American Chronicle, CA
Aug 26 2007
Will Watertown, MA Uproar Bring Abe Foxman Down?
William Hughes
August 26, 2007
`Man is the only animal that blushes–or needs to.’ — Mark Twain
What would we do without him? I’m talking about Abe Foxman, National
Director of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). Although, he mostly
pretends to be one of the guys, he actually does have some super
abilities. Working 24/7, he functions like a One-Man Censor Board to
protect Americans from any ideas that might cause them to question
what the Israel Firsters, like himself, are really up to. He also can
perform as an attack dog, a real pit bull. Foxman recently
transformed himself into a First Amendment-basher, when he heard that
Professors John J. Mearsheimer and Stephen M. Walt intended to
publish a book based on their critical study of `The Israel Lobby.’
(1)
Like `The Incredible Hulk,’ it seems that when Foxman gets irritated,
(or panics), he turns himself into this bigger-than-life alter ego.
Also, if he is counterattacked, he appears to get even stronger. Go
figure! When the duo of Mearsheimer/Walt were scheduled to discuss
their newest literary effort at a Chicago venue, he sprang
immediately into action. Faster than you can say–‘Ehud
Olmert’–their appearance was canceled! Score another one for
Wiseacre Foxman. (2)
Mearsheimer/Walt drew Foxman’s ire for suggesting that the Israel
Lobby was not operating in our `national interest,’ helped push the
country into the Iraqi War, and was looking to get the Bush-Cheney
Gang to attack Iran. (1) They also pointed out how the powerful
`Special Interest’ had extracted over $140 billion from our national
treasury since 1948, while Israel was making countless enemies for
America in the Islamic World. For all of that, the Professors were
accused of promoting a `sinister thesis’ by our pint-sized Hot Air
Blaster. ADL’s web site charged that their analysis reeked of a
`classical conspiratorial’ anti-Semitism.
Meanwhile, Foxman had just got done ripping into the former President
of the United States, Jimmy Carter. He labeled him `a bigot’ for
publishing his insightful tome: `Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.’
Some people think that Foxman’s vicious assault on President Carter’s
good name may have done his cause more harm than good. (3) Many
Americans, instead of jumping on Foxman’s band wagon, saw him as an
arrogant schoolyard bully. Americans don’t like bullies. They mostly
didn’t appreciate the Mouthy One smearing Jimmy Carter, who had
served the nation honorably as a U.S. Naval Officer, as a Governor of
the great state of Georgia and as President. They knew, too, that
ex-President Carter had worked hard while in office to secure a just
and lasting peace in the Middle East. Also, since leaving the White
House, his conduct, like participating with `Habitat for Humanity,’
has been exemplary. Foxman, oblivious to the deep resentment he had
created after doing his Hatchet Job on President Carter, simply moved
onto to his next target–His Holiness Pope Benjamin XVI.
There are 64.4 million Roman Catholics in the U.S. But, you wouldn’t
know it by the way Foxman has ripped into Pope Benjamin. He’s jumped
him on a number of issues since he’s taken office, including the fact
that His Holiness recently gave his approval of a return to use of
the Latin Mass by the faithful. At press time, it looks like Foxman
has prevailed again. The Vatican is backing off. It indicated that it
might change the wording of a prayer in the Latin Mass that the
self-appointed Policeman for Catholics has found `offensive.’ (4) I
think it’s amazing how Foxman knows everything that is going on
inside Vatican City, yet he failed to notice how his favorite
country, Israel, stands accused of `War Crimes’ in Occupied Gaza and
Lebanon, in 2006, by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
(5) I suppose it’s a case of selective amnesia. Even Know-It-Alls
have flaws. By the way, when is Foxman going to speak out about the
Israeli Occupation Forces’ (IOF) killing, via a 9-ton bulldozer, of
Rachel Corrie, a justice activist from Olympia, WA (6), and their
slaughter, on June 8, 1967, of 34 Americans on the USS Liberty? (7)
Talking about flaws, I think it’s fair to point out that Foxman can
push a lot of folks around with impunity, but he is not much of a
prophet. He predicted that Mel Gibson’s film `The Passion of the
Christ,’ was going to be a recruitment poster for anti-Semites. He
charged that it would `fuel anti-Semitism…and fan the flames of
hatred.’ (8) Wrong! It turned out to be a pretty good movie
recreating the Bible story about the crucifixion of Christ. Period! I
thought it was done well. If anyone came off as a bad guy in the
flick, it was probably that compulsive hand-washer–Pontius Pilate.
There was also another incident, a few years back, that didn’t help
Foxman’s Holier-Than-Thou persona either. Dare I mention it? Okay, it
was the sleazy Marc Rich Fugitive-from-Justice-Pardon Affair. Foxman
was involved in that scandal right from the beginning. It was so
sordid that pundit Bill Safire was embarrassed enough to publicly
criticized the Super One. (9) The Marc Rich mess wasn’t President
`Bubba Bill’ Clinton’s finest moment either. He’s been able to
console himself, however, with the $10 million a year that he has
been taking in on the speakers’ circuit. I wonder: Who would pay
megabucks to hear `Bubba Bill’ rant? There were cries for Foxman to
resign over the scandal, but he declined.
Talking about Foxman’s resignation, it has come up again! A brouhaha
recently surfaced over the refusal of the ADL to support a Town
Council Resolution in Watertown, MA. The measure called on the U.S.
Congress to use the word `Genocide’ in pending legislation to
describe the killing of 1.5 million Armenians, between 1915-23, under
the reign of the Ottoman Turks. (10) A local ADL official, after
pangs of conscience, did, finally, come out in support of the
Resolution and Foxman quickly fired him. Supposedly, the ADL didn’t
want to use the word `Genocide,’ since it might offend Turkey, which
is a close ally of Ehud Olmert’s Israel. Since Israel has to come
before the truth, Foxman wouldn’t back the Resolution. Some labeled
his position, `morally indefensible,’ and denounced him, too, as a
(gasp)– `Genocide Denier!’ At press time, Foxman, under intense
pressure, relented and acknowledged the `Armenian Genocide.’ He
failed to indicate, however, whether the ADL would support the
pending Congressional Resolution. (11)
Watertown, MA also rejected, on Aug. 14, 2007, a program sponsored by
Foxman’s group. It’s entitled, `No Place for Hate.’ This incident of
resistance by Watertown to the ADL, and to Foxman, is rare in an
America dominated by a half demented Bush-Cheney Gang, a complicit
corporate-controlled Mass Media, and a mostly cowardly U.S. Congress.
I think that it also does have some significant symbolic meaning.
Watertown is located just down the road from two places which are
steeped in the history of the American Republic and sacred to the
cause of Liberty–Concord and Lexington! The Revolution against
British rule began at those sites, on April 19,1775. That kind of
symbolism, naturally, will go right over Foxman’s head, since his
first and only love is–Israel!
Finally, will feisty Watertown, MA go down in memory as the locale
which led to the fall of Mr. Smarty Pants–Foxman? Stay tune!
Notes:
1.
earch/wpaper.nsf/rwp/RWP06-011/%24File/rwp_06_011_ walt.pdf
2. 4
3. `Does Abe Foxman Have an Anti-Anti-Semite Problem?’ by James
Traub, NYT, Jan. 14, 2007.
4. 96.htm
5. 767/index.php
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
h ttp:// A-GEN-US-Genocide-Debate-Firing.php
11. `ADL Chief Bows to Critics,’ 08/22/07, Boston Globe.
©2007, William Hughes.
William Hughes is a video and print journalist. His videos can be
found at:
Email Contact: [email protected].
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