Glenn Beck apologizes for comparing Reform Judaism to Islamic extremism

By Natasha Mozgovaya, HAARETZ

Fox news commentator Glenn Beck apologized on Thursday for comments that he made about the Reform movement of Judaism, which drew widespread criticism among American Jewish leaders.

On his February 22 radio show, Beck compared Reform Judaism to “radical Islam,” saying that both were more about ‘politics’ – changing what is outside of oneself – rather than about ‘religion’ – changing what is inside of oneself.

Beck began his Thursday radio show by saying, “I made a mistake on Tuesday and I want to make sure you understand I was wrong on it and I apologize on it.”

Referring to the comments, Beck said “someone called me ‘ignorant’ for it and it’s a good description of what I said. I started comparing Judaism to Islamic extremism and it was stupid.” He added that he “didn’t do enough homework” on the topic.

The Jewish Funds for Justice responded to Beck’s apology by saying it was “welcome but incomplete,” and they called on Rupert Murdoch to end Beck’s tenure at Fox News.

Jewish leaders from the Reform movement and beyond slammed Beck for his comparison.

“These comments are deeply offensive, completely absurd”, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism told Haaretz. “Reform Judaism is the largest segment of the U.S. Jewish community… to reduce it to [its] social justice agenda is just incorrect.”

This latest incident is not the first time that the talk show host has caused controversy among the Jewish community.

Last month, 400 rabbis, many of whom are affiliated with the Reform movement, paid for a full page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, decrying what they called Beck making inappropriate references to the Nazi Holocaust.

The rabbis wrote that Beck made “literally hundreds of on-air references to the Holocaust and Nazis when characterizing people with whom he disagrees.” He also compares American leaders he does not like to Nazis, and has said that putting the “common good” first leads to Nazi-like “death camps.”

“But you diminish the memory and meaning of the Holocaust when you use it to discredit any individual or organization you disagree with. That is what Fox News has done in recent weeks, and it is not only ‘left-wing rabbis’ who think so.”

February 25, 2011 | 50 Comments »

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  1. Actually he IS

    Actually he isn’t, because no one in power, including several successive Israeli governments, agrees with you and him.

    You seem to hold the notion of power in awe. I don’t, not any more. Maybe I’ve seen a little too much.

    Power has a funny way of showing up in the least expected of places, and ways.

    Keep your seatbelt fastened. Sure to be a bumpy ride.

    Unless this is Bibi writing under the alias, Dweller, you can keep fantacizing.

    Actually I LIKE Bibi’s writing; it’s quite good. Just wish he had the stones to match his brains. (Can’t have everything, I guess.)

    The fantacizing here, however, is yours.

    I wouldn’t hold my breath thinking the Palestine Mandate is still alive. It is as obsolete as the Ottoman ocupation.

    Right. And the Ottoman occupation is as obsolete as the Caliphate……

  2. Dweller writes:
    Actually he IS

    Actually he isn’t because no one in power, including several successive Israeli governments, agrees with you and him.

    When the parties with whom those “successive Israeli govts” made those ‘agreements’ can come to the table with clean hands — viz., demonstrating that they have scrupulously kept THEIR word — then they can use the same demand on the current, transitory GOI

    Unless this is Bibi writing under the alias, Dweller, you can keep fantacizing.

    I wouldn’t hold my breath over precedent.

    I wouldn’t hold my breath thinking the Palestine Mandate is still alive. It is as obsolete as the Ottoman ocupation.

    Keep dreaming.

  3. AE – You should put a “paid announcement” disclaimer at the bottom of every one of your posts.

  4. [Yamit:] “What the world thinks may have the force of realpolitik but not law. You have a habit of using the realpolitik with the authority of lawful, which it isn’t.”

    [Dweller:] “He’s right on the money, Eagle (on both scores)…”

    [AE:] “No he isn’t – on both counts.”

    Actually he IS — although I suspect that it will take some time yet for you to see it (either point).

    The subsequent actions that make the Palestine Mandate obsolete were legal actions in geopolitics because they were agreed to by successive Israeli governments.

    When the parties with whom those “successive Israeli govts” made those ‘agreements’ can come to the table with clean hands — viz., demonstrating that they have scrupulously kept THEIR word — then they can use the same demand on the current, transitory GOI of the moment. Until then, this double-standard shmegeggeh — where one country out of 192 is required to always keep its “word,” and NONE of the other 191 ever are — aint gonna sell no hot dogs at this barbecue.

    “Another unfortunate precedent……. “

    If it’s legal precedent you’re concerned about [stare decisis & all that], you must remember that while the principle of “precedent” is big in English Common Law — on which the US, UK & other derivative legal systems are based — it’s NOT STANDARD throughout the world.

    On the other hand, if your raising the issue of precedent is just a matter of what a sovereign govt does with its own land, precedent means even less .

    I wouldn’t hold my breath over precedent.

  5. Yonatan writes:
    Meaningless drivel as usual. Doesn’t address the issue at all.

    The issue was Jewish moles who pretend to support Israel but everything they say and do weakens it. How is that different from Hamas?

    Blame the Jews again. Blah, Blah, Blah – broken record.

    Whining doesn’t work with me. I don’t blame “Jews” in the abstract for helping Imam Obama get elected. I very specifically blame the 78% of delusional liberal American Jews who influenced his election and should have known better. Proof that I was right is that their support for him is way down to around 50% now, which is still 50% too high based on the damage he is doing domestically and internationally.

