Comments on: Obama and the Jewish Problem

By: Israeli Mom

Israeli Mom — Sun, 16 Nov 2008 05:46:09 +0000

Thank you for your comment, Anya.
I am not a Joe the Plumber expert by any means, but I understand he said quite a bunch of stupid things. Maybe taking after Palin, who didn’t know Africa was a continent

Many Americans have this knee jerk response to the word “socialism” that never ceases to amaze me. For them, socialism and welfare state are like dirty words.

I have nothing but respect and envy towards the Swedish system – it’s like an emblem of a successful enlightened socialist democracy.

By: Anya

Anya — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:42:37 +0000

Thanks for your perspective. I was in Amsterdam in June and met an Israeli girl. We were talking about Bush, of course, and the mess he’s created in our country. With his approval raitings at its lowest in history in the US and virtually non-existent worldwide, she makes the following comment: “I love Bush. He’s good for Israel.” I didn’t know what to make of that. I didn’t respond, but I thought, OK, so he’s good for Israel, but he’s bad for the rest of the world. Does that one “good” cancel out all of the “bad” he’s done?

By the way, I’m not sure if you heard this, but during the hoopla over Joe the Plumber, he said, “I don’t want to live in a socialist country like Sweden, I want to live in a democracy” and “A vote for Obama is a vote against Israel.” This guy must have dozed off in History class because “evil, socialist” Sweden is in fact a democracy, and Israel, founded by socialist pioneers, has extensive social welfare benefits for its citizens. Hmmm…

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 19:33:25 +0000

This is a perfect post. What Obama means to Americans is also tossed about like a red hot potato – between Americans! For what it’s worth, the appointment of Emmanuel to the position of Chief of Staff is major but one he has not yet taken. He is already Speaker of the House and that’s giving up a lot. But he is from Obama’s state, too, so he may well take it. He is regarded as a real pit bull advocate of the more liberal wing of American politics and many Republicans actually fear he is too strongly partisan for the position.

It seems to me, Israel has enough on her plate with her own politics to keep itself busy. The mind-numbingly slow – and rather pitiful – process of dealing with Gaza and the West Bank, with Palestine, in short, may exhaust everyone if you don’t make some conciliatory moves some time. The worst possible scenario is to wait, in my opinion, for America or, heaven forbid, Iran to decide for Israel. The cessation of hostilities there, it seems so simple in some ways, being the root of so much other restelessness in the World, offers so much more than merely the problems between two geographically small countries. Their importance is hugely magnified, like the sand in a shoe, affecting everyone in outrageous ways. Stasis there means regression elsewhere. I so sincerely hope someday soon Israel realizes this in a focused voice. Like people looking at the American embarrassment over the Bush years, Israel may become a similar focus.