Precisely what I thought you'd bring to the table Miriam, being the best
expert on these issues imo.
Man, it sure shows how complicated these issues are both culturally, and
nominally religiously. It really seems to me that Bernie is in sort of a no
man's land here. Not a knock on him btw, just saying he doesn't seem to have
many friends on any side on these issues at least among the American-Jewish
community.
One thing I didn't know before though is that his current wife is Roman
Catholic, for whatever that is worth.
Finally, I've always found it puzzling that Bernie doesn't referance his
Jewish background that much, and I still find it puzzling a bit.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Miriam Vieni" <miriamvieni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2016 3:22 PM
Subject: [blind-democracy] Re: sanders keeps judiasm in background
I find this article to be really interesting in that it shows the bias in
the media which demands that public figures who are Jewish, also be
Zionists. This bias has been deliberately planted and encouraged by the
Jewish American establishment. Because of it, I think that the article
mischaracterizes Ssanders somewhat. He is what is called, "a liberal
Zionist". Among those on the Jewish Left, he is criticized for not being
critical enough of Israeli policies and for not having condemned Israel's
2014 attack on Gaza more forcefully. I saw a video of the confrontation
between his constituents and him in which they wanted him to take a more
forceful stand against Israel and he refused to do so. But he does have a
history of criticizing Israeli military behavior in relation to
Palestinians, particularly since 1982. He doesn't talk about the Kibbutz on
which he worked because it was part of an extremely left wing socialist
movement and I suppose he feels that if his political enemies knew its
history, they would use it against him. And, in spite of their support of
Israel, the Christian Right would also use his Jewishness against him. It
may also be a factor in the reluctance of many black people to vote for him.
There has been some anti-semitism among some black people for a very long
time and in addition, many are anti-Zionist and identify with Palestinians.
J Street is a pro Israel group which supports a two state solution and was
organized in opposition to AIPAC, but it has not been critical of Israel's
attacks on Gaza. Sanders chose to consult with it and with a moderate Muslim
organization. He has stayed away from Jewish Voice For Peace which works
with Palestinian resistance organizations, so I don't think that Sanders
should be accused of choosing anti-Israel groups with whom to consult.
Miriam
________________________________
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of joe harcz Comcast
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2016 10:50 AM
To: blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [blind-democracy] sanders keeps judiasm in background
Sanders keeps Judaism in background, irking U.S. Jews Rachel Zoll and Josef
Federman, Associated Press New York ' As Bernie Sanders headed toward
victory
in New Hampshire, pundits noted the barrier he was about to break: Sanders
would become the first Jewish candidate to win a major party presidential
primary.
But since that Feb. 9 win, instead of the burst of communal pride that often
accompanies such milestones, the response from American Jews has been muted.
One reason: The Vermont senator, the candidate who has come closer than any
other Jew to being a Democratic or Republican presidential nominee, has
mostly
avoided discussing his Judaism. Sanders has baffled Jews by refusing to name
the Israeli kibbutz where he briefly volunteered in the 1960s, sending
reporters
scrambling to solve the mystery. When they found the kibbutz, he wouldn't
comment. In New Hampshire after his breakout win, he described himself as
'the
son of a Polish immigrant,' not a Jewish one. At a Democratic debate, he
spoke of the historic nature of 'somebody with my background' seeking the
presidency,
but didn't use the word 'Jewish. A recent headline in the liberal Jewish
Daily Forward newspaper read, 'We Need To Out Bernie Sanders as a Jew ' For
His
Own Good. Rabbi James Glazier of Temple Sinai in South Burlington, Vermont,
said Sanders' comments were being discussed by rabbis in the liberal Reform
movement. 'What did he leave out there? He didn't say 'Jewish Polish'
immigrant. Reform rabbis have picked up on this big time. Sanders' lack of
religious
observance is not what rankles. It has become so common for Jews to identify
'culturally' instead of religiously with the faith that the Pew Research
Center,
in its most recent study of the American Jewish population, used a category
called 'Jews of no religion. Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor,
also is not religious, but he was embraced for his unwavering support of
Israel and his generous donations to Jewish causes. Louis Brandeis, who in
1916
became the first Jewish justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, did not practice
his faith, yet he was the pride of American Jews. Brandeis went on to become
a leading U.S. advocate for Zionism. But Sanders, during more than three
decades in public life as a mayor, congressman and U.S. senator, has
developed
few relationships with Jewish groups or leaders ' on religious issues or on
Israel. He has supported a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict,
but has not made Israel in any way a priority. 'I would say that he has
never been one of those in Congress who was active in a Jewish caucus, who
turned
out for Israel, who was involved in those issues ' and he still isn't,' said
Jonathan Sarna, an expert in American Jewish history at Brandeis University.
