Don’t worry, Ed Royce’s “List of Jews” is nothing sinister — at least not in the Nixonian “have an aide count the Jews in the Deparment of Labor” or “Enemies List” sense. It’s a list that he probably purchased, not one that he himself compiled. I don’t know why else he’d be writing me, if not to let me know (because I am Jewish) that he really really doesn’t like Palestinians. This is supposed to impress me, I guess.
I don’t see a copyright notice here, so I’m publishing the whole damned letter. If it’s good enough for a list of Jews to read, it must be good enough for everyone, right? I’ve added some annotations in Israeli-flag blue.
Israel is threatened perhaps as never before. [Perhaps not. 1967, 1973 …] While the Jewish state has been under siege for much of its history, it now faces Iran’s relentless nuclear drive [verified how? I hear conflicting reports about it, if it matters — are you confirming top secret information here for political gain?], growing militancy through its region, and arguably less displomatic support globally. [Indeed … and why do you think that is happening now?] As a senior member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I will continue to be a staunch backer of a close relationship with our ally, Israel. [Oh, it’s going to be one of these letters, is it? “Hey, Jews! I’ll hate whoever you want me to hate!” Feh.]
I serve as Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee tasked with overseeing counter-terrorism and non-proliferation policy. [Suddenly … I feel less safe.] I was selected to help negotiate the latest Iran sanctions legislation with the Senate. I am one of a few original co-sponsors of the latest Iran sanctions legislation, regrettably bottled-up in the Senate. [OK, why is it bottled up in the Senate? What are the arguments being made against it? Is it, perhaps, reckless and counterproductive cowboy diplomacy? Are you just going to appeal to prejudice here or will you let me know the objections?] I understand the disastrous consequences of Iran obtaining nuclear weapons. [I’m more interested in whether you understand the need for diplomacy, the prospects for Iran shutting down shipping in the Persian Gulf, and most of all the expensive disastrous consequences of yet another war in the Middle East, because you don’t see like you learned much from Iraq.]
Very troubling is the unwillingmess by some [Yiddish syntax you are using now? The object of the sentence you put before the verb and subject? You write this way usually?] to distinguish Israel as a democratic society committed to individual freedom and human rights, making it unique in its region. [Yeah — thanks again for screwing up in Iraq. But what is this thing that you call “human rights”? Does it mean more than “this country is our ally so anything it does is OK”? Because if that’s what you mean, the rest of the world has figured it out.] While we should always work for peace [how do you define this? Is it something other than “working for the opponent’s surrender”? Can you give me any indication that you understand what diplomacy involves?] unfortunately there are elements implacably committed to destroying these values. [Let me guess, they are all on the other side and none of them on are on side, right?] For making these distinctions, and passing judgment on them, I have been criticized. [“Criticized”? Gevalt! Wait, what did you say? You didn’t say something to indicate that you only see one side of the situation and so can’t possibly serve in a “fair broker” role, did you?] I vigorously back helping Israel maintain its qualitative military edge. [Meaning that you rule out … what, exactly? Anything? Are their consequences to your choice? You know, many smart people have studied this delicate problem for a long time and … I’m sorry, did you just start snoring?]
I have stood up for Israel at the always hostile United Nations. [What’s that subcommittee you said you were Chair of? Was it the “Subcommittee on Fighting Terrorism and Nuclear Proliferation While Gratuitously Insulting the Rest of the World, Because That’s the Best Way to Gain Their Cooperation”? I’d love to see your letterhead.] I co-sponsored legislation calling on the president to defund the Durban Review Conference and write an op-ed pointing out the anti-Israel, anti-West hostility of it. [It’s also known as the UN’s “World Conference Against Racism.” Yeah, some people were going to criticize Israel there, but that’s not all that was going to happen — and 141 countries showed up while 10 boycotted. This is the world as we find it now — we can engage it and try to change it, or we can just avoid international conferences, say that Israel is entirely right in all things and everyone else in the region is terrible, and let other countries take the lead in diplomacy — which here dealt with much more than Israel. Other than in domestic politics, what was the victory gained by boycott?]
