Texas Governor Rick Perry - Deep In the Heart Of Israel
thinbluemime
On June 28, 2011, Perry wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder
regarding “Violations of U.S. Law by Organizers of Gaza Flotilla.” The
letter is on official state letterhead, and Perry signed it as governor,
not as a private citizen. Now you might well express surprise that such a
communication even exists; after all, what does the Gaza flotilla have to
do with the governance of Texas? Perry does not exactly answer that
question except by noting that he is an “American citizen and governor of
one of its largest states.” His letter claims that the flotilla would
“interfere with Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip,” and it
calls on Holder to prevent “these illegal actions” and “prosecute anyone
who may elect to engage in them.
http://america-hijacked.com/2011/08/04/rick-perry-abuses-his-office-for-israel/
Where to start? First of all, Perry is a governor who is acting in his
official capacity on behalf of a foreign country in criminalizing a
peaceful protest by U.S. citizens taking place 7,000 miles away and in
which his state has no possible interest. It is by no means clear who
exactly egged the governor on to write the letter, but he does cite the
assistance of Shurat HaDin, the Israeli lawfare center, which is dedicated
to using lawsuits to silence any and all criticism of Israel. You might
reasonably conclude that Perry is engaged in pandering to the many friends
of Israel in the media and elsewhere and is making sure that he is in the
good graces of the Israel Lobby in case he decides to make his
presidential run, but it is also possible that he believes what he has
written. He is an evangelical who has visited Israel a number of times,
pledged his undying loyalty to the government of that country, and on a
2007 visit received the Friend of Zion award.
http://original.antiwar.com/giraldi/2011/08/03/rick-perry-abuses-his-office-for-israel/
As for Middle East politics, during his 2009 race against Sen. Kay Bailey
Hutchinson (R-TX), Perry told a group of journalists, "My faith requires
me to support Israel." He also said that the Obama administration is "out
of tune with America" on the question of Israel. Perry also talked about
his time working with the Israel Defense Forces when he was in the Air
Force. In August 2009, he traveled to Israel to receive the "Defender of
Jerusalem Award."
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/08/10/rick_perry_the_hawk_internationalist
The city of Jerusalem is one of the oldest cities in the world and it has
a new defender: Texas Governor Rick Perry. In August, Perry was given the
"Defender of Jerusalem" award. So Perry and his wife flew first class to
Israel at more than $5,000 per ticket. The governor's security detail of
four Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers was also along for the
trip.
http://weareaustin.com/fulltext?nxd_id=38942&nxd_85116_start=15
Alls Quiet
> Where to start?
Interesting article, although I'm not really sure what it has to do
with rec.arts.tv. I wouldn't be voting for Perry anyway, but the
article raised an interesting issue for me. Namely, when did the
"silent majority" become anti-Israel? No question that popular opinion
has changed from a kind of blase assumption about the rectitude of pro-
Israel policy.
PaxPerPoten
Israel is a terrorist state that has been cited hundreds of times by the
UN and the international community. It sneaked attacked its neighbors
and America to gain more land. It has genocided thousands in Gaza. It
has murdered an American girl. It has murdered American Sailors on the
USS Liberty. It has spied on America and sold our secrets to Russia and
others. it daily does industrial espionage in America and throughout the
world. It has caused large numbers of Americans to be killed. They have
sucked over a $trillion out of the American taxpayers pockets. They have
a Political Arm called AIPAC and the Bnai brith that has totally
corrupted our American political system.
If Perry truly feels this way about the Israeli Jews then he should not
be running for president, but should be tried for treason and shot!
When you run for office in America, your concerns should be for America
and no others.
--
It is hardly too strong to say that the Constitution was made to guard
the people against the dangers of good intentions. There are men in all
ages who mean to govern well, but *They mean to govern*. They promise to
be good masters, *but they mean to be masters*. Daniel Webster
Thanatos
> Shurat HaDin, the Israeli lawfare center, which is dedicated
> to using lawsuits to silence any and all criticism of Israel.
Have you been sued yet?
thinbluemime
Not yet, but then I am not high profile like a former President of the
United States who was.
Class Action Suit Filed Against Jimmy Carter for Deliberate
Misrepresentations in Anti-Israel Book
February 12, 2011: An historic class action suit has been filed against
the former President and the Simon & Schuster publishing company alleging
that Carter’s book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid, contained numerous
false and knowingly misleading statements intended to promote the author’s
agenda of anti-Israel propaganda and to deceive the reading public instead
of presenting accurate information as advertised.
http://www.israellawcenter.org/page.asp?id=339&show=reports
Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid...Jimmy Carter
http://books.google.com/books/about/Palestine.html?id=c5byFwiV1TEC
http://www.democracynow.org/2006/11/30/palestine_peace_not_apartheid_jimmy_carter
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is accusing Israel of creating an
apartheid system in the West Bank and Gaza. The charge comes in his new
book "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid."
The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been deeply involved in Middle East
policies for the past three decades. As president he negotiated the Camp
David Accords–which secured a lasting peace between Israel and Egypt.
In his new book, Jimmy Carter writes, "Israel’s continued control and
colonization of Palestinian land have been the primary obstacles to a
comprehensive peace agreement in the Holy Land."
