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Indybay Feature

SF Voice For Israel Sounds Like Old Fashioned Racism And Bigotry

by Scary
At the August 12th protest against the destruction of Lebanon, hundreds of pro-Israel protesters showed up to try to chant down the anti-war speakers. While some signs called for peace, many were extremely racist or called for more killing.
640_1_nuke_iran.jpg
§
by Scary
640_2_america_is_judeo_christian2.jpg
§Marc J. Rauch
by Scary
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§Marc J. Rauch
by Scary
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by Scary
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by Scary
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§Do we all hate ourselves?
by Scary
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A lot of ANSWER leaders and speakers are Jewish but the far right liks to pretend that most Jews are proWar.

While perhaps strictly not part of the ANSWER protest (since they were in front of the library across the street), there was a sizable Jewish group that did protest against the war on August 12th. See:
http://indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/13/18296884.php
§Islam=Fascism
by Scary
8_swastikas.jpg
I guess they would tautologically argue that this only means that fascist Muslims are fascist but it seems like it realy is intended to imply that Islam itself is evil
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by Scary
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§Kinda looks like 1930s charactures of Jews?
by Scary
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You see a lot of racist charactures of Arabs at pro-Israel protests but these just look a little too close to the antiSemitic cartoons the Nazis put out in the 1930s

The guy who made the signs has a blog at:
http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/08/civic-center-and-moonbats.html
Responding to the charge that his charactures of Muslim leaders look like Nazi portrayals of Jews he responds:
"Well DUH! Perhaps that was the point, moron!"
§
by Scary
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§Peace is bad
by Scary
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I wonder if the people with signs saying Israel wants peace really feel the same as this guy
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by Scary
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§After looking at the other signs...
by Scary
14_israel_was_right.jpg
After looking at how racist the pro-Israel crowd is and the destruction of most of Lebanon's infrastructure (even in Christian areas that used to be anti-Hizbollah before Israel attacked) I wonder how many people would say... hey... maybe Israel is right and collective punishment is moral and good...
§If Saudis Hate Shias So Should You...
by Scary
15_saudis_agree.jpg
Except the Saudis have backed away from their early statements and the Saudi public is pretty solidly behind those fighting Israel. One reason the Saudis fear militant Shia groups and behind the scenes may be backing some of what Israel is doing is because N Saudi Arabia is both majority Shia and contains a large aount of Saudi Arabia's oil.

Here is some stuff about the Shia of Saudi Arabia:
http://www.shianews.com/hi/articles/politics/0000248.php
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/2A5D4808-B065-48EB-9B17-BD6FB05C76CE.htm
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B65C3BEA-01EE-469D-96D8-B06CCE1E32F0.htm
http://www.country-data.com/cgi-bin/query/r-11590.html

As for Egypt and Jordan they are pretty brutal dictatorships that are so dependent on the US they pretty much do whatever the US says. If Egypt ever had free elections the Muslim Brotherhood would win (although thats partly because Hosni Mubarek wants the US to think thats the case to quell calls for democratric reform so he goes out of his way to be even mroe oppressive towards the nonfundamentalist groups than towards the Islamic ones)
§@ for war and a militarizd Israeli state...
by Scary
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In Israel itself, most Anarchists are protesting AGAINST what their government is doing
§So Much Hate
by Scary
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Add Your Comments

