McCain Finally Rejects Extremist Hagee

McCain’s “Reverend Wright” finally becomes too much for him. As if the homophobic, anti-Catholic and warmongering statements were not enough, Hagree’s anti-Semitic remarks are now enjoying wide distribution along his assertion that Hitler was a “hunter” sent by G-d to get Jews to Israel.

http://www.talk2action.org/story/2008/5/15/141520/281
Be sure to watch the videos in the article.

Hagee is standing by his remarks.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/22/unapologetic-hagee-says-h_n_103081.html

Furthermore, Talk2Action is also revealing anti-Semitic videos http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fiUgQhsCBWg Hagee produced and revealing that Hagee considers Jews to be spiritually dead.

Finally, McCain has rejected Hagee’s endorsement.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/986246.html
Included in McCain’s rejection of the endorsement is an attack on Obama, saying that
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/05/22/1053828.aspx
“Reverend Hagee was not and is not my pastor or spiritual adviser, and I did not attend his church for twenty years. I have denounced statements he made immediately upon learning of them, as I do again today.” True, but McCain did seek out Hagee’s endorsement, knowing that Hagee held extreme views, particularly about Catholics.

Now, what will Hagee’s designated “House Jew” David Brog, www.DavidBrog.com say? Let’s see how he can forgive this one. Borg had all but endorsed the Jewish Voice for Peace/Far left standard of “no gas chambers means no problem” standard of anti-Semitism in his book “Standing With Israel.” So far, there is nothing on his blog http://www.cufi.org/site/PageServer?pagename=about_brog_blog.

What of Joe Lieberman? Will the social liberal/military hawk accept being told his soul is dead?

AIPAC, who has fully and unapologetically embraced Hagee and Christians United for Israel (CUFI) also has a lot to answer for. While it one thing to welcome the support of Christian Zionists, it is another to give this bigot the keynote slot at their 2007 policy conference. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exdsB5D1r7Y AIPAC has until now stood by their welcoming of Hagee, refusing to recognize that some people are just beyond the pale.

Most Christian Zionists with whom I have worked are wonderful people who seem genuine in their support of Israel and rejection of anti-Semitism. I truly hope they reject these remarks by Hagee and that this dustup will not do irreparable harm to relations between Christian Zionists and Jews.

Muslim, not terrorist

The world's newest state is looking to be a model of what Islam should be -- modern, tolerant, and democratic.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23258488/

Kosovo is also seeking recognition from Israel.
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/954678.html
but Israel is amongst several states withholding recognition for now. Some believe this has to do the implications on Palestinians threatening to declare independence. The reality is that the Abbas/Salaam government will fall very quickly if they declare independence prematurely. Hamas is just itching to do a coup d’etat, just as it did in Gaza after the Israeli disengement.

Another factor is that the Israeli far right seems to be in love with Serbia and genocidal maniac Milosevic. As always, the far right and the far left seem in sync -- Milosevic was a cause celebre for the Worker's World Party (the parent organization of ANSWER).

Serbia massacred Bosnians, and the Bosnians killed Jews in the Holocaust. According to some, that means Israel and Jews should stand solidly behind Serbia regardless.

Of course, amongst the collaborators in the Holocaust were virtually the entirety of Europe and worst of all were Israel's best EU friends, Poland and Germany. The USA, the Vatican, and the Church also bear much responsibility for allowing the killing to happen but they seem to be our friends at the moment as well.

Israel should recognize Kosovo.

In Memoriam: Michael Bellefountaine

I first saw Michael Bellefountaine when he was marching against the pending war in Iraq in January of 2003. He was notable for carrying a sign that said “Peace for Israel as well.” That made him stand out in a crowd of Palestinian flags, anti-Semitic sentiments, and signs that blamed Israel for all the evils in the world.

Michael was a radical AIDS activist involved with the very controversial ACT-UP/SF and denied that HIV was cause of AIDS. His antics were notorious and included disrupting health official meetings, participating in events where people threw pills at assemblies, and getting in a fight with ACT-UP founder Larry Kramer. In contrast to his public persona, one on one he was a very gentle person whose frequent parting line was “Peace and Love” and he meant it.

Like many radical activists in San Francisco, Michael became increasingly disgusted with the high level of anti-Semitism and Israel bashing that had become all too prevalent in many left movements in general and in the anti-war movement in particular. In response, he started making his own signs to carry in anti-war marches that expressed his support for Israel and her right to live in peace.

In June of 2004, Michael was on his way to a yet another anti-war march with one of his pro-Israel signs when he saw something new and exciting that San Francisco had only just started to experience – people standing up in public to support Israel. This was the San Francisco Voice for Israel pro-Israel counter-rally to the ANSWER event. He decided to join our march instead of once again attempting to stand as a lone progressive voice for Israel amongst the ANSWER rabble.

In very short order, Michael became more and more involved with helping to organize this new pro-Israel street presence. He brought decades of activist experience and contacts to the table. In addition, he provided much valuable information on individuals on the other side, some of whom had been his colleagues in other movements.

Michael died last month of complications from HIV.

To read obituaries such as this one in the Bay Area Reporter, http://ebar.com/obituaries/index.php?sec=ob&article=252 one might be tempted to believe that Michael had given up on activism in 2004 for a life of academia. Nothing could be further from the truth. He was an invaluable contributor to our efforts against anti-Israel hatred and anti-Semitism on the streets of the Bay Area.

He was a friend as well as a colleague. We will miss him greatly.

The Dan Lane Joins The Information Superhighway

A friend in medical school once described my life as "Living in the Dan lane." Sounds like as good as any a moniker for my next entry into the world of intenet information dissemination.

I might not be the most prolific (or self indulgent) of bloggers, but hey, its a start.

Stay tuned.

Dan