Trump Continues Fighting Anti-Semitism

Trump Continues Fighting Anti-Semitism
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
December 11, 2019

On the heels of yet another act of anti-Semitic violence, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order on Wednesday, December 11 before a group of bi-partisan supporters of that order, in the White House, that protects against “anti-Semitic discrimination based on race, color, or national origin.”

The Executive Order pertaining to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes potential recriminations against colleges and universities that receive federal funding. Those colleges and universities not protecting students, faculty, and staff on campus subjected to anti-Semitism risk losing that federal funding.

In recent years there has been growing support on myriad campuses for the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement as well as illogically referring to Israel as an apartheid state. While this growing support for the BDS Movement is creating a toxic atmosphere on numerous campuses, Congress for the most part, opposes BDS on a bi-partisan basis.

However, 16 Democrats in Congress voted in favor of legislation supporting the BDS Movement, going so far to ignorantly, and with more than a modicum of chutzpah, compared support for Israel to support for Nazi Germany. Those Democrats are:

Rep. Earl Blumenauer of Oregon
Rep. Andre Carson of Indiana
Rep. Debbie Dingell of Michigan
Rep. Jesús G. "Chuy" García of Illinois
Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona
Rep. Pramila Jayapal of Washington
Rep. Barbara Lee of California
Rep. Betty McCollum of Minnesota
Rep. Gwen Moore of Wisconsin
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota
Rep. Chellie Pingree of Maine
Rep. Mark Pocan of Wisconsin
Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois
Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman of New Jersey

“The vile, hate-filled poison of anti-Semitism must be condemned and confronted everywhere and anywhere it appears,” said Trump.

Anti-Semitism has been on a sharp incline throughout this decade, particularly on college campuses. The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) tracks acts of anti-Semitism on college campuses among other venues. In 2017, there were 204 reported acts of anti-Semitism on campuses, and 201 in 2018.

The Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service has facilitated 17 forums since September 2018 focused on protecting houses of worship and preventing hate crimes. One such forum was held at my synagogue, the site of an anti-Semitic crime. Fortunately, no one suffered any physical injuries, unlike the recent spate of synagogue shootings in the last 14 months. On October 27, 2018 at the Tree of Life - Or L’Simcha Synagogue in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh an attack during Shabbat services saw 11 congregants murdered in the worst anti-Semitic attack in United States history. Of the six others injured, four were police officers. Six months later, to the day, on April 27, 2019, the last day of Passover, also on Shabbat, one congregant was murdered, and three others injured at the Chabad of Poway, CA, north of San Diego.

Hopefully the Executive Order which pertains to venues both on and off campus, will help stem the tide of anti-Semitic crimes. This Executive Order received praise from the ADL, American Jewish Committee, World Jewish Congress, and the Zionist Organization of America - running the gamut from left to right.

The anti-Semitic violence referenced above, occured one day prior to the already scheduled Executive Order signed by President Trump. Four people were murdered in Jersey City - three at the JC Kosher Supermarket on Martin Luther King Drive, and near a cemetery in Jersey City, a police detective, Joseph Seals, 40, a 15 year veteran of the force, and the married father of five children.

With the winter holiday season of Chanukah and Christmas right around the corner, perhaps some good cheer, good wishes, and good will to all mankind are absolutely in order.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Omar and Her Merry Band of Anti-Semites

Omar and Her Merry Band of Anti-Semites
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
March 6-7, 2019

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me, is adapted from an Italian proverb, “he that deceives me once it’s his fault; but if twice, it’s my fault.” How many weak-kneed, faux apologies will US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) offer before people in her party, before her apologists finally come to the obvious realization that she is a flat out anti-Semite?

Omar has been a sitting member of Congress just over 60 days and has offered three apologies, no doubt on a breakneck pace to set some sort of record for shamefulness. This is not the first time Omar’s anti-Semitism has been my focal point. https://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2019/02/young-dems-old-anti-semitism.html 

It’s one thing to be legitimately critical of Israel due to a political leader or policy one finds objectionable. However, when historical anti-Semitic canards are bandied about like confetti, there is no place for that person - of any background, within the halls of Congress. Calling out Omar has absolutely nothing to do with her background as a Muslim, as she believes, seeking, sympathy.

