Palin And American Jews

A Re-post:

Jews Stand with Governor Palin’s Use of ‘Blood Libel’

by Adrienne Ross on Wednesday, January 12, 2011 18:03 EST

By Adrienne Ross – www.motivationtruth.com
Wearing her trademark U.S.-Israel flags pin

Early this morning, Governor Palin released a video address about the Arizona shooting this past Saturday.

The Governor expressed her sincerest sadness at this tragedy, her disappointment in those who have used it to promote their political agenda, and her hope in America’s enduring strength. Her message was the right one and one that we are the better for hearing.

Of course, because it was Governor Palin who delivered the message, many of the same people who disgustingly seek to blame her for the actions of a lone, deranged murderer, Jared Loughner, seek to find fault in the message she delivered. Because she called them out on their irresponsible, hateful attacks on her and others on the Right, because they make their money playing partisan games with real issues that affect all Americans, and because her name is Sarah Palin, they had to find something with which to find fault. What was it this time? The use of the term “blood libel.”

Their need to pick apart everything Governor Palin does and says is really getting tired, and Americans are growing weary. You’d think, after undergoing intense criticism from even some on the Left for playing politics with pain, they’d get a clue and cut out this ridiculous obsession with demonizing all things Palin. Their tactics haven’t worked–except to anger all fair-minded, truth-loving Americans–but they persist.

So today the complaint is that use of the term “blood libel” is an affront to our Jewish brothers and sisters. Well, we’re hearing quite a bit from some Jewish people, and they say something entirely different.

Pamela Geller commits her life to issues that affect Jewish Americans. She takes on the radical Left with unwavering fortitude and is never guilty of holding back. Would she agree with Governor Palin’s assessment that what has transpired since Saturday is indeed “blood libel”? She writes (emphasis added):

Today Sarah Palin responded to the vicious blood libel leveled against her by the army of destroyers. The ferocious, relentless attacks on Sarah Palin are a testament to her greatness, proof of how deathly afraid of her they are, like Dracula to the silver cross.

Obviously she agrees with the Governor’s assessment. So why, then, this attack–once again–on her? Geller continues:

Here’s the thing. The mission by objective of the haters, the party of destruction, is to ruin the best, the brightest, the good. The left has, day after day, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, trafficked only in ruin and destruction, focusing on the most effective leaders on the right.

Read Pamela Geller’s full piece here.

Jewish Americans for Sarah Palin also issued a statement today:

Sarah Palin got it right.

Falsely accusing someone of shedding blood is the definition of a blood libel – whether it’s the medieval Church accusing Jews of baking blood in Passover matzos, or contemporary Muslim extremists accusing Israel of slaughtering Arabs to harvest their organs – or our political partisans blaming conservative political figures and talk show hosts for the Tucson massacre.

[...]

“Blood libel” does not refer exclusively to accusations against Jews. It does not refer only to medieval episodes that resulted in pogroms. It is a term that has been, and continues to be, legitimately used in contemporary American political discourse by all sides. Governor Palin’s use of the term is accurate, reasonable, and squarely within the bounds of accepted political discourse. It is her opponents’ attempts to falsely connect her to the Tucson massacre which is inaccurate, and unreasonable, and beyond the pale of civilized discourse.

Click here to read this entire piece concerning historic and current use of the term.

Sheya of Conservatives4Palin, Organize4Palin, and PalinTV–and a devout Jew–shares his heartfelt thoughts. I will excerpt the piece, but please read it in its entirety:

As many of our readers know, I am an observant Jew. I observe the Sabbath and all the Jewish Holidays. I went to Jewish schools and so do my kids. Not only do I live by all the rules, I am part of the Jewish culture and I even look the part.

Ever since I was two years old, I was told stories of Jewish persecution and blood libels. I was told how the Jews were accused for using the blood of Christian children to bake matzoh bread. I was told the stories of how whenever there was a murder in town the Jews were blamed for it. Whatever the scenario, the chain of events were the same. The Jews were accused of a murder, followed by calls for their deaths, followed by riots and then killings of all the Jews. At all time when the Jews spoke up and defended themselves, they were told to sit down and shut up and further killings took place just for that reason alone.

After the horrific killings in Tucson this Saturday and the finger-pointing at Governor Palin begun, I was mad and I was angry. Not that I’m not used to seeing irrational criticism thrown at Governor Palin, I’m used to seeing that by now and frankly I have come to expect it. But this time it was different; this time it felt as if all those stories I was told as a kid were coming to life. A heartless murderer shot and killed innocent victims. Governor Palin, who is hated just because she exists, was blamed, and that was followed by a flood of calls for her death on Twitter and Facebook. If this isn’t a blood libel than nothing is.

I have just spoken to many of my Jewish friends. Neither myself nor any other Jew I know is offended by Governor Palin’s comments. On the contrary, based on what we know and were taught about blood libels, this is exactly what this was: a blood libel.

The term blood libel wasn’t invented to define what happened to the Jews; it’s just that what happened to Jews were blood libels, and this term fits perfectly to what happened to Governor Palin.

[...]

I am a proud observant Jew, and I am always proud to stand with Governor Palin, but today we are also partners in blood.

Read more here.

Adam Brickley, another C4P colleague and Jewish brother, shares his personal story in his piece, and this is some of what he says about the term:

The media is abuzz today about Gov. Palin’s use of the term “blood libel” to describe the left’s appalling exploitation of the Arizona tragedy to demonize conservatism. Supposedly, this is an insult to the Jewish community given that “blood libel” can be defined as a purely anti-Semitic act, which requires one to accuse Jews of using human blood in religious rituals (which is the origin of the term). So far the debate has focused on semantics, highlighting technical definitions rather than the spirit in which the act was carried out.

[...]

Now, fast-forward to 2011, and we are talking about whether it is appropriate for Sarah Palin to use the term “blood libel” to describe the fashion in which she was personally blamed, despite irrefutable evidence to the contrary, for a savage and demented mass murder. In my mind, there is no question. This was blood libel of the most savage kind. There is absolutely no difference between what I felt I feel now, as a member of a movement falsely accused of gunning down a Congresswoman, and what I felt when my family’s Judaism was used as supporting evidence in a campaign to falsely accuse us of psychotic threats of violence. I can’t imagine how Gov. Palin herself must feel after having been personally accused, considering that I was moved almost to tears simply as an anonymous member of the broader “tea party”.

“Blood libel” was coined as a term to describe false accusations of ritual murder against the Jewish people – but it’s an action verb, and it’s an act that can be committed in the future against anyone. We cannot and should not deny people the right to call this despicable act what it is. If we do so, we allow the perpetrators to continue using one of the most painful and traumatizing propaganda tactics ever invented.

Read Brickley’s full article and learn about his own experience with blood libels by clicking here.

There is much more out there, and perhaps we’re not done with this issue, but the bottom line is really the same bottom line it was yesterday, the day before, and the day before that. The Left simply wants to tear down Governor Palin no matter what she says or doesn’t say. Their issue with her has nothing to do with rational thought, honest debate, or issues of importance. Their issue with her is that she…well, that she is. They cannot figure out why she has not yet sat down and shut up, packed it in, turned off the lights. They have thrown absolutely everything at her–yes, even blood libel. Yet she continues to stand–and stand she will.

I stand with her.
My sole motivation? The TRUTH!