This section contains links to information relating to the candidates' stances on the Middle East. Now that Barack Obama has been elected the next president, this section will talk about him and his cabinet.
Obama and the Jews
Pauline Dubkin Yearwood, The Chicago Jewish News - A look at why some Jews love him and some don't trust him; and at the key role Chicago Jews played in getting him to where he is. more |
Israel’s “Spy” in the White House
MER Monthly Magazine - Take the word "spy" here in the overall context of the background, role, connections and allegiances of Rahm Emanuel. more |
New Beltway Debate: What to Do About Iran
Carol Giacomo, New York Times - It is a frightening notion, but it is not just the trigger-happy Bush administration discussing – if only theoretically – the possibility of military action to stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program. more |
Obama advisers discuss preparations for war on Iran
Peter Symonds, World Socialist Web Site - On the eve of the US elections, the New York Times cautiously pointed on Monday to the emergence of a bipartisan consensus in Washington for an aggressive new strategy towards Iran. While virtually nothing was said in the course of the election campaign, behind-the-scenes top advisers from the Obama and McCain camps have been discussing the rapid escalation of diplomatic pressure and punitive sanctions against Iran, backed by preparations for military strikes. more |
The Irresponsibility of Appointing Hillary Clinton Secretary of State
Bill and Kathleen Christison, CounterPunch - In 2005 Hillary Clinton stood in Palestine and praised the apartheid wall that the government of Israel was building with large amounts of U.S. aid in furtherance of the Zionist goal of destroying one of the world’s peoples – the Palestinians. This is the wall that the United Nations’ World Court has declared contrary to international law. And this is just one example of Hillary Clinton’s total support for all of Israel’s policies to oppress and eventually expel whatever elements of the Palestinian population remain west of the Jordan River. more |
Emanuel's War Plan for Democrats: The Book of Rahm
John Walsh in CounterPunch - Last week in CounterPunch, I wrote that the chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), Congressman Rahm Emanuel, had worked hard to guarantee that Democratic candidates in key toss-up House races were pro-war. In this he was largely successful, because of the money he commands and the celebrity politicians who reliably respond to his call, ensuring that 20 of the 22 Democratic candidates in these districts are pro-war. So the fix is in for the coming elections. more
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Some Chicago Jews say Obama is actually the 'first Jewish president'
Natasha Mozgovaya, Haaretz - Quite a few of Barack Obama's "friends from the past" have popped up recently. It's doubtful whether he even knows their names, but in the Chicago Jewish community many people really are long-time friends of the president-elect. Some of the older people in the community say that they "raised him," while others half-jokingly call Obama "the first Jewish president." more |
An Open Letter to Barack Obama: Between Hope and Reality
Ralph Nader, CounterPunch - In your nearly two-year presidential campaign, the words "hope and change," "change and hope" have been your trademark declarations. Yet there is an asymmetry between those objectives and your political character that succumbs to contrary centers of power that want not "hope and change" but the continuation of the power-entrenched status quo. more |
In Their Own Words: Senator Joe Biden at the Democratic National Jewish Convention
transcribed by Margo Brenner, The Philadelphia Jewish Voice - Joe Biden is the Senior Senator from Delaware, currently serving his sixth term. He now chairs the Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Judiciary Committee. more |
Candidates court Jewish support
Matthew E. Berger, MSNBC - The John Edwards presidential campaign had a problem. Set to announce the appointment of former Rep. David Bonior as campaign manager in a few days, Edwards' strategists began to realize that the Michigan Democrat's strong support for Palestinians while he was in Congress could hurt Edwards among American Jews. more |
Sen. Gravel Says AIPAC Is Pushing Confrontation With Iran
Philip Weiss, Mondoweiss - I keep declaring that the Walt and Mearsheimer is historic, that it has blasted down a wall in the American discourse. I keep getting more evidence. more |
Clinton gets boost from rabbi poll, calls for undivided Jerusalem
Ron Kampeas in JTA - In her new position paper on Israel, Hillary Rodham Clinton comes not only to praise the Jewish state but to bury doubts that she would be any less vigilant in its protection than the Bush administration. The position paper, published this week, goes so far as to outflank President Bush from the right. more |
 A top Jewish fund-raiser shifts his support to Obama
Claude R. Marx in JTA - If money is, as former California Treasurer Jesse Unruh said, the "mother's milk of politics," then Alan Solomont is one successful dairyman. Solomont, a longtime leader in Jewish philanthropic and national Democratic political circles, is one of the go-to men when big money is needed. more |
Questions for Candidate Obama
Bill Fletcher in The Black Comentator - Senator Barack Obama has become a major celebrity, a truth that is now almost a cliche. His campaign has raised massive amounts of funding. He draws large and enthusiastic crowds when he appears. Often described as charismatic, he is more importantly smart and well spoken. more |
Senator Barack Obama AIPAC Policy Forum Remarks
Barack Obama - Thank you so much for your kind introduction and the invitation to meet with you this morning. Last week, this event was described to me as a small gathering of friends. Looking at all of you here today; seeing so many of you who care about peace in this world; who care about a strong and lasting friendship between Israel and the United States, and who care about what’s on the next page of our shared futures, I think a small gathering of friends fits this crowd just right. more |
Senator Clinton's Remarks to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)
Hillary Rodham Clinton - I am so honored to be here and once again to speak on behalf of the causes and concerns that we share. And there is no doubt that AIPAC is at the forefront of efforts to advocate on behalf of Israel. And on behalf of the shared interests and security and democracy that form the unbreakable bond between our two nations. more |
Candidates line up Jewish support
Ron Kampeas in The Florida Jewish News- As candidates enter 2008 race, they begin courting Jewish voters. It’s a Washington ritual as reliable as the cherry blossoms, if nowhere near as pretty: Midterm congressional elections are over and aspirants for the most powerful job in the world are throwing their hats into the race for the U.S. presidency. more |
McCain Lines Up N.Y. Money Men, Raising Pressure on Rudy Giuliani
Jennifer Siegel in The Jewish Daily Forward- Arizona Senator John McCain has scored an early victory in the battle between GOP presidential frontrunners by locking up support from several New York-area Republican moneymen also coveted by his northeastern rival, former Big Apple mayor Rudy Giuliani. more |
Open Letter to Hillary Clinton from Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch -
We write in response to comments attributed to you in Ha’aretz (November 15, 2005) during your recent trip to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) regarding the construction there of a metal and concrete barrier (hereinafter referred to as a “wall”, in accordance with the terminology used by the International Court of Justice). The media has quoted you as expressing support for the wall because it “is against terrorists” and “not against the Palestinian people.” In light of your general standing as a supporter of international law and human rights, we find these comments disturbing and disappointing. more |
‘The Israel Factor’ – Haaretz ranks US Presidential candidates on how good they will be for Israel
Weekly Column in the Israeli Daily Haaretz - "The Israel Factor: Ranking the presidential candidates" is a new project on Rosner's Domain that rates potential presidential contenders in the 2008 race for the White House based on their attitudes toward Israel. Each month, a group of distinguished Israeli panelists, all of them experts on American policy and politics (go to the panel page to see who they are), will try to assess the candidates' positions on various Israel-related issues, and deliver their verdict on whom they consider to be the best candidate for Israel. more |
Senator John McCain Address to AIPAC
John McCain - There will always be an Israel. The terrorist onslaught against her people represents not progress towards a refoundation of historic Palestine but a plunge into an abyss of moral decay perpetrated in the name of the Palestinian people by their own leaders. There will always be an Israel, because the Israeli people will defend their homeland against murderers who pose as martyrs, and will never accept justice imposed on them by leaders who send children to kill their children. more |