Comments (Hide Comments)
by cp
Some of those signs were so beyond the pale that you would think that some people who wanted to make them look bad had gone into the group to be photographed with the 1930s style caricature drawings etc. However, there were so many extremist signs aong the group, and the rest of the people are standing right next to them. At least when there is a wingnut at ANSWER marches, most other people at least stand 15 feet away.
by anti-fascist
Fascists who bring swastika flags get their asses kicked as they deserve. But when fascists bring zionist flags all anybody does is take photos. Glad he or she did, though. The passivity of what passes for progressive/anarchist/socialist etc. movements in the face of full-throated fascism needs to be documented for future historians. The shame will go deep.
Latuff uses imagery that demonizes Israeli soliders but most cartoons I have seen of his demonize them as evil in a way that doesnt not draw on old antiSemitic imagery (I have seen one or two that bothered me but I dont see them on Latuff's own site so figured it was a smear of him since right-wingers love to fake his images. The image on the left in the cartoon image above looks a lot like the image Europeans had of Islam for centuries and doest even really label the evil as specifically some miilitant group. If Latuff put out cartoons that had hasidic looking Israelis without the IDF captions and text saying they were evil extrimists, I think you would have a point, but most of his stuff dosnt draw on that type of stereotype.
by jane
hardly 2,000. we had 10,000. the movement is growing. the unpopularity and anger of the bloodshed of innocent civilians in the occupied territories and lebanon is really making israel look more illegitimate than previously.
by Not a zionazi apologist
They were squealing like stuck pigs, byt the time the real rally was resuming after the march, there were maybe 30-ish left. Guess they had to go back to worshipping Ronald Reagan (did you see the one wingnut in the pro-israel crowd with the Reagan shirt?) LMFAO!
They were pathetic.
by estimate attendance
at 2,000. The shot on Indybay of the march shows it doesn't even extend half the block.
It was worst attended rally that Answer has put on in memory. Even Answer acknowledged this and changed their tactics at the last minute- on Friday, signs began appearing on Misssion and Market claiming it was a general protest against war, not specifically the US Israeli war. Maybe San Franciscian s simply don't care what happens in Lebanon and Israel.

by scary
You can blame ANSWER for enflaming things between communities by some of their actions but you cnt blame them for he racist signs carried by many in the proIsrael crowd.
It would probably be illegal in Israel to arry a sign sayig "No Muslims West Of Jordan" since there are many Muslim Israelis who already feel under attack.
"Nuke Iran" and signs saying the US should be exlusively for Jews and Christians are way beyond anything I have seen from any group at ANSWER protests.
by scary
right-wing_goon.jpg
This guy dressed up like a suicide bomber and marched around in the anti-war crowd. For all people can say antiwar activists should ignore the Righties, it's hard to ignore them when they get up in your face and try to be disruptive.
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While the TV crews love to focus in on signs that offend viewers you cant always take the signs at face value since Rightis like to pose as antiwar activists with offensive signs....
These guys didnt have any signs when I got these pics but its hard not to see just the fake eyebrows and mustaches as racist in themselves ( and Im sure they tried to cause problems a some point since th were probable dress like this for a reason)
modern_black_face2.jpg
second pic. You can see the second guys fake eyebrows but he is covering his face.
by scary
right-wing_goon2_1.jpg
Dressing as a fake suicide bomber is pretty offensive but do you think this guy realizes that many antiwar protesters were from Lebanon and have had relatives who were killed? Is the message that t is ok to kill Muslims because Hamas is bad or that its ok for Israel to kill anyone (since Lebnaon has many Christians) because Hamas is bad?
by scary
"Some of the militant signs against Israel were fake? But the militant signs on the pro-Israel side had to be real? "

The sign about the US being Judeo-Christian with racist looking pics of Muhomed was carried by people with Michael Savage hats and that pretty much fits with his radio message so I doubt it was undercover lefists trying to make the preIsrael side look bad. The "Nuke Iran" sign could be fake (the guy shows up in a lot of pics) but unless he is messing with them at multiple protests Im guessing he is just a Berkeley College Republian, which is one of the more crazy right-wing (in the antiMuslim and pro-War sense) of the nationwide Republican student groups.

As for fake signs in antiwar protests.... that was the orignal thing Protest Warriors did, getting pics Rush put on his site of their members at antiWar protsts etc...

At huge protests you obviously always have a few crazis but a much higher percent of the proIsrael banners and signs were openly racist or suportive of killing (which shouldnt be too much of a surprise I guess when its a counterprotest to an antiwar protest)