I was in Haifa in 2006 as Hezbollah rockets rained into that city [well, then I’m really interested in your perspective on people being targeted by drones, because you must be extremely empathetic? Right? Hello?], Israel’s main port carrying trade to the rest of the world. I visited victims in Rambam Hospital, and appeared on CNN after to explain that only one side of this conflict was targeting civilians. [As much as I’d like to thank you for scoring political points over the killing and maiming of Jews, this does make me want to ask you again about our current use of drones…] I called a congressional hearing to highlight Hezbollah’s danger to the word. [Yes, very politically brave of you, and I’m sure that this was shocking news to everyone, but, again — DRONES? BEING USED? NOW?? Do you even see the irony here?]
I recently joined with my southern California colleague, Representative Howard Berman, to introduce legislation that says enough to Palestinian Authority-supported incitement against Israel and the Jewish people. [Stop right there, shmendrick. Sure, Rep. Berman is going to do that — he represents a heavily Jewish district — but your district is spare enough in Jews that you’re actually pandering to one of the Democratic candidates in your district. Let me tell you what I, and according to surveys the majority of American Jews, actually want out of the U.S. government. It is NOT someone who will just go along unquestioningly with whatever saber-rattling politician might take control of the Israeli government. It is someone who can tell them NO sometimes and move them towards peace rather than disaster. (You do not sound like someone I’d want to depend on to tell the truth to a nut like Avigdor Lieberman.) We want representatives who can use the power and influence of the U.S. to reach a just and honorable regional settlement; we want peace, not chest thumping domination. That will be hard as hell to achieve in the best of circumstances — and crowing “our allies are always entirely right and everyone else is evil and they shouldn’t even argue for what they see as their own interests” does not help. Jews want the U.S. to work towards Israel’s security, but being a yammering ass who rejects all actual diplomacy is not helping. We Jews continually run into people like you, trying to make political hay out of our suffering and the suffering of those with whom Israel faces conflict, and most of us don’t like it one bit. Here, read this from 2008, bubbeleh:
NEW POLL: American Jews Defy Conventional Wisdom On Israel and the Middle East
Overwhelmingly Support Aggressive U.S. Leadership to Resolve Israeli-Palestinian Conflict as well as Diplomacy with Iran
Strongly Oppose Alliance with Pastor Hagee
WASHINGTON— Days before Senator Barack Obama travels to Israel and Pastor John Hagee convenes the largest Christian Zionist conference in Washington, a new J Street poll reveals a remarkable gap between the attitudes of American Jews and the conventional wisdom about how Jews view America’s role in the Middle East.
The in-depth survey — commissioned by J Street, the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement and conducted by Jim Gerstein, principal of Gerstein/Agne — gauges the pulse of the American Jewish community on issues and dynamics central to the debate over America’s Middle East policy.
“The survey results are very eye opening. When presented with both sides of the debate over U.S policy in the Middle East, American Jews strongly favor the United States using its leverage to help resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict,” said Gerstein.
Instead of holding the hawkish, hard-line positions often expressed by many established Jewish organizations and leaders, American Jews actually overwhelmingly support assertive peace efforts and an active U.S. role in helping Israelis and Arabs to resolve their conflict.
“American elected officials and politicians have for years fundamentally misread the American Jewish community,” said Jeremy Ben-Ami, J Street’s executive director.
“Not only in setting American policy but in charting their political approach to the Jewish community, America’s political leaders need to look beyond the loudest voices from the community to the opinions actually held by the broad majority of American Jews. Understanding this dynamic could help shift not only American policy, but dramatically affect the chances for peace and security for Israel and the Middle East.”
That’s where we actually are — but thanks for treating us like a tribe of Republicans celebrating the likes of John Hagee!] Our bipartisan bill requires the president to certify that anti-Israel, anti-Semitic indoctrination is over if the PA is to receive U.S. aid. [OK, this is a test: do you think that setting these sorts of preconditions usually works in Middle East diplomacy? Does actually accomplishing something beyond posturing even matter to you?] There cannot be peace as long as Palestinians are taught to reject peace. [Hey, Rep. Smarty, the Obama Administration just brokered peace in freaking Burma! Do you think that they made Burma fix its educational system first? As Jews know, you make peace with your enemies; you don’t expect them to stop being enemies as a precondition to negotiations.]
Thank you for taking the time to review my thoughts and accomplishments building stronger ties with Israel.
[I’d love to actually discuss some of these issues with you sometime, but I expect that you’d demand as controlled an environment as you had at your bogus “Women’s Conference.” We don’t need your kind of help and we don’t want your kind of pandering. You want to help? Don’t try to score political points by slamming all Muslims, the way you did last year, lumping people with understandable political concerns in with those who actually do support violence, because we don’t want to send the message that violence is the only path that they might have that might work. We want to build bridges between our cultures in the interests of peace among people of goodwill. If you can’t or won’t help — at least get the hell out of the way.]
