Speaking About Sderot, Gillibrand Gets Choked Up
By Nathan Guttman
An unusually emotional moment at the Orthodox Union’s annual Senate luncheon Tuesday.
Among those stopping by to greet the OU activists, who spent two days in Washington for the group’s leadership mission, was the new senator from New York Kirsten Gillibrand. As she took to the podium, Gillibrand began talking about her recent trip to Israel and quickly choked up with tears. She told the activists about the rabbi she had met in Israel who told her the story of a girl from Sderot, who said she did not want any toys; her only wish was that Hamas shoots the rockets later on in the day, so she doesn’t have to run for shelter in fear on her way to school.
As she continued talking about her meeting with Sderot parents and children, who had been living under Hamas rocket threat, Senator Gillibrand paused for a moment and tried to overcome the tears.
“It was so emotional for me,” she told the crowd. Adding that talking about the suffering of children in Sderot made her think of her own two kids, both were at home sick.
March 4, 2008, 5:11pm
Barack Obama’s Jewish YouTube Campaign
By Daniel Treiman
Barack Obama’s campaign is taking its Jewish outreach strategy to YouTube with a pair of videos of him talking about Israel.
The first video is a recorded message to the people of Sderot, which was shown at the recent “Live for Sderot” fund-raiser in Los Angeles:
The second features excerpts of his recent remarks to Jewish leaders in Cleveland:
Hat tip: The L.A. Jewish Journal’s Brad Greenberg and Dikla Kodesh
February 29, 2008, 12:45am
Sly's for Sderot
By Daniel Treiman
The stars came out to support for Sderot this week. The L.A. Jewish Journal’s Dikla Kadosh was at the “Live For Sderot” concert/fundraiser at the Wilshire Theater in Beverly Hills. Also in attendance, she reported, were Sylvester Stallone, Mayim Bialik, Maria Conchita Alonzo, Valerie Harper and Hollywood’s No. 1 Judeophile, Jon Voight.
(Ha’aretz has video from interviews with Stallone and other participants here.)
But politics were also a part of the mix. Kadosh reports:
Ha’aretz to Hamas: We’re Not Gonna Take It
By Daniel Treiman
The dovish Israeli daily Ha’aretz takes a tough line on the ongoing Qassam fire from Hamas-controlled Gaza in an editorial titled “Restraint is not possible”:
If the limited military actions Israel is undertaking in an effort to bring an end to the Qassam rockets will not bring an end to the shooting; if the moderate states, and first and foremost Egypt and Jordan fail to contain Hamas — Israel will have no option but to embark on a broad military operation.
The Israel Defense Forces raison d’etre is to protect the country’s citizens from attack. Even if the success of a military operation is not guaranteed, that concern must not prevent the government from doing what is necessary in order to protect the lives of its citizens and the state’s border. The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is political, and should always be pursued. At the same time, Israel must prove that the blood of its citizens cannot be forfeited — so that in the future, its neighbors will abide by the agreements to which they have committed.
Hat Tip: Marty Peretz
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