Omar’s latest bout of anti-Semitism has accused those who support Israel of having dual loyalties. This is offensive not just to Jewish people, but to the large numbers of Evangelical Christians who unabashedly support Israel. See the aforementioned essay for Omar’s other anti-Semitic tropes, some pre-dating her election to Congress. She must be the pride of her district in Minnesota.

US Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY) expressed his disgust with Omar’s language, calling it “unacceptable and deeply offensive to question the loyalty of fellow American citizens because of their political views, including support for the Israel-US relationship.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, said that the “portrayal of American Jews having divided loyalty is a vile anti-Semitic slur.”

But which is worse, that Omar the anti-Semite is in Congress or that the Democrat leadership rescinded plans to offer a resolution on the House floor on Wednesday, March 6 condemning anti-Semitism. A resolution that was to include the following language: 

“Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That, the House of Representatives - (1) acknowledges the dangerous consequences of perpetuating anti-Semitic stereotypes; and (2) rejects anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values that define the people of the United States.”

Yet, those words, and those of Engel are meaningless without any force of action to support them. Engel refused to remove Omar from the Foreign Affairs Committee, of which he is the chairman, claiming only the leadership can make such a move. Yet, Engel later said “removal [of Omar] would exacerbate the situation,” and that he is not looking to punish anyone. As of 7 PM Wednesday Omar was not removed from that committee, nor had the resolution been presented to the House.

“Why would you have her on a committee that important, that sensitive to our foreign policy, if she has those kind of anti-Semitic beliefs, unless you’re willing to tolerate it; and it shouldn’t be tolerated. She ought to be removed immediately from the Foreign Affairs Committee,” said US Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA).

In fact, the Democrats said they would probably not mention Omar by name in a potential resolution out of concern for her safety. Further, the Democrats are being pressured internally to include additional language condemning Islamophobia, as well as hateful words and deeds against other minority and/or protected groups. Doing such, would diminish the original intent of the resolution - condemning anti-Semitism and Ilhan Omar. Standing with Omar, are fellow freshman members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) among others in and out of Congress, such as Linda Sarsour, a Muslim activist refusing to acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.

US Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY) offered that there is more than just Omar’s anti-Semitism as a reason to condemn her. Omar has called for leniency of ISIS fighters as well as supports the BDS Movement (Boycott, Divest, and Sanction), and should be named in the resolution, said Zeldin on a Fox News appearance. Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib also support the BDS Movement. Additionally, Omar has called for the defunding of the Department of Homeland Security, which smacks of treason - my words, NOT Zeldin’s.

US Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) Tweeted, “Anti-Semitism has no place in this Congress or this country. Rep. Omar should be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. We must hold ourselves to a higher standard in office.”

President Donald Trump also Tweeted a condemnation of the Democrats for their inaction. “It is shameful that House Democrats won’t take a stronger stand against anti-Semitism in their conference. Anti-Semitism has fueled atrocities throughout history and it’s inconceivable they will not act to condemn it!”

Omar has the right of free speech, but words have consequences, and others have the same free speech to condemn her for her words. Such consequences should not only cost Omar her spot on the vaunted Foreign Affairs Committee, but will hopefully find Omar facing both a primary opponent in 2020, and if emerging victorious, a strong GOP opponent that will appropriately represent the people of Minnesota’s Fifth Congressional District.

Updating this fluid story on Thursday, March 7, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) used her weekly press conference to defend Omar speaking with ignorance. “I don’t think she [Omar] understood the full weight of the words… I feel confident her words were not based on an anti-Semitic attitude.” 

“I don’t believe Rep. Omar didn’t know what she was saying… these were pointed, bigoted, anti-Semitic comments,” said Zeldin from the House floor about Omar, questioning the Democrats as to why she was not mentioned in the resolution.

“Of course her comments were anti-Semitic. Of course she understood her words,” said US Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT).

