The National Jewish Democratic Council wasn’t going to be able to sustain their initial “no comment” on Ambassador Gutman’s “European Muslims only hate Jews because of Israel” discourse. The Obama ambassador’s remarks were too egregious and too explicit, and the group has already clarified to the Washington Jewish Week that the comments were “wrong and unfortunate.”
Of course, the Jewish organization is still agnostic on whether we should recall a U.S. ambassador who’s been reassuring Europeans their anti-Semitism is Israel’s fault, but that’s understandable. The NJDC can’t afford to be on the bad side of a Democratic donor who has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It’s still worth noting, if only to have it posted somewhere, the staggeringly shameless hypocrisy involved.
The NJDC could not wait to blast House Speaker John Boehner and Republican Ohio Senate candidate Josh Mandel for accepting money from former Republican House candidate Rich Iott. Iott, a Nazi reenacter, donated $2,400 and $1,000 to each campaign, respectively. The NJDC’s back-to-back statements are here and here. The organization insisted that both candidates had the obligation “return the money or, better yet, donate it to a Holocaust charity.” Otherwise, they would be showing they don’t “represent the values of the mainstream American Jewish community.”
With brutal statements coming out from across the Jewish political spectrum, it’s also clear Gutman doesn’t represent “the values of the mainstream American Jewish community.” Even the left-leaning Anti-Defamation League – which recently tried to get American Jews to stop talking about Obama’s anti-Israel officials – had to declare themselves “disturbed.”
No one expects the NJDC to call for Gutman’s recall. An honest politician, as the tired expression goes, is one who once bought stays bought. But lest they further emphasize their naked partisan hackery, the NJDC should immediately call upon Democratic politicians to return or donate to charity Gutman’s $500,000+.
Conveniently, there are multiple Israeli charities dedicated to helping the children traumatized by the Iranian-provided rockets that the Palestinians fire at Israeli schools and hospitals. Those non-profits would be especially appropriate recipients given how Gutman slanderously identified Israeli “retaliatory” strikes – done in the aftermath of said rocket attacks on said Israeli schoolhouses – for the existence of European Muslim anti-Semitism.
Undoubtedly, an NJDC statement to that effect, consistent with the organization’s previous and unequivocal stance on donations offensive to Jewish community values, will be forthcoming.
Not only should the NJDC return any of Gutman's donations, but so shoudl every Jewish organization including the ADL. Sometimes its just fine to make someone cherem.