Jim G.
I think that if there were an eBay auction of Golda Meir's
unmentionables, Mime would outbid everyone. One-handed.
--
Jim G.
Waukesha, WI
Mason Barge
wrote:
[...]
Okay, I don't really share your political views here, but this line is
preposterous:
> His letter claims that the flotilla would
>“interfere with Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip,” and it
>calls on Holder to prevent “these illegal actions” and “prosecute anyone
>who may elect to engage in them.
The guy isn't exactly a paragon of logic, is he?
I'll Never Be 15/08/11
> On 8/15/2011 6:31 AM, Alls Quiet wrote:
> > On Aug 15, 2:22 am, thinbluemime<thinbluem...@tbm.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Where to start?
> >
> > Interesting article, although I'm not really sure what it has to do
> > with rec.arts.tv. I wouldn't be voting for Perry anyway, but the
> > article raised an interesting issue for me. Namely, when did the
> > "silent majority" become anti-Israel? No question that popular opinion
> > has changed from a kind of blase assumption about the rectitude of pro-
> > Israel policy.
>
> Israel is a terrorist state that has been cited hundreds of times by the
> UN and the international community. It sneaked attacked its neighbors
> and America to gain more land. It has genocided thousands in Gaza.
And yet there are more Palestinians than ever. Some genocide
It
> has murdered an American girl. It has murdered American Sailors on the
> USS Liberty. It has spied on America and sold our secrets to Russia and
> others. it daily does industrial espionage in America and throughout the
> world.
America spies on many countries continuously. Industrial espionage is de rigeur
in this day and age. China apparently bought some of the wreckage from Pakistan
of the destroyed helicopter that was used in the successful attack on bin laden
It has caused large numbers of Americans to be killed. They have
> sucked over a $trillion out of the American taxpayers pockets. They have
> a Political Arm called AIPAC
There are many many PACs, why aren't you upset with them?
thinbluemime
Damn-it Jim!
I'm a usenet poster, not a master debater!
thinbluemime
wrote:
No he isn't, considering he was elected to represent the people and their
needs here in the United States. And considering Israel is a foreign
nation like Canada. Imagine the outrage here in the States if Perry took a
similar position of support for Mexico or Canada, against citizens of the
United States he has pledged to serve and protect.
And if you look at the conditions in Gaza, and consider some of the
flotilla protesters were Jewish, yes Jewish, we should be very skeptical
of Perry or any other Presidential candidate, Republican or Democrat, who
takes such a radical position.
Thanatos
Thanatos
thinbluemime <thinbl...@tbm.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 15 Aug 2011 13:39:06 +0100, Thanatos <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>
> > thinbluemime <thinbl...@tbm.net> wrote:
> >
> >> Shurat HaDin, the Israeli lawfare center, which is dedicated
> >> to using lawsuits to silence any and all criticism of Israel.
> >
> > Have you been sued yet?
>
> Not yet, but then I am not high profile like a former President of the
> United States who was.
Yes, but you said, 'any and all criticism'.
> http://www.israellawcenter.org/page.asp?id=339&show=reports
Publicity stunt. No chance of success.
Ed Stasiak
> > thinbluemime
> >
> > Not yet, but then I am not high profile like a former
> > President of the United States who was.
>
> Yes, but you said, 'any and all criticism'.
If the Jews successfully sue Jimmy Carter, (or some other
famous person) what makes you think the Jewish Internet
Defense Force won't go after the smaller fish for their "hate
crime" of criticizing Israel?
Ed Stasiak
> > thinbluemime
> >
> > Not yet, but then I am not high profile like a former
> > President of the United States who was.
>
> Yes, but you said, 'any and all criticism'.
If the Jews successfully sue Jimmy Carter, (or some other
Thanatos
<cf247e40-9306-429a...@a20g2000yql.googlegroups.com>,
Ed Stasiak <esta...@att.net> wrote:
That's like saying, "If monkeys fly out of your ass, what makes you
think unicorns won't be next?"
Anim8rFSK
Thanatos <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
If the Jews successfully sue Jimmy Carter, can the rest of us join in?
I for one want his salary back ...
--
"Please, I can't die, I've never kissed an Asian woman!"
Shego on "Shat My Dad Says"
Anim8rFSK
Thanatos <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
Oh come on. Everybody knows Golda went commando.
Stephen Newport
back ...
SN: We should be suing Reagan and Bush.
trotsky
Maybe all your teabaggin' will pay off someday!
Jim G.
> In article <atropos-2642B7...@news.giganews.com>,
> Thanatos <atr...@mac.com> wrote:
>
> > In article <u18i47hk04tcuv1r4...@4ax.com>,
> > Jim G. <jimg...@geemail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Thanatos sent the following on Mon, 15 Aug 2011 07:39:06 -0500:
> > > > thinbluemime <thinbl...@tbm.net> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > Shurat HaDin, the Israeli lawfare center, which is dedicated
> > > > > to using lawsuits to silence any and all criticism of Israel.
> > > >
> > > > Have you been sued yet?