In addition to Ocasio-Cortez and Tlaib, 2020 presidential hopefuls senators Kamala Harris (D-CA), Bernie Sanders (D-VT), and Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) also pledged their support of Omar.

Pelosi added that Omar would not be singled out by name in a resolution that would be so inclusive of all hatred, racism, bigotry, anti-Semitism, anti-Muslim, anti-gay, anti-black, and anti-white supremacist verbiage as to make it virtually meaningless. Pelosi also found time to condemn Trump from the House floor expecting better from him as president.

Engel, speaking from the House floor said that while he will vote for the resolution, he is very disappointed there is not a separate resolution condemning anti-Semitism.

US Rep. Ted Deutch (D-FL) emphatically called for “strong condemnation of anti-Semitism” and the “dual-loyalty trope - I take personally, as the son of a World War II veteran.”

US Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA), who served 20 years in the US Navy, spoke from the House floor as a Jewish veteran, presented an impassioned litany of her service accomplishments asking if she has to prove her loyalty to her country, the United States.

None of this should have been necessary had the Democrats censured Omar in the first place, punished her by removing her from the Foreign Affairs Committee the way the GOP pulled US Rep. Steve King (R-IA) from his committee assignments for his comments regarding white nationalism. One anti-Semitic member of Congress, Ilhan Omar, has repeatedly made anti-Semitic statements followed by disingenuous apologies until the most recent remark, sans apology. 

The resolution presented in Congress could have been issued on one page, not seven, and could have had the full throated support of all members except Omar. Here is the text of H. Res. 183, which completely lacks the strength it was intended to have: https://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20190304/BILLS-116hres183-SUSv1.pdf 

“Condemning anti-Semitism as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contradictory to the values and aspirations that define the people of the United States and condemning anti-Muslim discrimination and bigotry against minorities as hateful expressions of intolerance that are contrary to the values and aspirations of the United States.”

Instead, the version that passed overwhelmingly 407-23, was so watered down it was like a drink during Prohibition. It became so insignificant, Omar voted in favor, as did the entire Democrat caucus, while 23 GOP members voted against, including Zeldin, who is Jewish, because of the weakness of the language.

“If you’re against everything, you’re against nothing,” said historian Victor Davis Hanson, also condemning the Democrat’s lack of intestinal fortitude. 

Omar and OAC, who both appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine along with Pelosi and US Rep. Jahana Hayes (D-CT), are being labeled the new faces of the Democrat Party. Omar, AOC, and Tlaib are more than the faces of the Democrat Party. They represent a dangerous turn that is beginning to antagonize some of the senior membership of their party. On another issue AOC declared “I’m the boss!” Perhaps this is why senior “leadership” of the Democrats balked at presenting the resolution of outright condemnation of anti-Semitism straight up, and that the triumvirate of Omar, AOC, and Tlaib have co-opted the Democrat Party for their own sinister machinations. The so-called Democrat leadership demonstrated that by standing for absolutely nothing, they will fall for anything, including but not limited to the toleration and acceptance of anti-Semitism.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Young Dems; Old Anti-Semitism

Young Dems; Old Anti-Semitism
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
February 12, 2019 

Anti-Semitism is about as old as time - the Crusades, myriad pogroms, Jewish people exiled from virtually every European country, restricted from employment, trades, professions, housing, college admissions quotas, martyred for peacefully practicing their faith - proselytizing goes against Jewish law, and of course the Holocaust of European Jewry.

There’s no need to regale anyone with the hardcore statistics - for those feel free to visit the Anti-Defamation League website: www.adl.org - I have no affiliation with the ADL.