    We all want to save Israel. It can’t be done following your tired, worn out advice. Get a new song.

    If you truly want to save Israel you wouldn’t be trying so hard to drive a wedge between Israel and its only ally – to the delight of Hamas. Wise up.

    AE’s view: He’s the tireless champion of Israel and the Jewish people and we are her enemies. Do you even have an inkling how stupid that makes you sound?

    Thank Allah you have tireless champions in most Americans. As usual you are embarrassing yourself with your stupid generalizations, while being clueless as to exactly how stupid you are. It is not “the jewish people” who are harming Israel. It is liberal American Jews, liberal Israelis and Israelies who pretend to support Israel but end up supporting Hamas. Believe me, Hamas LOVES guys like you and your Uncle who attack The Great Satan.

  6. This how your handlers at Hamas descibe what Israel has done.

    Meaningless drivel as usual. Doesn’t address the issue at all.

    Sounds exactly like something a Hamas member would say.

    More meaningless drivel.

    Imam Obama got elected by people like you and your fellow liberal American Jews.

    Blame the Jews again. Blah, Blah, Blah – broken record.

    You, Shy Guy and Yonatan are all birds of a feather, desperate now that I have exposed your agenda.

    You have exposed our agenda…We all want to save Israel. It can’t be done following your tired, worn out advice. Get a new song. AE’s view: He’s the tireless champion of Israel and the Jewish people and we are her enemies. Do you even have an inkling how stupid that makes you sound?

  7. Yamit writes:
    Yes there was, Yes there was, Yes there was, Yes there was, Yes there was!

    Sorry, but childish tantrums are not evidence.

    The Church holds title to billions of dollars of my property that they stole from the Jews or from those who stole from the Jews and not only will they not return said property to it’s rightful owner they refuse even to pay taxes on those properties, That just means they are both thieves and crooks..

    This how your handlers at Hamas descibe what Israel has done.

    Everything you say about Obama and the Jews I said about Bush and the idiots who loved him and supported him. I thought Kerry and Gore were poorer choices but I never liked or endorsed Bush and really grew to hate him, but that was after the fact.

    Sounds exactly like something a Hamas member would say. They, too, hated Bush 43 for pledging US support for Israel against a nuclear Iran.

    McCain is made in a similar mode and lost an election to a nobody black guy, Now for America that just goes to prove how incompetent McCain and the Republicans are.

    I see that you are not just a bigot, but also a racist. Imam Obama got elected by people like you and your fellow liberal American Jews.

    I said nothing about precedent. I said Israel never claimed the settlements in Gaza were illegal!

    You obviously don’t know what “precedent” means. Here’s how it works. Israel conceded that Gaza was “negotiable” but claimed the settlements in Gaza were legal, which only makes sense to an Israeli. It claims the West Bank is negotiable and the settlements in the West Bank are legal.

    Then it gives up all of Gaza along with the settlements there it had previously claimed as legally Israeli. This sets up a precedent for the same thing to happen in the West Bank at some point. Which is why I have repeatedly said that both Gaza and the West Bank should have been annexed after 1967, and neither should have been given back until the Palis a) accepted Israel as a Jewish state, b) renounced violence, and c) formally amended their charters to reflect this.

    You strenuously oppose this, which puts you on the same side as Hamas, which does not surprise me anymore after all the evidence of your attempts to weaken the Israeli-American alliance, as anyone can figure out by following what you write here. Ted is still giving you the benefit of the doubt because of some personal relationship you guys have and by ignoring the evidence, but I have your number and more members are seeing what I have been saying for months now.

    Shy Guy says: Same drivel again? Do you always have verbal epileptic fitsDiarrhea ?

    You, Shy Guy and Yonatan are all birds of a feather, desperate now that I have exposed your agenda.

  8. Poppycock. There was no such deal.

    Yes there was, Yes there was, Yes there was, Yes there was, Yes there was!

    American Catholics have no natural affiliation with Israel and not Semites either. The American Jews do have a religious and cultural affiliation with Israel and are Semites as well. This is why when 78% of them vote for an anti-Semite, it is notable for its stupidity and callousness.

    It is the Church that has been pushing for the Internationalization of Jerusalem from our first day and before, that’s why they support the maggots you know and love as Arabs. The Church holds title to billions of dollars of my property that they stole from the Jews or from those who stole from the Jews and not only will they not return said property to it’s rightful owner they refuse even to pay taxes on those properties, That just means they are both thieves and crooks.. I’m sure you agree. Therefore the Catholics do have a strong interest here and just because you are too ignorant and stupid to know but it does make the opposite of what you said so!

    Everything you say about Obama and the Jews I said about Bush and the idiots who loved him and supported him. I thought Kerry and Gore were poorer choices but I never liked or endorsed Bush and really grew to hate him, but that was after the fact. I knew though that i was voting for an imbecile. McCain is made in a similar mode and lost an election to a nobody black guy, Now for America that just goes to prove how incompetent McCain and the Republicans are.

    Israel never claimed or used as a reason for leaving Gaza because they were illegal.

    Poppycock. By giving up the settlements in Gaza Israel set a precedent that the same could happen in the West Bank.

    If you had more than half a brain you would be able to grasp how each action a country takes has an effect on other actions. This is why tha Palestine Mandate has been made moot by subsequent actions, and Gaza is a precedent for the West Bank. This is why Israel should have annexed all land acquired in defending themselves and then sat tight and treated it as their own until the Palis met their conditions for even talking about what to do thereafter.