There were people who spoke favorible of Hezbollah at the protest and one could say that's supportive of killing but I think that would be much more similar to the run of the mill signs on the proIsrael side supportive of the IDF since despite all the mainstream media labelling, Hezbollah is much more similar to a national army than some underground group. The label terrorism seems a bit racist when used agains them since they are pretty much doing the same thing Israel does (but killing fewer people) in their rocket attacks on the Israeli North but somehow thats terrorism while Israeli atacks on power pants and other infrastructure isnt.... The talk of them being a state within a state is closer to the truth but considering the US is made up of states within states (it is called the united STATES) I dont know why that is seen as bad (especially whe Shias are the largest ethnic group in the country but are denied the top two posts in government based off their religion as stated the the Lebanese Constitution)
by ZIONISM = RACISM
Thank you for posting these photographs of the Zionists with their amazingly racist signs/caricatures. The corporate news media would NEVER show Zionist Jews with their blatantly racist signs -- just as the network news NEVER shows the, especially, blatantly racist settlers in the occupied territories or the blatantly racist Jewish members of Israel's Knesset. But you can _bet_ that if anyone in the pro-Lebanon and pro-Palestinian march had any racist signs, they would be shown on the front page of the Chronicle and on all four/five major local network affiliate TV channels as characterizing the march.
by aren't even holding signs
What are you talking about?
by scary
Im pretty sure the guy on the left had a sign that was moderately militant and had green arm band looking things tied to the stick.
I'll try to find some pictures. I didnt post the pics of these guys in the main post since Im not sure what they were up to but the giant eyebrow and mustaches do look petty racist indepenent of what they were doing (even if they were antiar protesters)

I also noticed that the only person I saw with a sign showing a picture of Nasrallah was a tall blond haired frat looking guy (he also had a green flag on a really tall stck that had arabc writing on it and may have been a Hamas flag or something like that). I'll try to find a pictue...
by open eyes
I'm seeing the following categories represented in these pictures

1) Christian-zionist imbeciles

2a) corrupt yuppie GOP sycophants

2b) nouveaux 'Good Germans'

3) Kosher KKK

Witnessing the emerging alignment between Jewish zionism and the 'Good German' crowd, more Jews should be waking up as if cattle prods had just been slammed up their rectums, but instead they seem to be enjoying the key party pretty well.

Key party! heh-heh! Get it?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swinging#The_lifestyle_in_film_and_entertainment

That the same people are getting heavily involved in the Green Party does not bode well for the Greens AT ALL. It's pretty obvious the Greens are a leftist enclave, and that these people are just infiltraitors/meddlers/info-gatherers bent on warping the Green Party to the interests of a foreign government.
Yet neither Hezbollah or the state of Lebanon have _NEVER_ invaded or occupied Israel.


ZIONIST PROPAGANDA LIE: "and most of the Islamic world has called for the complete and utter deletion of Jews and Israel. War is a good thing when it stops genocide. Or didn't you know that?"

Then how do zionist propagandists explain the presence of Jews to this day in several Arab countries like Egypt, Syria, Jordan and even Iran? There are still even 25,000 Jews in Iran that Zionist terrorists/Mossad never managed to scare out of the Arab world with the Zionists' 1940's and 1950's secret campaign to plant anti-Jewish grafitti and bombs in Jewish neighborhoods in Arab countries in order to try to scare those Jews to flee to Israel -- where, being of darker skin, those Arab/Sephardic Jews were nonetheless _heavily_ discriminated against by the European/Ashkenazi Jews who invented political, colonial Zionism and have generally run Israel. Of course the Zionist terrorists/Mossad posed -- once again in their terrorist campaigns -- as Arabs when they bombed those neighborhoods.

How do Zionists explain -- IF ARABS/MUSLIMS ARE SO EEEVILE -- why Arabs in France and North Africa even _protected_ Jews and helped many European Jews flee to Arab countries (mostly in North Africa) during the Nazi era in Europe? -- which was more than the U.S. was doing. Of course, early European Zionist leaders themselves worked to limit Jews fleeing to any other land besides Palestine! As Israel's first prime minister, David Ben Gurion said (approx close quote), "If I had the opportunity to save ALL the Jewish children of the Holocaust and not have a Zionist state in Palestine, or save only a *handful* of the Jewish children of the Holocaust and _have_ the state of Israel, I would choose the latter!"! (See Lenni Brenner's, anti-Zionist Jewish-American, book "51 Documents: Zionist Collaboration with the Nazis") Now, is that SICK and COLD, or what!? And the early Zionist founders actually _AGREED_ with the _Nazis_ that Jews were indeed "a different race of people" [European Jews are, of course, white] and "fundamentally unassimilable" in any normal [European] society -- and that's why Jews needed Israel!

