Culture, Global, Israel, Politics

NY Press Reader Reams Nadler

From this week’s NY Press letters section:

I am outraged. How could the insufferable Jerry Nadler not make the list (“50 Most Loathsome New Yorkers,” 3/31)? What a bloviating hypocrite. I watch ole Jerry moaning about every oppressed group in the world, except one. Yup: The Palestinians. When it comes to them, Jerry has a blindspot. He supports Israeli checkpoints, the wall, targeted assassinations, the 37-year occupation. And with zest. The only member of our delegation in Congress who is worse is Hillary, but she’s Hillary. What do you expect?

No, it’s Jerry who makes me sick. The only reason he is indifferent to the suffering of Palestinian kids (who live in conditions akin to sub-Saharan Africa, according to USAID) is that he is Jewish. And, for Jerry, ethnic solidarity trumps human rights.

So here’s my idea. I know that Jerry will never speak out against Palestinian suffering because he feels no empathy for Arabs. But he can shut up about gays, African-Americans, the working poor, Third Worlders of all stripes and all the other people he expresses solidarity with. Until he can express sympathy for people his own (and my own) people are hurting, he should shut up about all the rest.

Jerry is like a German leftist who loves all oppressed peoples but can’t stomach the Jews! He’s a chauvinist and a bigot and he should not be representing the West Side of Manhattan.

Fat or less fat, he is the most obnoxious New Yorker. Shame on you for not giving Jerry his due.

Al Horowitz, Manhattan

Damn, that’s rough…

15 thoughts on “NY Press Reader Reams Nadler

  1. In defense of Jerry — hey, he’s just representing his neighborhood. The entire WEST SIDE is made up of otherwise left-wing middle-class Jews who are anti-war, anti-poverty, and pro-oppressed peoples across the world — except for Palestinians. It’s a blind spot writ large. At least the guy has a sense of democracy.

  2. Obviously we all know that the “entire west side” is not Jewish
    I highly doubt the “entire west side” is anti-Palestinian.. that’s just making up excuses for him
    But his district also includes Orthodox communities in Brooklyn if I am not mistaken

  3. Yes, this guy has a great point. Let’s all cry for the Palestinian children. Let’s start a charity so they can be properly fed and clothed. Let’s make them healthy and able so they can strap bombs to themeselves and stroll into a cafe in Tel Aviv. In fact, why don’t we extend the charity to the children of Al Qaeda militants? I’m sure they’re living conditions are less than optimal, too. Brilliant.

  4. I agree with Mr Horowitz and am pleased about the freedom of speech you display here.
    One thing I am unhappy about as a German is Mr Horowitz statement:
    >Jerry is like a German leftist who loves all oppressed peoples but can’t stomach the Jews!

  5. Jerry is right he supports the real victims, the Israelis. All these problems are caused by Palestinians themselves. They are just too retarded to realize it and would rather continue fighting. I have no compassion for them. I think germans should always be pro-israel no matter what especially since they killed 6 million jews, but thats just my opinion.

  6. Oh, I find I cannot edit my above point. So here my afterthoughts:
    I now think Mr Horowitz was only talking about people as individuals, not about tendencies.
    Still, he is expecting a lot from his German leftie.
    I find the media scene in Germany a bit weird in what concerns jewish topics, you get too much pro-jewish stuff that is one-sided and overly theoretical or just badly written. It is quite counter-productive, and I just hope that some day soon we get good American or British Jewish columnists into some German papers.

  7. Would it be considered anti-Palestinian to feel frustrated at the complete lack of accountability applied to a Palestinian leadership that consciously chose to respond to a Likud Party leader’s campaign stunt at the Temple Mount, and at the expense of a genuine peace initiative by then-Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and then-President Bill Clinton at Camp David?
    The Palestinians could and should be celebrating an anniverary of their political independence. Instead Palestinian leadership (such as it is) made the decision to violate the Oslo accords and renew its armed struggle. Jews, Israelis and Zionists hardly have control over that.