> > >
> > > I think that if there were an eBay auction of Golda Meir's
> > > unmentionables, Mime would outbid everyone. One-handed.
> >
> > heh
>
> Oh come on. Everybody knows Golda went commando.
Only for heads of state. Everyone else had to attach one of those little
spy cameras to a shoe and hope for the best.
Mason Barge
Good one! And 100% correct.
Personally I think this lawsuit is so stupid it will backfire. Americans
don't like people who bully others with frivolous lawsuits, especially
something like this where they are attempting to suppress a perfectly
legitimate, non-extreme political opinion.
I mean, I don't agree with it, but it's not totally absurd. And I
certainly believe in his right to say it.
thinbluemime
wrote:
> Texas Governor Rick Perry - Deep In the Heart Of Israel
>
>
> On June 28, 2011, Perry wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder
> regarding “Violations of U.S. Law by Organizers of Gaza Flotilla.” The
> letter is on official state letterhead, and Perry signed it as governor,
> not as a private citizen. Now you might well express surprise that such
> a communication even exists; after all, what does the Gaza flotilla have
> to do with the governance of Texas?
> http://america-hijacked.com/2011/08/04/rick-perry-abuses-his-office-for-israel/
Texas Governor Rick Perry works with Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center (that
is suing former USA President Jimmy Carter) to block flotilla
http://www.israellawcenter.org/page.asp?id=341&show=photo&pn=1163&ref=report
June 30, 2011: We ( Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center) have been hard at
work, round the clock, with our legal campaign to obstruct the Islamic
militants and anti-Israel activist who are intent on trying to breach
Israel's maritime blockade of the Hamas controlled Gaza Strip. We continue
our struggle against the Flotilla in two additional ways:
#2. A letter from Governor Rick Perry
In addition, we have been working with the good offices of Texas Governor
Rick Perry to take legal action against the Flotilla organizers who
engaged in numerous violations of US law. Governor Perry is a steadfast
supporter of the Jewish State and I have had the privilege of meeting with
him in Israel and Texas. When the Governor learned of all the criminal
activity being perpetrated in the US against America's closest Middle
Eastern ally, without any investigation or prosecutions being undertaken
by the Justice Department, he wanted to assist any way he could. With the
information we provided to Governor Perry he quickly drafted a letter to
Attorney General Holder demanding that he investigate and aggressively
pursue the organizers of the Flotilla. He also asked that the Inmarsat
company be investigated for providing satellite services to the ships. The
letter is receiving widespread international attention.
-----------------
Shurat HaDin Israel Law Center Class Action Suit Filed Against Jimmy Carter
http://www.israellawcenter.org/page.asp?id=339&show=photo&pn=1118&ref=report
thinbluemime
I saw everything I needed to see looking up 'Golda's balcony'. The hand of
god went limp.
That isn't a euphemism either. LOL
thinbl...@gmail.com
> Texas Governor Rick Perry - Deep In the Heart Of Israel
Cathy Schechter November 18, 2013
http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/153013/lyndon-johnson-november-1963?print=1
But in December 1963, the new president made up the date, honoring a long Jewish friendship
On Nov. 22, 1963, the women of the Congregation Agudas Achim Sisterhood in Austin, Texas, were working in their new kosher kitchen, mixing potato salad for the several hundred people expected to turn up at the dedication of their new synagogue the next day—a group that was to include Vice President Lyndon B. Johnson, formerly the congregation’s longtime congressman. The women didn’t have enough mixing bowls, so they wound up using the synagogue’s brand-new plastic trashcans to prepare the potato salad, a detail their honored guest would never need to know.
Of course, Johnson never made it to Austin. Instead of holding a joyous celebration, the congregants gathered to mourn the death of John F. Kennedy and pray for their old friend Lyndon, who had just been sworn in as president on Air Force One, standing next to the blood-spattered and shocked former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. No one expected that he would reschedule his visit—but, ever the consummate politician, Johnson decided to keep his promise, and on Dec. 28, the new president arrived at the new Agudas Achim building.
The synagogue owed its new location on Bull Creek to Johnson’s intercession in a real-estate deal. It’s highly probable that no American president has ever been as intimately involved in the construction of a shul as Johnson was in this one. In October 1963, as vice president, he loaned his Lincoln Continental convertible to congregant Morris Shapiro, who drove the Torah scrolls the three or four miles from Congregation Agudas Achim’s downtown location to its new suburban home amid a parade of marching Jews.
The connection between Johnson and Agudas Achim was Jim Novy [1], a Polish-born immigrant who wound up in Texas under the Galveston Plan and made a small fortune in scrap metal. One of Johnson’s earliest political allies in Austin, Novy, pillar of Austin’s Orthodox congregation, was instrumental in building the synagogue. For many Austin Jews, their relationship with Johnson had been so close that he was almost too familiar; Milton Simons, who was Agudas Achim’s president in the autumn of 1963, recalled that some of the congregants knew the vice president so well they refused to pay to hear him speak at the synagogue dedication.