    I said nothing about precedent. I said Israel never claimed the settlements in Gaza were illegal! You have not refuted my statement and even here taking your argument, Katif did not create the precedent it was YAMIT in 1982.

    F..K the Palis and what they want. In the end we will either drive them out or kill them. The Jewish people never willingly went into exile. The Babylonian and Roman victors had to drag us off in chains. No, Mr. AE, we will go down with our blood and the blood of our children washing over the land, knee-deep, as when the Romans wrested Jerusalem from us. In life or in death, we will not be sundered from our holy land.

    When it comes to “stamina,” “the iron determination to press on for decades, for generations,” the Arabs nor Americans have nothing over the eternal Jews.

  9. AmericanEgo says:
    March 3, 2011 at 7:06 pm

    I was referring to those with more than half a brain and understand English, not one of his fellow-moles like you, who are much beloved by the Hamas operatives who must monitor websites such as this one.

    Same drivel again? Do you always have verbal epileptic fits?

  10. Dweller writes:
    He’s right on the money, Eagle (on both scores):

    No he isn’t – on both counts. The subsequent actions that make the Palestine Mandate obsolete were legal actions in geopolitics because they were agreed to by successive Israeli governments. Another unfortunate precedent is giving up Gaza and its settlements without getting anything in return but more grief.

    Realpolitik is Israel building settlements on land they have conceded as “negotiable”. Realpolitik is annexing Jerusalem but not the West Bank, Gaza and Golan.

    Shy Guy writes:
    No, we don’t know.

    I was referring to those with more than half a brain and understand English, not one of his fellow-moles like you, who are much beloved by the Hamas operatives who must monitor websites such as this one. They LOVE self-aggrandizing moles who weaken Israel.

  11. Yonatan writes:
    Only the loser of an argument resorts to name calling

    Finally, even Yonatan has noticed Yamit’s egregious name-calling while he busily tries to undermine Israel’s security. Good job. Better late than never.

    would venture to guess that I had a hell of a lot more contact with American Jews than you did during the election runup.

    No wonder so many of them voted for Obama.

    Your answer to C) above doesn’t address the question in any way.

    Even you cannot be so stupid that you cannot see the difference between non-Semitic Catholics and Semitic Jews relative to Israel aND VOTING FOR THE ANTI-sEMITIC iMAM oBAMA..

  12. AmericanEagle says:
    March 3, 2011 at 6:11 pm

    Actually, as many on this forum now know, it is you who is the mole who pretends to support Israel, but actually suports Hamas.

    No, we don’t know.

    But you repeat yourself, Polly.

  13. Yamit writes:
    Good self description Herr Eagle

    Actually, as many on this forum now know, it is you who is the mole who pretends to support Israel, but actually suports Hamas.

    Don’t know about that but he did make a deal to extricate America from Iraq with Iran and protectin Iran from Israel was part of it. We had proof of this posted on Isrpundit as well as other blogs. Deny all you want you piece of ,,,,,,, but it’s true

    Poppycock. There was no such deal.

    So 54% of all Catholics voted for him knowing what he was and approved of what he was with no external excuses or motivation but just undying love and respect,. That would make Catholics and blacks the dumbest creatures on this planet almost as dumb as stupid Muslims.

    American Catholics have no natural affiliation with Israel and not Semites either. The American Jews do have a religious and cultural affiliation with Israel and are Semites as well. This is why when 78% of them vote for an anti-Semite, it is notable for its stupidity and callousness.

    This is yet another example of Yamit’s now-transparent pretense of being a supporter of Israel, here seen trying to defend liberal American Jews who clearly harmed Israel by helping elect Imam Obama.

    Israel never claimed or used as a reason for leaving Gaza because they were illegal.

    Poppycock. By giving up the settlements in Gaza Israel set a precedent that the same could happen in the West Bank.

    If you had more than half a brain you would be able to grasp how each action a country takes has an effect on other actions. This is why tha Palestine Mandate has been made moot by subsequent actions, and Gaza is a precedent for the West Bank. This is why Israel should have annexed all land acquired in defending themselves and then sat tight and treated it as their own until the Palis met their conditions for even talking about what to do thereafter.

  14. [dweller:] “The MANDATE… was indeed binding in law — right from the jump.”

    [AE:] “No one in the international community believes this. Too much has happened since including precedents and actions of successive Israeli governments.”

    [Yamit:] “What the world thinks may have the force of realpolitik but not law. You have a habit of using the realpolitik with the authority of lawful which it isn’t.”

    He’s right on the money, Eagle (on both scores) — and I would have said so myself (and in almost precisely the same terms, as to those two statements), if he hadn’t beaten me to the punch.

    Notwithstanding what the “international community” may — or may not — “believe” (and let’s be frank, that ‘community’ invariably ‘believes’ whatever it WANTS to believe), the Mandate was (and remains) the jurisprudentially controlling international instrument in the matter of Israel’s ‘legality’ — and were the question to be motioned in any properly constituted court of competent jurisdiction, you can bet the farm that the Mandate would be front-&-center, big time.

    As to your proclivity, AE, for confusing the authority of law with the power of realpolitik, I would give careful thought to the fact — and it is a fact — that this is essentially (albeit less inelegantly conformed) the mentality of the lynch mob.