Anti-Semitism has reared its ugly head throughout the United States since before its founding as a great nation. Without parameters, the “club” includes, but sadly, is not limited to political commentator Patrick Buchanan, Father Charles Coughlin, author Roald Dahl, former KKK Grand Wizard and state house member David Duke (R-LA), author T.S. Eliot, Nation of Islam’s Louis Farrakhan, automobile magnate Henry Ford, actor Mel Gibson, Reverend Jesse Jackson (D), Congressional candidate and Holocaust denier Arthur Jones (R-IL), aviator Charles Lindbergh, author Ezra Pound, Congressman John Rankin (D-MS), Margaret Sanger - founder of what would become Planned Parenthood, and Reverend Al Sharpton (D-NY).
https://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2018/02/gop-adl-dont-challenge-nazi.html 

Thanks to social media, indoctrination in our classrooms and on our campuses, anti-Semitism is permeating the halls of Congress with a greater prevalence than in recent memory. Recent tweets by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) have opened a can of worms demonstrating the blatant anti-Semitism of someone who will remain unapologetic. Just wondering if she has a copy of Protocols of the Elders of Zion on her bookshelf.

Beginning Sunday evening February 10, criticism was rightfully hoisted upon Omar for suggesting that AIPAC paid or bribed members of Congress for their support of Israel. 

AIPAC - the American Israel Public Affairs Committee - is a 501(c)(4) bi-partisan advocacy organization founded in 1951 promoting strong relations between the United States and Israel. (www.aipac.org) Don’t confuse the PAC in AIPAC with a PAC - political action committee, which far too many people do. AIPAC, of which I am a proud member, does not endorse or contribute to political candidates. Some of my most conservative friends are members of AIPAC, as are some of my most liberal friends. AIPAC truly exemplifies what bipartisanship is all about and perhaps Congress could take a few lessons there.

Initially, Omar alluded to AIPAC prior to mentioning its name, then when asked why such an organization would supposedly pay members of Congress for support, Omar tweeted “It’s all about the Benjamins, baby,” referencing a 1997 rap song by Puff Daddy. This is an old anti-Semitic canard about Jewish greed or obsession with all things financial. (Setting the record straight, Jews, while not monolithic in their charitable giving, are among the most generous of any ethnic or religious group.)

Because this is not Omar’s first foray in anti-Semitic screeds, elected Republicans, the Republican Jewish Coalition, and even leading Democrats called for the Somali-born House member to apologize. Republicans and members of Jewish groups also called for Omar to be stripped of her membership on the powerful Foreign Affairs Committee.

In part, the Democrat’s House Leadership wrote, in condemning Omar’s anti-Semitism: “Anti-Semitism must be called out, confronted and condemned wherever it is encountered, without exception…
Congresswoman Omar’s use of anti-Semitic tropes and prejudicial accusations about Israel’s supporters is deeply offensive. We condemn these remarks and we call upon Congresswoman Omar to immediately apologize for these hurtful comments…”

On February 11, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) tweeted, “In our conversation today, Congresswoman Omar and I agreed that we must use this moment to move forward as we reject anti-Semitism in all forms.”

Yet prior to her disingenuous “apology,” Omar not only mocked those calling her anti-Semitic, she added, “I’m always surprised by the criticism I get.”

Counselor to President Trump Kellyanne Conway called Omar’s remarks “sewage spilling from her mouth.”

Omar’s apology, is disingenuous because it is not her first apology for anti-Semitic remarks, and because it was conditional, doubling down on her attack on AIPAC.

“Anti-Semitism is real and I am grateful for Jewish allies and colleagues who are educating me on the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes. My intention is never to offend my constituents or Jewish American as a whole. We have to always be willing to step back and think through criticism, just as I expect people to hear me when others attack me for my identity. This is why I unequivocally apologize.

“At the same time, I reaffirm the problematic role of lobbyists in our politics, whether it be AIPAC, the NRA or the fossil fuel industry. It’s gone on too long and we must be willing to address it,” tweeted Omar.

Virginia Democrat Congressman Gerry Connolly defended Omar calling her a “freshman. She’s young.”

Omar is not a 14 year old freshman in high school - she’s a 37 year old grown woman whose opinions and attitudes did not formulate on January 3 when she was sworn in.

DNC Chairman Tom Perez barely mentioned Omar’s name in a tepid, almost non-existent rebuke, instead offering boiler-plate pablum about the importance of the relationship between the United States and Israel. Additionally, Omar suffered neither punishment nor removal from any committee assignment - just lip-service from the Democrats at best. On the other hand, when Congressman Steve King (R-IA) used racist language in January, the GOP punished him with removal from all committee assignments.