The assassination changed that: When the dedication was rescheduled, a gully wash of people from all over the country wanted in, offering what Simons described as “enough money to pay the mortgage,” just to come to Austin to hear the new president talk to the Jews. In the end, it was Novy who kept the strangers out: As far as he was concerned, Austin Jews were LBJ’s Jews, and even “the people too cheap to buy tickets,” in Simons’ estimation, should be there to hear the new president’s first non-official public remarks as president.
I first encountered the story of the synagogue dedication in 1988, while writing a book [2] about Texas Jews. In 2000, when Agudas Achim moved to its current location at the Dell Jewish Community Campus, I volunteered to produce a video to mark the occasion and interviewed congregants who attended the 1963 event, many of whom have since passed away.
***
Johnson had a special place in his heart for Jim Novy. Their relationship likely began in the early 1930s, when Lyndon worked as secretary and go-to man for Rep. Richard Kleberg, a member of the King ranching family who preferred polo to politics and gave Johnson wide berth. He became a regular presence at meetings of the B’nai B’rith Lodge and Zionist groups. It’s not clear whether Novy made his way to Washington to advocate for Zionist causes, as his daughter Elaine Shapiro believes, or to sell scrap metal to the federal government, as a distant cousin, Benard Laves, told me, but either way, he returned with a lifelong friend.
When Johnson moved back to Austin in 1935 to serve as Texas director of the National Youth Corps, he set up his office at 6th Street and Congress Avenue, at what was then the intersection between high-end Austin and the Jewish-owned schmatte stores along 6th Street. When it was time to raise funds to support Johnson’s first run for Congress, in 1937, the B’nai Brith members and Zionist activists Johnson met at Novy’s lake lodge.
Laves, a born raconteur, remembered walking up 6th toward Congress as a child with his father. He spotted Johnson and wanted to meet him, but his father cautioned, “Just let Lyndon alone to do his thing.” That day, LBJ walked with Jake Pickle, the advertising man who would eventually succeed him as representative of the Tenth District. Jake called to Benard’s father, “Hey, Louie!” He escorted LBJ across the street to greet them. “This great big tall guy, I’m a little kid looking up at him, this terrible look on his face, meaner than hell,” Laves recalled to me in 2009. (He died earlier this year.) “And all of a sudden he smiled, and it was like the sun coming out from behind a cloud.”
Johnson’s constituents in the 10th District included all kinds of minorities: blacks, Mexicans, and immigrants from dirt farms who spoke English, Spanish, Czech, German, and Yiddish. It was a time, as Johnson recounted to the congregation in December 1963, when newspapers were published in a dozen languages to serve Austin’s many immigrants. The vast majority of Austin’s Jews were Democrats, and when Austin’s Jews were troubled about something or needed help, Johnson answered their calls and got results.
But it was his strong and enduring relationship with Novy that led to a sweetheart land deal in the early 1960s by which Congregation Agudas Achim sold its downtown building to the federal government and then applied the proceeds to land along the Missouri Pacific railroad easements that ran through the new suburbs of north Austin. Today, Austin’s Federal Building stands at the site of the old synagogue.
Early one morning after the sh’loshim for Kennedy were over, Novy received a call from President Johnson. “He told Daddy, ‘I said I would be there, and I’m going to be there,’” Elaine Shapiro said. With only a week’s notice, the members of Congregation Agudas Achim hustled once again to prepare. The shul’s decorations committee set the stage for the possibility that there might be television cameras in attendance. The Sisterhood catering team thawed out the barbecue and remade the potato salad and Jell-O mold. Shirley Rubinett remembered that the Secret Service sent taste-testers, and the president was supposed to eat only what they approved. But, in the end, she told me, “He ate whatever he wanted, he gobbled it down, he was hungry.”
Almost every person I spoke with said the most memorable image of the evening was entering the synagogue vestibule and seeing a red telephone on the table—a cultural icon preserved in the congregants’ collective memory as the infamous “red phone” [4] connecting Washington and Moscow, though it could not have been. Ann and Saul Ginsburg’s son, David, played “Hail to the Chief” on the Spinet piano. The suave and articulate Dr. Polsky emceed the evening, and Jim Novy introduced the president with a litany of stories of all the times Johnson had helped him and the Jews. “I’ve always called on President Johnson to give us a help,” Novy told the crowd. “And there was never a time that I asked the president that he wouldn’t take care of Jewish problems.” In fact, Novy’s introduction that night is what gave rise to the persistent Internet rumors that Johnson was a righteous gentile who saved hundreds of Jewish lives before and during WWII, though exhaustive searches by Johnson Library archivist Claudia Anderson have turned up no primary-source proof to substantiate the rumors.
After the community poured out its affection, President Johnson rose to speak [5]. In his remarks—captured on a 33 1/3 LP for congregants to keep as a souvenir—he revealed the reciprocity of the trust and respect he felt, as well as the strength he drew from them. He combined a tribute to his home community and the Jewish people with remarks that foreshadowed his War on Poverty, which we Texans chose to hold in our memories in a more elevated place than the missteps in Vietnam that ultimately doomed his leadership. And he offered his personal tribute to Jim Novy: “If we have leaders like this good man who has spent so many of his hours in the years past trying to build temples like this, temples where men can worship, temples where justice reigns, temples where the free are welcome, temples where the dignity of man prevails, then America will truly be worthy of the leadership we claim, and the rest of the world will follow us where we lead.”
