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Kerry For President
During this political season, I hear
with regularity that the Bush adminis-
tration is "good for Israel." The unstat-
ed follow-up is that John Kerry will
not be.
Here are some key excerpts from
Sen. Kerry's Position Paper on Israel,
dated June 21, 2004:
• Supports Israel's right to self-
defense, including actions against
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other terror-
ist groups.
• Supports the construction of
Israel's security fence as an act of self-
defense, believing it is not a matter for
the International Court of Justice.
• Supports planned withdrawal from
Gaza.
• Palestinians must settle in a future
Palestinian state, not in Israel.
• Believes Yasser Arafat is a failed
leader.
• Advocates restricting arms sales to
Arab countries.
• Demands accountability and
action from Arab countries to elimi-
nate flow of funds to terrorists.
• Always voted to maintain critical
aid to Israel, resisting attempts in the
Senate to do otherwise.
• Anti-Semitism, masked in anti-
Israel rhetoric, is a dangerous trend.
He will take governments to task for
failing to address it.
• Would end the "sweetheart rela-
tionship" with Arab countries allowing
Hamas, Hezballah, Al Aqsa Martyrs
Brigades, etc., to function within their
borders.
• Co-sponsored the Syria
Accountability Act, banning exports of
military items to Syria.
• Understands that a nuclear-armed
Iran is unacceptable.
• Believes Israel's cause must be
America's cause.
Those in our community who care
about Israel, and are concerned about
the resurgence of anti-Semitism world-
wide, must not assume that Kerry will
not be "good for us."
may not be a great orator, he has cer-
tainly done much since Sept. 11, 2001.
President Bush does not merely talk
about fighting terrorism, he has actual-
ly taken the fight overseas to the terror-
ists. The Taliban, who allowed Osama
bin Laden to freely train and plan the
9-11 attacks, have been removed from
power. Iraq's Saddam Hussein, a mad-
man who every president (even Bill
Clinton) and every country believed
had weapons of mass destruction and
who would certainly have pursued
them after sanctions were lifted, was
eliminated. Is the job done? Of course
not.
It took almost six years to defeat the
Nazis and Japanese in World War II.
Since Shammai says we should look
at deeds and not words, the new Iraqi
government could be judged on the
fact that it does not offer blood money,
like Saddam did, to Palestinian terror-
ists who kill Jews.
And what of Sen. John Kerry? He
says he will do better in the war on ter-
rorism. While in the Senate, Kerry has
voted against every major weapons sys-
tem to protect the United States. In
1991, he voted against removing Iraq
from Kuwait, even with a "coalition" of
34 countries, which included France,
Germany and Russia.
What has he now offered besides the
promise to enlist the Europeans in the
fight? I for one am uncomfortable with
the idea of depending on European
countries that did nothing but appease
Hider and now believe Israel is the
greatest threat to world peace. Nor am
I desirous of relying on France with a
large Muslim minority and which had
a government minister label Israel as "a
sh**ty little country."
Deeds, not fancy words, are impor-
tant. Fortunately, President Bush has a
long-term global view and has acted
for a safer America, a safer Israel and a
safer world. President Bush deserves re-
election.
Donald Scharg
West Bloomfield
Diane Pomish
West Bloomfield
In Step With Kerry
Bush Has Stood Tall
'TN
9/24
2004
6
The wisdom of Perkei Avot (Ethics of
Our Fathers), is timeless and gives
insight for the upcoming presidential
election. In Chapter 1:15, Shammai
says "Say little and do much." With
this great teaching, both presidential
candidates can be evaluated.
While President George W Bush
I have heard the argument that George
W. Bush is good for Israel and, suppos-
edly, Israelis are hoping for a
Republican landslide.
The mystery is why anyone,
American or Israeli, assumes John
Kerry would not support Israel.
Clearly, it is in the best interests of our
country to support the only democracy
in the Middle East.