    Think about that; don’t blow it off.

    I grant you that various Israeli govts have been myopically lax in their assertion of Jewish rights and of the very reason that the State was created. But I am talking here not to the “international community,” but rather (and for the most part) to Jews. And THEY need to know, for themselves, that they have the Land “by right, and not on suffrage.” As a non-Jew, you perhaps may (or perhaps may not) find that less than relevant — but I know that it is most relevant, because it is the certainty of that understanding that will stiffen their spines when the shit ultimately hits the fan.

    And it will.

  15. Only an idiot could write this about American Jews in a Jewish-oriented public forum.

    Only the loser of an argument resorts to name calling rather than refuting what was written. I stand by what I wrote and would venture to guess that I had a hell of a lot more contact with American Jews than you did during the election runup. Your answer to C) above doesn’t address the question in any way. Its like debating with an African Gray – you know a few phrases but you don’t know what they mean.

  16. Bush never “spoke” to Iran to get concessions from Israel about “settlements”

    Don’t know about that but he did make a deal to extricate America from Iraq with Iran and protectin Iran from Israel was part of it. We had proof of this posted on Isrpundit as well as other blogs. Deny all you want you piece of ,,,,,,, but it’s true.

    Oh we set a precedent, how convenient. You just set a precedent also by not reading the quoted item thoroughly and responding in an inappropriate way. I guess you’re an idiot forever now – according to your logic.

    He has no logic just talking points that he never digresses from. His hero uses teleprompters he uses written talking points and is even too stupid in all probability to memorize them.

    Only an idiot could write this about American Jews in a Jewish-oriented public forum.

    Huh? You’ve lost it totally, get some help.

    No, it doesn’t. Israel is a Jewish state, not a Catholic state.

    So 54% of all Catholics voted for him knowing what he was and approved of what he was with no external excuses or motivation but just undying love and respect,. That would make Catholics and blacks the dumbest creatures on this planet almost as dumb as stupid Muslims.

    With Americans like you I can see where America need immigrants, still a puzzle why anybody in their right mind would still want to buy Americas debts knowing they will be stiffed by you lazy nihilist bums and crooks. Oh, I forgot they stopped buying American debt. Want a loan?

    Actually, you are the idiot because you don’t seem to understand why the abandoned settlements in Gaza represent a precedent that the West Bank settlements are also illegal and could be abandoned.

    Israel never claimed or used as a reason for leaving Gaza because they were illegal. If you think I am incorrect prove it.

  17. The parts about anti-Israeli moles pretending to be supporters of Israel is factual.

    Good self description Herr Eagle

  18. Yonatan writes:
    Who said anything about concessions to Iran? Your reading comprehension is dazzling. what was written was:

    The only reason Bush spoke of Iran was to get concessions from Israel in “settlements”.

    Bush never “spoke” to Iran to get concessions from Israel about “settlements”.

    Oh we set a precedent, how convenient. You just set a precedent also by not reading the quoted item thoroughly and responding in an inappropriate way. I guess you’re an idiot forever now – according to your logic.

    Actually, you are the idiot because you don’t seem to understand why the abandoned settlements in Gaza represent a precedent that the West Bank settlements are also illegal and could be abandoned.

    A) Most of them didn’t know about his anti-semitic background B) Most of them do not have dual citizenship for themselves or their families

    Only an idiot could write this about American Jews in a Jewish-oriented public forum.

    C) Doesn’t this apply to Catholics as well as Jews?

    No, it doesn’t. Israel is a Jewish state, not a Catholic state.

  19. Yes, it is complete poppycock. I know because Bush did not make any concessions to Iran.

    Who said anything about concessions to Iran? Your reading comprehension is dazzling. what was written was:

    The only reason Bush spoke of Iran was to get concessions from Israel in “settlements”.

    The settlements are considered illegal by everyone other than you guys because they are being built on land that your government has conceded may not be yours and set a precedent by giving up the settlements in Gaza.

    Oh we set a precedent, how convenient. You just set a precedent also by not reading the quoted item thoroughly and responding in an inappropriate way. I guess you’re an idiot forever now – according to your logic.

    I only blame the liberal American Jews because a) they knew Imam Obama’s anti-Semitic background, b) many of them or their families have dual Israeli citizenship which should mean more concern about what his election would mean for Israel, and c) none of them would dream of hiring the unqualified and inexperienced moron to run their own businesses.

    The Catholics do not have any religious or citizenship affiliations with Israel.

    A) Most of them didn’t know about his anti-semitic background B) Most of them do not have dual citizenship for themselves or their families C) Doesn’t this apply to Catholics as well as Jews? Do you need to be affiliated with Israel to know that he was bad news, not just on the Israel front? Don’t bother answering, this entire line stinks of your disdain for Jews in general, asshole.

  20. Yamit writes:
    Yes, Bush did make such a deal with the devil (Iran) and the proof is in the archives of Israpundit. I think 2009.

    So is the bogus claim that the Palestinian Mandate is worth a damn.

    You cited UN partition 47 which was illegal and were corrected.

    It was not illegal and it is now moot only because the Palis refused to accept it.

    You are a classic Jew hater with deep-seated Jewish stereotyping that creeps into too many of your comments.

    Nice try. It may seem so to you, because I do confront Jewish moles who pretend to be supporters of Israel but achieve the exact opposite.

    Jews might not have hired Obama but the you are saying even more stupid Catholics would?