When Novy died, in 1971, Johnson—by then out of the White House and back in Texas—sat alone in the back of the sanctuary, without Secret Service or aides or hangers-on, wearing a kippah. Shortly after, Johnson also died of heart disease. It would seem that the partnership forged by the two men and the benefits yielded to Congregation Agudas Achim had come to an end. But there is a postscript to this story: During the later years of the Johnson presidency, Encyclopedia Judaica approached Jim Novy to see if he could persuade the president to help fund them. Through Novy’s influence, they were able to obtain an interest-free $2 million loan to conduct the research needed to replace the old Jewish Encyclopedia with a version that reflected both the Holocaust and the birth of the State of Israel. In return for the favor, Novy asked for 100 sets of encyclopedias to sell as a fundraiser. The proceeds arrived after the deaths of both Johnson and Novy, but Dr. Byron Smith, another former shul president, hoarded the money and hid it from anyone who wanted to use it to pay for day-to-day operations to pay down the Bull Creek mortgage, years in advance.
We Texas Jews just loved LBJ. It wasn’t just that he helped Austin Jews build a shul or that so many of us benefited from the “kosher pork” Johnson brought home. (My father was a chemical engineer who worked to make solid rocket fuel to be sold to NASA.) I remember how, on the day Johnson was inaugurated in 1965, my father proudly pointed to Rabbi Hyman Judah Schachtel of Houston standing right there next to the president of the United States. To have my grandparents’ rabbi make the invocation gave a 10-year-old Jewish girl from Waco a sense of belonging. A few years later, in 1971—the year Jim Novy died—I attended a youth gathering at the Religious Action Center in Washington, D.C., and for the first time heard my peers characterizing LBJ as a warmongering ignoramus with a drawl. To this day I hear the echo of my kishkes: Didn’t they know? Didn’t they know that LBJ was one of us?
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect that President Johnson was not, in fact, the first sitting American president to dedicate a synagogue. That honor belongs to President Ulysses S. Grant [6], who attended [7] the dedication of Washington’s Adas Israel in 1876.
***
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Cathy Schechter lives in Austin. She is the co-author of Deep in the Heart: The Lives and Legends of Texas Jews, and wrote the first article about Austin for the Encyclopedia Judaica. She is at work on a novel.
Find this story online: http://www.tabletmag.com/jewish-news-and-politics/153013/lyndon-johnson-november-1963
Tablet Magazine is a project of Nextbook Inc. Copyright © 2013 Nextbook Inc. All rights reserved.
thinbl...@gmail.com
>
>
> On June 28, 2011, Perry wrote a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder
> regarding “Violations of U.S. Law by Organizers of Gaza Flotilla.” The
> letter is on official state letterhead, and Perry signed it as governor,
> not as a private citizen. Now you might well express surprise that such a
> communication even exists; after all, what does the Gaza flotilla have to
> do with the governance of Texas? Perry does not exactly answer that
> question except by noting that he is an “American citizen and governor of
> one of its largest states.” His letter claims that the flotilla would
> “interfere with Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip,” and it
> calls on Holder to prevent “these illegal actions” and “prosecute anyone
> who may elect to engage in them.
> http://america-hijacked.com/2011/08/04/rick-perry-abuses-his-office-for-israel/
>
> a new defender: Texas Governor Rick Perry. In August, Perry was given the
> "Defender of Jerusalem" award. So Perry and his wife flew first class to
> Israel at more than $5,000 per ticket. The governor's security detail of
> four Department of Public Safety (DPS) officers was also along for the
> trip.
> http://weareaustin.com/fulltext?nxd_id=38942&nxd_85116_start=15
Israel aims to silence growing international criticism with Texas A&M deal in Nazareth
Jonathan Cook on January 3, 2014
http://mondoweiss.net/2014/01/international-criticism-nazareth.html
From left: Texas A&M Chancellor John Sharp, Israeli Education Minister Shay Piron, Shimon Peres, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Prof. Manuel Trajtenberg. (Photo: AP)
Two months ago officials from Israel and Texas made an unexpected announcement, unveiling an ambitious plan to build in Israel the first branch of an American university, at a probable cost of $100 million.
The greatest surprise of all was the location: Texas A&M University, one of the biggest in the US, is set to open its new campus in Nazareth, a town of 80,000 in the Galilee, home to the largest community of Christians in Israel and the unofficial capital of the country’s Palestinian minority.
Israel hopes to accomplish several goals from the venture: silence international criticism for its having the highest levels of poverty and inequality among the advanced economies; drive a wedge further between Palestinian Christians and Muslims; stymie efforts by Palestinians in Israel to win educational autonomy; and strike a powerful blow against mounting pressure from the movement for an academic and cultural boycott....
...At a ceremony on October 23 in Jerusalem, Texas governor Rick Perry and Israel’s president, Shimon Peres, signed an agreement committing Texas A&M to assist in raising funds for the new university, which has been christened the “Peace Campus”...