And in fact there is an historical saying: that whenever early Zionist leaders (and subsequent founders of the state of Israel) had a choice between actually saving Jews or the state of Israel, those Zionists always chose the latter. Of course the racist Zionist colonial project to displace Palestinian Arabs (with the subsequent help of the imperialist powers) began _LONG_ before the Holocaust and long before the Nazis even existed.

Armenians fled to, among other places, Palestine during the Armenian holocaust during WWI, but the Armenians didn't try to take the place over when they arrived. The Armenian refugees were _welcomed_ and so, in fact, were the earliest Jewish settlers in Palestine until the Palestinian Arabs realized that Zionist European Jews meant to _DISPLACE_ the Palestinian Arabs and _TAKE THE PLACE OVER_!

The Arab/Sephardic Jews were used by Israel as warm bodies to increase the Jewish population of the new colonialist state, and as 'canon fodder', where they (Arab/Sephardic Jews) were put on the early Israeli settlement frontier as _human shields_ to take and absorb Palestinian resistance attacks, so that the Ashkenazi/European Jews would be relatively more protected. The Arab/Sephardic Jews were treated like Native Americans, Mexicans and blacks (like black-Americans were treated during Jim Crow) were treated in the U.S.: Arab/Sephardic Jews faced _VERY HEAVY_ social discrimination in Israel and they got the menial/shit labor jobs that the European/Ashkenazi/American Israeli Jews didn't want to do. In fact, the Arab/Sephardic Jews were treated only a _little_ better than Arabs/Palestinians themselves!

And speaking about Zionist racism, what did Ariel Sharon once say about blacks?: "What can a people who decended from trees teach us [the world] about civilization."
zionist racist: "It's no surprise that the posters of the 2 or 3 wingnuts in our crowd get posted on IndyBay as representative of the entire counter-demo. But, as one of the organizers, I will tell you that those signs are condemned by our group."

And the AMAZING thing is that those MANY *overtly* zionist racists felt quite, quite, exceedingly COMFORTABLE holding up those overtly racist signs in decent society. One reason is because they know that the corporate news will never show those signs on TV or on the newspaper's front page. After all, this is like the same zionist Jewish officials/leaders/pundits in the U.S. (like Martin Indyk, Dennis Ross, Thomas Friedman, Charles Krauthhammer, Daniel Pipes, etc.) that coined the racist propaganda term "Islamofascist" and use it on even 'respectable' American TV news programs, including on PBS roundtable news programs, (not just on Fox) all the time and feed it to 'our' president Drinky/Snorty McDumass.
by deanosor (deanosor [at] comcast.net)
I'd like to stop these Israel Project idiots. How do we get together? i'm only 1 person.
by Skippy
The term chosen people was never meant to convey a sense of superiority- but rather a sense of moral obligation.
It refers to the burden and obligation of the 613 commandments that the Jewish people are told are necessary for a moral and just life as Jews. Non Jews are onlyasked to keep the 7 Noahchide rules.
by smart boy.
damn, maye its best to just let the fascists protest


The facists were there because we were there. We just gave them a soap box. Will you even consider the possibility that the 22K, times the dozen rallies held across the country represented a helluva lot of money? Maybe teach-ins or direct programs are a better investment. With three or more of these every year, plus minor ones, people are losing interest. Its not effective anymore.
Did you see the lawn at Civic Center after the rally- it was filled with trash. We need a better way. I don't know what is is, smart boy but Saturday wasn't it.
by luci
If there were 10-11,000 people and we each gave 2 or 3 dollars, they'd be fine.

I agree that some money is wasted, like money for permits and paying police and whatnot. And I agree that protests like this are boring. But it is nice to have a lot of people come together every few months and remind each other that we're not alone in opposing these wars.
While they may feing a desire for "dialogue", these are the same rabid, frothing at the mouth folks who troll indymedias nationwide trying to propagandize for Israel. They detest not having any power in the mainstream media. so they futily attempt to exert power in alternative and indymedia by trolling discussion boards.
by Provides insight
This guy, Lee Kaplan, is a true basket case.
check out this article about him:
http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2006-08-09/news/feature.html
by Don't believe the phoney hype
This pro-israel person who istrying to wooo you with false pretenses of "dialogue" has discussed dancing in the streets a5t the idea of the death of an anti-zionist who she douldn't shout down. She has quoted mutliple right wing extremiests such as Kaplan, Fox news, zombietime, front page mag, etc.
Here's a little glimpse into their "dialogue"
http://la.indymedia.org/news/2006/07/169468_comment.php#173770
by Lets see the url
And shall I mention that you are the one who posts porn under my name throughout the country?