Just imagine how much more effective an advocate for peace — and counterterrorism and non-proliferation — Rep. Royce could be if he were not simply out to score political points by putting on a tough-guy pose, but instead embraced tried and true methods of international negotiation, the way that the grown-ups in our government do.
You’ll have to be the one to imagine his doing it — because evidently he can’t.
Demagogue through and through.
He’s committed to making the world a bitter place.
*You rhetorical bundle is great. Just one thing wrong:
Remove the settlements in Palestine, Gaza and the West Bank and move them back within the borders of Israel, share the water with the neighbors and find peace in the Middle East for the next 1000 years! You can also double the number of nuclear warheads in the process….as if anyone is looking anyway!
Look at this list of Jewish surnames. It’s easy to see why Royce might lump Diamond in there.
Gold
Goldberg
Goldberg
Goldberger
Goldblatt
Goldbloom
Goldblum
Goldenberg
Goldfarb
Goldfeld
Goldhaber
Goldhagen
Goldin
Goldman
Goldscheider
Goldwasser
Where’d you get that list, Quimby? Is there a book for direct mailers that I don’t know about?
In my experience “Diamond” is generally a Jewish name where it occurs “naturally” rather than someone changing their name to it. Most American Jews (so far as I can tell) derive from the Germany or the “Pale of Settlement” (Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Belorussia, the Baltics), in much of which they didn’t use regular last names but instead went by “son of …”, like “David ben Gurion,” a practice still sometimes used by our Arab cousins (who spell it “bin” or “ibn.”) Neil Diamond, Selma Diamond, Gregg Diamond (the disco artist with whom I am sometimes confused) — all Jewish. Sadly, Dustin Diamond as well. Hopefully the Mormons will hurry up and convert him.
Did this really go out to folks with Jewish surnames? I got this and assumed it went to everyone. I’m not Jewish and if I’m being lumped into a stereotype, that’s pretty damn offensive for everyone involved.
Let’s ask — who (at least among those who are willing to divulge their last name or its Jewishness) got this?
I expect that this isn’t news to you, Ryan, but “Cantor” as about as Jewish a name as they come, just after Goldsteinowitzberg.
Oh, I know and I’m proud of the history behind it.
That doesn’t mean that what my congressman chooses to communicate to me should be dictated by my last name.
With such good “friends of the Jews” like Ed Royce, who needs enemies? (Again with the Yiddish syntax, Tedeleh?) I’m thrilled I didn’t make that particular list.
Mr. Diamond – Would you please give us an explanation of this statement:
“.. according to surveys the majority of American Jews, actually want out of the U.S. government.”
What does that mean?
skally, the full sentence is: “Let me tell you what I, and according to surveys the majority of American Jews, actually want out of the U.S. government.” I then quote and link to one such survey. The link is where it says “NEW POLL.” Let me know if you have any further difficulties understanding the sentence.
seriously? greg, if you had the money, i am sure you would be buying lists of double democratic households, msnbc watchers, unemployed granola eating occupiers or whatever demographic group you felt was in step with your views so as to garner support and turn out the vote. and i know that other dems and reps are also buying lists and targeting voters for their specific causes and concerns.
its politics, jake
Yeah, well, half of this story is that the hawkish policies Royce favors in the Middle East are 1) not good for Israel, and 2) not even favored by most American Jews. Not that that stops most Republican and Democratic politicians from rushing around beating their chest yelling “Israel right or wrong!” in an attempt to pander to the Jewish vote (and money.)
I’m not against buying lists. I’m not even really against buying lists of people from particular ethnic and racial groups, though I don’t plan to do it and it seems a bit skeevier than buying lists of anglers or Comedy Central views. I’m against the way that he tried to appeal to my ethnic group. Is that really not clear from what I wrote?
Well, I’m against it. My congressman shouldn’t be looking at my last name to decide what positions he should communicate to me. That’s wrong and no one should be making a dime off assembling that kind of political data.
that is not how i read it but it appears that everybody else did read it that way, and, therefore, i might be wrong. do you have that list of comedy central viewers?
I am not divulging in advance what swag I’m giving out to households during my campaign.
Oh, OK, it’s bobbleheads — but I’m not going to say who they depict. (It’s not me.)