Additionally, on November 16, 2012 Omar tweeted “Israel has hypnotized the world, may Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel.” Not only did Omar not apologize for that tweet, it still exists. More recently Omar said she thinks it’s a joke when Israel is called a democracy, comparing it to the despotic regime of Iran.

“Congressman Omar’s statements are deeply hurtful to Jews, including myself,” said fellow House freshman Max Rose (D-NY).

“Anti-Semitism has no place in the United States Congress,” said President Donald Trump about Omar’s statements. “Her lame apology - and she didn’t mean a word of it - I think she should either resign from Congress, or she should certainly resign from the House Foreign Affairs Committee,” continued the President.

Omar is not the only freshman or Democrat of longer service to have made anti-Semitic remarks/texts or been supportive of anti-Israel legislation. Freshman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), another young House member at 42, not only penned a column for a Farrakhan-led Nation of Islam publication in 2006, she, like Omar, is a strong supporter of the virulently anti-Semitic BDS Movement (Boycott, Divest, Sanction). Freshmen Ayanna Pressley (D-MA), 45, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), 29, are also supporters of the BDS Movement.

In fact, an anti-BDS bill passed the Senate on Tuesday, January 29, 76-23 - including 24 Democrat senators voting in favor. However, six potential 2020 Democrat presidential aspirants voted against the measure allowing state governments to deny contracts to businesses supporting the BDS Movement. The six Democrat senators are Cory Booker (NJ), Sherrod Brown (OH), Kirsten Gillibrand (NY), Kamala Harris (CA), Bernie Sanders (VT), and Elizabeth Warren (MA).

Elected officials, like Omar and her cohorts, have a First Amendment right of free speech, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be condemned for hate speech - of which anti-Semitism most certainly is. Jewish voters, who vote in one of the strongest blocks for Democrats, better wake up and understand that this is not their grandparents Democrat Party. Even Democrat senators Dianne Feinstein (CA) and Brian Schatz (HI) - both Jewish voted against the anti-BDS bill.

The Republican Party is the party of the American people sans hyphens. The Republican Party doesn’t play identity politics and doesn’t believe in egregious taxation. The GOP used to believe in limited government and reduced spending and needs to return to those days of fiscal responsibility. The GOP understands the importance of a strong alliance between the United States and Israel and hopefully more Jewish voters will come to that realization and no longer allow the Democrats to take their votes for granted.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Pogrom in Pittsburgh

Pogrom in Pittsburgh
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
October 28, 2018

Shouting “all Jews must die,” a deranged 46-year old male, with nothing but evil in the chest cavity where a heart should be located, and armed with four guns, began firing upon the Tree of Life-Or L’simcha synagogue congregation in the Squirrel Hill section of Pittsburgh, observing Shabbat and celebrating the naming of a newborn baby.

The end result of the carnage left 11 dead and six wounded - four of whom are heroic police officers confronting the worst attack on the Jewish community in the history of the United States. The  murdered ranged in ages from 54 to 97, including a pair of brothers, and a married couple who received their nuptials at that very shul.

Coming off a week that seemed to conclude with the capture of an alleged sender of more than a dozen pipe-bombs and other suspicious packages to prominent and elected people, Shabbat, the day of rest in the Jewish community should have provided a much needed respite. Not linking these activities or perpetrators other than by the nature of their incivility and dastardly deeds, we are at a tipping point in this country where discourse and the value and sanctity of life are concerned.

For millennia the Jewish people have been the canary in the coal mine - there’s never an off-season where anti-Semitism is concerned. From centuries of enslavement in Egypt and the Spanish Inquisition, to pogroms in Russia and Poland and the Holocaust of European Jewry which witnessed the slaughter of six million innocents, the Jews, simply by worshipping differently, sometimes dining differently, even dressing differently, have chosen to live life as G-d has commanded.