Ok- I don't need to be involved with this if I don't meet your definition of "purity". I'm not a creature of ego. But you need to answer why are you so afraid of grassroots level discussion? Its not about personalities or egos. Why are you actively trying to sabotage this?

What is your problem with this concept? I am not interested in your problem with me.

by *
The good thing about these Democrat-Republicans showing up is now all the world can see what fascists and criminals they really are. Anyone who calls for using nuclear weapons is by definition criminally insane. The racist arrogance of this whole crowd is clear to all and hopefully should compel every single person attending this demonstration and looking at these photos to never again vote Democrat or Republican at any level of office.

It would help if people would ignore these idiots instead of screaming at them or fighting them. If that is too difficult, and the speeches are too boring, I suggest you take campaign literature from Peace & Freedom Party table and the Green Party table and go to Market Street and hand out literature. These 2 parties are pro-Palestinian and oppose US/Israeli terror, exactly the opposite of the Democrats and Republicans, which are 100% pro-Israel.

The reason these fascists are so arrogant is because they know their candidates have the votes. Despite our demonstration, because we have no precinct walking and phone banking, Feinstein and Pelosi are easily re-elected, with 70-80% of San Francisco's vote. There is a lot of hard work to be done at the precinct level with campaign literature that says "No Aid to Israel" and why there should be no aid to Israel, if we are to put an end to US/Israeli terrorism, and the appearance of these arrogant fascists. In the future at our demonstrations, please spend more time trying to reach out to the average voter, who routinely votes the Democratic ticket in San Francisco, and teach them to vote P&F or Green.
Notice how the pro-israel crowd tries to turn this into a critique of ANSWER?
Keep your eyes on the prize. They'd rather you not look at:
1. Israeli terror.
2. US welfare/"aid" to Israel to the tune of billions per year in cash/military assistance.
3. The racist right wing elements that permeate their "counter-protest" crowd.
by and let it begin with me
This pro-israel person who is trying to wooo you with false pretenses of "dialogue"

17 people attended our initial "Grassroots dialog on Middle East Issues".
It was so successful we will be making this a monthly event. Details wil follow
by no shortage of extremists on all sides
Some folks have said that these signs were “planted” by ANSWER to discredit their opponents. I can’t comment on that conspiracy, although I find it highly unlikely. The truth is that there are extremists and idiots on all ends of the political spectrum. It is very convenient to blame “infiltrators” and “spooks” anytime something goes wrong. Heck, just about anytime violence occurs at a protest, or an individual does something stupid in the name of a political philosophy, it is blamed on some foreign force that was planted to discredit the protest or group as a whole. The reality is people say and do stupid things; outside assistance is rarely required.




by um
"Their behavior towards the rally organizers was so disrepectful and antagonistic it was speculated by some that they were ANSWER provoceteurs."

The people with those signs are at almost every proIsrael protest. The worst signs were held by people who probably heard about the protest through Protest Warrior,Free Republic or Michael Savage's show. The signs about the US being Judeo Christian was held mainly by Michael Savage supports but Lee Kaplan (of DAFKA) can be seen in the photo standing behind the sign and probably knew the people (he does afteralwork with the Horrowitz people who like offending Leftists just for the sake of offending them)

This post of photos is a bit one sided in how it makes the proIsrael side all out to be racist biggots but its worth thinking about how MEMRI, CAMERA, DAFKA and even the ADL do the exact same thing to demonize Arabs, Muslims and antiwar protesters. The charge that ANSWER is antiSemitic makes about as much sense as claiming the SF Voice for Israel hates Hindus since everyone seemed to be ok with the signs saying the US was for Christians and Jews only. The charge that antiZionism is atiSemitism is similar to seeing those who claim to hate Islamofascsim as being antiMuslim; it may be true in many cases but it depends on what people mean by the label (I personaly have some isues with many signs attacking Zionism as really being a sign of antiSemitism but I see the signs by the mainstream SF Voicefor Israel types showing muslims hiding behind baby cariages as being about as biggoted as the signs that peopel claimed to see at SF State a few year back that played off old antiSemiic blood libel stuff)