    As I have explained before, American Catholics have no religious or citizenship affiliation with Israel. American Jews do. Besides, Imam Obama did not have a history of anti-Catholic mentors – they were all antiSemites.

    While you’re at it tell him to pay all the Churches back taxes here in Israel it’s in the hundreds of millions of Shekels. I’m tired if having to subsidize the church with my taxes

    Do your own dirty work – give Bibi a call.

    Your posts are beyond spam they are inaccurate Bullshit being passed off as opinion but never factual.

    The parts about anti-Israeli moles pretending to be supporters of Israel is factual.

  21. Yes, it is complete poppycock. I know because Bush did not make any concessions to Iran. The settlements are considered illegal by everyone other than you guys because they are being built on land that your government has conceded may not be yours and set a precedent by giving up the settlements in Gaza.

    Yes, Bush did make such a deal with the devil (Iran) and the proof is in the archives of Israpundit. I think 2009.

    No one in the international community believes this. Too much has happened since including precedents and actions of successive Israeli governments.

    You cited UN partition 47 which was illegal and were corrected. What the world thinks may have the force of realpolitik but not law. You have a habit of using the realpolitik with the authority of lawful which it isn’t. When challenged you always try to squirm around your original statement and intent.

    I only blame the liberal American Jews because a) they knew Imam Obama’s anti-Semitic background, b) many of them or their families have dual Israeli citizenship which should mean more concern about what his election would mean for Israel, and c) none of them would dream of hiring the unqualified and inexperienced moron to run their own businesses.

    .

    You are a classic Jew hater with deep-seated Jewish stereotyping that creeps into too many of your comments. There are very few Jews in America with dual citizenship, more I think living in Israel than America. That said,if you knew anything about Jews you would know that American Jews are more American than most Americans were more German than native Germans etc. Having to choose between America and Israel, Israel for most would not be in contention. My sister is one of those liberal Jews and she did not know of most of what you cite about Obama, and she would be caught dead watching Fox news. Even if told she would not believe it.

    Jews might not have hired Obama but the you are saying even more stupid Catholics would?

    The Catholics do not have any religious or citizenship affiliations with Israel.

    Tell that to your once Nazi Pope! While you’re at it tell him to pay all the Churches back taxes here in Israel it’s in the hundreds of millions of Shekels. I’m tired if having to subsidize the church with my taxes.

    I would be rich if I were paid for my support for Israel against clowns like you and Yamit. Besides, my posts are not spam like many of your friend’s.

    Your posts are beyond spam they are inaccurate Bullshit being passed off as opinion but never factual.

  22. Dweller writes:
    The MANDATE, on the other hand, was indeed binding in law — right from the jump.

    No one in the international community believes this. Too much has happened since including precedents and actions of successive Israeli governments.

    Yonatan writes:
    Neither do you – so its not poppycock.

    Yes, it is complete poppycock. I know because Bush did not make any concessions to Iran. The settlements are considered illegal by everyone other than you guys because they are being built on land that your government has conceded may not be yours and set a precedent by giving up the settlements in Gaza.

    There you go again equating the 3 million Jews with more blame for putting BO in office than the 20 million catholics who did the same. Look in the mirror much?

    I only blame the liberal American Jews because a) they knew Imam Obama’s anti-Semitic background, b) many of them or their families have dual Israeli citizenship which should mean more concern about what his election would mean for Israel, and c) none of them would dream of hiring the unqualified and inexperienced moron to run their own businesses.

    The Catholics do not have any religious or citizenship affiliations with Israel.

    Too bad it can’t filter out paid shills such as yourself

    I would be rich if I were paid for my support for Israel against clowns like you and Yamit. Besides, my posts are not spam like many of your friend’s.

    WOW – “quite a lot” huh. You’ve got amazing math skills and a blind spot the size of Texas.

    If you have any math skills you should be able to figure this out for yourself.

  23. My reply to AE # 13 was blocked by spam filter

    That’s what is supposed to happen to all spam.

    Too bad it can’t filter out paid shills such as yourself.

    quite a lot of this debt was incurred on behalf of Israel, who could not borrow it directly.

    WOW – “quite a lot” huh. You’ve got amazing math skills and a blind spot the size of Texas.

  24. The only reason Bush spoke of Iran was to get concessions from Israel in “settlements”.

    More poppycock. You have no way of knowing this.

    Neither do you – so its not poppycock.

    including the liberal American Jews – the insufferable morons who gave us Imam Obama

    There you go again equating the 3 million Jews with more blame for putting BO in office than the 20 million catholics who did the same. Look in the mirror much?

  25. “[W]e were promised and agreed to the whole mandate; why rest on just 1947?”

    “Because, the last time I checked, the partition of 1947 superceded the mandate.”

    Not so fast, AE.

    The partition resolution of ’47 was issued by the General Assembly [Res. 181].

    General Assembly resolutions are never mandatory [viz., self-enforcing], don’t even have that capacity; they are proposals, suggestions, recommendations.

    They are non-obligatory and non-binding.

    The only way that GA 181 could conceivably have become binding would have been by being signed-onto by both parties at the same time [making it thus contractual] — which is of course hardly what did happen.