In the United States, where freedoms reign, and the Jewish people have assimilated, anti-Semitic acts still account for the greatest number of bias crimes against any minority group; and while few consider the Jewish people a minority group, the Jewish population in the United States is roughly 1.5 percent. In that, it’s a conundrum - a wealth of freedoms - freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to protect oneself with a firearm - yet those freedoms are used against us as a free people. One’s freedom of speech ends when it becomes a clear and present danger to others’ safety and lives. One’s right to use a firearm ends when it is used in the commission of a crime. It is incumbent upon the speaker and user to know where that line is and to not cross it.

This is why the United States is a nation of laws, including the use of the death penalty, which I support, and President Donald Trump has called for in this case, even calling for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, which has an execution moratorium, to reinstate it. In the eyes of a wicked act of pure evil, the ultimate punishment should be assessed. 

“This is an assault on all of us; an assault on humanity,” said Trump. “Monstrous killing of Jewish Americans at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. This evil anti-Semitic attack is an assault on all of us - it will require all of us working together to extract the hateful poison of anti-Semitism from our world - this scourge of anti-Semitism cannot be ignored; cannot be tolerated, and it cannot be allowed to continue,” he added, calling for the perpetrator to pay the ultimate price.

“What happened in Pittsburgh today was not just criminal - it was evil - an attack on innocent Americans and an assault on our freedom of religion,” said Vice President Mike Pence. “There’s no place in America for violence or anti-Semitism, and this evil must end,” he added.

The perpetrator is being charged with hate crimes versus domestic terrorism, although it won’t matter to the families of the victims. Clearly, acts of domestic terror were carried out as the captured suspect carried an AR-15 semi-automatic gun along with three Glock handguns into the synagogue. He will face 11 counts of homicide and 11 counts of obstruction of religious worship - state charges, as well as 29 federal charges which absolutely put the death penalty on the table.

Trump also called for increased security, such as armed guards, to ward off potential domestic terrorists. Pittsburgh’s Mayor Bill Peduto (D) disagreed, suggesting that removing firearms from potential murderers would be the better option. Unless someone telegraphs their future actions, mere words of hatred, which are legal, are not enough to deny someone their Second Amendment rights. Armed security guards are already employed at many of the mega-churches for Sundays and holidays, as well as synagogues during the High Holiday period of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. There is nothing wrong with employing piece of mind allowing people to worship freely. 

Let not the actions of an evil individual keep us from our houses of worship. Be resolved to attend them more often and more regularly to pray to the One G-d who created us to live on this planet in peace and harmony. Maintain the fervent G-d given wisdom to be ever vigilant of our enemies who have not learned that our churches and synagogues will never turn into killing fields, and remain steadfast in the safety and comfort of the L-rd and His Blessings.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.

Obama Jewish? My Tuchus He Is

Obama Jewish? My Tuchus He Is

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

June 4, 2015

Recently Barack Obama opined to his former senior advisor David Axelrod, “You know, I think I am the closest thing to a Jew that has ever sat in this office. For people to say that I am anti-Israel, or even worse, anti-Semitic, it hurts.” (www.jpupdates.com)

Well, Mr. Obama, stop reading because there’s going to be a whole lot of hurt to follow, as if Obama is actually reading this.

On its prima facie, there can easily be a knee-jerk reaction to Obama’s visceral behavior toward Israel, its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and by extension the Jewish people not just in the United States, but universally.

Yet even I understand that just because Obama may not have the warmest relationship with Netanyahu doesn’t make Obama anti-Israel. Is Obama anti-Israel because he disparaged Netanyahu in November 2011 over an open microphone in a conversation with then French President Nicolas Sarkozy? Is Obama anti-Israel because he refused to meet with Netanyahu during his September 2012 UN visit? Is Obama anti-Israel because he made no effort to determine which member of his administration called Netanyahu a “chickenshit” in October 2014? Is Obama anti-Israel because from January through March of this year he repeatedly criticized Netanyahu for coming to the United States and delivering a speech to the body Congress, by invitation from Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-OH)? (http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2015/03/bibi-brings-down-house-and-senate.html) Is Obama anti-Israel for not meeting with Netanyahu following his Capitol Hill speech? Is Obama anti-Israel for trying to influence and interfere with Israel’s elections in March? Taken individually, probably not – just personal animus toward Netanyahu.