When one is racist one tends not to see it and apart from the extreme stuff one can se racism in the the assumption on signs that Arabs or Muslims love their chldren less than Israelis do (essentialy dehumanzing Arabs and Muslims), that Muslims are a homogenous group that HAVE a lot of countries compared to Israel (rather than dealig with legitimate complains of individuals), or the tendency to call violence by Muslisms or Arabs terrorism while the same violence by thers is called war (a militray desire to "shock and awe"seemsto fit a broader definition of terrorism that would apply to teh US, israel and Hezbolla, but if one defines it morespecifically one cant really call any of Hezbollah's actions terrorism especialy if one calls them a state within a state).
Is the same signs hat used to label heprson hiding behind the carriage as the PLo or Palestinians in general.
Hezbollah fired some rockets from populated areas, some Israeli bases re in populated areas, the IDF has openly usd Palestinians as physical shields when radiig parts of the est Bank and Gaza.. but I dont think anyone on ether side would hide behind a baby carriage and shoot a gun and all armies act in prety much the exact same way where they dont fire from open e where they are easy to get seen from.

Yes, some UN human rights officials who are seen as "proPalestinian" have said racist sounding things about Hezbollah but its defiinitely in line with Europe's overall atttidtude to the Middle East and Arabs and Muslims in general which even when it seem favorable contains a lot of paternalistic attitudes that have changed little since the time of Colonialism and the idea of White Man's burden. In fact I wouldnt doubt that many in Europe who support Palestinians do so with more racist assumptions and attitudes than those who support Israel but dont see Arabs and Muslims as children who are merely fooled by corrupt leadership.

Hezbollah is the voice of many Shia in S Lebanon and if it as an organization is destroyed something similiar will quickly emerge. They get support from Iran but are not puppets and its hard to accuse them of hiding in the civiian population anymore than you could accuse IDF reserv esoliders of hiding among civilians.
by in war and elsewhere
... contains a lot of paternalistic attitudes that have changed little since the time of Colonialism and the idea of White Man's burden

I've noticed this weird paternalism too, even when speaking with Bay area activists. I, for one am tired of hearing "the Palestinians have suffered so much- all that they have left is to use their bodies as weapons. Its the result of their frustration and lack of hope" To me, this implies that the Palestinians are people without reason- people unable to control their passions. Its actually a very racist attitude. One thinks about the Jews at the end of World war II- they too had suffered enormously, they too had nothing left to live for - yet they chose to go on. I don't think people realize how paternalistic and condescending some of their talk actually is.
by Or at least throwing some rocks.
The proisrael poster who keeps trying to sell you on how "moderate" the pro-israel supporters are, didn't say anything about asking the frothing at the mouth-basket-case on a mission right wing pro-israel supporter and major organizer/player in this scene to leave.
Why wasn't nutcase Lee Kaplan asked to leave?
This guy, Lee Kaplan, is a true basket case.
check out this article about him:
http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2006-08-09/news/feature.html

We take a look at a new recently established group called Christians United for Israel - an evangelical organization that believes supporting expansionist policies of the Israeli government is: "a biblical imperative." We speak with investigative journalist Max Blumenthal who reports they lobbied the Bush administration to adopt a confrontational posture toward Iran, refuse aid to the Palestinians and give Israel a free hand in its attack on Lebanon.
In March of this year, a study on the role of the Israel lobby in US foreign policy caused an uproar in the academic community and in the media. The paper's authors, Professor Stephen Walt of Harvard University and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, argued the pro-Israel lobby has unduly influenced the United States to set aside its own security in order to advance the interests of Israel. The study emphasized the activities of the pro-Israel lobby group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

Well, there's another side of the pro-Israel lobby that's drawing increasing attention -- and some say its far more influential. A new group was recently established called Christians United for Israel - CUFI. They're an evangelical organization that believes supporting expansionist policies of the Israeli government is: "a biblical imperative." In a new article for The Nation, journalist Max Blumenthal reports group members have held several meetings with White House officials to talk about US policy in the Middle East. They've apparently lobbied the administration to adopt a confrontational posture toward Iran, refuse aid to the Palestinians and give Israel a free hand in its attack on Lebanon.