  8. By way of response to Regina’s points, I’d like to send a holler out to Ilke Schroeder, the German Leftist Euro Parliament Minister who seldom gets the credit she deserves for her determination to hold European Union funding of the Palestinian Authority accountable for its tendency to bankroll terrorism.

  9. Zionista – LOL am just imagining Mr Schroeder in drag.
    And: the original comment was about lack of support for Jews, not about the intricacies of I/P politics. Don’t you agree that this is made up for by a) Joschka Fischer and b) the pro-Israeli stance on other issues e.g. abstention by votes on resolutions etc.?

  10. Might agree to some extent, as long as you agree that being pro-Israel is not the same as endorsing neo-zionism. Was ist?
    >Jerry is like a German leftist who loves all oppressed peoples but can’t stomach the Jews! You’re being awfully sensitive to valid criticism, don’t you think? I mean, it’s not like this fellow can mention every country in the world every time he mentions any one.
    I have no compassion for them. I think germans should always be pro-israel no matter what especially since they killed 6 million jews, but thats just my opinion. Silly, no? The Holocaust is a historic event; Germans today should be no more pro-Israel than they are pro-Greece or pro-Turkey — capable of criticizing their policies without demonizing them.

  11. Fully agree with you Bopus.
    Can’t quite formulate anything about a pro-Israel stance coz I have had zionists in my family and have grown out of it now…

  12. The Horowitz letter is ignorant blather, and shouldn’t be on Jewschool. I worked for Jerry in Congress. He is a left-wing, liberal Democrat who was an ardent supporter of the Oslo process — against the wishes of many of his constituents in Brooklyn, who believed Oslo to be treason to the Jewish people etc. I believe he met with Arafat during the Oslo period as well. Moreover, Jerry has given speeches with the various codewords of the moderate Left (“balance”, meaning, favor left-wing Israeli governments and not right-wing ones, chief among them).
    In sum, to call Jerry a chauvinist or a bigot isn’t a stupid political opinion — it’s libel. It’s just plain inaccurate.
    Incidentally, Jerry is also one of the only vocally pro-Tibet people in Congress. Over one million Tibetans have died because of Chinese genocide, and they have never killed a single Chinese civilian in an act of terrorism. Now who’s a bigot, Horowitz?

  13. Jay wrote: “He is a left-wing, liberal Democrat
    I think Horowitz noted that.
    who was an ardent supporter of the Oslo process
    That’s nice. Does that refute what Horowitz said though about speaking out
    and what he supports ?
    “If any country in the world would be attacked the way Israel is they would be carpet-bombing the Palestinian territories,” said Rep. Jerrold Nadler (Dem.-NY) Nadler said. “If this was America that was attacked we would be using B-52 bombers.”
    “Incidentally, Jerry is also one of the only vocally pro-Tibet people in Congress.”
    Um ok… so what do the Palestinians have to do to get some respect… find a reincarnation of some ancient Lama born in the West Bank ?

  14. also check out this quote from Nadler’s newsletter:
    “The United Nations has allowed the Palestinian refugees to fester in camps for over 50 years, far longer than any other refugee camps in the modern era. To alleviate this situation, I have introdiced a Congressional resolution to recognize the plight of the Jewish refugees, and to urge the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) to resettle permanantly the Palestinian refugees who remain in ‘temporary’ camps.
    UNRWA spends over $300 million annually to house, educate and provide social services to 3.9 million refugees, with one million festering in the camps without any hope of finding permanant homes. And by allowing educational programs in the camps to include anti-Semitic teachings and to deny the existence of Israel, UNRWA has created a dangerous situation that poses a very real threat to any possibility of peace between Israel and Arab Nations.
    UNRWA must encourage Arab nations to provide permanant homes for these Palestinian refugees, just as Israel has provided a home to 600,000 Jewish refugees who were forced to leave their homes in Arab nations.” [emphasis added]

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