However, Obama’s demands for Israel to return to its pre-1967 War borders certainly was not in the best interest of the tiny Jewish state, roughly the size of New Jersey. Obama’s continual turning of a blind eye to Iran’s proliferation of materials for the construction and ultimate use of nuclear weaponry against Israel is demonstrative of someone who is anti-Israel. In the last year and a half, Iran has increased its nuclear stockpile by 20 percent, according to the New York Times. The Obama State Department says it is “perplexed” by this activity, conducted right under Obama’s nose. Russia is brashly building a nuclear power plant in Iran.

This is the same Iran who will not allow nuclear inspectors within its borders. The same Iran committed just as ever to the destruction of Israel. The same Iran whose government denies the Holocaust. Obama sits idly by fiddling a la Nero as Iran prepares to burn down the world, or at least the Middle East.

Yet, Obama appeared on 60 Minutes where he dismissed Israel’s concerns about Iran’s future as a nuclear power as merely “noise.” With a June 30 deadline looming overhead like the Sword of Damocles a bad deal with Iran is worse than no deal regarding its potential nuclear prowess to the detriment of Israel, what Iran calls the Little Satan, and eventually, the United States, what Iran calls the Big Satan. Even France has condemned the deal.

Obama’s actions are demonstrative of one who is anti-Israel, while his words merely pay lip service as he glad-hands and fist bumps his way through campaign stops and fundraisers collecting millions from liberal Jewish supporters who continue to fawn over Obama like obsequious weasels. Fortunately, Obama’s hold over the Jewish constituency was begun to wane, as more Jewish voters are coming to their senses and finding a home with the Republican Party. (Not enough yet, but it’s a work in progress.)

Is Obama an anti-Semite? Obama continues to literally bow down to the Muslim world. He made his first overseas visit upon taking office to Egypt. Obama said he would create daylight between himself and Israel. Obama refused to cease aid to the Palestinian Authority, even following a peace deal between the PA and Hamas. Obama has put Israel and terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and Islamic Jihad on an equal plane. Obama has made demands that Israel needs to consider a two-state solution, yet made no demands of concessions that should come from the terror groups. These terrorist organizations won’t even recognize Israel let alone accept its right to exist among the community of nations. Yet, there is Obama, sidling up to them as though they were legitimate states. What do those entities have to offer that Israel doesn’t in terms of economic or strategic partnerships? Nothing. Thus something must be drawing Obama and his minions toward terrorists while shunning the only democratic country and long term ally in the Middle East.

Obama has surrounded himself with anti-Semites, and to suggest that there is no guilt by association, one can define a person by the company with which he keeps – starting with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, himself a virulent anti-Semite. In his administration, Obama has UN Ambassador Samantha Powers, an outspoken supporter of a Palestinian state. Obama’s former Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is a rabid anti-Semite having said, among other things, “the State Department has become adjunct to the Israeli foreign minister’s office.”

Obama’s National Security Advisor Susan Rice sharply rebuked Israel for continuing to build settlements in the territory occupied in 1967, demonstrative of her lack of knowledge of history and of warfare – when one wins a war, one does not return territory. And Obama’s current Secretary of State, John Kerry, also demanded Israel make concessions to Palestinians or suffer global condemnation and possible financial repercussions.

To call himself, or simply suggest, that he is “the closest thing to a Jew that has ever sat in this office” is a disgrace and an affront to every self-respecting Jewish man, woman, and child the world over. The Jewish people, for one, are not “things.” Obama was completely insensitive by moving the White House observance of Chanukah in 2011 to suit his scheduling. Was Christmas observed on any day other than December 25^th? Was Obama’s precious Ramadan celebrated in a month other than that which the calendar states? (http://sanfordspeaksout.blogspot.com/2011/12/obamas-inconvenient-chanukah.html)

With “friends” like Obama, do Israel and the Jewish people need enemies?

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.