We're going to speak with Max Blumenthal in a moment but first, we hear from Christians United for Israel. Their inaugural event was held last month in Washington, DC. More than 3,000 people were in attendance to hear speeches from Israeli and American dignitaries. Among the speakers was Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback.

* Sam Brownback (R - Kansas), speaking at a Christians United for Israel summit in July 2006. [Click for mp3 of full address]

The group's founder, Texas television evangelist John Hagee, also spoke.

* John Hagee, speaking at a Christians United for Israel summit in July 2006. [Click for mp3 of full address].

We speak with Max Blumenthal. He writes about Christians United for Israel in a new piece for the Nation titled "Birth Pangs of a New Christian Zionism."

* Max Blumenthal, Puffin Foundation writing fellow at the Nation Institute. His work has appeared in The Nation, Salon, The American Prospect and the Washington Monthly. His blog is http://MaxBlumenthal.Blogspot.com.

LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/15/1326256

by Yuck
No Shelters, Sirens for Israel's Arab Citizens *

While hundreds of thousands of Israelis have taken refuge in bomb shelters,
many Arab Israelis say they've had no such protection. They say they've been
left on their own, thereby exposing some of Israel's worst inequalities. We
go to Haifa to speak with the director of an Advocacy Center for Arab
Citizens and to a Jewish Israeli who lives in an Arab town in Northern
Israel and wrote a book about her journey across the Jewish-Arab divide.

Listen/Watch/Read
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/14/1358258
by YoYa
Marc J. Rauch is a lunatic who held two of the offensive signs above (Answer #1, and Answer #2). The organizers of the rally had tried to get him to leave. He called the organizers "Kapos" (a reference to Jewish collaborators with Nazis).

Lee Kaplan is his own entity and has no part in the organization of these rallies. He stands for Israel as an individual citizen at San Francisco Voice for Israel events, holds only flags, and does not distribute literature.

Another of the offensive signs was held in satire. Read about it here http://atthebackofthehill.blogspot.com/2006/08/civic-center-and-moonbats.html
He feels misunderstood that his satire was misinterpreted.
If you read the guys blog his explanation doesnt sound like satire . He compares the Iranian to the Nazis so to make a strong statement about the evil Shia in Iran he uses cartoons that looks like the cartoons Nazis made to demonize Jews. That really doesnt make sense, since if he sees Shia as acting like Nazis then the cartoons would be of Israelis and any satrical element of the signs would be in how they portray Israeli hatred for Muslims as Nazi-like and I really dont think that was the point....
by Zionism is racism, period
First, as evidenced by this racist pig's blog, he is another anti-arab propaganda spewing right winger. And they defend him
Also, Lee Kaplan is intimately involved with all things defending Israel and demonizing Muslims and Arabs. To suggest that he attends these things as "just an individual" is crap. If you could have seen the nutcase marching back and forth, you'd have know he was more than just some 'average joe' who showed up. He also is involved w/ dafka--a zionist nut mag that these defenders of SF Voice for Israel refer to all the time.
This guy, Lee Kaplan, is a true basket case.
check out this article about him:
http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2006-08-09/news/feature.html
by Satire not supremacy!
Well, the artist in his blog clearly states he is not Jewish. So what "supremacy" do these signs indictate to you?
Perhaps Artistic supremacy? I can see that- the technique and use of color to evoke response was excellent on the paintings
by let's not pretend
Aside from the rabid pro-israel-corwd's well documented overlap w/ extreme right wing neocons and christian right, the denial that Lee Kaplan is a major player in ALL pro-israel crap that goes on is just plain lying.
Also, if you8 watched bay area tv news the day before the protests, they acted as pure pro-israel anti-answer propaganda, basically repeating the the wrods and playing the videos (with pro-israel interpretations and subtitles) and pawning it off as "news". You got your say on every major media.
We come to indybay and alternative media for the other side.
We get your side all day long from the mainstream.
by Researcher
We take a look at a new recently established group called Christians United for Israel - an evangelical organization that believes supporting expansionist policies of the Israeli government is: "a biblical imperative." We speak with investigative journalist Max Blumenthal who reports they lobbied the Bush administration to adopt a confrontational posture toward Iran, refuse aid to the Palestinians and give Israel a free hand in its attack on Lebanon.
In March of this year, a study on the role of the Israel lobby in US foreign policy caused an uproar in the academic community and in the media. The paper's authors, Professor Stephen Walt of Harvard University and John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago, argued the pro-Israel lobby has unduly influenced the United States to set aside its own security in order to advance the interests of Israel. The study emphasized the activities of the pro-Israel lobby group the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, or AIPAC.