    The MANDATE, on the other hand, was indeed binding in law — right from the jump. It was in the nature of an international treaty, and had been ratified UNANIMOUSLY by the entire League Council acting in behalf of the 51 member-nations of the League — and was ratified separately as well (and also unanimously) by the Senate of the US in the Anglo-American Convention of 1924 (since the US hadn’t joined the League), making it binding US domestic law — one of the reasons why there is NO WAY the Mahatmabama COULD have signed onto the recent “illegality” resolution in the Sec. Council.

    Furthermore, one of the reasons why Ernest Bevin [Clement Attlee’s Foreign Minister] handed the Mandate to the Gen. Assembly in 1947 (instead of to the Security Council) is that he KNEW that any resolution of the Security Council (whose acts CAN be binding) to take any more of the Mandate away from the Jews than had already been taken [Transjordan] could have constituted a violation of the Mandate [Art. 5, if memory serves] — particularly in view of the fact that HMG had already acknowledged (via the Peel Commission 10 yrs earlier) that the PURPOSE of the Palestine Mandate was the restoration of the Jewish National Home:

    [U]nquestionably…the primary purpose of the mandate, as expressed in its preamble and its articles, is to promote the establishment of the Jewish National Home…..”
    [emphasis in original] [Palestine Royal Commission Report, Cmd 5479, p. 39]

    What’s more, articulated rights & duties within treaties, having no statute of limitations, do not, as a matter of course, ‘expire’ with their original incorporating instruments. This is long-settled practice; known colloquially in international jurisprudence as the Acquired Rights Doctrine, and codified in law in 1969 as an integral part of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties [informally, “the Treaty on Treaties”], Art. 70 (1)b:

    “Unless the treaty otherwise provides or the parties otherwise agree, the termination of a treaty, under its [own] provisions OR in accordance with the present Convention, does not affect any right, obligation or legal situation of the parties created through the EXECUTION of the treaty prior to its [i.e., the treaty’s] termination.”

    I wouldn’t have called you on this, Eagle [the notion that 181 ‘superceded’ the Mandate, leaving the latter dead in the dust], but I’ve noted that you come back to the assertion from time-to-time, as if it were a “given” — when it really ISN’T a given. I realize that various incarnations of GOI (esp. since ’93 and Oslo) have been execrably neglectful of the matter — but that’s not, in the nature of things, a permanent state of affairs.

  26. Yamit writes:
    My reply to AE # 13 was blocked by spam filter

    That’s what is supposed to happen to all spam.

    Till Obama the Republicans from Reagan till now have been the biggest spenders and have run up most of the countries debts.

    It is the geniuses who have invested in us who should be concerned. We have always benefited from other people’s brains and other people’s money, which is what really smart people do. BTW, quite a lot of this debt was incurred on behalf of Israel, who could not borrow it directly.

    Bush made a deal with the Persians

    False. Bush made no deal with any Persians.

    but before that we were promised and agreed to the whole mandate why rest on just 1947?

    Because, the last time I checked, the partition of 1947 superceded the mandate.

    The 47 partition was just a partition of a previous partition and since the Arabs rejected it shouldn’t even be a talking point today it’s dead /mute.

    Today it is as dead as the mandate has been since 1947.

    I would have led a revolt against the Jewish traitors who agreed with that partition.

    No you would not have because you are zero, zip, nada, compared with the founders of Israel, without whom you would be wandering in the wilderness somewhere talking to yourself.

    I have said before you are stupid and you just keep proving it to be true.

    Only the ignorant and the stupid say that the Bush surge in Iraq did not work. Even the ultra libs had to admit it:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/16/AR2009011603719.html

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122186492076758643.html

  27. Sharbano writes:
    You can believe what you want (Just don’t believe it here – John Candy). It was Because of Bush and Condi that I have little regard for Republicans OR Democrats.

    Unlike you, I do not “believe what I want” but what the facts are, as I showed in No. 13 above.

    Bush WAS the First one to use the phrase that he did. No other President came out Explicitly

    Poppycock. How much more explicit can one get than the partition in 1947. What Bush was explicit about was that the US would defend Israel against any nuclear threat from Iran.

    If you think that the President has no “influence” on the NIE then your ignorance surpasses common sense.

    More poppycock. The NIE is prepared for use by the President – he does not determine what is in it as we all found out after 9/11.

    The only reason Bush spoke of Iran was to get concessions from Israel in “settlements”.

    More poppycock. You have no way of knowing this.

    If anyone really believes that 20,000 soldiers would have an affect on a country the size of Iraq, once again, shows ignorance that surpasses any sensibilities.

    More proof that you are delusional. The Bush surge had more troops than that, and has been acknowledged even by its opponents to have worked.

    Most Republicans want to stand behind Bush simply because he is a Republican, the Jewish State notwithstanding.

    Not true. You don’t seem to know that the support for Israel is far higher among Republicans than Democrats, including the liberal American Jews – the insufferable morons who gave us Imam Obama, the Jewish state notwithstanding.

    This is the situation with the Xtian community. They speak about “blessing Israel” but only on a secondary level. In other words, G-d plays second fiddle to their true intentions.

    Another example of stuff made up out of whole cloth. You have no way to know what is in their minds. Perhaps you are unaware that Israel is also where Xtianity was founded, by a Jew, and the Xtians know from experience that they cannot trust Muslims with their holy sites.

  28. The original partition of 1947 included a separate state for the Palestinians.

    but before that we were promised and agreed to the whole mandate why rest on just 1947? The 47 partition was just a partition of a previous partition and since the Arabs rejected it shouldn’t even be a talking point today it’s dead /mute. I would have led a revolt against the Jewish traitors who agreed with that partition.