Other aspects of the arrangement, however, have set off alarm bells, most especially the news that Texas A&M will not be providing the money directly. Fund-raising will be undertaken at least in part by US evangelicals, led by John Hagee.
Hagee is the founder of Christians United for Israel, a Christian Zionist organisation with more than a million supporters in the US that is best known for raising money to help extremist settlements in the West Bank, which are intended to destroy any chances of a peace agreement.
Christian Zionists support Israel’s Jewish population unreservedly in the hope that by encouraging all Jews to come to Israel they can advance a supposed Biblical prophecy of an end of times, in which the Messiah returns.
Given his oft-expressed disdain for Palestinians in the occupied territories, why is Hagee transforming himself into the economic and educational saviour of Palestinians in the heart of Israel?
In fact, Hagee appears to have been at the forefront of the negotiations over the Nazareth campus. He has even boasted that it was he who engineered the first meetings between Texas A&M and the Israeli leadership. Hagee is known to be close to Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Christian Zionist motivations for the deal are not hard to identify. Governor Perry has a strong evangelical following, and may be hoping that the Nazareth campus will help boost his credentials with the wider Christian Zionist movement in the US if, as expected, he seeks the Republican party’s next presidential nomination.
thinbl...@gmail.com
#DancingWithTheRabbis @GovernorPerry Chabad.org @AggieRabbi #ShareTheLights #chanukah
https://vine.co/v/Ognzm7iu1ev
Statement by Gov. Perry on Chanukah
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
http://governor.state.tx.us/news/press-release/20396/
Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding Chanukah:
"It is fitting that the first night of Chanukah falls this year on the anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. The same spirit of freedom that inspired the Maccabees to rise up against a foreign empire motivated our Founding Fathers to rebel against the Crown on that fateful night.
"They knew, as the Jewish people know, that the few can overcome the many, that right can defeat might, that faith can transcend persecution. No matter how vast the darkness, all it takes is one candle to spread the light.
"Our Republic, like the light of the ancient Menorah, has lasted longer than anyone could have predicted. America remains a beacon of hope in difficult times for the world. And Chanukah reminds us of the power of faith to sustain a nation and ensure the security of our ally, Israel.
"I wish you and your family the very happiest Chanukah. May you enjoy a year of peace and success, and may this Festival of Lights strengthen the faith and unity of our nation."
thinbluemime2
> On Monday, August 15, 2011 2:22:05 AM UTC-4, thinbluemime wrote:
>
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.arts.tv/Jp__3gwfKw4/Wf-ZNDzpLdcJ
>
>> Texas Governor Rick Perry - Deep In the Heart Of Israel
>> official capacity on behalf of a foreign country in criminalizing a
>> peaceful protest by U.S. citizens taking place 7,000 miles away and in
>> which his state has no possible interest.
>
> "It is fitting that the first night of Chanukah falls this year on the
> anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. The same spirit of freedom that
> inspired the Maccabees to rise up against a foreign empire motivated our
> Founding Fathers to rebel against the Crown on that fateful night.
https://vine.co/v/OgQIbP6ZLt7
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ
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thinbluemime2
<thinbl...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Thu, 18 Dec 2014 19:28:59 -0500, <thinbl...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> On Monday, August 15, 2011 2:22:05 AM UTC-4, thinbluemime wrote:
>>
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.arts.tv/Jp__3gwfKw4/Wf-ZNDzpLdcJ
>>
>>> Texas Governor Rick Perry - Deep In the Heart Of Israel
>
>>> Where to start? First of all, Perry is a governor who is acting in his
>>> official capacity on behalf of a foreign country in criminalizing a
>>> peaceful protest by U.S. citizens taking place 7,000 miles away and in
>>> which his state has no possible interest.
>
>
>> Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding Chanukah:
>>
>> "It is fitting that the first night of Chanukah falls this year on the
>> anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. The same spirit of freedom that
>> inspired the Maccabees to rise up against a foreign empire motivated
>> our Founding Fathers to rebel against the Crown on that fateful night.
>
>
> Dancing In The Street
>
> https://vine.co/v/OgQIbP6ZLt7
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G4jnaznUoQ
>
By Chris Moody, December 17, 2014
http://www.cnn.com/2014/12/16/politics/rick-perry-hanukkah-tea-party/
"Perry, who has hinted at a second run for the presidency in 2016, also
used the occasion as a reminder of his support for the modern Jewish
state, a must for any White House candidate."
Washington (CNN) -- Texas Gov. Rick Perry may not be dancing with rabbis
this Hanukkah season*, but the Lone Star State's outgoing chief is still
looking to find common ground with the Chosen.
Perry released a statement on the first night of Hanukkah comparing the
plight of the Maccabees—Jewish rebels who fought back the Seleucid Empire
in the second century B.C.—to that of American tea partiers under British
rule.
"It is fitting that the first night of Chanukah falls this year on the
a foreign empire motivated our Founding Fathers to rebel against the Crown
can overcome the many, that right can defeat might, that faith can
transcend persecution. No matter how vast the darkness, all it takes is
one candle to spread the light."
used the occasion as a reminder of his support for the modern Jewish
state, a must for any White House candidate.
