Oakland University presents
Nobel Peace Prize winner
.441e,
Elie Wiese!
a presentation to Jewish lawmakers
— reported by many — that included
what turned out to be unfounded
reports of missiles armed with weap-
ons of mass destruction pointed at
Israel.
No mention is made of solidly pro-
Israel Jewish Democrats who were
opposed to the war at the time — U.S.
Reps. Bob Filner of California and Jan
Schakowsky of Illinois stand out. U.S.
Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., led efforts to
force Bush to seek reauthorization of
the war.
"Never mind" also characterizes
the authors' response to my ques-
tions about the recent revelation by
Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell's
planning chief at the State Department
and a fierce critic of the Pentagon
neoconservatives who pushed for war,
that prior to the invasion, Israeli lead-
ers made it clear that they thought
Iran was the real threat and Iraq was a
distraction.
"What Wilkerson is saying is that
the Israelis, when they caught wind
of the fact that the United States was
thinking about attacking Iraq, in early
2002 went to Washington and told the
Americans, the Bush administration
in particular, that the real threat was
Iran, not Iraq, and they made it clear
that they'd prefer we went after Iran
and not Iraq': Mearsheimer said in our
interview.
"Once it became clear that the
United States intended to do Iran and
Syria after it handled Iraq, the Israelis
quickly bought into the enterprise and
pushed us very hard."
But who was the "us" being pushed
if the Israelis were being pushed by
the Bush administration?
It is one thing for the authors to
omit telling details that would under-
mine their theory. When it comes to
America's Syrian policy, however, they
Faulty Research
omit whole trends.
Aside from the fact that what
Mearsheimer and Walt ignore
Saperstein told Salon magazine in
Israel's panic, reported by many, in
September 2002 was clearly descrip-
late 2005 when it became clear that
tive, not prescriptive, the quote begs
elements in the Bush administration
the question of why authors able
were seeking regime change in Syria
to research deeply enough to write
as "transformative." Israeli officials
that Saperstein is "known for his
strove to make clear that it had out-
liberal views" were unable to uncover
lined all post-regime scenarios and
Saperstein and the Reform move-
none of them were good.
ment's endorsement of congressional
Bush's fury with the Syrians for
efforts in early 2003 to force Bush to
undermining the single Middle
seek re-approval for war before invad-
Eastern success of his pro-democracy
ing. These legislative efforts were seen
policy,
Lebanon's "Cedar Revolution"
as attempts to head off an invasion.
—
repeated
in dozens of White House
No mention is made of the Bush
statements
—
gets no mention in the
administration's hard sell of the Iraq
war to Jewish leaders and Jewish
Faulty Analysis on page 22
Democrats in Congress. Cheney made
tion of the West Bank!'
I tried to make the case to the
authors that risking White House
alienation to lobby for one's direct
interest — in this case Israel — was
one thing; risking this agenda by
opposing the president's overall for-
eign policy was quite another.
A few days later, Ira Forman of the
National Jewish Democratic Council
would offer a much more eloquent
formulation in an essay in the New
York Jewish Week. In rejecting the
Walt-Mearsheimer thesis on pro-Israel
responsibility for the Iraq war, Forman
wrote: "As soon as a minority commu-
nity tries to extend its organizational
power to other public policy arenas, its
power to affect policy is significantly
reduced, as it must compete with other
powerful interest groups!'
The authors don't let anything get
in the way of their theory, devolving
at times into obfuscation and outright
falsehood. Israel was "enthusiastic"
about the first Persian Gulf War, they
wrote, in an effort to explain why its
leaders signed on to this one. In fact,
many Israeli officials complained to
their American counterparts that
Israel's deterrence had been gravely
damaged by having to sit on its hands
in the face of Iraqi Scud missile attacks
as others dealt with Saddam. But noting
Israel's belief in the deterrence value
of dealing with threats by itself would
undercut the thesis that it pushed for
the U.S. invasion this time around.
Mearsheimer and Walt assert that
even Jewish liberals were enthused
about the war. They quote Rabbi David
Saperstein, the director of the Reform
Movement's Religious Action Center,
as saying that "the Jewish community
would want to see a forceful resolution to
the threat that Saddam Hussein poses."
Elie Wiesel
As a 15-year-old in Transylvania.
Romania, Elie Viiiesel was deported
in I9-14 by the Nxis to the
Auschwitz concentration camp and
later transported to Buchenwald.
the mothilf. Younger sister and
father perished. white he and his
two older sisteis survived, Wiesel
mote about his experiences in the
c21,.entration camps in "Night,"
'!as be translated into 30
puhlication in
'its
• ;;fort to defend hi
.,'.fiout the
'romote
\)bel Peace
by
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Prize in 19Sts,
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Muted
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, Award
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of Grand
t keaortl ,1*'""
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
7 p.m.
O'rena, Recreation and Athletics Center
Oakland University
Free for Oakland University students, faculty, staff and
OUAA members. Tickets for the general public are $25
in advance at the Center for Student Activities Service
Window, 49 Oakland Center.
The lecture will be interpreted for the deaf. Anyone needing special assistance
should contact the Center for Student Activities at (248) 370-2400.
Sponsored by the Student Life Lecture Board, Division of Student Affairs,
Office of Academic Affairs and Provost, Student Program Board, and
Oakland University Alumni Association.
-11111
)
Oakland
ard
UNIVERSITY
i01
org.antz4ticlii
Niation. created to fight indifference,
intolerance and injustife_
For more information, call the Center for Student Activities at
(248) 370-2400. or visit www.oakland.edu . The Recreation and Athletics
Center is located on the campus of Oakland University, one mile east of
1-75, off Exit 79 (University Drive). Free parking is available on campus.
1.303640
HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS: ARTICLE 2 INCOME CRITERIA CHANGES
Claims Conference Secures Compensation Program Expansion
The Claims Conference makes monthly payments to Nazi victims under the Article 2 Fund who meet
certain persecution and other criteria and who have an income below a level specified by the German
Government.
Following recent negotiations with the German Government, the Claims Conference secured
amendments regarding the income that shall be considered when determining if an applicant is
within the income limit. The income limit is $16,000 per year after taxes. The following are the new
regulations:
• Only the income of the applicant shall be taken into account (not the income of his/her spouse)
— this is a change from the current rule.
• From October 1, 2007 onwards, when determining whether the income limit is met, the following
types of pensions will NOT be considered as income:
- Old age pension (including: governmental pension, social security payments, occupational
pension or retirement plans) and/or
- Pensions awarded for reduction in earning capacity, for industrial injury or occupational
disease, for loss of life or any comparable payment.
The changes are summarized above but specific details (including what payments constitute
comparable payments) are still being discussed with the German Ministry of Finance.
Full eligibility details for the Article 2 Fund and further information about the abovementioned changes
are at www.claimscon.org and further announcements regarding these criteria will be posted as
they become available. Please note that the eligibility criteria concerning persecution history, also
specified by the German government, have not changed.
If you believe that you may be eligible or are not certain if you are eligible, you should file an
application now. Please note that under the current guidelines, payments to eligible persons are
backdated to the later of October 1, 2007 or the date the application form is received. Application
forms are available at www.claimscon.org . If you cannot access the form via the website, please
contact your local Claims Conference office. There is no fee to apply.
Claims Conference
15 East 26 Street, Room 906
New York, NY 10010
Tel: 1-646-536-9100 Fax: 1-212-679-2126
info@claimscon.org www.claimscon.org
Claims Conference nwnnn n-Pln
▪
The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
September 20 2007
1292660
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