    Everyone who knows anything about the Iraq war believes the surge worked

    I have said before you are stupid and you just keep proving it to be true.

  29. If anyone really believes that 20,000 soldiers would have an affect on a country the size of Iraq, once again, shows ignorance that surpasses any sensibilities.

    Bush made a deal with the Persians to cut back on the attacks so as to give Bush a way out with a quid pro quo of America not attacking Iran and blocking Israel from attacking. That helped to give the impression of America succeeding with the bullshit surge ploy. Mission Accomplished 🙂

  30. National Debt under George W. Bush – 2001 to 2008

    George W. Bush inherited a recession from Bill Clinton and turned it around using income tax rate cuts,
    which increased federal revenues.

    Rich made out like bandits and national debt by 6 trillion good trade? Voodo economics and he was also responsible for two bubbles. Whe he had a republican congress he had no excuses for not instituting market reforms and market oversight.

    George W. Bush inherited a recession from Bill Clinton and turned it around using income tax rate cuts, which increased federal revenues. He also inherited a weakened national defense apparatus which allowed the attack on 9/11

    After 9/11 the Bush policies prevented another attack on the US mainland, which had been widely predicted after 9/11. There have been 8 attempts since Obama became president, 2 with fatalities, 2 where the terrorists failed to ignite their explosives. In the others the terrorists were captured before they could attack.

    Unsubstantiated in that if terrorists really wanted to hit America during his 8 years it could easily have been done. They could and have entered the States easily from Mexico along with millions of other illegals. He did next to nothing to stop the flow and even encouraged it.

    Nobody knows how many terrorists entered America from both Mexico and Canada legally and illegally. Bush opened up America to Muslims especially from his friends in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states.

    The federal deficits averaged 3.5% of GDP in the 8 years of Bush. They are 11% now. The unemployment rate averaged 5% in the 8 years of Bush. It is 10% now.

    He financed it all on borrowed money and thus did not reflect the real economic health of the economy. His drug program alone made his friends the American pharmaceutical companies winfall profits but added 50-70 trillion to the debt which is unsustainable.

    9/11 mostly due to Clintons misreading and mishandling of the intel and the threat but then Bush had the same data and did nothing in those 7 months to correct thereby preventing 9/11

    Ronald Reagan was wrong! The U.S. debt versus ecomomic growth explained.

    stockman on Reaganmics and Bush

    Stockman on Bloomberg TV

  31. You can believe what you want (Just don’t believe it here – John Candy). It was Because of Bush and Condi that I have little regard for Republicans OR Democrats. The party keeps contacting me wanting money and I no longer support them financially.

    Bush WAS the First one to use the phrase that he did. No other President came out Explicitly

    If you think that the President has no “influence” on the NIE then your ignorance surpasses common sense. The only reason Bush spoke of Iran was to get concessions from Israel in “settlements”. This has been the common premise by the US to influence many a Prime Minister.

    If anyone really believes that 20,000 soldiers would have an affect on a country the size of Iraq, once again, shows ignorance that surpasses any sensibilities.

    Most Republicans want to stand behind Bush simply because he is a Republican, the Jewish State notwithstanding. This is the situation with the Xtian community. They speak about “blessing Israel” but only on a secondary level. In other words, G-d plays second fiddle to their true intentions.

  32. Sharbano writes:
    It was Bush who laid the groundwork for Obama to put such pressure on Israel.

    This is not true. They have followed long standing US policy. The groundwork was laid in 1947 when the area was partitioned. The two state configuration would have been a fait accompli if the Palestinians had accepted Israel back then. Since then, it is Israel that has conceded that the West Bank and Golan are “negotiable”, which again accepts the notion of a two state solution.

    It was Bush who orchestrated the NIE in favoring Iran, concluding they were no longer working on WMD, and in so doing Iran ended their involvement in Iraq.

    Not true again. The President has no role in writing NIE’s. In fact, Bush made it explicit US policy to defend Israel against any nuclear attack by Iran.

    This way it would seem like his “surge” was the deciding factor in changing the environment. Does anyone really believe those few additional troops made That big a difference.

    Everyone who knows anything about the Iraq war believes the surge worked. Even Imam Obama, who opposed the surge, has conceded that it was the surge that Bush insisted on that was the deciding factor in quelling Al Qaeda in Iraq.

    Bush was the first President who “Called For” a Palestinian state in his State of the Union address.

    The original partition of 1947 included a separate state for the Palestinians.

    Yeah, Bush was great. I voted for him, twice, before I realized the charlatan he really was.

    Your series of clueless comments show that it was not Bush who is a charlatan. I seriously doubt you voted for Bush, even once.

  33. AmericanEagle says:

    This has to be the height of ignorance. Oh, it’s Yamit. That makes it a deliberate falsehood. Here are the facts.

    I suspect Yamit knows More about Bush. It was Bush who laid the groundwork for Obama to put such pressure on Israel. It was Bush who orchestrated the NIE in favoring Iran, concluding they were no longer working on WMD, and in so doing Iran ended their involvement in Iraq. This way it would seem like his “surge” was the deciding factor in changing the environment. Does anyone really believe those few additional troops made That big a difference. Bush was the first President who “Called For” a Palestinian state in his State of the Union address. Yeah, Bush was great. I voted for him, twice, before I realized the charlatan he really was.