"Our Republic, like the light of the ancient Menorah, has lasted longer
than anyone could have predicted. America remains a beacon of hope in
Israel."
with White House dreams goes to Wisconsin Republican Gov. Scott Walker.
The son of a Baptist preacher, Walker, in an undated letter released in an
August document dump but which didn't surface in the media until this
December, concluded his correspondence to a constituent asking if he would
light a Menorah in the state capitol for Hanukkah with the words, "Thank
you again and Molotov."
Presumably, he meant, "mazel tov."
From all pandering politicians out there, Happy Hanukkah.
.*Perry did, in fact dance with rabbis after this article was published.
Watch here: https://vine.co/v/Ognzm7iu1ev
dave
<snip>
>
> Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding Chanukah:
>
> "It is fitting that the first night of Chanukah falls this year on the
> anniversary of the Boston Tea Party. The same spirit of freedom that
> inspired the Maccabees to rise up against a foreign empire motivated our
> Founding Fathers to rebel against the Crown on that fateful night.
>
> "They knew, as the Jewish people know, that the few can overcome the
> many, that right can defeat might, that faith can transcend persecution.
> No matter how vast the darkness, all it takes is one candle to spread
> the light.
>
> "Our Republic, like the light of the ancient Menorah, has lasted longer
> than anyone could have predicted. America remains a beacon of hope in
> difficult times for the world. And Chanukah reminds us of the power of
> faith to sustain a nation and ensure the security of our ally, Israel.
>
> "I wish you and your family the very happiest Chanukah. May you enjoy a
> year of peace and success, and may this Festival of Lights strengthen
> the faith and unity of our nation."
II". In these books, the Maccabees are described as reactionary Jews who
want to retain their primitive religion and lifestyle. Their opponents
are the progressive Jews, who want to adapt Judaism to Hellenistic
civilization. The Seleucid kings supported the progressives, but could
not give them senough support, so the reactionary element prevailed.
On the other hand, perhaps Gov. Perry knows the facts and sympathizes
with the reactionary Jews.
thinbl...@gmail.com
https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rec.arts.tv/Jp__3gwfKw4/Wf-ZNDzpLdcJ
> Texas Governor Rick Perry - Deep In the Heart Of Israel
> regarding "Violations of U.S. Law by Organizers of Gaza Flotilla." The
> letter is on official state letterhead, and Perry signed it as governor,
> not as a private citizen. Now you might well express surprise that such a
> communication even exists; after all, what does the Gaza flotilla have to
> do with the governance of Texas? Perry does not exactly answer that
> question except by noting that he is an "American citizen and governor of
> one of its largest states." His letter claims that the flotilla would
> "interfere with Israel's maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip," and it
> calls on Holder to prevent "these illegal actions" and "prosecute anyone
> who may elect to engage in them.
> http://america-hijacked.com/2011/08/04/rick-perry-abuses-his-office-for-israel/
> official capacity on behalf of a foreign country in criminalizing a
> peaceful protest by U.S. citizens taking place 7,000 miles away and in
Published: 5/15
http://www.wxxv25.com/news/political/story/Perry-announcing-June-4-if-hell-run-again-for/FCsZ_I0BdkCYfOpPbmLPzg.cspx
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry will say next month whether he's running for president.
Perry is the longest-serving governor in Texas history. He's been traveling in Iowa and other early-voting states to explore a second campaign for the White House.
A spokesman says the Republican former governor is not ready to say he's made up his mind, and says Perry will announce his intentions June 4 in Dallas.
Perry left office in January. His 2012 presidential campaign was short-lived, undone by an "oops" moment in a debate when he couldn't remember the third Cabinet agency he wanted to eliminate.
http://www.wxxv25.com/media/lib/53/8/7/4/87408e54-f96b-4d83-a01f-8368a06fa7d3/Story.jpg
LAS VEGAS, NV - APRIL 25: Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition spring leadership meeting at The Venetian Las Vegas on April 25, 2015 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Republican Jewish Coalition's annual meeting featured potential Republican presidential candidates in attendance, along with Republican super donor Sheldon Adelson. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
thinbl...@gmail.com
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDvmtdclkUG/?hl=en
governorperry 613 commands in Torah. The last to write a Torah. #supportisrael
https://www.instagram.com/p/BDvoDOVFkXz/?hl=en
thinbl...@gmail.com
Eve Peyser Yesterday 10:14pm Filed to: WE ARE FUCKED
http://gizmodo.com/idiot-tasked-with-maintaining-americas-nukes-surprised-1791360449
In December, Rick Perry enthusiastically accepted the nomination to be Donald Trump’s secretary of energy—unfortunately for both Perry and the American people, he had no idea what the fuck he was signing up for. According to a New York Times report, Perry originally believed the job was being “a global ambassador for the American oil and gas industry.”
It’s not.
In fact, two-thirds of the Energy Department’s budget is spent on maintaining and protecting our nuclear arsenal, which Perry clearly doesn’t know much about. In his 2012 bid for the GOP nomination, Perry proposed abolishing the Energy Department before forgetting what it was even called.
Now this dunce will likely be in charge our country’s most powerful weapons.