Well, there's another side of the pro-Israel lobby that's drawing increasing attention -- and some say its far more influential. A new group was recently established called Christians United for Israel - CUFI. They're an evangelical organization that believes supporting expansionist policies of the Israeli government is: "a biblical imperative." In a new article for The Nation, journalist Max Blumenthal reports group members have held several meetings with White House officials to talk about US policy in the Middle East. They've apparently lobbied the administration to adopt a confrontational posture toward Iran, refuse aid to the Palestinians and give Israel a free hand in its attack on Lebanon.

We're going to speak with Max Blumenthal in a moment but first, we hear from Christians United for Israel. Their inaugural event was held last month in Washington, DC. More than 3,000 people were in attendance to hear speeches from Israeli and American dignitaries. Among the speakers was Kansas Republican Senator Sam Brownback.

* Sam Brownback (R - Kansas), speaking at a Christians United for Israel summit in July 2006. [Click for mp3 of full address]

The group's founder, Texas television evangelist John Hagee, also spoke.

* John Hagee, speaking at a Christians United for Israel summit in July 2006. [Click for mp3 of full address].

We speak with Max Blumenthal. He writes about Christians United for Israel in a new piece for the Nation titled "Birth Pangs of a New Christian Zionism."

* Max Blumenthal, Puffin Foundation writing fellow at the Nation Institute. His work has appeared in The Nation, Salon, The American Prospect and the Washington Monthly. His blog is http://MaxBlumenthal.Blogspot.com.

LISTEN ONLINE:
http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/08/15/1326256

Read this:
This guy, Lee Kaplan, is a true basket case.
check out this article about him:
http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2006-08-09/news/feature.html
by His agent?
You linked to the Lee Kaplan article 3 times on this one thread. What is it- pay for click? Are you his agent or something?
Just won't let the zionists bury the truth as they attempt to disassociate from him.
See, they will lie all the time b/c truth is not on their sides. They will try to make you believe that they are nice and sweet and gentle. This is simply not the truth, in that ugly sea of US and israel flags, amongst those blind jingoistic sheep, most are rabid, frothing at the mouth right wing filth like Kaplan.
by Not a Michael Savage fan
See these pictures for a microcosm of the mentality that permeates......
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2006/08/12/18296586.php?show_comments=1#18298705
These people are not exceptions, they are the rule.
As evidenced by the millions of mindless drones who listen to (and regurgitate) AM-nut radio shock jocks daily. (Michael Savage, a true piece of shit, coined the phrase, "Islamofascist", that is widely used by the right wing pro-israel/pro-war crowd today)
ead this:
This guy, Lee Kaplan, is a true basket case.
check out this article about him:
http://www.sfweekly.com/Issues/2006-08-09/news/feature.html

No matter how much you try to bury this, I won't let you.
by Trying to distance, we don't buy it
Here's a little of this ranting basket case's writings on the right wing shit rag, "Front Page":
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/authors.asp?ID=2106

Here's some free republic crap talking about how great SFVOice for Israel is and how the 'counter protest' was organized by Protest Warriors (right wing pro-war nuts)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1682616/posts

by one man publicity machine
This guy must be Lee's agent if not Lee himself- he's been name dropping and promoting Lee's article for days now. What is your real motivation? You are a dafka shill, aren't you?
by Not a zionist PR bot
If you believe that the majority of people who support israeli terror are "liberals" and "greens" then you are in a fantasy land.

Anyway, good to hear that you aren't a Kaplan fan:
Did you check these out?
They are great.
This link has a funny song:
http://leekaplanwatch.ytmnd.com/
Here's the good stuff:
http://kaplanwatch.blogspot.com/
Here's the link to this right wing whacko's site:
http://dafka.org/default.asp


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