  34. Yamit writes:
    One could almost understand their decision to support and vote for Obama considering the 8 years of suffering G W Bush! Anybody would have looked to be an improvement

    This has to be the height of ignorance. Oh, it’s Yamit. That makes it a deliberate falsehood. Here are the facts.

    George W. Bush inherited a recession from Bill Clinton and turned it around using income tax rate cuts, which increased federal revenues. He also inherited a weakened national defense apparatus which allowed the attack on 9/11 to take place 7 months into the Bush presidency. After the tax rate cuts we had seven years of steady growth and low inflation and unemployment.

    The federal deficits averaged 3.5% of GDP in the 8 years of Bush. They are 11% now. The unemployment rate averaged 5% in the 8 years of Bush. It is 10% now.

    After 9/11 the Bush policies prevented another attack on the US mainland, which had been widely predicted after 9/11. There have been 8 attempts since Obama became president, 2 with fatalities, 2 where the terrorists failed to ignite their explosives. In the others the terrorists were captured before they could attack.

    Along the way, Bush led the attack that toppled two Muslim tyrants in Iraq and Afghanistan. The former was a direct threat to Israel and had attacked Israel in 1991.

  35. Just like most Muslim Americans, liberal American Jews from the Reform segment, are the backbone of the ethnic support for Democrat party. In 2008 they supported Imam Obama, the most unqualified and inexperienced and anti-Semitic president in US history – someone none of them would dream of hiring to run a convenience store – regardless of the effect on the security of Israel.

    One could almost understand their decision to support and vote for Obama considering the 8 years of suffering G W Bush! Anybody would have looked to be an improvement.

    The Bush-Saudi Connection

  36. UnSospiro says:

    The Jewish Funds for Justice is Soros-invented and Soros-supported. They don’t require an apology from Beck. They have to apologize to the Jews for the name…they may be getting funds FROM Jews, but they don’t mete out funds OR justice TO Jews. Soros said on TV that he will never give any of his billions to Jews of the Holocaust or to Israel. He denied any affiliation with Jews or Israel. Beck doesn’t have to apologize to anyone as long as these people are supporting Soros or Islam, both are working toward the demise of Israel.
    For a huge list of Funds, Google the funds and you’ll be astounded!

  37. Natasha Mozgovaya writes in HAARETZ
    The rabbis wrote that Beck made “literally hundreds of on-air references to the Holocaust and Nazis when characterizing people with whom he disagrees.” He also compares American leaders he does not like to Nazis, and has said that putting the “common good” first leads to Nazi-like “death camps.”

    “But you diminish the memory and meaning of the Holocaust when you use it to discredit any individual or organization you disagree with. That is what Fox News has done in recent weeks, and it is not only ‘left-wing rabbis’ who think so.”

    Anyone who follows Beck’s work would know this is a false characterization. Beck painstakingly documents the facts that are included in his conclusions, frequently using the very words of those he is talking about. When he said that reform Jews were more about politics than religion he wasn’t far from the truth. That was the only analogy he made between them and radical Islam.

    Just like most Muslim Americans, liberal American Jews from the Reform segment, are the backbone of the ethnic support for Democrat party. In 2008 they supported Imam Obama, the most unqualified and inexperienced and anti-Semitic president in US history – someone none of them would dream of hiring to run a convenience store – regardless of the effect on the security of Israel.

  38. Laura writes:
    Beck was correct to the extent that the leadership of Reform Judaism is far more interested in politics than in religion.

    We also see this in their support for abortion and Imam Obama and every destructive socialist policy to come down the pike, specifically by making the poor and downtrodden permanently dependent on government politicians and bureaucrats instead of showing them how to be independent – like most Jews are.

  39. The Jewish Funds for Justice responded to Beck’s apology by saying it was “welcome but incomplete,” and they called on Rupert Murdoch to end Beck’s tenure at Fox News.

    This is the real agenda of Jewish Funds for Justice, to further a left-wing political agenda. They are using Beck’s supposed offensive remarks as a pretext for ridding the airwaves of his voice which has been an effective voice against the policies of Obama and his supporters. These are people who seek to fundamentally transform America. Beck was correct to the extent that the leadership of Reform Judaism is far more interested in politics than in religion.

  40. dweller says:

    Doing that sometimes means discovering that a lot of what you assumed you knew
    was in fact just the residue of what had been implanted in your thinking before you ever got to look it over on your own.

    He seems to have many assumptions concerning Jews. This would never have been an issue if it weren’t for the fact he was emphasizing the Jewishness of those he castigates. Maybe we should refer to Beck as Mormon Beck from now on.

    On another note, this should be evidence that the Xtian community is entirely ignorant of anything Judaism, even though these same Xtians will tell the Jew what Judaism is suppose to be.

  41. With friends like Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, those 400 rabbis and The Jewish Funds for Justice, the Jews don’t need enemies.

  42. Glen Beck is an original.

    He does his own thinking.

    That doesn’t mean he always gets things right.

    It means he tries to start from Square One, and work his way through stuff.

    Doing that sometimes means discovering that a lot of what you assumed you knew

    was in fact just the residue of what had been implanted in your thinking before you ever got to look it over on your own.

    If he stumbles from time-to-time, it’s an honest stumbling.

    It’s the kind of stumbling that results in a greater sure-footedness than before.

    It’s trustworthy.

    The guy is clearly an acquired taste.

    Nothing trendy about him.

    Works for me.