For the Love of Israel: Congresswoman’s Misguided War on the UN (Ramzy Baroud)

[Tace]

Ramzy Baroud -- World News Trust

Sept. 7, 2011 -- From an Israeli point of view, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the ideal American politician. Although many in the U.S. government aspire to her level of commitment to Israel, few can measure up to a dedication that extends beyond the very interests of her own country.

“Lawless extremists infest Congress like crabgrass besets lawns. House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R. FL) is one of the worst,” wrote U.S. columnist Stephen Lendman on Sept. 1.

Ros-Lehtinen’s resume is a distressing read. The congresswoman “endorses U.S. imperial wars, police state laws, corporate empowerment, tax cuts for the rich, laying waste to Libya, perhaps a second Bay of Pigs, and Israeli lawlessness, while, at the same, opposing Palestinian statehood,” according to Lendman.

It is, in fact, the “Israeli lawlessness” and her opposition to a Palestinian statehood that has made her a darling to Israel and its lobby. Unsurprisingly, Ros-Lehtinen has been rewarded handsomely for her die-hard support of Israel by some of the most powerful pro-Israeli individuals and lobby groups in the United States. One of these individuals is Irving Moskowitz.

more

http://worldnewstrust.com/all-content/edited/for-the-love-of-israel-congresswomans-misguided-war-on-the-un-ramzy-baroud.html

[Violet_Crumble]

1. Ros-Lehtinen is a lunatic n/t

[bemildred]

2. It pays well. nt

[ProgressiveProfessor]

3. Who pays Baroud?

[Violet_Crumble]

4. Why do you ask?

I'd say if he's a staff writer, he's paid by the newspaper who employs him. If he's freelance, he gets paid by whoever he writes or speaks for.

[bemildred]

13. Come, come, I talk about all politicians that way.

With a very few exceptions.

[oberliner]

5. Way too much "according to Lendman" in this piece

Not sure how he came to be an authority of the issue.

Certainly Ros-Lehtinen's resume does not contain any of the items Lendman says it does.

Laying waste to Libya?

[azurnoir]

6. I would think her political resume indeed does contain these things

perhaps you'll believe it from JPost

J Street is calling on US House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen to return thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Irving Moskowitz, a Florida businessman who has made controversial purchases of homes in the heart of east Jerusalem for Jewish inhabitants.

J Street charged that he "actively works to derail the chances for a two-state solution by funding Jewish settler housing in the middle of Arab neighborhoods in east Jerusalem" in calling for the money to be given back. Ros-Lehtinen was not immediately available for comment.

The move drew a furious response from Jack Rosen, chairman of the American Council for World Jewry. In a letter to J Street head Jeremy Ben-Ami, he argued that while J Street could criticize Ros-Lehtinen's positions, "it is reckless and misleading for you to question the financing of her re-election campaign on this basis," particularly when the organization "failed to demonstrate that Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen acted inappropriately in accepting donations from a US citizen who happens to support Jewish settlements in the West Bank."

http://www.jpost.com/Headlines/Article.aspx?id=204387

as to her UN stance there been been a thread here about that


Ros-Lehtinen Hijacks Pro-Israel Support for Extreme Anti-UN Bill

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, introduced an extreme bill (HR 2829) that holds UN funding, as well as U.S. leadership, prestige, and influence at the U.N., hostage if her outrageous demands aren't met. Ros-Lehtinen is willing to sacrifice the benefits of U.S. leadership at the UN right at a time when the U.S. is successfully promoting its national security and foreign policy priorities on the world stage.

This is not the first time Rep. Ros-Lehtinen has introduced extreme anti-UN legislation. But this time she has strategically timed the debate on the bill to occur in September during the UN General Assembly's vote on the recognition of Palestine. Congresswoman Ros-Lehtinen is blatantly attempting to hijack Americans' support for Israel in the hopes of derailing the United States' relationship with the UN. She is misusing and distorting the high emotions around the Palestine vote to promote her longstanding and extreme anti-UN agenda.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/don-kraus/roslehtinen-hijacks-prois_b_943759.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x362116

[oberliner]

7. Nothing you posted suggests that supporting "laying waste to Libya" is on her resume

Would you say that is on Obama's resume as well?

[azurnoir]

8. ah but the other stuff is such her UN policy and Moskowitz being a donor

I did not check the "laying waste to Libya" part however

[oberliner]

11. A second Bay of Pigs? Israeli lawlessness?

Come on now.

