thing was about as political a move you can make. Explain one concrete result that came from booting him out of a stupid symphony concert. You can’t get a much better case of making a symbolic- and ultimately empty- show of “support” than that.
Second, don’t forget his myriad photo ops with Hasidic rebbes, which were clearly politically calculated. Again, when did you or anyone here EVER criticize such behavior as being political?
And as far as politically incorrect, didn’t Obama say something about not being afraid to go in Pakistan to get OBL? I’m not sure what that is, but PC doesn’t seem to fit.
#41 Mr. friar Please don’t blame your grandparents, as you say yourself, you do your own research, well then research the meaning of a authentic Jew (not on CNN please)
Rudy as I said before is gutsy, he changed NYC big time. I remember what Manhattan looked like before he came, he literally turned over this city for the better. It was not politically correct to do what he did, and yes Rudy is a politician and everything he does is calculated using a political gauge, however his political gauge makes him do things that are good for the us (Human Beings), that’s why I vote republican because their values are closer to ours then the liberal left.
No one here believes (I hope) that a politician is a tzaddik and does things because he is a righteous person, it’s all politics, but we as Jews need to VOTE for the ones whose political side guides them to do things that are better for humanity (USING A TORAH GAUGE).
Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zt’l would always scream against liberals & liberalism in general, we follow our G’dolim rather than CNN & BBC (or even Fox news).
P.S. Rudy is got his own problems (i.e. support for the gays etc.) I’m not saying to vote for him, but Obama??????????? Please!!!!!! Even a Goy shouldn’t vote for him, he is all talk – no action, type of guy. bla bla bla.