Ironically, when Sanders gave his most religiously focused campaign speech,
he only seemed to underscore his distance from Judaism. It was last fall at
Liberty University, the evangelical school founded by the Rev. Jerry Falwell
in Lynchburg, Virginia, and he addressed the school on Rosh Hashana, the
Jewish
New Year, one of the most important holidays of the year. Discussing his
beliefs in the speech, he said he was 'motivated by a vision' for social
justice
'which exists in all of the great religions. But Sanders didn't say he was
Jewish. Later, he did stop in at a Rosh Hashana gathering at the home of the
Lynchburg mayor. The Sanders campaign did not respond to repeated requests
for comment for this article. Stanley 'Huck' Gutman, former chief of staff
in
Sanders' Senate office, wrote in an email, 'He is an old friend, a close
friend ' but we have very seldom, if ever, discussed religion. Sanders' life
follows
a familiar arc in 20th century American Jewish experience: The son of an
immigrant, he grew up in the shadow of the Holocaust, which Sanders has said
wiped
out much of his father's family. As a child in Brooklyn, Sanders went to
Hebrew school and had a bar mitzvah, but the lessons he drew from the
teachings
seem closer to a golden rule morality than specifically Jewish. In the
presidential race, he often sums up his religious views with the phrase, 'We
are
in this together. Larry Sanders, the brother of presidential candidate
Bernie Sanders, holds political leaflets in Oxford, England. 'Being Jewish
is very
important to us,' Larry, says. (Photo: Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP) 'Being
Jewish is very important to us,' his brother, Larry, said in an interview in
England
where he lives. 'There was no problem of debate, it was just a given in our
lives, just as being Americans was a given in our lives. But Bernard is not
particularly religious. He doesn't go to synagogue often. I think he
probably goes to synagogue only for weddings and funerals, rather than to
pray. Like
many young American Jews in the 1960s, Sanders volunteered on a kibbutz,
which news organizations discovered to be Sha'ar Ha'amakim in northern
Israel.
Irit Drori, who now lives on the kibbutz, said no one there remembers the
presidential candidate and self-described democratic socialist. 'It was a
socialist
kibbutz,' Drori said. 'If Mr. Sanders was interested in socialism, he could
find people to talk about it with here. After moving to Vermont in the late
1960s, he eventually began his political career. But setting down roots did
not mean joining a synagogue, though he sometimes would visit them. Rabbi
Glazier
said Sanders had been to Temple Sinai once ' for a candidates' event. The
Chabad-Lubavitch Hasidic community in Burlington said Sanders, as mayor,
helped
them overcome opposition to erecting a Hanukkah menorah on public land. In
1988, he married his second wife, Jane, who was raised Roman Catholic, just
as the national intermarriage rate was climbing so high that Jewish leaders
began calling it a crisis. In Vermont, where nearly 40 percent of residents
say they have no particular religion, Sanders was rarely called on to
discuss his faith. However, in the last couple of years, he has been facing
increasing
challenges about his support for Israel. In a widely viewed video of a 2014
Vermont town hall event, after the war started between Israel and Hamas, the
Islamic militant group that controls Gaza, some voters demanded Sanders do
more to protest Israeli bombing. The war killed more than 2,200 Palestinians
in Gaza, including hundreds of civilians, and 73 people on the Israeli side.
Sanders was among a small number of senators who didn't co-sponsor a
resolution
supporting Israel in the conflict, which passed by voice vote. Sanders said
Israel 'overreacted' with the intensity of its attacks, and he called the
bombing
of U.N. schools 'terribly, terribly wrong. But he also criticized Hamas for
launching rockets into Israel. Israel has said Hamas is responsible for
civilian
casualties, since it carried out numerous attacks from residential areas in
Gaza. 'I believe in a two-state solution, where Israel has the right to
exist
in security at the same time the Palestinians have a state of their own,'
Sanders said. Last year, Sanders was the first of several senators who
announced
they would skip Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address to
Congress. President Barack Obama hadn't been consulted, he said, and the
speech
was too close to the Israeli elections, giving the appearance the U.S. was
trying to influence the outcome. As a presidential candidate, Sanders said
he
consulted the dovish pro-Israel lobby J Street and the Arab American
Institute, founded by Jim Zogby, on Mideast Policy. 'That's not exactly a
balanced
view of the region,' said Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice chairman of
the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, which
has
not accepted J Street as a member. 'I hope he has other advisers or will
take other advisers. He's never really been that identified that strongly
with
pro-Israel advocacy. While Jews mull the source of Sanders' reticence about
discussing his Jewish roots, they are relieved that a Jewish candidate can
run without prompting an outpouring of anti-Semitism. Still, they worry that
could change if he succeeds in the primaries ahead. Sanders did offer a rare
comment on his heritage last week on MSNBC's 'Hardball,' saying, 'I'm very
proud to be Jewish. Sarna, of Brandeis, said the candidate's religious
identity
is clear even if he doesn't talk much about it. 'I think it is very much a
statement about America that someone who everybody knows is of Jewish
background
and has a Jewish name and sounds Jewish from Brooklyn can get several
delegates,' Sarna said. 'There is a sense that only in America could a
Bernie Sanders
be a candidate. AP Religion Writer Rachel Zoll reported from New York and
Josef Federman from Jerusalem. Aron Heller in Jerusalem and Jill Lawless in
London
contributed to this report. Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights
reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or
redistributed.