[azurnoir]

12. Those were stated as opinion

you state down thread that this is Lendman's spin I stated the facts as to UN bill and her rrelationship with Irving Moskowitz

here is more about Ros-Lehtinen and Cuba



Ileana Ros-Lehtinen plays a prominent role in the Cuban-American lobby, which aims to put pressure on the Cuban government and encourage political change on the island. She is a member of the Congressional Cuba Democracy Caucus. She is the daughter of Enrique Ros, a Florida-based Cuban business man and anti-Fidel Castro activist. Ros-Lehtinen also advances strongly held views on Cuba, and has lobbied against ending the United States embargo against that country. In 2004 she formed the Cuba Democracy Group aimed at curtailing U.S. agriculture exports and preventing U.S. banks from doing business with the Cuban government.<23>

Ros-Lehtinen has defended former fugitive Velentin Hernández, convicted of murdering Luciano Nieves, a fellow Cuban exile who supported negotiations with the Cuban government,<24> In the 1980s Ros-Lehtinen lobbied for the release and pardon of Cuban exile Orlando Bosch, who had been convicted of terrorist acts and has also been accused of involvement in the 1976 bombing of Cubana Flight 455, which killed 73 people, helping organize an "Orlando Bosch day" to gain support for his release.<25><26><27> Ros-Lehtinen played a prominent role in the failed attempt by relatives of Elian Gonzalez to gain custody of six-year-old from the Castro regime, describing Cuba as "that system of godless communism".<28> She also attempted to block Jimmy Carter's visit to the island in 2002.<29><30>

Ros-Lehtinen stirred controversy by calling for the assassination of Cuban Leader Fidel Castro. She appears in the British documentary 638 Ways to Kill Castro, saying: "I welcome the opportunity of having anyone assassinate Fidel Castro and any leader who is oppressing the people." After a 28-second clip began circulating on the Internet, she claimed the filmmakers spliced clips together to get the sound bite. Twenty-four hours after the controversy erupted, director Dollan Cannell sent unedited tapes of his interview with Ros-Lehtinen to reporters.<31> The uncut version contradicted Ros-Lehtinen's response and showed that she had twice welcomed an attempt on Castro's life. Though she attempted to distance herself from her denial, filmmaker Cannell requested an apology, which has not been forthcoming.<32>

This page was last modified on 8 September 2011 at 14:49.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ileana_Ros-Lehtinen#Cuba

[Violet_Crumble]

9. Have you got a link to her resume?

She's got some extreme views, so I wouldn't mind having a look...

[oberliner]

10. I am pretty confident that Lendman was not talking about her literal resume

He was putting his spin on the things he believes she supports.

For instance, if she supported Obama's intervention in Libya, that would equate, in his mind, to having "laying waste to Libya" on her resume.

[Shaktimaan]

14. hyperbole

“Ros-Lehtinen's irresponsible bill would slash 50% of the United States' contributions to the UN's regular budget if her unrealistic demands aren't met," wrote Don Kraus in the Huffington Post (Sept. 2).

Some of these demands require U.S. president Barack Obama to direct the U.S. permanent representative at the UN to “use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States at the UN to expand the Western European and Others Group (WEOG) in the United Nations in Geneva to include Israel as a permanent member with full rights and privileges.” More, it “requires all employees of the UN and its specialized agencies to officially and publicly condemn anti-Semitic statements made at any session of the United Nations or its specialized agencies, or at any other session sponsored by the United Nations.”

These demands, and many others, are aimed at isolating Palestinians, stifling all criticism of Israel, and propping up Israel’s legitimacy in the face of international uproar resulting from Israel’s illegal occupation and continued violations of human rights.

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So how is demanding that Israel be given equal rights as every other UN member "aimed at isolating Palestinians?" Or is it opposing anti-semitism that isolates Palestinians? Help me out, I'm confused. Why is demanding the ending of institutionalized discrimination and bigotry against Jews and Israelis such a terrible thing?

[bemildred]

15. "Lawlesss extremists infest Congress like crabgrass besets lawns."

Notice The Congressperson's complete lack of any sense of irony, any sense of her own potential for "extremism" or hyperbole. The Congress is certainly full of corrupt and immature weasels, but hardly "lawless extremists", they are one and all pillars of the status quo.