Kerry is not about to sell out Israel,
tear down the wall or buddy up to a
scoundrel like Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat.
As we celebrate 350 years of Jewish
life in America, should we not consid-
er America's future?
I believe it is in our best interests as
American Jews to have an intelligent
president who will attempt to repair
our shattered relationships with allies,
choose Supreme Court justices who
will not lead us into theocracy, show
outrage against the proliferation of
assault weapons, rescue an endangered
environment, rein in a runaway deficit
and, dare I say, restore the image of
America as a country that does not
practice unwarranted aggression.
America has enabled the Jewish peo-
ple to prosper. Better to send money
to Israel than support a president who,
in the past four years, has failed to
practice the morality we espouse as
Jews.
No candidate for any office satisfies
every voter's wish list. But in this year's
presidential contest, it would be a
grave mistake to vote for. Bush on just
the single issue of Israel. The conse-
quences are ominous.
Bush's support of Israel has not
diminished the threat of terrorism.
Instead, we find ourselves living in a
nation despised by most of the world.
A Sept. 10 advertisement
(Republican Jewish Coalition, page 7)
quotes Bush as saying, "I will continue
to call upon our friends in Europe to
renounce and fight any sign of anti-
Semitism in their midst." Do we still
have friends in Europe?
Edith Broida
Farmington Hills
Bush Is Supported
I'm voting for President Bush and
here's why.
We are at war, the most dangerous
war we have ever faced. An unrelent-
ing war against savages who don't want
to enslave us, they want to kill us. Iraq
and Afghanistan are just early phases
in this war — just like Tarawa,
Okinawa, Iwo Jima, Normandy and
Sicily were phases in World War II.
We have to be on the offensive and
I'll take patriots like Dick Cheney,
Donald Rumsfeld, Condolezza Rice
and Colin Powell anytime, rather than
Kerry and his friends. Friends who
Kerry gave prominent speaking roles
to at the Democratic convention,
whose anti-Israel and anti-American
views and positions are well known,
include Jimmy Carter, Al Sharpton (a
known bigot who got prime time at
the convention!), Dennis Kucinich
and Barak Obama. Kerry also warmly
welcomed Michael Moore in the presi-
dential box. Kerry sent a message loud
and clear to the Jewish community
about where he stands.
Then there's Ted Kennedy, Bill
Clinton, Whoopi Goldberg and Jesse
Jackson. Anyone who uses people like
this and their ilk as their support base
does not have the value system I'm
interested in.
It should be clear by now to anyone
that President Bush is pro-Israel and
isn't ashamed or embarrassed to say so.
It's not only the issues, security and
honesty which I trust Bush with, but
it's also his integrity.
Kerry allied himself with Jane Fonda
and became a traitor when he returned
from Vietnam.
Kerry tailors what he says according
to who his audience is. For me, that
means his word can't be trusted.
My issues and priorities are the secu-
rity of the free world, the security of
the United States and the security of
Israel. I would rather have the Bush
team protecting that security. I don't
dare trust Kerry with my country's
security.
Ed Kohl
West Bloomfield
Kerry Outshines Bush
The full-page ad from the Republican
Jewish Coalition (Sept. 17, page 9)
was deeply misleading in its blanket
assertion that Sen. John Kerry has
been silent on the subject of Israel.
Sen. Kerry's entire life in public service
has reflected his strong and steadfast
commitment to supporting and caring
about the State of Israel.
Moreover, to stake its claim on the
specific content of Sen. Kerry's accept-
ance speech is particularly dishonest
because the truth is that President
Bush hardly said a word about Israel
in his own acceptance speech either.
Both candidates have strong, well-
known records of support for Israel. In
my opinion, however, President Bush's
support has been mainly rhetorical,
and his pervasive inattention and fail-
ure to engage personally in the current
mess has been a huge factor in the
deterioration of the situation since he
took office.
Sen. Kerry has had extensive,
thoughtful policy statements about
Israel and the Middle East on his Web