This is sure to go just fine.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzHcvuU_Co0
thinbl...@gmail.com
April 20, 2017 By JTA
http://forward.com/fast-forward/369626/texas-house-passes-anti-bds-bill/
WASHINGTON (JTA) — The Texas House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill on Thursday banning state entities from dealing with businesses that boycott Israel or its settlements.
The bill follows the state Senate’s approval of a similar bill in March by overwhelming numbers. Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign a reconciled version of both bills next month.
In statements, pro-Israel groups that lobbied for the bills praised its passage.
“The relationship between the Jewish state and the Lone Star State is built upon shared values, including a rock-solid commitment to standing up for liberty – especially when it is threatened by radical Islamic extremism,” Pastor John Hagee, the founder of Christians United For Israel, said in a statement.
Josh Block, CEO of The Israel Project, sounded a similar note.
“The people of the Lone Star State and Israel share an unbreakable bond based upon mutual values, and by passing this legislation – ensuring that taxpayer dollars do not fund discrimination – Texas has reaffirmed this important friendship,” he said.
The House bill requires that Texas maintain a list of companies boycotting Israel. Civil liberties groups have objected to such provisions in other states, saying they amount to a blacklist.
In some cases the lists, drawn from the media and other open sources, have proven inaccurate, including companies not boycotting Israel.
Liberal pro-Israel groups say that including prohibitions on boycotting settlements undercuts efforts to combat the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.
Texas would be the 20th state with laws or executive orders banning state business with BDS-compliant companies.
thinbl...@gmail.com
Ali Abunimah 20 October 2017
https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/no-hurricane-aid-if-you-boycott-israel-says-texas-city
An official contract requires residents of Dickinson, Texas, to certify they won’t boycott Israel as a condition for receiving aid to rebuild after Hurricane Harvey.
A city in Texas is requiring residents to verify that they do not boycott Israel in order to receive aid to rebuild from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.
Civil liberties defenders are calling the measure a violation of the US Constitution.
The Electronic Intifada has found that several major cities in Texas are also requiring similar verification from people who want to do business with them.
An official form for residents of Dickinson to apply for city aid to rebuild hurricane-damaged homes and businesses requires certification that the applicant “does not boycott Israel” and “will not boycott Israel during the term of this agreement.”
The Houston suburb of about 20,000 residents was one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Harvey. Ninety percent of the town was flooded and local authorities say that 7,000 homes and almost 100 businesses were seriously damaged.
“The First Amendment protects Americans’ right to boycott, and the government cannot condition hurricane relief or any other public benefit on a commitment to refrain from protected political expression,” Andre Segura, Texas legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, said.
“Dickinson’s requirement is an egregious violation of the First Amendment, reminiscent of McCarthy-era loyalty oaths requiring Americans to disavow membership in the Communist party and other forms of ‘subversive’ activity.”
The ACLU said the measure appeared to be an effort to enforce a recently passed Texas law that requires all state contractors to certify that they are not participating in boycotts of Israel.
When signing that law, Governor Greg Abbott declared, “Anti-Israel policies are anti-Texas policies, and we will not tolerate such actions against an important ally.”
Major cities require no-boycott pledge
An examination of the websites of about a dozen other hurricane-affected Houston-area municipalities did not turn up similar measures to Dickinson’s.
But guidelines issued in September by the city of Galveston for contractors wanting to bid for neighborhood projects contain an Israel anti-boycott provision. The Galveston police also issued a tender for uniforms that requires bidders to verify they don’t boycott Israel. The cities of Austin and San Antonio have adopted similar provisions.
Texas is one of 21 states to adopt measures ostracizing or attempting to restrict the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights.
This month, the ACLU filed a lawsuit on behalf of a teacher in Kansas who is being required to repudiate boycotts of Israel as a condition for taking on a state contract as a trainer.
Free speech hypocrisy
Amid a national furor of the claimed right of Nazis and white supremacists like Richard Spencer to speak on college campuses, establishment media and politicians seldom criticize the growing censorship around Israel.
But journalist Glenn Greenwald commented that the move by Dickinson again demonstrates that “the greatest and most frequent threat to free speech in the West is the attempt to criminalize and outlaw activism against Israel.”
Drawing a contrast with the panic over often dubious claims of Russian interference in the 2016 US election, journalist Max Blumenthal quipped that the Texas municipality’s tying of aid to a recipient’s views on Israel amounts to “the kind of foreign meddling our elites tolerate.”
Currently, the US Congress is considering the Israel Anti-Boycott Act, which could impose prison and heavy fines on companies or their personnel accused of abiding by boycotts of Israel called for by international organizations.
The Israel Anti-Boycott Act currently has 266 sponsors in the House and 50 in the Senate.
AIPAC priority
Over the summer, the ACLU wrote to senators condemning the bill for violating constitutional free speech rights.
Due to sustained pressure from legal groups and activists, a handful of US lawmakers have pulled their support of the bill.
In August, 100 civil and human rights organizations endorsed a statement urging lawmakers to reject the bill outright.
The powerful Israel lobby group AIPAC has made passing the bill one of its top legislative priorities.
------------------
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJEwrw4VEls