Obama And The Jews

According to a recent Israel News headline, "Survey: Jewish support for Obama drops to 45%: American president's approval rating on handling of US-Israel relations down compared with 49% last year, but if elections were held today, majority of American Jews would still vote for Democratic president over Republican candidates." Does that make any sense considering that the Jewish people are supposed to be quite intelligent? Surely by now they've heard about Obama's Freudian slip of the tongue that would have spelt curtains for any Republican candidate.

In a speech before the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Obama said, "If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor. I have no problem with that."

Transcripts by the liberal media have excised that slip but it can still be viewed on YouTube and there is no mistaking what he said.

Here's a little bit of history for those who are young or have failing memories. The Rev. Jesse Jackson was supposed to be the first black president when he ran in 1984. He had the backing of both blacks and whites. He came to Staten Island, NYC's whitest borough and he was thronged by enthusiastic crowds at the Baptist church near my house and my neighbor's girl was thrilled that he actually held her up and kissed her.

The nation was looking for a post-racial America way before Barack Obama came on the scene in 2007. Then Jackson made the mistake of referring to New York City as "Hymietown" to a Washington Post reporter and his campaign was toast. "Hymie" is an insulting word for Jews and Jackson first tried to deny he had said it, and then apologized for using that term but he never fully recovered from that gaffe.

It's ironic that there should be so much anti-Semitic resentment in the black community because Jews have always been actively involved in the civil rights struggle.

They have even died for it. I can only surmise that it is the demagoguery pushing class envy that generates this hostility. Blacks mired in the lowest rung of the economic ladder perceive all Jews as wealthy and Democrat politicians promote this class warfare via their "Tax breaks for the rich" mantra. That's why in Obama's mind, he unconsciously equated Jews with the billionaires he was citing in his speech.

That doesn't mean that the Jewish community has a lot of political clout but rather that it gives generously to the Democrat Party. After Republican Bob Turner won the heavily Democrat district that the disgraced Rep. Weiner had to vacate, the Drudge Report headline read "Revenge of the Jews." Because the district had a large Hasidic population it was assumed that Obama was being punished for his perceived lack of support for Israel but it wasn't the Hasidim that turned the tide, it was the influx of Russian Americans that gave Turner his margin of victory.

Citizens Magazine gave this explanation of the Turner win in a district that hadn't elected a Republican since 1923: "Soviet emigres have been steadily trending Republican as they established themselves in the United States and joining the Middle Class. But for many Russian Jews, who make up a large majority of the Russian-speaking community, it was Obama's anti-Israel stance that was the final straw, Nearly 9 out of 10 Russian Jews have close relatives in Israel and proud Zionism is the norm. Seeing the President attack the Jewish state, and even walking out of a meeting with its prime Minister, did not sit well with them."

The editor of this magazine Ilya Galak is also one of the founders of the Jewish Tea Party in NY and recently held its first event - Staten Island Stands with Israel co-hosted by the Staten Island Tea Party. Mr. Galak said, "Israel is a staunch ally of the United States in a terribly dangerous region. The people of Israel need to know that ordinary American citizens stand shoulder-to-shoulder in their defense."

Why this drift away from the Democrats? Russian emigres have lived under Communism and have no illusions about what Marxism means for their freedom. They are embracing the tea party grassroots movement for several reasons. Galak sums it up as Russians = conservative Jews from the former Soviet Union = Jewish Tea Party values and mission and of course Israel.

As the survey mentioned above reveals, the majority of American Jews will still vote Democrat and I believe the answer to that is that many American Jews do not embrace a Jewish Identity and reject any connection with Zionism. They also tend to deny the existence of increasing global anti-Semitism.

Many years ago, I accidentally tuned into a radio broadcast called "Jewish News and Views," hosted by Shefar Hoffman. The callers were berating Ms. Hoffman for spreading what they called the myth of rampant anti-Semitism. One man said he was tired of hearing about the Holocaust, and that "we Jews ought to stop whining about it." I called in and identified myself as a Christian who was very much aware of widespread but hidden anti-Semitism. I was invited to appear on the show and I took calls from other Jews who refused to believe what I had to say about this anti-Semitism because it was assumed that, as a Christian, I shared this sentiment. Nothing could be further than the truth. The nuns that taught me history emphasized the Holocaust as a human tragedy. We were taught to imagine the horror of Nazis storming into our own homes and dragging us to the concentration camps.

I recall a visitor to our church who came from Bethlehem and told us that Christians used to be 27% of the population and now was down to 2% thanks in large part to Palestinian terrorism which has reduced Christian tourism to the Holy Land. The Christian right understands the importance of Israel as the only democracy in the Middle East, unlike the liberal elite and some anti-Zionist Jewish groups. At the moment, Israel's greatest defenders are being found in the Christian community.

There may, however, be a welcome change in the air on the Jewish front with the launch of the National Conference on Jewish Affairs (NCJA). This umbrella leadership organization is a response to the silence of major Jewish organizations in the face of dangerous attacks against Israel.

Dr. Herbert I. London, a member of the NCJA's Policy Committee, stated: "The establishment Jewish organizations have been deficient in standing with Israel and the Jewish People at crucial times."

What folly it is for Jewish Democrats not to recognize how vital Israel is to our own national security. Those election upsets may signal a change that may require Drudge to run a more accurate title - "Jews finally wake up."

Alicia Colon resides in New York City and can be reached at aliciav.colon@gmail.com and at www.aliciacolon.com